[WT Sharpe]

.....Contrary to Julian’s belief, Christianity did not require state power to survive. There seems, in fact, to have been an inverse relationship between the bishops’ power to wield the emperor's sword against their enemies and their ability to resolve internal disputes themselves by peaceful means.
..........— Richard E. Rubenstein (1938 - ), author, University Professor of Conflict Resolution and Public Affairs at George Mason University. When Jesus Became God: The Struggle to Define Christianity during the Last Days of Rome (2000).