Church History (Book 9 – Book 10)

Church History

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Chapter 7

The Decree Against Us Which Was Engraved on Pillars.

1 In the middle of the cities, something never done before, resolutions of the cities against us, and the emperor’s written replies to them, were engraved on bronze pillars and set up. Children in the schools had the names of Jesus and Pilate, and the records forged to insult him, on their lips every day. Here I think it necessary to include the very document of Maximinus that was set up on these pillars. It will show together the boastful, arrogant insolence of this man who hated God, and also the sleepless hatred of evil that belongs to divine justice against the ungodly. That justice overtook him closely, and under its pressure, not long afterward, he took the opposite course concerning us and laid it down in written laws. The document reads as follows: “Copy of a translation of Maximinus’ reply to the resolutions against us, taken from the pillar at Tyre.”

4 “At last the weak boldness of the human mind has been able to shake off and scatter every dark cloud and mist of error. Before this, that error had besieged the minds of people, who were not so much impious as wretched, and wrapped them in the deadly darkness of ignorance. At last they have recognized that the world is governed and kept stable by the kindly providence of the immortal gods. It is hard to say how welcome, how pleasant and how dear it has been to us that you have given such a great proof of your god-loving purpose. Even before this, no one was unaware of the care and reverence you showed to the immortal gods. Your faith is known not by bare and empty words, but by continual and remarkable deeds of distinction.” 6 “For this reason your city may rightly be called a foundation and dwelling-place of the immortal gods. Indeed, by many proofs it is plain that it flourishes because the heavenly gods are present in it. Look, then, at your city. It neglected all its own private interests and overlooked its earlier petitions on its own behalf. When it saw that the followers of that accursed folly were beginning to creep forward again, like a neglected, slumbering funeral pyre that bursts into huge flames when the brands are stirred up, it fled at once and without delay to our piety, as to the mother-city of all religions, asking for some healing and help.

7 “It is clear that the gods put this saving purpose into your minds because of the faithfulness of your piety. That highest and greatest Zeus himself, who presides over your most illustrious city, who rescues your ancestral gods, your wives and children, your hearth and your homes from every deadly ruin, has breathed this saving resolve into your souls. He shows and makes plain how excellent, splendid and saving it is to approach the worship and sacred rites of the immortal gods with the reverence that is due. 8 “For who could be found so foolish, or so empty of all understanding, as not to see that it is through the kindly zeal of the gods that the earth does not refuse the seed entrusted to it and cheat the farmers’ hope with empty expectation? It is through the gods that the sight of impious war is not fixed unhindered upon the earth, and that bodies are not dragged parched to death when the mild climate of the sky is spoiled. It is through them that the sea is not swollen and heaved up high by blasts of immoderate winds, and that sudden squalls do not burst out and bring destructive storm. And it is through them, further, that the earth, our nourishing mother, is not made to sink from her lowest depths in fearful trembling, and the mountains on her are not swallowed up as chasms open. Everyone knows that all these things, and evils still worse than these, have often happened before.

11 “All this happened because of the deadly error and empty folly of those lawless men, when it held sway over their souls and, one might almost say, pressed down on everything everywhere with shame.” After other words he adds: “Let them look at the crops now flourishing in the broad plains and rippling with ears of grain. Let them look at the meadows made bright with plants and flowers by good rains, and at the air restored to a mild and gentle condition. Let everyone rejoice, then, that through our piety, our sacrifices and our honor the power of the most mighty and most terrible Ares has been appeased. For this reason let them enjoy a firm, calm peace in quiet. And let those who have turned completely away from that blind error and delusion and returned to a right and excellent mind rejoice all the more, like people rescued from an unexpected storm or a severe sickness, who will enjoy the pleasures of life for the future.

13 “But if they continue in their accursed folly, let them be separated and driven far away from your city and its surrounding territory, as you asked. In this way, in keeping with your praiseworthy zeal in the matter, your city may be free of every pollution and impiety, and, according to its inborn purpose, may attend with due reverence to the sacred rites of the immortal gods. And so that you may know how welcome your request on this matter has been to us, our soul is most eager to do kindness. Even without decrees and without a petition, of our own free will, we permit you to ask whatever great gift you wish in return for this god-loving purpose of yours. 15 “Ask now to do this and to receive it, for you will obtain it without any delay. Once granted to your city, it will bear witness for all time to your god-loving piety toward the immortal gods. It will also show, to your sons and descendants, that you received from our kindness the rewards you deserved for this choice of life.” This was posted up against us in every province. It shut out every good hope for us, at least as far as men were concerned, so that, in keeping with that divine saying, even the elect were, if possible, made to stumble by it. [Matthew 24:24]

16 Then, when the hope of most had almost died away, those who were carrying out the decree against us were suddenly still on the road in some regions. At that moment God, the champion of his own church, as if stopping the tyrant’s boasting against us, showed his heavenly help on our behalf.

Chapter 8

The Misfortunes Which Happened in Connection with These Things, in Famine, Pestilence, and War.

1 The usual winter rains and showers did not fall on the earth as they customarily did, and an unexpected famine struck. A plague followed it, and then another disease besides. This was an ulcer, which because of its fiery character was aptly called a carbuncle. It spread over the whole body and put those who suffered from it in grave danger. It attacked the eyes most of all, and so it left countless men, together with women and children, blind. 3 On top of these troubles, the tyrant found himself facing war with the Armenians. They had been friends and allies of the Romans from ancient times. They were Christians too, and earnest in their devotion to God. This God-hating man tried to force them to sacrifice to idols and demons, and so he turned friends into enemies and allies into foes. All these things came together suddenly at one and the same time, and they exposed the tyrant’s boasting against God. He had been bold enough to boast that, because of his zeal for idols and his siege against us, no famine, no plague and no war had happened in his reign. Now all these fell on him together, at the same moment, and they were the first signs of his coming downfall.

5 He himself, along with his armies, was worn down by the war with the Armenians. Meanwhile famine and plague together wore down terribly the rest of the people living in the cities under his rule, so that a single measure of wheat sold for two thousand five hundred Attic drachmas. Countless people died in the cities, and still more in the fields and villages. The old registers, which had listed large numbers of country people, were almost entirely wiped out, since nearly everyone perished together from lack of food and from the plague. 7 Some people were willing to sell their dearest possessions to the better-off for the smallest scrap of food. Others sold their property bit by bit and were driven to the last extreme of need. Some chewed small wisps of grass and ate harmful plants without restraint, and they ruined their bodies and died. Some of the well-born women in the cities, driven by want to the shameless necessity of begging, went out into the marketplaces. By the modesty of their faces and the decency of their clothing they showed that they had once been free-born women of standing.

9 Some were shriveled up like dead images and were at their last gasp. They staggered and slipped about here and there, too weak to stand, and fell down in the middle of the streets. Lying face down, they begged someone to hand them a small scrap of bread. With their lives at the last breath, they cried out that they were hungry. They had strength for that one most painful cry only. Others, who seemed to be better off, were overwhelmed by the crowd of beggars. After giving away vast amounts, they finally became harsh and unyielding, expecting that before long they would suffer the same as those who begged. As a result, dead and naked bodies lay thrown about unburied for several days in the middle of the marketplaces and narrow streets, a most pitiful sight to those who saw them. 11 Some bodies even became food for dogs. For this reason especially, the living turned to killing dogs, for fear that the dogs would go mad and begin to eat human beings. The plague also devoured whole households and families, and especially those whom the famine could not destroy because they had plenty of food. So the wealthy, the rulers, the governors and countless officials, as though the famine had left them behind on purpose for the plague, suffered a sharp and very swift death. Everything was full of wailing. In every narrow street, marketplace and broad road there was nothing else to see but mourning, with the flutes and drums that usually go with it.

