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The Philosophy of the Few against the Christians
An Inquiry into the Textual Transmission of Porphyryâs Philosophy according to the Chaldean Oracles
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This book gives us a new perspective on the Philosophy according to the Chaldean Oracles by Porphyry of Tyre (ca. 232/305 CE), demonstrating that much of what we thought we knew about this work and its fragments is mistaken. Here, for the first time, the attempt is made at reconstructing the original text by following the vicissitudes of its reception and transmission from Late Antiquity through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance up to modern scholarship.
The extensive and painstaking study of the surviving fragments leads to the radically innovative conclusion that this encyclopedic treatise, written by Porphyry in the last decades of the 3rd century CE, consisted of fifteen books organized in various sections. After an initial discussion of the nature of theurgy and of its subordinate role with respect to philosophy, Porphyry describes the entire history of Greek philosophy from Homer up to his own teacher Plotinus, to then go on to present âintroductionsâ to the seven encyclical disciplines whose study is required for the comprehension of theosophy, that is, the esoteric speculation on the three parts of philosophy: anthropology-ethics, physics, and metaphysics-theology.
By harmonizing the teachings of Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, and the Chaldean Oracles, Porphyry intends to present the complete and definitive philosophic system, with the aim of showing the universal way for the liberation of the souls of initiates and of contextually fighting the final battle of the Greco-Roman civilization against Christianity.
The extensive and painstaking study of the surviving fragments leads to the radically innovative conclusion that this encyclopedic treatise, written by Porphyry in the last decades of the 3rd century CE, consisted of fifteen books organized in various sections. After an initial discussion of the nature of theurgy and of its subordinate role with respect to philosophy, Porphyry describes the entire history of Greek philosophy from Homer up to his own teacher Plotinus, to then go on to present âintroductionsâ to the seven encyclical disciplines whose study is required for the comprehension of theosophy, that is, the esoteric speculation on the three parts of philosophy: anthropology-ethics, physics, and metaphysics-theology.
By harmonizing the teachings of Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, and the Chaldean Oracles, Porphyry intends to present the complete and definitive philosophic system, with the aim of showing the universal way for the liberation of the souls of initiates and of contextually fighting the final battle of the Greco-Roman civilization against Christianity.
Pier Franco Beatrice (1948-) was Professor in Classics and Religious Studies at the University of Padua (1978-2018), and is now Senior Scholar at the same University. He is a member of several international societies and of the advisory board of the Journal of Early Christian Studies. He has authored: La lavanda dei piedi (Rome 1983); Lâeredità delle origini (Genova 1992); Anonymi Monophysitae Theosophia (LeidenâBostonâKöln 2001); The Transmission of Sin (OxfordâNew York 2013). He is the editor of Lâintolleranza cristiana nei confronti dei pagani (Bologna 1990). He has also co-edited Chromatius of Aquileia and His Age (Turnhout 2011), and Pascha nostrum Christus. Essays in Honour of Raniero Cantalamessa (Paris 2016).
Preface and Acknowlegments
Abbreviations
Introduction
1 A Philosophy Conforming with the âChaldean Oraclesâ
2 An Esoteric Philosophy for the Salvation of the Soul
3 The First Commentary on the âChaldean Oraclesâ
4 Zoroaster, the Magi, and the âChaldean Oraclesâ
5 Polemics against the Christians
6 Some Further Consequences
7 Philosophy versus Theurgy
8 The Orphic Prorrhesis and the Statues of the Gods
9 The Universal Way for the Salvation of the Soul
10 Sacrifices and Oracles
11 The Letter to Anebo and the Response by Iamblichus
12 Chaldean Philosophy versus Chaldean Theology
13 The Anti-Christian Oracles of Hekate and Apollo
14 Against Origenâs Allegorical Interpretation of the Jewish Scriptures
