Against the Galileans (Ancient Greek: Κατὰ Γαλιλαίων; Latin: Contra Galilaeos), meaning Christians, was a Greek polemical essay written by the Roman emperor Julian, commonly known as Julian the Apostate, during his short reign (361–363).
Despite having been originally written in Greek, it is better known under its Latin name, probably due to its extensive reference in the polemical response Contra Julianum by Cyril of Alexandria.
[2] He also composed treatises that attacked those whose ideas he disagreed with, including two on those he called “false Cynics” and Against the Galileaens,[3] which was written during his stay in Antioch in the winter of 362–363.
[6] Though many Christian authors had written texts in which they scorned Julian, only Theodore of Mopsuestia had previously attempted a refutation of the work before Cyril.
[7] Aside from the obvious divide of one being a Christian and one a pagan, Cyril's religious views were very different from Julian's.
Further, all men, from looking at the stable nature of the heavenly bodies, have come to believe that the gods are eternal and unchanging (43A–52C).
Julian goes on to discuss the creation myths of the Greeks and the Jews, citing the account of the Book of Genesis.
He ridicules the idea of literally interpreting the Jewish account, claiming that it is not only logically impossible (75B) – he asks how the serpent was able to speak a human language (86A) – but that is also blasphemous and insulting to God (89B).
Julian then discusses how the Greeks view the gods as being the delegates of the creator God, each responsible for caring for different nations, cities, and races of men (115D), which explains why the character and customs of men are so different (131C).
Julian spends time discussing how, even after having nominally embraced Jewish traditions, Galileans have really rejected them and only accepted their blasphemy of the gods (238A–B).