14 In this way death went to war with the two weapons already described, plague and famine together, and in a short time devoured whole families. One could see the bodies of two or three dead people being carried out in a single funeral. Such was the reward for Maximinus’ boasting and for the decrees against us passed in the cities. It was then that the zeal and godliness of the Christians in everything became plain to all the nations. For they alone, in such a crisis of troubles, showed their sympathy and love for their fellow men by their actions. All day long some of them devoted themselves to caring for the dying and burying them (there were countless thousands who had no one to look after them). Others gathered together in one place the great crowd of those wasting away from hunger all over the city, and distributed bread to them all. The thing became famous among all people, and they glorified the God of the Christians. Convinced by the facts themselves, they confessed that these alone were truly godly and worshipers of God.

15 When these things had happened in this way, the great and heavenly God, the champion of the Christians, had shown through the events described his threat and anger against all people for what they had done to us in such excess. He then gave back to us the kindly, bright light of his care for us. As in deep darkness, he made a light of peace shine on us from himself, most unexpectedly. He made it plain to everyone that God himself has always watched over our affairs. From time to time he scourges his people and turns them back through hard circumstances. But again, after sufficient discipline, he appears gracious and kind to those who put their hopes in him.

Chapter 9

The Victory of the God-Beloved Emperors.

1 Thus it was, as we said before, that Constantine, an emperor and the son of an emperor, a godly man born of a most godly and altogether self-controlled father, and Licinius, who came next after him, both honored for their understanding and godliness, were raised up by God, the all-sovereign King and Savior of the universe. These two God-beloved men were raised up against the two most ungodly tyrants. They drew up their forces in formal war, with God fighting on their side. At Rome, Maxentius fell in a most astonishing way at the hands of Constantine. The ruler in the East did not outlive him for long, and he too died a most shameful death at the hands of Licinius, who had not yet gone mad.^[273] 3 Constantine was first. He was first in honor and in rank of rule, and he took pity on those tyrannized at Rome. He called on the God of heaven in prayer, and on his Word, Jesus Christ himself, the Savior of all, to be his ally. Then he marched out with his whole army, seeking to win back for the Romans the freedom of their ancestors. Maxentius trusted more in magic tricks than in the goodwill of his subjects. He did not dare to go even as far as the city gates. Instead he fortified every place, district and city under his control around Rome and throughout Italy with countless heavy-armed troops and innumerable companies of soldiers. But the emperor, strengthened by the alliance of God, attacked the tyrant’s first, second and third armies. He defeated them all with ease, advanced a very long way into Italy, and was already very close to Rome.

5 Then, so that Constantine would not be forced to fight the Romans on the tyrant’s account, God himself drew the tyrant far away from the gates, as if with chains. What was written long ago in the sacred books against the ungodly, which most people disbelieved as if it were a fable but which believers trusted, God now confirmed. To put it simply, by plain evidence he confirmed it to everyone, believers and unbelievers alike, who had received the wonder with their own eyes. As in the time of Moses himself and the ancient God-fearing nation of the Hebrews, “He threw Pharaoh’s chariots and his army into the sea; he drowned his chosen riders and officers in the Red Sea; the deep covered them.” In the same way Maxentius, with the soldiers and bodyguards around him, “sank into the depths like a stone.” This happened when he turned his back before the power of God that was with Constantine and crossed the river in front of his line of march. He himself had joined boats together and built a solid bridge over it, and so had made a machine of destruction against himself.^[274] [Exodus 15:4-5]

7 Of him one could say: “He dug a pit and opened it up, and he will fall into the hole he made. His trouble will return on his own head, and his injustice will come down on his own crown.” So the bridge of boats over the river broke apart, and the crossing gave way. All at once the boats, with everyone aboard, went down into the deep. First went that most ungodly man himself, and then the guards around him, just as the divine oracles proclaim: “They sank like lead in mighty water.”^[275] [Exodus 15:10] 8 So it was fitting that those who won the victory from God did what Moses, the great servant of God, and his companions had done. If they did not do it in words, they did so in deeds. They sang, in effect, the very words once spoken against the ancient ungodly tyrant: “Let us sing to the Lord, for he has been gloriously glorified. Horse and rider he threw into the sea. The Lord became my helper and protector for salvation.” And: “Who is like you among the gods, Lord? Who is like you? Among the holy ones, wonderful in glories, doing wonders.”^[276] [Exodus 15:1-2; Exodus 15:11]

10 Constantine sang these praises, and others like them, to God, the ruler of all and the cause of his victory. He sang them in deeds, and then rode into Rome in triumph. Everyone together welcomed him: even the smallest children and the women, the members of the senate and the other most distinguished men, and the whole Roman people. They received him with shining eyes and with their whole souls, as a deliverer, savior and benefactor, with shouts of praise and insatiable joy. But Constantine, who had a natural piety toward God, was not shaken at all by the shouting or lifted up by the praise. He was fully aware that his help came from God. So he immediately ordered that a trophy of the Savior’s suffering be set up beneath the hand of his own image. They set him up in the most public place in Rome, holding the saving sign of the cross in his right hand, and he commanded that these words be inscribed beneath it in the Roman language:

12 “By this saving sign, the true proof of courage, I saved your city from the yoke of the tyrant and set it free. I also set free the senate and the people of Rome, and restored them to their ancient distinction and splendor.” After this, Constantine himself and with him the emperor Licinius, who had not yet turned aside in mind to the madness into which he later fell, sought the favor of God, the source of their blessings. With one purpose and one mind they drew up a full and most complete law on behalf of the Christians. They sent to Maximinus, who still ruled the peoples of the East and was pretending friendship toward those two, an account of the wonders God had done for them, of the victory over the tyrant, and the law itself. 14 But Maximinus, like the tyrant he was, was deeply pained at what he learned. He did not want to seem to give way to others, and yet for fear of those who had given the order he did not want to suppress it. So, as though on his own authority, he wrote this first letter, under compulsion, to the governors under him on behalf of the Christians. In it he falsely made up claims about himself, about things he had never done. Copy of a translation of the letter of the tyrant Maximinus: “Jovius Maximinus Augustus to Sabinus. I am confident that it is clear both to your Firmness and to all people that our lords Diocletian and Maximian, our fathers, saw that almost all people had abandoned the worship of the gods and mixed themselves in with the nation of the Christians. They therefore ordered that all who had departed from the worship of those same immortal gods should be called back to the worship of the gods by open chastisement and punishment.

16 “But when I first came to the East, with good fortune, I learned that in some places very many people who could benefit the public were being banished by the judges for the reason stated above. So I gave orders to each of the judges that from then on none of them should treat the provincials harshly, but should call them back to the worship of the gods with flattery and encouragement. Then, when the judges kept to what was commanded, in line with my order, it happened that no one in the regions of the East was banished or abused. Rather, because no harshness was used against them, they were called back to the worship of the gods.” 18 Afterward, last year, when I came to Nicomedia under favorable auspices and was staying there, citizens of that city came to me together with the images of their gods. They urgently begged that such a people should by no means be allowed to live in their homeland. But I learned that very many men of that same religion lived in those districts. So I answered them that I was glad to thank them for their request, but that I saw it was not made by everyone. If, then, some were persisting in the same superstition, each one was free to follow his own choice, even if he wished to acknowledge the worship of the gods.

19 Nevertheless, I was obliged to answer the people of that city and the other cities as well, which have made the same request to me with such great eagerness, namely that not a single Christian should live in their cities. I told them that all the ancient emperors had kept to this very policy, and that it pleased the gods, through whom all men and the very administration of public affairs stand firm, that I should confirm this great request which they bring forward on behalf of the worship of their deity. 20 So, although letters were sent to you before this, and orders were likewise given, that the provincials should take no harsh measures against such a people but should deal with them patiently and moderately, nevertheless I thought it fitting to remind your firmness by this letter as well. They are not to suffer insults or extortions at the hands of the beneficiarii or of anyone else who happens along. You are to lead our provincials, by flattery and exhortation, rather to acknowledge the gods.

