Acolyte Of Pan 666
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- Jul 8, 2024
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In his polemic against xians, Emperor Julian praises Yahweh and the jews. Why would he do this?
“And yet, I call the gods to witness, I am one of those who avoid keeping their festivals with the Jews; but nevertheless I revere always the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; who being themselves Chaldaeans, of a sacred race, skilled in theurgy, had learned the practice of circumcision while they sojourned as strangers with the Egyptians. And they(jews) revered a God who was ever gracious to me and to those who worshipped him as Abraham did, for he is a very great and powerful God, but he has nothing to do with you (xians).“
Brackets are my words for greater clarity.
Did he actually say this? He does criticise the jewish religion and xianity but ultimately holds respect for Yahweh and the practices of the jews, which is odd as even the OT clearly says Yahweh wants to kill and enslave all Gentiles.
Even if Emperor Julian didn’t have access to other jewish works and deeper jewish teachings (unlikely given his political position and spiritual advancement), he should know how bad judaism is as he did study the bible deeply in his younger years. Him praising judaism and its “god” is very bizzare to me.
“And yet, I call the gods to witness, I am one of those who avoid keeping their festivals with the Jews; but nevertheless I revere always the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; who being themselves Chaldaeans, of a sacred race, skilled in theurgy, had learned the practice of circumcision while they sojourned as strangers with the Egyptians. And they(jews) revered a God who was ever gracious to me and to those who worshipped him as Abraham did, for he is a very great and powerful God, but he has nothing to do with you (xians).“
Brackets are my words for greater clarity.
Did he actually say this? He does criticise the jewish religion and xianity but ultimately holds respect for Yahweh and the practices of the jews, which is odd as even the OT clearly says Yahweh wants to kill and enslave all Gentiles.
Even if Emperor Julian didn’t have access to other jewish works and deeper jewish teachings (unlikely given his political position and spiritual advancement), he should know how bad judaism is as he did study the bible deeply in his younger years. Him praising judaism and its “god” is very bizzare to me.
