Porphyry and Anti-Christian Sentiment at the Dawn of Late Antiquity. Review of: Männlein-Robert, I. (Ed.). (2017). Die Christen als Bedrohung? Text, Kontext und Wirkung von Porphyrios’ ‘Contra Christianos’. Roma Aeterna, 5. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag. 348 p.

Abstract

This review describes the conceptual and content side of the collection of articles by Western experts, focusing on the study of the work of Porphyry, a Neoplatonic intellectual from Late Antiquity. The researchers mostly focus on Porphyry’s treatise Contra Christianos and the cultural environment associated with this work. The reviewer emphasises the relevance of topics chosen by the researchers in the framework of the problem of the so-called “Christian threat” raised by Porphyry and other supporters of the concept. Also, the reviewer points out the controversy of solving issues concerning the relationship between different texts of Porphyry and texts of his contemporaries related to such a problem. Particular attention is paid to the review of the articles that reveal new religious and political aspects behind the functioning of the society of Late Antiquity as a relatively open social system, which pragmatically used the tools of vertical anti-Christian controversy to stabilise itself.

Keywords

• поздняя античность
• антихристианская литература iii–iv вв.
• неоплатонизм
• порфирий тирский