julian the apostate in christianity

Julian the Apostate - Christianity and Paganism in the 4th Century. They were executed for their troubles. Julian the Apostate was the Roman emperor from 361 to 363. During his reign he attempted to revert the Roman empire from Christianity back to paganism, thus the appellation Apostate.Through his edict of tolerance of 362 he reopened pagan temples, provided for restitution of alienated temple properties, and called for the return of bishops who had been exiled.

On June 16, 363 the Roman Emperor Flavius Claudius Julianus ordered the troops he had led on a campaign against the Sassanid Empire to break off the siege of Ctesiphon, the capital of the Persians, and to retreat to the safety of Roman territory.

When the Roman Emperor Julian (Flavius Claudius Julianus) came to power, Christianity was less popular than polytheism, but when Julian, a pagan (in contemporary usage) known as "the Apostate," was killed in battle, it was the end of Roman official acceptance of polytheism.

By Komnenos Category: Classical Mediterranean and Europe: Roman Figures. However, Julian was up against it because Christianity had spread to the fringes of the empire and these citizens had no intention of abandoning what they saw as the religion of gender equality and social justice. While Julian was pragmatic enough not to launch a personal bloodbath against those who professed Christianity, he, by the subversion of law, encouraged violence against devotees of the faith.

Model of Jerusalem in the Second Temple Period – Wikipedia Death of the Apostate.