Flavius Claudius Julianus

Moses of Crete was hailed as the new Moses by many Jews of the fifth Century but instead led his followers to disaster on the island of Crete. He had promised to part the Mediterranean Sea - just like the original Moses had allegedly parted the Red Sea - and lead his people back to Israel. On the day however, the miracle never manifested itself and the followers who obeyed his command to jump off a cliff were either drowned or dashed to pieces on the rocks below the cliff. These events happened during the reign of the (Eastern Roman Emperor) Theodosius II (Theodosius the Younger).

Slavery - one of the prime examples of man’s inhumanity to man and something that was obviously practised widely during the period of early Christianity. But what did the early Church have to say about it? Well in this video we’ll take a look at where and how the various Councils and synods organised by the Church during the fourth and fifth centuries and beyond mention the practice of keeping slaves and slavery in general. Many of the most important decisions regarding the future direction of Christianity were taken in these various synods and this was especially so in the ecumenical councils held after Constantine became the Emperor. So these meetings were important events in shaping modern Europe and Christianity in general and of course European thinking.

The regulation of slavery in the Old Testament and the implicit acceptance of the practice in the New Testament is arguably the most contentious issue in the Bible. You would think Jesus, supposedly God incarnate and who grew up studying the Jewish scriptures, would condemn the practice of slavery outright and in very clear and unmistakable terms considering its pervasive nature in not just Greco-Roman but Jewish society of that time. But in fact, Jesus never condemns slavery at all. However, the acceptance of the practice - both implicit and explicit - can be found not just in the Old Testament scriptures but also in the New Testament in the writings of St. Paul for example.

Celsus criticizes the Bible resurrection stories as well as the crucifixion accounts. Celsus, a second Century pagan philosopher was a strong opponent of Christianity and wrote a powerful critique of the new religion called Logos Alethes or 'The True Word' which was later banned by Christian Emperors. In his book, Celsus commented on all aspects of Christianity. This video looks at what he wrote of the crucifixion and resurrection narratives.

Paganism in twelfth-century Europe. Not all of Europe was Christian in the twelfth century. The Baltic area populated by the Wendish people, the Pomeranians, Prussians, Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Lapps and Finns and other communities still had its own distinct religions, beliefs and culture. It was only after the Northern Crusades to eliminate paganism and force Christianity on these people were successful that Europe became entirely Christian during the 14th and 15th centuries. This video discusses  the situation prior to, leading up to, during and after the Baltic crusades (alternatively called the Northern Crusades).

The Vandal persecution of Catholics during the time of the Vandal Kingdom in North Africa. Part 1 charts their rise and migration from German lands to Africa during which time the Vandals converted to Arian Christianity. The Vandals would persecute Catholic Christians in both Spain and North Africa with the persecution being at its peak during King Geiseric's time followed by Huneric his son. The persecution only stopped when Gelimer the last Vandal King was defeated by a Byzantine army under Belisarius and the Vandal Kingdom annexed into the East Roman Empire.

Cosmas the monk on Genesis. Cosmas Indicopleustes was a 6th Century Byzantine monk who wrote the book 'Christian Topography' in which he defends the concept of a flat Earth agains the pagan theories of a spherical Earth as well as talking about large chunks of the Genesis story from the Bible. Cosmas was well travelled having in his earlier years travelled as far as India and Sri Lanka. Cosmas attempts to explain the flaws in the Genesis story. Why for example was Eve created after Adam? Why God took six days to complete creation? Why didn't God kill Adam as threatened? and so on.

The destruction of the tree of Thor and its associated grove, an important pagan centre for worship in Hesse, Germany by St. Boniface was arguably the start of the large-scale conversion of the Germans by either peaceful means or by force by Charles Martel, Charlemagne and others. Boniface was elevated to the status of 'apostle of Germany' for this act and others in destroying paganism in large areas of the country.

Julian the apostate, the last Roman Pagan Emperor had a short reign of less than two years but he made a big splash and is arguably the most well known Emperor of the late Roman period. But various Christian theologians, chroniclers and thinkers would be highly critical of him and his championing of paganism after his death. So this article is part of a series on what his critics wrote about him. And in this post I’m going to look at how the late 4th/early 5th century Christian historian Socrates Scholasticus saw the Emperor and discuss his criticisms of Julians actions and works.  Socrates Scholasticus was a Church historian who lived in Constantinople. He’s primarily known for his book ‘Historia Ecclesiastica’ (‘Church History’) which is a very detailed account from Constantine’s time on the never ending conflicts between the Arian Christians and Catholics and the numerous other heresies that were springing up in the eastern half of the Roman Empire and also the huge issues that a lot of Christians had with what was decided in the Council of Nicaea  - where Jesus was officially elevated to divine status and therefore equal to God. The Emperor Julian died on the 26th of June 363 during the war against the Persians. His body was brought back by Jovian who succeeded him as Emperor and he was eventually buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople despite not being a Christian. On the death of Julian,  the well known and respected pagan philosopher Libanius, who was a friend of Julian would write his funeral oration which he named ‘Julianus’. But this funeral oration referred positively to Julian’s policies in restraining the spread of Christianity and of his book ‘Contra Galilaeos ‘ meaning ‘Against the Christians’ which was an anti-Christian polemic. Socrates admits that Libanius was as he puts it ‘an excellent rhetorician’ but  uses this funeral oration for Julian as the reason to not only find fault with Libanius but also with Julian. on a more general front.

St. Augustine tries to explain in his most well known work 'The City of God against the pagans' why the fall of the city was no disaster. The book was written to refute pagan accusations that the abandonment of the Greco-Roman gods had led to the catastrophe. However surely Jesus should have been supporting the Roman Empire now that it worshipped him?

Why did Jesus come only 2,000 years ago? If Jesus was divine what did he appear so late in human history and miss the bulk of the human timeline. This video discusses the reasons early Christians like the theologian Paulus Orosius offered to try and explain the obvious weaknesses in a late arrival. Why a young earth means Christians only need to explain Jesus not appearing up to 5,000 years earlier. Why if the Roman Empire was a necessary for his arrival he took so long to engineer it into existence.