Against the Christians

Late 3rd-century book written by Porphyry of Tyre

Against the Christians
Porphyry, c. 1535, Sucevița Monastery.
Author	Porphyry of Tyre
Language	Greek
Published	c. 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, attacking the writings of Christian philosophers and theologians. Due to widespread censorship by Roman imperial authorities, no known copies of this book exist. Only through references to it in Christian writings criticizing 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]

Augustine and the 5th-century ecclesiastical historian Socrates of Constantinople assert that Porphyry was once a Christian.^[4]

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:^[5]

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.^[6] According to Jerome:^[5]

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.

References

Citations

^ Digeser 1998, p. 130: "Constantine and other emperors banned and burned Porphyry's work".
^ Socrates Scholasticus 1885, pp. Book I, Ch 9, pp. 30-31, Letter of Constantine proscribing the works of Porphyry and Arius.
^ Stevenson 1987: Gelasius, Historia Ecclesiastica, II.36
^ Socrates Scholasticus 1885b, pp. Book III, Ch 23.
^ ^a ^b "Porphyry, Against the Christians, Fragments". The Tertullian Project. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
^ Magny, Ariane (2016). Porphyry in Fragments: Reception of an Anti-Christian Text in Late Antiquity. Studies in Philosophy and Theology in Late Antiquity. Taylor & Francis. pp. 81–82. ISBN 978-1-317-07779-4. Retrieved 3 January 2024. In the words of P.M. Casey [...]

Cited sources

Digeser, Elizabeth DePalma (1998). "Lactantius, Porphyry, and the Debate over Religious Toleration". Journal of Roman Studies. 88: 129–146. doi:10.2307/300808. ISSN 0075-4358. JSTOR 300808. S2CID 161341468.
Edwards, Mark (2007). "Porphyry and the Christians". Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies. Supplement. 50 (98, Studies on Porphyry): 111–126. doi:10.1111/j.2041-5370.2007.tb02508.x. JSTOR 43767975.
Socrates Scholasticus (1885). Historia Ecclesiastica . Vol. Book I, Ch 9, pp. 30-31 – via Wikisource.
Socrates Scholasticus (1885b). Historia Ecclesiastica . Vol. Book III, Ch 23 – via Wikisource.
Stevenson, James (1987). A New Eusebius: Documents Illustrating the History of the Church to AD 337. SPCK. ISBN 978-0-281-04268-5.