22 Therefore, if anyone of his own choice takes up the acknowledgment of the gods, it is right to welcome such people. But if some wish to follow their own religion, you are to leave that in their power. So your devotion must keep to what has been entrusted to you. No one is to be given the authority to abuse our provincials with insults and extortions, since, as written above, it is right to call our people back to the worship of the gods by exhortations and flattery. And so that this command of ours may come to the knowledge of all our provincials, you must make known what has been ordered by an edict published by you. 24 Maximinus gave these orders because necessity forced him, not because he agreed with them himself. So no one trusted him any longer or thought him honest, because after a similar concession earlier he had already shown himself changeable and false. So none of our people dared to hold a meeting or even to show himself in public. His letter did not allow even this. It merely ordered that we be protected from harassment. It did not command that we hold meetings, or build houses for churches, or carry out any of our usual practices.

25 Yet Constantine and Licinius, the heralds of peace and piety, had written to him to allow these things, and had granted them to all their own subjects by public notices and laws. But this most impious man had not chosen to yield on this point, until at last, driven by divine justice, he was brought to it against his will.

Chapter 10

The Overthrow of the Tyrants and the Words, Which They Uttered Before Their Death.

1 Heading: The Overthrow of the Tyrants and the Words They Spoke Before Their Death. What brought him around to this end was something like the following. He could no longer bear the greatness of the power that had been entrusted to him without deserving it. Lacking any sober, kingly judgment, he handled affairs crudely. His soul was lifted up senselessly in boastful pride over everything. He even began to dare to act insolently against his fellow rulers. In every respect they were far above him: in birth, upbringing and education, in rank and understanding, and, most important of all, in self-control and in reverence toward the true God. He began first to claim for himself the highest honors. 3 He pushed his madness to the point of frenzy. He broke the agreements he had made with Licinius and launched a war with no truce. In a short time he had thrown everything into confusion and stirred up every city. He gathered his whole army, countless thousands strong, and marched out to meet Licinius in battle. His soul was puffed up with hopes in demons, whom he took to be gods, and with his tens of thousands of heavily armed soldiers. But when the two armies came to blows, he was left without the watchful care of God. The victory was granted to Licinius by the one and only God of all.

4 First, he lost the army he had trusted in. His bodyguards stripped him bare and left him completely alone, and they fled to the man who was then winning. The wretch quickly took off the imperial dress, which did not suit him, and in a cowardly, ignoble and unmanly way slipped into the crowd. Then he ran away. He hid in fields and villages to protect his life, and he barely escaped the hands of his enemies. By these very events he proved that the divine oracles are faithful and true, where it is said: 6 “A king is not saved by power, and a giant will not be saved by his great strength. A horse is a false hope for safety, and he will not be saved by the greatness of his power. Look, the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those who hope in his mercy, to rescue their souls from death.” So the tyrant, filled with shame, came back to his own territories. First, in a frenzy of rage, he put to death many priests and prophets of the gods he had once admired. Their oracles had fired him up to take on the war, and he killed them as sorcerers and frauds and, above all, as betrayers of his safety. Then he gave glory to the God of the Christians, and he issued a law securing their freedom in the fullest and most complete terms. Immediately afterward he died a terrible death, with no time given him. The law he sent out was as follows: a copy of the tyrant’s edict on behalf of the Christians, translated from the Latin language into Greek.

7 Emperor Caesar Gaius Valerius Maximinus, Germanicus, Sarmaticus, devout, fortunate, unconquered, Augustus. We believe it is clear that everyone knows, and each person is aware in himself, that we always take thought in every way for the good of our provincials. We wish to provide them with the things by which their advantage is best secured: whatever serves their common benefit and usefulness, whatever suits the public good, and whatever is dear to the minds of each. 8 Earlier it became clear to us that the command of our parents, the most divine Diocletian and Maximian, ordering the Christians’ assemblies to be abolished, was made a pretext. Many extortions and seizures were committed by officials, and this kept growing worse against our provincials, whom we are especially eager to look after properly, and their own property was being worn away. So last year we sent letters to the governors of each province and decreed that, if anyone wished to follow such a custom or keep the same religious observance, he should be allowed to hold to his purpose without hindrance, should be blocked and prevented by no one, and should be free to do what pleases him without any fear or suspicion.

10 Even now, however, it has not escaped us that some of the judges have disregarded our orders. They made our people doubt our instructions, and made them more hesitant about approaching the forms of worship that they liked. So that from now on every suspicion and doubtful fear may be removed, we have ordered that this decree be posted publicly. It is to be clear to all that those who wish to follow this sect and religion are permitted to do so by this gift of ours. Each person may take up this worship as he wishes and as pleases him, the religion he has chosen to practice by custom. It is also permitted to them to build their own Lord’s houses. 11 So that our gift may be even greater, we have also thought it right to decree this. If any houses or lands formerly belonged to the Christians by right, and through the order of our parents passed to the right of the imperial treasury, or were seized by some city, whether they were sold or given to someone as a gift, we have ordered all of these to be restored to the former right of the Christians. In this too, let all perceive our piety and our care.

12 These were the tyrant’s own words, spoken less than a year after he had set up his decrees against the Christians on pillars. A little earlier, in his eyes, we were impious and godless, the ruin of all human life. We were not allowed to live in a city, or even in the countryside or the wilderness. Now this same man was drawing up orders and laws on behalf of the Christians. Those who shortly before had been destroyed by fire and sword, and given to wild beasts and birds to devour, before the tyrant’s own eyes, had endured every kind of torture and punishment, and had died most pitifully as godless and impious people. These same people were now acknowledged by him as practicing a religion, were permitted to repair their Lord’s houses, and the tyrant himself testified and admitted that they had certain rights. 14 Having made such confessions, as though he had received a favor, he suffered less than he should have suffered for these very deeds. Struck by a sudden scourge of God, he met his end in the second engagement of the war. His end was not like that of generals and commanders, who often fight bravely in battle for honor and for their friends, and bravely face a glorious death. Instead, like an impious man who made war against God, while his army was still drawn up before the field, he stayed at home in hiding and paid the penalty he deserved. God struck his whole body with a sudden scourge. He was driven by terrible pains and agonies and fell on his face, wasting away from hunger. His flesh was entirely melted by an invisible fire sent from God, so that it ran away. The whole look of his old form disappeared, and all that was left was a kind of ghost of dry bones, like a skeleton dried out over a long time. Those who were present could think of nothing else than that his body had become a tomb for his soul, which was buried in a body already dead and completely wasted away.

16 The heat burned him still more fiercely from deep in his marrow. His eyes burst out and fell from their sockets, and left him blind. Even then, while still breathing, he confessed to the Lord in reply, and called on death. At the very last he admitted that he was justly suffering these things for his drunken violence against Christ, and gave up his soul.

Chapter 11

The Final Destruction of the Enemies of Religion.

2 So Maximinus was removed. He was the only enemy of true godliness still left, and he had shown himself the worst of them all. By the grace of God the Almighty, the rebuilding of the churches from their foundations began. The word of Christ shone out to the glory of the God of the universe and gained greater freedom than before. Meanwhile the impiety of the enemies of godliness was filled with the utmost shame and dishonor. First of all, Maximinus himself was declared by the ruling emperors to be the enemy of all. In public edicts he was posted up as a most impious, most infamous and most God-hating tyrant. All the paintings set up in every city in honor of him and his children were thrown down from their height and smashed on the ground. Others had their faces ruined by being blackened with dark paint. In the same way, all the statues that had been erected in his honor were thrown down and broken, and were left as a laughingstock and plaything for those who wanted to insult and abuse them.

4 Then the honors of the other enemies of godliness were also taken away. All who sided with Maximinus were put to death, especially those who had been honored with high office by him and who, out of flattery toward him, had arrogantly and drunkenly abused our teaching. One of these was Peucetius, the one he honored and respected above all, the most trusted of his companions, who had been consul twice and three times, and whom Maximinus had appointed chief finance minister. Another was Culcianus, who had likewise risen through every office of authority, and who was notorious for the countless Christians he had spilled the blood of in Egypt. There were also not a few others besides these, through whom above all the tyranny of Maximinus had been strengthened and increased. 6 Justice also called for Theoteknos, and did not forget what he had done against the Christians. He had set up a wooden idol at Antioch, and through it seemed to prosper, and Maximinus had already honored him with a governorship. But Licinius came to the city of Antioch and hunted down the sorcerers. He tortured the prophets and priests of the newly built idol and asked them how they carried on the fraud. Driven by the torments, they could not hide it any longer, and revealed that the whole mystery was a deception devised by the skill of Theoteknos. Licinius gave all of them the punishment they deserved. First he handed over Theoteknos himself, and then his partners in the sorcery, to death, after very many cruelties.

