Spoke 4: The Biblewheel and The 4th Century - Julian the Apostate

Spoke 4: The Biblewheel and The 4th Century
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Julian the Apostate

Galatians, the 4th Epistle, the 4th book of the 3rd cycle of the Biblewheel mentions:

[Gal 4:3 KJV]
Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:

[Gal 4:9 KJV]
But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?

[Gal 4:10 KJV]
Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.

[Gal 4:11 KJV]
I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

Julian, in the 4th century, was called the Apostate because he caused the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire to fall back into the heathen practices and philosophies of Hellenism and Romanism. The apostle Paul speaks against this, although his writing may refer more to the Jewish practices of circumcision and observances of holidays.

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Julian (emperor)

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"Julian I" redirects here. For the Syriac Patriarch of Antioch, see Julian II of Antioch.

Julian
Augustus
Portrait of Emperor Julian on a bronze coin from Antioch minted in 360–363
Emperor of the Roman Empire
Reign	Caesar: 6 November 355 – February 360. Augustus: February 360 – 3 November 361. Sole Augustus: 3 November 361 – 26 June 363
Predecessor	Constantius II, cousin
Successor	Jovian, general present at the time of his death
Co-emperor	Constantius II (Eastern Emperor, 360-361)
Born	331 or 332 Constantinople
Died	26 June 363 (aged 31 or 32) Maranga, Mesopotamia
Burial	Tarsus
Wife	Helena
Issue	None known
Full name Flavius Claudius Julianus Regnal name Flavius Claudius Julianus Caesar (as Caesar) Imperator Caesar Flavius Claudius Julianus Augustus (as Emperor)
Dynasty	Constantinian dynasty
Father	Julius Constantius
Mother	Basilina
Religion	Roman polytheism previously Christianity

Julian (Latin: Flavius Claudius Iulianus Augustus;^[a] Greek: Φλάβιος Κλαύδιος Ἰουλιανὸς Αὔγουστος; 331/332^[1] – 26 June 363), also known as Julian the Apostate, was Roman Emperor from 361 to 363, as well as a notable philosopher and author in Greek.^[2]

A member of the Constantinian dynasty, Julian became Caesar over the western provinces by order of Constantius II in 355, and in this role he campaigned successfully against the Alamanni and Franks. Most notable was his crushing victory over the Alamanni at the Battle of Argentoratum (Strasbourg) in 357, leading his 13,000 men against a Germanic army three times larger. In 360, Julian was proclaimed Augustus by his soldiers at Lutetia (Paris), sparking a civil war with Constantius. However, Constantius died before the two could face each other in battle, and named Julian as his successor. In 363, Julian embarked on an ambitious campaign against the Sassanid Empire. The campaign was initially successful, securing a victory outside Ctesiphon,^[3] but later the Persians flooded the area behind him and Julian took a risky decision to withdraw up the valley of the Tigris River, and eventually during a skirmish Julian was mortally wounded, leaving his army trapped in Persian territory. Following his death, the Roman forces were obliged to cede territory in order to escape, including the fortress city of Nisibis.^[4]

Julian was a man of unusually complex character: he was "the military commander, the theosophist, the social reformer, and the man of letters".^[5] He was the last non-Christian ruler of the Roman Empire, and he believed that it was necessary to restore the Empire's ancient Roman values and traditions in order to save it from dissolution.^[6] He purged the top-heavy state bureaucracy, and attempted to revive traditional Roman religious practices at the expense of Christianity. Julian also forbade the Christians from teaching classical texts and learning.^[7] His rejection of Christianity, and his promotion of Neoplatonic Hellenism in its place caused him to be remembered as Julian the Apostate by the church.^[8]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_(emperor)
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Julian is called the apostate because he went back to the heathen practices and Greek philosophy in the early formation of the Byzantine Empire. Paul the apostle wrote to the Galatians who abandoned their faith.

Comparing Galatians the 4th book of the 3rd Cycle  with the 4th Century

Galatians 1 - Listen 1 Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;) 2 And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia: 3 Grace [be] to you and peace from God the Father, and [from] our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: 5 To whom [be] glory for ever and ever. Amen. 6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any [man] preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. 10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. 11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. 12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught [it], but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. 13 For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it: 14 And profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers. 15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called [me] by his grace, 16 To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: 17 Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus. 18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days. 19 But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother. 20 Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not. 21 Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia; 22 And was unknown by face unto the churches of Judaea which were in Christ: 23 But they had heard only, That he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed. 24 And they glorified God in me.

Caesar in Gaul

After dealing with the rebellions of Magnentius and Sylvanus, Constantius felt he needed a permanent representative in Gaul. In 355, Julian was summoned to appear before the emperor in Mediolanum and on 6 November was made Caesar of the West, marrying Constantius' sister, Helena. Constantius, after his experience with Gallus, intended his representative to be more a figurehead than an active participant in events, so he packed Julian off to Gaul with a small retinue, assuming his prefects in Gaul would keep Julian in check. At first reluctant to trade his scholarly life for war and politics, Julian eventually took every opportunity to involve himself in the affairs of Gaul.^[17] In the following years he learned how to lead and then run an army, through a series of campaigns against the Germanic tribes that had settled on both sides of the Rhine.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_(emperor)