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JULIAN entertained the same sentiments as those above described
towards all Christians, as he manifested whenever an opportunity was
offered. Those who refused to sacrifice to the gods, although
perfectly blameless in other respects, were deprived of the rights of
citizenship, and of the privilege of participating in assemblies, and
in the forum; and he would not allow them to be judges or magistrates,
or to share in offices.
He forbade the children of Christians from frequenting the public
schools, and from being instructed in the writings of the Greek poets
and authors. He entertained great resentment against Apolinarius the
Syrian, a man of manifold knowledge and philological attainments,
against Basil and Gregory, natives of Cappadocia, the most
celebrated orators of the time, and against other learned and eloquent
men, of whom some were attached to the Nicene doctrines, and others
to the dogmas of Arius. His sole motive for excluding the children of
Christian parents from instruction in the learning of the Greeks, was
because he considered such studies conducive to the acquisition of
argumentative and persuasive power. Apolinarius, therefore, employed
his great learning and ingenuity in the production of a heroic epic on
the antiquities of the Hebrews to the reign of Saul, as a substitute
for the poem of Homer. He divided this work into twenty four parts,
to each of which he appended the name of one of the letters of the
Greek alphabet, according to their number and order. He also wrote
comedies in imitation of Menander, tragedies resembling those of
Euripides, and odes on the model of Pindar. In short, taking
themes of the entire circle of knowledge from the Scriptures, he
produced within a very brief space of time, a set of works which in
manner, expression, character, and arrangement are well approved as
similar to the Greek literatures and which were equal in number and in
force. Were it not for the extreme partiality with which the
productions of antiquity are regarded, I doubt not but that the
writings of Apolinarius would be held in as much estimation as those of
the ancients.
The comprehensiveness of his intellect is more especially to be
admired; for he excelled in every branch of literature, whereas
ancient writers were proficient only in one. He wrote a very
remarkable work entitled "The Truth" against the emperor and the
pagan philosophers, in which he clearly proved, without any appeal to
the authority of Scripture, that they were far from having attained
right opinions of God. The emperor, for the purpose of casting
ridicule on works of this nature, wrote to the bishops in the following
words: "I have read, I have understood, and I have condemned."
To this they sent the following reply, "You have read, but you have
not understood; for, had you understood, you would not have
condemned."
Some have attributed this letter to Basil, the president of the
church in Cappadocia, and perhaps not without reason; but whether
dictated by him or by another, it fully displays the magnanimity and
learning of the writer.
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