ABSTRACT
Christianity was born and developed in a hostile environment. Sossianus Hierocles was successively governor of the province in which Palmyra was located (c. 297), vicarious probably of the diocese of Oriens, praeses of Bithynia (303) and Prefect of Egypt (310-11). Though Hierocles was not a philosopher, it would be rash to discount the significance of the Philalethes for the philosophical opposition to Christianity during the early fourth century. Originally given the Semitic name Malchos ('King') after his father, Porphyry was born in the Phoenician city of Tyre in c. 232 ce. Porphyry was a polymath whose scholarly interests led him to study history, philosophy, religion, theology, the natural and medical sciences, zoology, philology and rhetoric. The brunt of Celsus' attack focused upon the person and works of Jesus Christ principally to disprove his deity. One of the greatest weaknesses of Christianity for Celsus was the concept of a God who constantly changed his mode of being.
