For a semester I read patristic texts, including the nastiest stuff by Ambrose of Milan and Augustine of Hippo: you have to understand how these people think.

I still reject the doctrine of original sin, but I have to conclude that the religious fundamentalist Augustine created a well-thought-out system.

We still benefit from the respectful treatment of earlier times, because the important, anti-Christian script of the Neoplatonic philosopher Porphyrios was burned by the Christian Emperor Theodosius II in the 5th century.

But there are answers from Christian philosophers who seriously dealt with Porphyry and quoted his work extensively in their replies.

The book of Porphyrios was passed down from these quotations.

Do you want a serious debate or do you want to be burned?

Every patristic library with the presence of Porphyry and my library with Leon Trotsky provide one answer to this answer.