Porphyry, "Against the Christians" new edition of fragments

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ficino
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Porphyry, "Against the Christians" new edition of fragments

Post by ficino »

See review of new edition of fragments of Porphyry's Against the Christians. The author, Matthias Becker, provides a German introduction, translation and notes. According to the review, Becker takes a middle course between maximal and minimal acceptance of given passages in other writers as genuine fragments of Porphyry. He also brings in things that Porphyry wrote elsewhere.

http://www.bmcreview.org/2017/01/20170155.html
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DCHindley
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Re: Porphyry, "Against the Christians" new edition of fragme

Post by DCHindley »

ficino wrote:See review of new edition of fragments of Porphyry's Against the Christians. The author, Matthias Becker, provides a German introduction, translation and notes. According to the review, Becker takes a middle course between maximal and minimal acceptance of given passages in other writers as genuine fragments of Porphyry. He also brings in things that Porphyry wrote elsewhere.

http://www.bmcreview.org/2017/01/20170155.html
Thanks, ficino!

That is a very detailed review (even has a dozen footnotes)!

I may never buy the work being reviewed (US $196) but just the review itself will be really helpful to me in future.

DCH
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Blood
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Re: Porphyry, "Against the Christians" new edition of fragme

Post by Blood »

Will there be an English translation?
“The only sensible response to fragmented, slowly but randomly accruing evidence is radical open-mindedness. A single, simple explanation for a historical event is generally a failure of imagination, not a triumph of induction.” William H.C. Propp
Stuart
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Re: Porphyry, "Against the Christians" new edition of fragme

Post by Stuart »

Hoffman has two books of note, one on Celsus (I have, excellent) and this one on Porphyry

https://books.google.com/books/about/Po ... J9QgAACAAJ

I think the price is steep at $45 and $20 kindle, so I'd use my local library extension. Oxford rips off readers with their prices, and also screws the authors. But that is another subject --- I'm tempted to start my own publishing house for academics to get cheaper books out (mostly digital) and pay the authors better; heck I'm in Silicon Valley and friends with two venture capitol bankers. ... problem is I want to start a whiskey distillery first. Tastier and definitely more spiritual. :cheeky:
“’That was excellently observed’, say I, when I read a passage in an author, where his opinion agrees with mine. When we differ, there I pronounce him to be mistaken.” - Jonathan Swift
ficino
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Re: Porphyry, "Against the Christians" new edition of fragme

Post by ficino »

Blood wrote:Will there be an English translation?
Not that I've heard of. Books written for specialists usually aren't, though sometimes they are.
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