Porphyry in Fragments

The Greek philosopher Porphyry of Tyre had a reputation as the fiercest critic of Christianity. It was well-deserved: he composed fifteen discourses against the Christians so offensive that Christian emperors ordered them to be burnt. We thus rely on the testimonies of three prominent Christian writers to know what Porphyry wrote. Porphyry in Fragments argues that Porphyry's actual thoughts became mixed with the thoughts of the Christians who preserved his ideas as well as those of other Christian opponents.