8 Maximinus’ sons were added to the list. He had already made them sharers in the imperial honor by having their names and portraits displayed on tablets and paintings. The tyrant’s relatives had once been boastful and had risen high in their power to oppress everyone. They now suffered the same fate as those already mentioned, along with the utmost disgrace. They had not accepted instruction. They neither knew nor understood the exhortation in the sacred writings: “Do not put your trust in rulers, in the sons of men, in whom there is no salvation. His spirit will go out and return to his earth. On that day all their plans will perish.” 9 So when the ungodly had been cleared away, the rightful rule was kept secure and unchallenged for Constantine and Licinius alone. They had first cleansed human life of hatred toward God. They were aware of the good things God had granted them, and they showed their love of virtue and of God, and their reverence and gratitude toward the divine, through their legislation on behalf of the Christians.

Book 10

Chapter 1

The Peace Granted Us by God.

2 Thanks be to God, the Almighty and King of all, for everything. The greatest thanks go to Jesus Christ, the Saviour and Redeemer of our souls. Through him we pray that peace may always be kept for us firm and unshaken, both from troubles outside and from troubles of the mind. Together with your prayers, I now add this tenth book to the earlier parts of the church history, and I dedicate it to you, my most holy Paulinus. I call on you aloud as the seal of the whole work.^[277] 4 It is fitting that in this perfect number we place the perfect festal address on the renewal of the churches. In doing so we obey the divine Spirit, who commands us somewhat like this: “Sing a new song to the Lord, for he has done wonderful things. His right hand and his holy arm have saved him. The Lord has made known his salvation. In the sight of the nations he has revealed his righteousness.” So, following the saying that commands the new song, let us now cry out in the same spirit. After those terrible and dark sights and stories, we have now been counted worthy to see and celebrate such things as many truly righteous men and martyrs of God before us longed to see on earth and did not see, and to hear and did not hear.^[278]

6 But those men hurried on and quickly received far better things. They were taken up into the heavens themselves and into the paradise of divine delight. We, however, admit that even what we have now is greater than we deserve. We are astonished at the grace of the generosity of the one who gave it. We rightly marvel and revere him with all the strength of our souls. We also bear witness to the truth of the written predictions, in which it says: “Come and see the works of the Lord, the wonders he has set on the earth. He puts an end to wars to the ends of the world. He will break the bow and crush the weapon, and burn the shields with fire.” We rejoice that these words have been plainly fulfilled for us, and so let us continue with the account that follows.^[279] 8 The whole race of God-haters had been wiped out in the way already described. They had been so completely blotted out from the sight of men that another divine saying was fulfilled: “I saw the ungodly man highly exalted and lifted up like the cedars of Lebanon. Then I passed by, and look, he was gone. I searched for his place, and it was not found.” From then on a bright, clear day, with no cloud to cast a shadow, shone on the churches of Christ throughout the whole world with rays of heavenly light. There was no ill will, even toward those outside our company, over sharing in these things. If they could not share equally, they could still share in the overflow of the good things God had granted us.^[280]

Chapter 2

The Restoration of the Churches.

1 So all people were free from the oppression of the tyrants. Delivered from their former evils, each in his own way acknowledged as the only true God the champion of the godly. But for us especially, who had fastened our hopes on the Christ of God, there was unspeakable gladness. A God-given joy bloomed in everyone. We saw every place that a little before had been ruined by the ungodliness of the tyrants coming back to life, as if recovering from a long and deadly plague. We saw church buildings rising again from their foundations to an immense height, and taking on a splendor far greater than that of the old ones that had been ravaged long ago.^[281] 2 The supreme emperors also kept confirming, by a steady stream of laws in favor of Christians, the great gifts we had received from God, and they strengthened them still further. Letters from the emperor also came to the bishops personally, along with honors and gifts of money. It would not be out of place, at the right point in the narrative, to engrave their words in this book, as on a sacred pillar. I have translated them from the Roman language into Greek, so that they may be remembered by all who come after us.^[282]

Chapter 3

The Dedications in Every Place.

2 After this, the sight that we all had prayed and longed for took shape. There were festivals of dedication in the cities, and consecrations of the newly built houses of prayer. Bishops gathered in one place, people hurried in from distant foreign lands, and one people showed kindness to another. The members of Christ’s body came together into one harmony. This was in keeping with a prophecy that foretold the future in a hidden way: bone was joined to bone and joint to joint. So too was everything else that the inspired word had truthfully foretold in riddles.^[283] [Ezekiel 37:7] 4 One power of the divine Spirit passed through all the members. There was one soul in all, the same eagerness of faith, and one hymn of praise to God from everyone. The leaders carried out the full round of worship, and the priests performed the sacred rites, along with the ordinances of the church that are fitting for God. In one place this was done with psalm-singing and the hearing of the other words handed down to us from God. In another it was done with divine and mystical services, and the unspeakable symbols of the Savior’s suffering were observed. At the same time people of every age, male and female, honored God, the source of all good things. They did so with prayers and thanksgiving, with all the strength of their minds, and with glad hearts and souls. Each of the leaders present also delivered festive speeches, as far as his ability allowed, and so gave the celebration a divine character.

Chapter 4

Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.

2 Then one of the men of modest ability stepped into the middle. He had composed a speech, and he gave it as if in a church assembly, with a great many pastors present, listening in quiet and good order. He addressed it to one man, a bishop who was in every way excellent and beloved of God. It was through this bishop’s zeal that the temple at Tyre, the most splendid in the whole Phoenician region, had been lavishly built. The speech was as follows. “A Festal Address on the Building of the Churches, addressed to Paulinus, Bishop of Tyre. Friends of God and priests, you who are clothed in the holy long robe, the heavenly crown of glory, the divine anointing and the priestly garment of the Holy Spirit; and you, the solemn pride of this new holy temple of God. God has honored you with the wisdom of age, yet you have shown costly works and deeds of young and vigorous virtue. To you God himself, who holds the whole world in his hand, has given the special honor of building and renewing his house on earth for Christ, his only-begotten and first-born Word, and for Christ’s holy bride, who is fitting for God...”

5 “...whether someone would call you a new Bezalel, the architect of a divine tabernacle, or Solomon, king of a new and far better Jerusalem, or a new Zerubbabel, who put a far greater glory than the former one on the temple of God. And you also, nurslings of Christ’s sacred flock, home of good words, school of self-control, and reverent, God-loving hearers of true religion: in earlier times we received through the divine readings, by hearing alone, God’s marvelous signs and the Lord’s wonderful acts of kindness to men. Then we could send up hymns and songs to God, and we were taught to say, ‘O God, we have heard with our ears; our fathers have told us the work you did in their days, in days of old.’”^[284] [Psalm 44:1] 7 “But now we no longer receive the high arm and the heavenly right hand of our all-good God and King of all merely by hearing or by the report of words. We see with our own eyes, so to speak, in actual deeds, that what was long ago handed down in memory is faithful and true. So we can sing a second hymn of victory, and say plainly, ‘As we heard, so we have seen, in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God.’ What city is that? Is it not this newly built city, built by God? It is the church of the living God, ‘pillar and foundation of the truth.’ Of it another divine oracle also proclaims the good news in these words: ‘Glorious things were spoken of you, O city of God.’ The all-good God has brought us together to this city through the grace of his only-begotten Son. So let each of those who have been called here sing out, almost shouting, ‘I was glad when they said to me, We shall go to the house of the Lord,’ and ‘Lord, I have loved the beauty of your house and the place where your glory dwells.’”^[285] [Psalm 48:8; 1 Timothy 3:15; Psalm 122:1]

