(August 22, 2015 at 1:34 am)Minimalist Wrote: Correct. Porphyry's work is reproduced in part by Eusebius and Julian's in part by Cyril of Alexandria. Like Origen, we have no way of knowing how accurately they quoted their sources but it does seem logical that they would have taken legitimate passages to refute. At the time of all three xtian writers they had not begun the process of exterminating the wisdom of the classical world and so there would have been plenty of copies of the original documents around. Of course, what we can never know is what parts they decided they did not want to touch barring a stupendous archaeological find on the order of the Dead Sea Scrolls. And I don't believe in miracles.It's a shame that the extant body of work representing ancient Grecian and Roman thought was curated by Christian dogmatists, though I'm at least grateful that they seem, for the most part, to have accurately preserved what they did.
He who loves God cannot endeavour that God should love him in return - Baruch Spinoza