Against the Christians

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Against the Christians
Porphyrios Sucevita Fresco.jpg
Porphyry, c. 1535, Sucevița Monastery.
AuthorPorphyry of Tyre
LanguageGreek
Publishedc. 275-300 AD

Against the Christians (Greek: Κατὰ Χριστιανῶν; Adversus Christianos) is a late-3rd century book written by Roman-Phoenician Neoplatonic philosopher Porphyry of Tyre, criticizing the writings of Christian philosophers and theologists. Due to widespread censorship by Christian imperial authorities, no known copies of this book exist. Only through references to it in Christian writings attacking it can its contents be reconstructed.

Background[]

During his retirement in Sicily, Porphyry wrote Against the Christians (Κατὰ Χριστιανῶν; Adversus Christianos) which consisted of fifteen books. Some thirty Christian apologists, such as Methodius, Eusebius, Apollinaris, Augustine, Jerome, etc., responded to his challenge. In fact, everything known about Porphyry's arguments is found in these refutations, largely because Theodosius II ordered every copy burned in AD 435 and again in 448.[1][2][3][4]

Porphyry's aim was not to disprove the substance of Christianity's teachings but rather the records within which the teachings are communicated.[5] Augustine and the 5th-century ecclesiastical historian Socrates of Constantinople, assert that Porphyry was once a Christian.[6]

Contents[]

As quoted by Jerome, Porphyry mocked Paul and the early Christians while suggesting that the 'magical arts' performed by Jesus of Nazareth and his followers were nothing special, done similarly by other figures of Greco-Roman history:[7]

He did it all for money; [...] (They were) poor and country-dwelling men, seeing that they used to have nothing; certain wonders were worked with magical arts. Not that it is unusual however to do wonders; for the magicians in Egypt also did wonders against Moses, Apollonius also did them, Apuleius also did them, and any number have done wonders. [They did wonders by magical arts] so that they might receive riches from rich and impressionable women, whom they had led astray.

Prophecy of Daniel[]

Porphyry especially attacked the prophecy of Daniel, because Jews and Christians pointed to the historical fulfillment of its prophecies as a decisive argument. But these prophecies, he maintained, were written not by Daniel but by some Jew who in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes (d. 164 BC) gathered up the traditions of Daniel's life and wrote a history of recent past events but in the future tense, falsely dating them back to Daniel's time. According to Jerome:[7]

Porphyry ... alleged that "Daniel" did not foretell the future so much as he related the past, and lastly that whatever he spoke of up till the time of Antiochus contained authentic history, whereas anything he may have conjectured beyond that point was false, inasmuch as he would not have foreknown the future.

Porphyry's thesis was adopted by Edward Gibbon, the English deist Anthony Collins, and most Modernist scholars.[8]

See also[]

References[]

Citations[]

  1. ^ Digeser 1998, p. 130: "Constantine and other emperors banned and burned Porphyry's work".
  2. ^ Socrates Scholasticus 1885, pp. Book I, Ch 9, pp. 30-31, Letter of Constantine proscribing the works of Porphyry and Arius.
  3. ^ Stevenson 1987: Gelasius, Historia Ecclesiastica, II.36
  4. ^ Froom 1950, p. 326.
  5. ^ Froom 1950, p. 327.
  6. ^ Socrates Scholasticus 1885b, pp. Book III, Ch 23.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b "Porphyry, Against the Christians, Fragments". The Tertullian Project. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  8. ^ Froom 1950, p. 330.

Cited sources[]

Further reading[]

Retrieved from ""