What 'is' an apostate?

Question

I mean, I'm atheist - but my certainty (or colloquial "faith) is infinite... so I'd be offended at being called an apostate if it meant something like being a waif towards religion. But if it just means not believing one specific religion... well, ok.

Answer 1

Specifically, an apostate is an individual who has been baptized as a Christian, but has openly rejected the Christian Faith and, instead, has actively adopted a non-Christian religion. Perhaps history's most famous apostate was the Ancient Roman Emperor, Julian, who ruled from the year 361 to 363 A.D. Julian, known to history as Julian the Apostate, followed the philosophy of neo-platonic Hellenism. He believed that, in order to save the Roman Empire from the numerous threats - both from within and from without, the peoples of the Empire had to return to the earlier pagan beliefs and, to do this, they had to reject Christianity. During his brief reign, Julian achieved considerable success both as a military commander and as a ruler. But, predictably, he was vilified by later Christian authors.