WI: Julian the Apostate as Julian the Christian?

What if Julian the Apostate, while keeping his scholarly and seemingly kind personality, is instead a devout Christian?

What happens to the pagan Emperor's reputation, what happens to the traditional pagan faction of the Empire?

Or, to make things even more interesting, what happens if Julian is instead kept at Jerusalem, among Hebrew texts? Could Julian turn Jewish?

SplendidTuesday said:

What if Julian the Apostate, while keeping his scholarly and seemingly kind personality, is instead a devout Christian?

What happens to the pagan Emperor's reputation, what happens to the traditional pagan faction of the Empire?

Or, to make things even more interesting, what happens if Julian is instead kept at Jerusalem, among Hebrew texts? Could Julian turn Jewish?

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If Julian weren't an 'apostate' then he would be another anonymous emperor that no one except experts would dicuss. It's the word Apostate that attracts attention to him.

Devolved said:

If Julian weren't an 'apostate' then he would be another anonymous emperor that no one except experts would dicuss. It's the word Apostate that attracts attention to him.

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I'm not so sure there. Granted, his pagan beliefs make him the target of vilification by Christians and idolisation by antireligios folk like none other, but he was quite interesting as a person. Keeping his extreme personal asceticism and dedication to duty in place, he could shake up the church quite a bit. As a Christian, he would feel it his duty to do to the bishops as he had done to the courtiers. The question is how effective he would be. Icanwell see him being remembered as a personally holy ruler, even canonised, once the monastic movement gains traction. But the imperial episcopate will hate him with a passion.