15 Against Origenâs Allegorical Interpretation of Homer
16 The Chronicle of Greek Philosophy from the Fall of Troy to the Reign of Claudius
17 The History of Greek Philosophy from Homer to Plato
18 The History of Greek Philosophy from the Old Academy to Plotinus
19 The Two Editions of the Life of Plotinus
20 The Truest Philosophy of Pythagoras, Plato, and Aristotle
21 The Oracle of Apollo on Plotinusâs Soul
22 Porphyry and the Encyclical Disciplines
23 The Mathematical Disciplines
24 Augustine on the Encyclical Disciplines
25 The Encyclical Disciplines against the Christians
26 The Threefold Division of Philosophy
27 Two Preliminary Methodological Issues
28 On the Union of Soul and Body
29 A Collection of Hieroi Logoi on the Soul
30 The Immortality of the Soul
31 Self-Determination and Transmigration of the Soul
32 Homerâs Philosophy of the Soul
33 From Anthropology-Ethics to Physics
34 From Physics to Metaphysics-Theology
35 Theology as the Fulfilment of Theosophy
36 Further Theological Fragments
37 Three Books against the Religion and Name of the Christians
38 The Latin Reception
39 Augustine and Macrobius
40 The Byzantine Reception
41 The Relationship with âOn Abstinenceâ
42 A Byzantine Epitome of Porphyryâs Theosophy
43 An Arabic Translation of Porphyryâs Theology
44 The Philosophy of the Few
Conclusion: A Tentative Reconstruction of the Philosophy according to the Chaldean Oracles
Bibliography
Index of Ancient, Medieval and Modern Authors
Abbreviations
Introduction
Part 1 Preliminary Questions
1 A Philosophy Conforming with the âChaldean Oraclesâ
2 An Esoteric Philosophy for the Salvation of the Soul
3 The First Commentary on the âChaldean Oraclesâ
4 Zoroaster, the Magi, and the âChaldean Oraclesâ
5 Polemics against the Christians
6 Some Further Consequences
Part 2 ΧÏηÏÏικη Î ÏαγμαÏεια Statues, Sacrifices and Oracles
7 Philosophy versus Theurgy
8 The Orphic Prorrhesis and the Statues of the Gods
9 The Universal Way for the Salvation of the Soul
10 Sacrifices and Oracles
11 The Letter to Anebo and the Response by Iamblichus
12 Chaldean Philosophy versus Chaldean Theology
13 The Anti-Christian Oracles of Hekate and Apollo
14 Against Origenâs Allegorical Interpretation of the Jewish Scriptures
15 Against Origenâs Allegorical Interpretation of Homer
Part 3 ΠολλÏν ΤÏν ÎαÏα ΦιλοÏοÏιαν ÎογμαÏÏν ÎναγÏαÏη The History of Philosophy and the Encyclical Disciplines
16 The Chronicle of Greek Philosophy from the Fall of Troy to the Reign of Claudius
17 The History of Greek Philosophy from Homer to Plato
18 The History of Greek Philosophy from the Old Academy to Plotinus
19 The Two Editions of the Life of Plotinus
20 The Truest Philosophy of Pythagoras, Plato, and Aristotle
21 The Oracle of Apollo on Plotinusâs Soul
22 Porphyry and the Encyclical Disciplines
23 The Mathematical Disciplines
24 Augustine on the Encyclical Disciplines
25 The Encyclical Disciplines against the Christians
Part 4 ÎεοÏοÏια Theological Wisdom for the Salvation of the Soul
26 The Threefold Division of Philosophy
27 Two Preliminary Methodological Issues
28 On the Union of Soul and Body
29 A Collection of Hieroi Logoi on the Soul
30 The Immortality of the Soul
31 Self-Determination and Transmigration of the Soul
32 Homerâs Philosophy of the Soul
33 From Anthropology-Ethics to Physics
34 From Physics to Metaphysics-Theology
35 Theology as the Fulfilment of Theosophy
36 Further Theological Fragments
37 Three Books against the Religion and Name of the Christians
Part 5 Reception in the Latin, Byzantine, and Arabic Traditions
38 The Latin Reception
39 Augustine and Macrobius
40 The Byzantine Reception
41 The Relationship with âOn Abstinenceâ
42 A Byzantine Epitome of Porphyryâs Theosophy
43 An Arabic Translation of Porphyryâs Theology
44 The Philosophy of the Few
Conclusion: A Tentative Reconstruction of the Philosophy according to the Chaldean Oracles
Bibliography
Index of Ancient, Medieval and Modern Authors
Beatriceâs approach to the textual history of Porphyryâs Philosophy according to the Chaldean Oracles is strictly philological. However, given the extreme complexity of the transmission of this work through the centuries, the present book will no doubt also be of immediate interest for post-graduate students and scholars concerned with ancient and medieval philosophy, ancient religions, early Christianity, Byzantine literature, Arabic and Humanistic studies.