8 Let us not praise him only one by one. Let us all together, with one spirit and one soul, cry out in honor of him, saying, “Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, in the city of our God, on his holy mountain.” For he is truly great, and great is his house, lofty and long, and more beautiful than the sons of men. Great is the Lord, who alone works wonders. Great is he who does great and unsearchable things, glorious and extraordinary, past counting. Great is he who changes times and seasons, who removes kings and sets them up, who raises the poor from the earth and lifts the needy from the dung heap. He has brought down rulers from their thrones, lifted up the lowly from the earth, filled the hungry with good things, and broken the arms of the proud.^[286] [Psalm 48:1; Daniel 2:21; Luke 1:52-53] 9 He has confirmed the memory of the ancient accounts not only to believers but also to unbelievers. He is the worker of wonders and great deeds, the Master of all, the Creator of the whole world, the Almighty, the all-good, the one and only God. To him let us sing the new song. In our minds we add, “To him who alone does wonders, for his mercy endures forever; to him who struck down great kings and killed mighty kings, for his mercy endures forever; for in our humiliation the Lord remembered us and ransomed us from our enemies.”^[287]

11 As we praise the Father of all in these words, may we never stop. And let us honor with our lips the one who is the second source of our blessings: Jesus, the guide into the knowledge of God, the teacher of true godliness, the destroyer of the ungodly, the slayer of tyrants, the reformer of life, the Savior of us who had been given up as lost. For he alone is the all-good Son of an all-good Father, and he alone was willing to share the nature of us who lay in corruption below. He did this by the purpose of the Father’s love for mankind. He is like an excellent physician who, for the sake of the sick, looks on terrible things, touches what is repulsive, and reaps grief of his own from the misfortunes of others. We were not only sick, or weighed down with terrible sores and wounds already festering. We were lying among the dead. Yet he saved us for himself out of the very depths of death. For none of those in heaven had strength enough to serve the salvation of so many without being harmed.

12 He alone, then, has touched our grievous corruption. He alone has endured our labors. He alone has taken on himself the penalties for our ungodly deeds. He took us up, not as half-dead, but as men lying altogether in graves and tombs, already foul and stinking. Both long ago and now, by his zeal for mankind, beyond the hope of anyone, even ourselves, he saves us and shares with us the Father’s goods in full abundance. He is the giver of life, the bringer of light, our great physician, king and lord, the Christ of God. 13 Once, when the whole human race lay buried in dark night and deep gloom through the deceits of destroying demons and the working of God-hating spirits, he simply appeared. As wax is melted, so by the rays of his light he undid the many-knotted chains of our ungodliness. 14 But now, at such grace and kindness, the demon who hates what is good and loves evil is almost bursting with envy. He has marshaled all his deadly forces against us. First, like a mad dog, he gnashed his teeth at the stones thrown at him and vented his rage on the lifeless missiles instead of those defending themselves. He set his beastly fury against the stones of our houses of prayer and the lifeless timber of our buildings, and, as he supposed, he made the churches desolate. Then he let out terrible hissing and snake-like cries, now in the threats of ungodly tyrants, now in the blasphemous decrees of wicked rulers. He also belched out his own death, drugging the souls he had captured with his venomous, soul-destroying poisons and almost killing them with the death-dealing sacrifices to dead idols. And he stirred up against us every beast in human form and every kind of savage—

15 Once again, and as if from the beginning, the Angel of the great counsel appeared. He is God’s great commander-in-chief. His greatest soldiers had already shown, by their endurance and steadfastness in everything, that they had trained enough. Then he suddenly appeared and reduced his hostile enemies to nothing, out of sight, so that they seem never to have been named. But those who are his own and dear to him he raised above all glory. He did this not only among all people but also among the powers of heaven, the sun and moon and stars, and the whole heaven and world.^[288] 16 So now, as never before, the highest kings of all are aware of the honor they have received from him. They spit on the faces of dead idols and trample the lawless rules of demons. They laugh at the old deceit handed down from their fathers. They recognize him alone as God, the common benefactor of all and of themselves. They confess Christ as the Son of God and King of the whole universe. They proclaim him Savior on monuments, writing his achievements and his victories over the ungodly in royal lettering, to be remembered forever, in the middle of the ruling city of the earth. So of all who have lived since the beginning of time, Jesus Christ our Savior alone is acknowledged, even by the highest rulers on earth, not as an ordinary king from among men. He is worshiped as the true Son of the God of all, and as God himself. And this is only right.^[289]

18 For what king who ever lived has had so much excellence that he filled the ears and tongues of all people on earth with his name? What king has given laws so godly and wise, and made them strong enough to be read continually in the hearing of all people, from the ends of the earth to the farthest edges of the whole inhabited world? Who has done away with the barbarous and savage customs of wild nations by his own gentle and kindly laws? Who has been attacked by everyone for whole ages and yet shown a virtue beyond human, so that he flourishes every day and stays young throughout his whole life? 20 Who has founded a nation never heard of from the beginning of the ages, a nation not hidden in some corner of the earth but spread over everything under the sun? Who has so fenced in his soldiers with the weapons of godliness that their souls shine out, harder than adamant, in the contests against their opponents? What king has such power, and even leads his army after death? He sets up trophies over his enemies. He fills every place, country and city, Greek and barbarian, with his royal houses and with the dedicated gifts of his divine temples. Such are the beautiful ornaments and offerings of this very temple. They are truly solemn and great, worthy of astonishment and wonder, and clear proofs of the kingdom of our Savior. For now too “he himself spoke, and they came to be; he himself commanded, and they were created.” What was there that could stand against the nod of the King of all, the Ruler of all, God the Word himself? All this needs a discourse of its own, with time for careful examination and explanation.^[290]

21 It would also need a discourse to tell how great and of what kind was the eagerness of those who labored, as it has been judged by him who is called God. He looks upon the living temple that all of us make up. He watches over the house built of living and firm stones, well and securely set on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Jesus Christ himself is the cornerstone. He was rejected not only by the builders of that old building, which no longer exists, but also by the builders of the structure of the many, which still stands today. These were evil architects of evil work. But the Father approved him, both then and now, and set him as the head of the corner of this church that we share.^[291] [Ephesians 2:20-22; 1 Peter 2:4-7; Matthew 21:42] 23 So who, having seen this living temple of the living God, built up from yourselves, would dare to describe it? I mean the greatest sanctuary, truly worthy of God. Its innermost shrines, which most people never see, are truly holy, the holy of holies. Who is able even to look inside its sacred courts, except the great High Priest of all? He alone has the right to search out the hidden things of every rational soul. Perhaps one other can rank second after him, and only one among equals. That is the leader who presides over this company. The first and great High Priest himself honored him with the second place among the priests here. He made him shepherd of your God-inspired flock, since your people fell to him by the Father’s lot and judgment. He set him in place as his own servant and spokesman, the new Aaron or Melchizedek, made like the Son of God. May he remain, and may he be kept by him always, through the shared prayers of all of you.^[292] [Hebrews 7:3]

24 To him alone, then, after the first and greatest High Priest, let it be granted, if not the first place, at least the second: to look upon and oversee the innermost life of your souls. He has tested each one carefully by experience and length of time. By his zeal and care he has set you all in good order, in conduct and teaching that accord with godliness. And he is better able than anyone to give an account, in words that match the works, of what he himself has accomplished with divine power. 25 Our first and great High Priest, he says, does whatever he sees the Father doing, and the Son does these things in the same way. This man too looks to him as his first teacher, with the pure eyes of the mind. Whatever he sees him doing, he takes as an original pattern and works out images of it, making them as close to the likeness as he possibly can. He falls nothing short of Bezalel, whom God himself filled with the Spirit of wisdom and understanding and every other skill and knowledge, and appointed to build the tent of worship in the likeness of heavenly patterns, given through symbols.^[293] [John 5:19; Exodus 31:2-5]

