mystery of an infinite punishment in requital for finite sin (August, Retract, bk. ii, c. 31, vol. i, p. 53, con- cerning Matt, vii, 2). His objections are not. it will be observed, founded on quibbles like those of Celsus, but on instructive literary characteristics, many of which are greatly exaggerated or grossly misinterpreted, but still are real, and suggest difficulties or inquiries which the best modem theological critics have honorably felt to demand candid examination and explanation.
It was by no means an easy matter to reply to such a critique as Porphyry adopted, and it may be said that he never was answered as he should have been. The reply which Origen made to Celsus set aside all the ob- jections of the heathen disputant, but the thirty sepa- rate replies to Porphyry, among which the best are those by Methodius, Eusebius, and Apollinarius, very insuffi- ciently solve the intricate and deep problems proposed by the most successful exponent of Neo-Platonism. That he made a profound impression on the Church is seen in the fact that to all Christians his name became hateful, odious, the synonym for all that is vile and dangerous in unbelief, like that of Turk or Moslem or Papist in later ages. When Constantine wished to blacken the reputation of the Arians, he only had to at- tach to them the epithet of Porphyrian. That name carried in it a Satanic import, a heavy curse, able to sink to irretrievable infamy any individual or sect who bore it. A great deal of discussion has taken place re- specting the assertion of Socrates (//. E. iii, 23), that in his earlier years Porphyry was a Christian, and that, having been treated with indignity by the Christians, he apostatized, and revenged himself by writing against them. The authority is so slight, and the improbabil- ity of the story so great (for it does not appear that any of his antagonists charged him with apostasy, unless it was Eusebius), while it may so easily have arisen from the fact that in his early youth Porphyry was instructed by Origen, that it may confidently be rejected. An able summary of the arguments on both sides is given by Brucker (ii, 251, etc.). A doubt has been raised as to the identity of the assailant of Christianity with the Neo-Platonic philosopher, but it is totally without foun- dation.
Other Works.— Of the very numerous writings of Por- phyry the following are extant: 1. YlvSayopov ftioQ ; supposed by many to be a fragment of his larger history of philosophers. 2. Uepi TlXiorivov (liov /ecu tijc, rd^EojQ T&v jSijlXiwv avrov. See Pi.otixus. 3. Tltpl cltto- X)]C tu>v tfiipi'X"07'' ln f°ur U00'iSi dedicated to his friend and fellow-disciple Firmus Castricius. 4. Fragments of his epistle np6c 'Ai'£/3u> rbv Aiyvirriov. Large quota- tions from this work are made by Eusebius in his Prce~ paratio Erangelica. 5. Upbc ra voi]tu cKpop^ai. 6. 'Opi]piKa 'Cnriipara, addressed to Anatolius. 7. Uipi rov iv 'OSvffCTtiii tujv tyvp<pwv iivrpov, a fanciful alle- gorical interpretation of the description of the cave of the nymphs in the Odyssey, showing both the ingenuity and the recklessness with which Porphyry and other writers of his stamp pressed writers and authorities of all kinds into their service, as holders of the doctrines of their school. 8. A fragment from a treatise Uepi Srvyoc, preserved by Stobteus. 9. Eiaayioyt], or Iltpl tojv irevTE (piovm>, addressed to Chrysaorius, and writ- ten by Porphyry while in Sicily. It is commonly pre- fixed to the Organon of Aristotle. 10. A commentary on the Categories of Aristotle, in questions and answers. 11. Some fragments of a commentary on Aristotle's books Utpl (pvcrtKiJQ dicpocKTiwe.. 12. A commentary on the Harmonica of Ptolemreus, leaving off at the seventh chapter of the second book. 13. Uepi Trpoo-ySiac (see Villoison, A need. Grceca, ii, 103-118). 14. Scholia on the Iliad, preserved at Leyden among the books and papers of Is. Yossius. A portion of them was published by Valckenaer, in an appendix to Ursinus's Virgil, with a copious account of the scholia generally. Other scho- lia on the Iliad, preserved in the Vatican library, were published by Villoison (Anecd. Grceca, ii, 266, etc.), and
PORPHYRY
424
PORST
in his edition of the Iliad. 15. Portions of a commen- tary, apparently on the Ethics of Aristotle, and of one
on the Organon. 16. ["wo I ka on the philosophy of
Plato were affirmed to be extant by Gesner. 17. An epistle i" his wife Marcella. This piece was discovered by Angelo .Mai in the Ambrosian library, ami published at Milan in 1816. The letter is nol quite complete, as the end of i he MS.is mutilated. The contents of it are ral philosophical character, designed to incite to the practice of virtue and Belf-restrainl and the study of philosophy. The sentiments are a little obscure here and there, but many of the maxims and remarks cx- hibii urcat wisdom, and a considerable depth of very pure religious feeling. Porphyry considers sorrow to be a more wholesome discipline for the mind than pleasures (e. 7 ). With great energy and some eloquence h<- urges the cultivation of the soul and the practice of virtue, in preference to attention to the body. His views of the Doiiy. of his operations, and the right mode of contem- plating and worshipping him, are of a very exalted kind, some reminding the reader strongly of passages in tie- Scriptures, 'flic laws under which man i^ placed he distinguishes into natural, civil, and divine, ami marks out their respective provinces with considerable beauty and clearness. 18. A poetical fragment, from the tenth book of a work entitled Uepi rijjc ix Xoyiwr ipi\oao(piar, is published ai the end of the preceding work. 19. An introduction to the Telrabibtos of Ptole- m;eus is also attributed by some to Porphyry, by others to Antiochus. The tirLrouoe, tiriynaiQ ei'c toc, kh'-' 'Ofii'ipov TrXavag tov 'Odvaaswg, the production of Nicephorus Gregoras, has also been attributed bj some to Porphyry.