Description
Book SynopsisThe Roman emperor Julian is a figure of ongoing interest and the subject of David Neal Greenwood''s Julian and Christianity. This unique examination of Julian as the last pagan emperor and anti-Christian polemicist revolves around his drive and status as a ruler. Greenwood adeptly outlines the dramatic impact of Julian''s short-lived regime on the course of history, with a particular emphasis on his relationship with Christianity.
Julian has experienced a wide-ranging reception throughout history, shaped by both adulation and vitriol, along with controversies and rumors that question his sanity and passive ruling. His connections to Christianity, however, are rooted in his regime''s open hostility, which Greenwood shows is outlined explicitly in Oration 7: To the Cynic Heracleios. Greenwood''s close reading of Oration 7 highlights not only Julian''s extensive anti-Christian religious program and decided rejection of Christianity but also his brillia
Trade Review
Julian and Christianity is an insightful work.
* The NYMAS Review *
This book seeks to overcome a traditional and popular chronological reconstruction of the fourth-century Roman Emperor Julian's policies and writings, which assumed an initial phase of religious tolerance followed by increasing hostility toward Christianity. [S]everal of his observations and arguments will surely extend and enrich the debate over one of Rome's most controversial emperors.
* Choice *
[H]is study should be viewed as a major new contribution to Julianic studies and, more broadly, to the study of religion in the fourth century.
* Church History Review *
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Opening of Hostilities
Part I: Co-opting a Framework
1. The Problem of Constantius II
2. The Problem of Constantine
Part II: Crafting a Religious Metanarrative
3. Mocking the False Savior
4. Crafting the Salvific Heracles
5. Crafting the Salvific Asclepius
Part III: Constructing a Legacy to Reflect the Narrative
6. Constructing the Spatial Narrative in Constantinople
7. Creating a Robust Religious Structure
8. Constructing the Spatial Narrative in Antioch and Jerusalem
Conclusion: Endgame