26 In this way, then, he too carries the whole Christ, the Word, the Wisdom, the Light, as an image within his own soul. And so he has built this magnificent temple of God Most High, like the greater temple in its nature, as something seen is like something unseen. I cannot say with what greatness of mind and with what rich and tireless generosity of thought he did it. I cannot say with what ambition on the part of all of you, in the large-hearted giving of your contributions, each of you proudly competing not to fall behind him in the same purpose. As for this site, which deserves mention before everything else, it had been left full of all kinds of filth through the schemes of our enemies. He did not overlook it, and he did not give way to the wickedness of those who caused this. He could have gone elsewhere, since the city had countless other sites, and found an easier task and freedom from trouble.^[294]

28 First he roused himself to the work. Then he strengthened the whole people with eagerness and gathered them all into one great body. This was the first contest he fought. It was for this very church, the one the enemies had besieged, which had labored first and endured the same persecutions as we did, and before us. Like a mother robbed of her children, he thought she should share in the great gift of the all-good God. For the great Shepherd drove away the beasts and wolves and every cruel and savage kind. He crushed the jaws of the lions, as the divine oracles say. Then he saw fit to bring the children together again in the same place. Most rightly, then, he set up again the fold of the flock, to put the enemy and avenger to shame, and to bring a refutation against the God-fighting daring of the ungodly.^[295] [Psalm 58:6]

30 And now the God-haters are no more, because in truth they never were. For a short time they troubled others and were themselves troubled. Then they paid a penalty that no one could fault as unjust, and they brought utter ruin on themselves, their friends and their households. So the predictions written long ago on sacred tablets are acknowledged as true by the facts. The divine word proves true in other matters, and it also declares this about them: “The sinners have drawn the sword and bent their bow, to bring down the poor and needy, to slaughter the upright in heart. May their sword enter their own heart, and may their bows be broken.” And again: “Their memorial has perished with a noise, and you have blotted out their name forever and ever. For even when they fell into evils they cried out to the Lord, and there was no one to save them, and he did not listen to them. They were bound together and fell, but we have risen and been set upright.” And the saying that foretells it, “Lord, in your city you will despise their image,” has been shown true before the eyes of all.

32 Those men started a war against God, as the giants did, and they have met such an end to their lives. But look at the desolate one, whom even people had given up as hopeless. Such are the outcomes of her endurance for God’s sake, which we now see, that the prophecy of Isaiah can cry out to her these words: “Rejoice, thirsty desert; let the desert exult and bloom like a lily. The desert places will bloom and exult. Be strong, you slackened hands and paralyzed knees. Take courage, you faint of mind; be strong, do not fear. Behold, our God gives judgment in return and will repay. He himself will come and save us.” For, he says, “water has burst forth in the wilderness, and a ravine in thirsty land. The waterless land will become marshes, and in the thirsty land there will be a spring of water.” [Isaiah 35:1-2; Isaiah 35:3-4; Isaiah 35:6-7]

33 These things were foretold in words long ago and laid down in sacred books. But the events themselves have come to us no longer by hearing but by fact. This desert, this waterless land, this widow left unprotected, “whose gates they cut down with axes as in a thicket of wood, all together, breaking her with hatchet and chisel”; whose books they destroyed, “burning the sanctuary of God with fire, and profaning to the ground the dwelling of his name”; “whom all who passed by on the road plucked,” after first tearing down her hedges; “whom the boar out of the forest ravaged, and the wild beast grazed upon.” Now by the marvelous power of Christ, when he himself wills it, she has become like a lily. For even then she was being disciplined at his nod, like a child of a caring father. “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and scourges every son whom he receives.” [Hebrews 12:6]

34 So, having been brought round in due measure, she is commanded to rejoice again from the beginning. She blooms like a lily and breathes out a divine fragrance to all people. “For water,” he says, “has burst forth in the wilderness”: this is the stream of the divine, saving washing of new birth. Now she who a little while ago was desert has become marshland, and a spring of living water has gushed up in the thirsty land. The hands that were once slack have truly been strengthened, and these great and plain proofs are the works of that strength. The knees too, once worn out and loose, have regained their footing. They walk straight along the road of the knowledge of God, hurrying to their own flock, that of the all-good Shepherd. [Isaiah 35:6-7] 36 And if some have been numbed in their souls by the threats of the tyrants, the saving Word does not overlook even these and leave them untreated. He heals them thoroughly and urges them on to the comfort that comes from God, saying, “Take courage, you faint of mind; be strong, do not fear.” This new and noble Zerubbabel of ours heard with the sharp ear of his mind what the Word foretold, that she who had been made desolate for God’s sake should enjoy these things. After that bitter captivity and “the abomination of desolation,” he did not disregard the fallen body lying dead. First of all, with entreaties and prayers, and with the united agreement of all of you, he won the Father’s favor. He took as ally and fellow-worker the only one who gives life to the dead, and he raised her who had fallen, having first cleansed her and treated her of her ills. And he did not put on her the old robe from ancient times. He put on her the kind he had again been taught by the divine oracles, which say clearly: “And the last glory of this house will be greater than the former.”^[296] [Isaiah 35:4; Haggai 2:9]

38 In this way he enclosed a much larger area. He strengthened the outer boundary with a wall running around the whole site, to be the safest protection for all of it. On the east, facing the rays of the rising sun, he opened a great gateway raised to a high point. It gave even those standing far outside the sacred grounds a generous view of what lay within. It almost turned the eyes of outsiders to the faith toward the first entrances, so that no one could pass by without first being pierced to the heart. He would be reminded of the former desolation and of the present astonishing wonder. By this he hoped that such a person would be drawn in, and that the sight itself would urge him to enter. 39 When someone had passed inside the gates, the builder did not let him step at once, with unclean and unwashed feet, onto the holy places within. He left a very large space between the temple and the first entrances. He surrounded this space with four colonnades running across on each side, enclosing the place in a square shape, with columns rising all around. He closed the spaces between the columns with wooden lattice screens of moderate height. In the middle he left an open court under the sky, with bright air flooded by the rays of light.

41 Here he set up symbols of sacred cleansing. He placed fountains directly in front of the temple, and their abundant flow of water gave a place to wash for those who go inward from the sacred grounds. This is the first resting place for those entering. It adds beauty and splendor to the whole, and it gives a fitting place to stay to those who still need the first lessons. But he passed beyond this sight too, and opened the ways into the temple through still more gateways further in. Again, facing the sun’s rays, he set three doors side by side. He gave the two side doors a good deal less height and width than the middle one. The middle door he made especially splendid, with bronze plating bound with iron and with ornamental relief work. He made the side doors its attendants, as if yoked to it like bodyguards to a queen.

43 In the same way he arranged a number of gateways for the colonnades on each side of the whole temple. Above these he devised other openings into the house, to admit more light, and decorated them with fine wood carving. The royal house, the main hall, he built with richer and more lavish materials, spending without stinting. Here it seems to me unnecessary to write out the lengths and widths of the building, its dazzling beauty, its grandeur beyond words, the shining appearance of the work, its heights reaching to heaven, and above them the costly cedars of Lebanon. The divine oracle does not pass over these in silence, saying: “The trees of the Lord will rejoice, and the cedars of Lebanon, which he planted.”^[297] 44 Why should I now go into exact detail about the all-wise design of the architect and the surpassing beauty of each part, when the evidence of the eyes makes learning through the ears unnecessary? So, having finished the temple in this way, he fitted it out suitably. He provided high thrones in honor of those who preside, and benches set in order throughout the building. In the middle of everything he placed the holy of holies, the altar. Again, so that it would be closed off to the many, he fenced it in with wooden lattice work, finished with the greatest artistry, so that it offered a marvelous sight to those who looked at it.

