   |
|
Handout #23 |
|
|
|
Christianity is absurd |
| Porphyry (234-305 A.D.),a Hellenized Jew who
came from Tyre, was a pupil of the philosopher Plotinus. He was a
philosopher who adopted a lofty moral position and was interested in the
occult sciences. He wrote a treatise Against the Christians, in
which he noted the inconsistencies in the Gospels and the absurdity of
Christian dogmas, in particular of the incarnation and
resurrection.
Even supposing that some Greeks were stupid enough to think that gods dwell in statues, this would be a purer conception than to accept that the divine had descended into the womb of the Virgin Mary, that he had become an embryo, that after his birth he had been wrapped in swaddling clothes stained with blood, bile and worse...Why, then he was taken before the high priest and governor, did not the Christ say anything worthy of a divine man? He allowed himself to be struck; spat upon in the face, crowned with thorns... Even if he had to suffer by order of God, he should have accepted the punishment but should not have endured his passion without some bold speech, some vigorous and wise word addressed to Pilate his judge, instead of allowing himself to be insulted like one of the rabble from off the streets. A remarkable lie (a reference to the description of the resurrection in I Thess. 4:14)! If you sang that to mindless beasts which can do nothing but make a noise in response you would make them bellow and cheep with a deafening din at the idea of men of flesh flying through the air like birds, or carried on a cloud... Porphyry |
