Galilaean faith

The Galilaean faith (sometime also Galilean faith) is a term used by some people of the ancient world^[1] (most notably emperor Julian) to designate Christianity. In Galilee is located the town of Nazareth, a place of Jesus' childhood. The followers of Christianity were then analogously called the Galilaeans. These terms were used to point out the origin of religion, the Galilee region that was part of the province of Judea. The intention of using this term was to make christianity a marginal affair and to indicate that it is a religion coming from a very small area, that it is a religion of a local significance.

In the same manner, Jesus was called "of Nazareth" in this context (another emphasis on geographical origin and the indication of local significance) instead "Christ" (which is derived from the Greek word "anointed").

These terms were used as part of the ideological struggle against the new religion, which was perceived as a social threat. The first use of this designation was associated with the fact that religion arose from Judee, in particular from Galilee (as the Jesus' geographic name "of Nazareth" suggests). Over time, however, the originally factual designation of religion got a pejorative meaning, which, despite its expansion throughout the Roman Empire, still referred to it as a local religion.

The terms appeared in several texts that in various ways contradicted the different apects of the new religion and showed either theological errors, contradictions, or the overall misconception of the faith itself. The use of these terms in late antiquity was generally meant to weaken the argumentation position of the religion being criticized, gaining an advantage over the object of criticism from the start just by the naming, before the arguments themselves appear.

See also

• Julian the Apostate
• Against the Galilaeans
• Emperor and Galilean

References