45 Nor did he neglect the floor. He made this too shine with marble and every kind of decoration. Then he turned at last to the parts outside the temple. He skillfully built very large side chambers and halls on both sides. These were joined side by side to the royal house and linked to the entrances into the central building. Our most peaceful Solomon, the builder of the temple of God, made these also for those who still need cleansing and sprinkling with water and the Holy Spirit. So the prophecy quoted above is no longer only a word but has become a deed. 46 For it has now truly happened that “the latter glory of this house is greater than the former.” It was fitting and right that her shepherd and master once accepted death on her behalf. After the suffering he changed the soiled body that he had put on for her sake into one bright and glorious. He also brought the very flesh that had been broken down from corruption to incorruption. So she too was to enjoy the Savior’s saving works in the same way. From him she has received a far better promise than these things. She longs to receive the much greater glory of the new birth, in the resurrection of an incorruptible body, with the light of the angels’ choirs, in the royal halls of God beyond the heavens, together with Christ Jesus himself, the benefactor of all and Savior, continuing on through the ages to come.^[298] [Haggai 2:9]

48 For the present, though, by these things the church that was once a widow and desolate has been clothed by God’s grace with flowers. As the prophecy says, she has truly become “like a lily.” She has put on the bridal robe and set the crown of beauty on her head, and so she is taught through Isaiah to dance, honoring God the King with thanksgiving and words of praise. Let us listen to her as she says: “Let my soul rejoice in the Lord, for he has clothed me with a garment of salvation and a tunic of gladness. He has set a headband on me as on a bridegroom, and adorned me with ornament as a bride. As the earth makes its flower grow, and as a garden makes its seeds spring up, so the Lord, the Lord, has made righteousness and exultation spring up before all the nations.” [Isaiah 61:10-11; Isaiah 35:1]

49 With such words she dances. Now hear how the heavenly Bridegroom, the Word, Jesus Christ himself, answers her. Hear the Lord saying: “Do not be afraid that you were put to shame, and do not be humiliated that you were reproached. You will forget everlasting shame, and you will no longer remember the reproach of your widowhood. The Lord has not called you as a woman forsaken and fainthearted, nor as a woman hated from her youth,” says your God. “For a short time I forsook you, and with great mercy I will have mercy on you. In a little anger I turned my face away from you, and with everlasting mercy I will have mercy on you,” says the Lord who rescued you. [Isaiah 54:4-8] 50 “Awake, awake, you who drank from the hand of the Lord the cup of his anger. For you drank to the bottom the cup of falling, the bowl of my anger, and you drained it. There was no one to comfort you among all the children you bore, and no one to take hold of your hand. See, I have taken from your hand the cup of falling, the bowl of my anger, and you will never drink it again. I will put it into the hands of those who wronged you and humbled you.” [Isaiah 51:17-18; Isaiah 51:22-23]

51 “Awake, awake, put on your strength, put on your glory. Shake off the dust and rise up. Sit down, and loose the bond from your neck. Lift up your eyes all around and see your children gathered together. See, they have gathered and have come to you. As I live,” says the Lord, “you will put them all on like an ornament, and wrap them around you like a bride’s ornament. For your desolate places, your ruined places and your fallen places will now be too crowded with those who live in you, and those who swallowed you up will be far away.” [Isaiah 52:1-2; Isaiah 49:18-21] 53 “For the sons you lost will say in your ears, ‘The place is too narrow for me. Make room for me to live.’ And you will say in your heart, ‘Who bore me these? I was childless and a widow, and who raised these for me? I was left alone, and where were these?’” Isaiah prophesied these things. They were laid down long ago in the sacred books about us. It was necessary that sooner or later we should take hold of their truth in actual events. [Isaiah 49:20-21]

55 So the Bridegroom, the Word, cried out such things to his own bride, the sacred and holy Church. And it was fitting that this bridal attendant should raise her up. She was desolate, lying fallen, without hope in human eyes. By the common prayers of you all, stretching out your own hands, he roused her and raised her up, at the nod of God the King of all and by the manifestation of the power of Jesus Christ. Having raised her, he set her up just as she had been described in the writing of the sacred oracles. This is a very great wonder, beyond all amazement, especially to those who fix their minds only on outward appearance. But more wonderful than these wonders are the archetypes, and behind them the original patterns, spiritual and worthy of God. I mean the renewals of the God-inspired and rational building in our souls.^[299]

56 The Son of God himself made this soul in his own image. He gave it the likeness of God in every way and in every respect: an imperishable nature, without a body, rational, a stranger to all earthly matter, a being with its own power of thought. Once, at the very beginning, he brought it out of non-existence into being. He made it a holy bride and an all-holy temple for himself and for the Father. He plainly confesses this himself when he says, “I will dwell in them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Such is the perfect and cleansed soul: made this way from the beginning, fit to carry the image of the heavenly Word.^[300] [2 Corinthians 6:16; Leviticus 26:12] 57 But through the envy and jealousy of the demon who loves evil, the soul became, by her own free choice, a lover of passion and of wickedness. The divine presence withdrew from her. She was left like someone without a protector, easy prey and open to the plots of those who had long envied her. She was struck down by the siege engines and devices of her invisible enemies and spiritual foes, and she suffered a terrible fall. Not one stone of virtue was left standing on another in her. She lay entirely on the ground, dead, completely stripped of her natural thoughts about God. [Matthew 24:2]

58 So she fell, she who had been made in the image of God. She was ravaged, not by that boar out of the forest that we can see, but by a destroying demon and by wild beasts of the spirit. They set her on fire with the passions, as with flaming arrows of their own wickedness. They burned with fire the truly divine sanctuary of God, and they defiled to the ground the dwelling place of his name. Then they buried the wretched one under a great heap of earth and left her without hope of any salvation.^[301] 60 But her guardian, the Word, who shines with the light of God and brings salvation, took her up again from the beginning, after she had paid the penalty her sins deserved. He did this because he was moved by the kindness of the all-good Father. First he chose the souls of those who reign in the highest places. Through these most God-loved men he cleansed the whole world of all the impious and destructive people, and of the terrible, God-hating tyrants themselves. Then he brought into the open the men who were known to him, who had long ago been consecrated to him for life. They had been hidden under his shelter, as in a storm of evils. He honored them as they deserved with the great gifts of the Spirit. Through them he cleaned out and scoured the souls which a little before had been fouled and heaped over with every kind of rubbish and with the earth of impious decrees. He did this with the picks and mattocks of searching teaching.

61 When he had made the ground of the mind of every one of you bright and clear, he handed it over to this all-wise and God-loved leader. This leader is discerning and thoughtful in every way, and he knows well how to recognize and sort out the minds of the souls allotted to him. From the first day, one might say, he has been building, and he has not stopped even now. He fits together in all of you now bright gold, now tested and pure silver, and now precious and costly stones. In this way he fulfills in deeds, again among you, the sacred and mystical prophecy in which it is said: 63 “Behold, I am preparing your stone as a carbuncle, and your foundations as sapphire, and your battlements as jasper, and your gates as stones of crystal, and your surrounding wall as chosen stones. All your sons will be taught by God, and your children will have great peace. And you will be built in righteousness.” So, building in righteousness, he divided the strengths of all the people according to what each deserved. Some he fenced in only with the outer enclosure, walling them round with steady faith. This is a large crowd, not able to bear any better structure. To others he entrusted the entrances to the house. He appointed them to stand at the door and guide those who enter, and it is not unfitting to regard them as the forecourts of the temple. Others he set on the first pillars outside, around the square court, introducing them through the first approaches to the text of the four Gospels. Others he places side by side on either hand around the royal house. These are still catechumens, growing and advancing, yet not far removed from the vision of God enjoyed by the faithful in the innermost place.^[302] [Isaiah 54:11-14]

65 From these he takes the souls that are unspoiled, cleansed like gold by the divine washing. Here too he supports some with pillars, far better than the outermost ones, made from the innermost mystical teachings of Scripture. Others he lights up with openings toward the light. He adorns the whole temple with one very great gateway, the glorifying of the one and only God, the King of all. On either side of the Father’s authority he sets the second lights, Christ and the Holy Spirit. Throughout the whole house he shows, abundantly and in great variety, the clearness and brightness of the truth in each of the other things. From every side he approves the living, steady, well-fitted stones of souls, and out of them all he builds the great royal house. It is bright and full of light both inside and out, because not only their soul and mind but also their body was made radiant with the flowering ornament of purity and self-control.

