The Emperor Who Could Not Outrun Their Love

In 362 AD, the Roman Emperor Julian set out to destroy Christianity — not with lions or fire, but by trying to out-love the church. Julian, who had abandoned the faith of his upbringing to restore the old pagan gods, faced an embarrassing problem. In every city across the empire, it was the Christians who fed the hungry, nursed the sick, and buried the forgotten dead. The pagans offered nothing comparable.

In a frustrated letter to Arsacius, the high priest of Galatia, Julian wrote what amounted to a confession: "These impious Galileans not only feed their own poor but ours also." He ordered pagan priests to begin matching the Christians' charity, hoping to steal their reputation. He allocated grain and wine for distribution. He built hostels modeled on Christian houses of hospitality.

It didn't work. The emperor could replicate the programs, but he could not replicate the motive. Pagan priests had no tradition of sacrificial love binding them to strangers. The Christians did — they had received a command from their Lord on the night before He laid down His life for them.

Julian died in battle the following year. His revival of paganism died with him. But the love he tried so desperately to counterfeit kept spreading.