67 In this temple there are also thrones, countless benches and seats. These are the souls in which the gifts of the divine Spirit settle, like those seen long ago among the holy apostles, to whom tongues appeared, divided like fire, and sat on each one of them. In the ruler of all, perhaps, Christ himself sits in his fullness. In those who rank second after him, he sits in proportion, according to how much of the distributions of Christ’s power and of the Holy Spirit each can receive. There could also be seats for angels, and for the souls of certain people, those who have been handed over to each one for instruction and protection. [Acts 2:3] 68 What could the solemn, great and unique altar be but the pure innermost holy of holies of the soul of the priest common to all? Beside it, on the right, stands the great High Priest of the universe, Jesus himself, the only-begotten of God. With a bright look and open, upturned hands he receives from all the sweet-smelling incense and the bloodless, immaterial sacrifices offered in prayer, and he passes them on to the Father in heaven, the God of all. He is the first to worship, and he alone gives the Father the reverence that is due him. Then he also pleads that the Father may stay kind and favorable to us always.

70 Such is the great temple that the Word, the great Creator of the universe, has built throughout the whole world under the sun. On earth he has made it a spiritual image of the heavenly vaults beyond, so that through the whole creation, and through the reasoning living beings on earth, his Father may be honored and worshiped. But the place above the heavens, and the patterns there of the things here, no mortal can praise as they deserve. This is the so-called Jerusalem above, the heavenly Mount Zion, the city of the living God beyond the world. In it countless angels, a festal gathering and the church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, honor their Maker and the Ruler of all with praises of God that we cannot utter or reckon. No mortal can do this, because “eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and it has not entered the heart of man,” these very things “which God has prepared for those who love him.”^[303] [1 Corinthians 2:9]

71 We men, together with children and women, small and great, have already been counted worthy of some share in these things. So let us all together, in one spirit and one soul, never stop giving thanks and praising the one who is the source of so many good things for us. He is gracious to all our lawless deeds. He heals all our diseases. He redeems our life from corruption. He crowns us with mercy and compassion. He fills our desire with good things. For he has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor repaid us according to our lawless deeds. As far as the east is from the west, he has removed our lawless deeds from us. As a father has compassion on his sons, the Lord has had compassion on those who fear him.^[304] 72 We keep these things alive in our memory, now and for all the time to come. We also keep in mind, night and day, at every hour and with every breath, so to speak, the one who is the cause of this present festival and of this bright and splendid day, and who is the president of the festival. Let us love and revere him with all the strength of the soul. And now let us rise and call on him with a loud voice from the heart. Let us pray that he will cover us under his fold and keep us safe to the end, and that he will grant us his own unbroken, unshakable, eternal peace, in Christ Jesus our Saviour. Through him be glory to him for all ages of ages. Amen. [1 Peter 4:11]

Chapter 5

Copies of Imperial Laws.

3 Heading: Copies of Imperial Laws. Let us now set out the imperial decrees of Constantine and Licinius, translated from the Roman (Latin) language into Greek. Copy of imperial decrees translated from the Latin language. “We had long seen that freedom of religion must not be denied. Each person should be given authority, according to his own mind and will, to attend to divine matters as he chooses. So we had ordered that everyone, Christians included, should keep the faith of his own sect and religion. But in that earlier rescript, which granted this authority to them, many different conditions seemed to have been clearly added. Perhaps as a result, some of them soon drew back from keeping to this arrangement.”^[305] 4 “When I, Constantine Augustus, and I, Licinius Augustus, met happily at Milan, we looked into everything that concerned the advantage and benefit of the public. Among the other matters that seemed useful to many people, we decided to settle first of all those in which reverence and worship toward the divine were involved. That is, we decided to give both the Christians and everyone else free choice to follow whatever religion they wish. In this way, whatever divine and heavenly power exists may be favorable to us and to all who live under our authority.”

6 “So, with sound and entirely right reasoning, we have decreed this as our will. No one at all is to be refused the freedom to follow and choose the Christian observance or religion. Each person is to be given authority to devote his mind to whatever religion he thinks suits him, so that the divine power may show us in all things its usual zeal and goodwill. It was fitting for us to write that this is our pleasure. The conditions contained in our earlier letters to your Devotion about the Christians seemed quite perverse and foreign to our gentleness. Let them be removed entirely. Now everyone who has chosen to keep the Christian religion may do so freely and plainly, without any trouble.”^[306] 8 “We have decided to make all this fully known to your care, so that you may know that we have given these same Christians free and unrestricted authority to practice their own religion. Your Devotion sees that we have given this to them without restriction. It is clear that the same authority has been given to others who wish to follow their own observance and religion. This is in keeping with the peace of our times, so that each person may have authority to choose and honor whatever deity he wishes. We have done this so that no honor and no religion may seem to be diminished by us.”

9 “In addition to the rest, we decree this concerning the Christians. Their places, where they used to gather in earlier times, were the subject of a different rule in the letters previously sent to your Devotion. If it turns out that anyone has bought these places, whether from our treasury or from anyone else, they are to give them back to these same Christians. They must do so without payment and without demanding any price, with no neglect and no dispute. And if any have received the same places as a gift, they are to return them to these Christians as quickly as possible.” 11 In this way, if those who bought these places, or those who received them as a gift, ask anything from our goodness, they may go to the local judge, the governor, so that provision may be made for them also through our kindness. All these things are to be handed over to the body of the Christians at once, through your diligence, without any delay. And since these same Christians are known to have held not only the places where they used to assemble but other places as well, which belong not to individuals among them but to the legal right of their whole body, that is, of the Christians, you are to order all these, under the law I stated above, to be restored without any dispute at all to these same Christians, that is, to their body and their assembly. The earlier provision is of course to be kept: those who restore these places without payment, as we said, may expect compensation from our goodness.^[307]

14 In all these matters you must give the aforesaid body of the Christians your most vigorous help, so that our order may be carried out as quickly as possible, and so that in this too, through our kindness, provision may be made for the common and public peace. For in this way, as was said before, the divine favor toward us, which we have already experienced in many matters, will remain secure for all time. And so that the terms of this our law and kindness may be brought to everyone’s knowledge, it is fitting that you publish what we have written everywhere and make it known to all, so that this law of our kindness may escape no one’s notice. 16 Copy of another imperial decree which they issued again, adding that the gift was given to the Catholic Church alone. “Greetings, Anulinus, most honored by us. It is the way of our goodness that things which rightly belong to someone else should not only be left undisturbed but that we should also want them restored, most honored Anulinus. So it is our will that when you receive this letter, if any of the properties that belonged to the Catholic Church of the Christians in any city or other place are now held by citizens or by anyone else, you are to have them restored at once to their churches. For we have decided that what these same churches formerly possessed is to be restored to them as their right.^[308]

18 Since, then, your devotion sees that this order of ours is perfectly clear, make haste to have everything restored to them as quickly as possible, whether gardens or houses or whatever else belonged to the right of these churches. In this way we shall learn that you have obeyed this command of ours most carefully. Farewell, Anulinus, most honored and most dear to us.” Copy of an imperial letter in which he commands a synod of bishops to be held at Rome for the unity and harmony of the churches. Constantine Augustus to Miltiades, bishop of the Romans, and to Marcus. Many such documents have been sent to me by the most illustrious Anulinus, proconsul of Africa. They say that Caecilian, bishop of the city of Carthage, is being accused in many matters by some of his colleagues in Africa. This seems to me very serious: in these provinces, which divine providence has of its own accord entrusted to my devotion (and there is a great population there), the crowd is found persisting in the worse course, divided, as it were, and the bishops are at odds among themselves.^[309]

20 It has seemed good to me that Caecilian himself, with ten of the bishops who appear to accuse him, and ten others whom he himself considers necessary for his defense, should not put off sailing to Rome. There, in the presence of you, and also of Reticius, Maternus and Marinus, your colleagues, whom I have ordered to hurry to Rome for this purpose, he may be heard, as you may judge to be fitting under the most revered law. But so that you may have the fullest knowledge of all these matters, I attached to my letter copies of the documents sent to me by Anulinus and sent them to your colleagues mentioned above. When your steadfastness has read them, you will consider how the case just mentioned should be investigated most carefully and settled justly. For it does not escape your diligence that I have such respect for the lawful Catholic Church that I do not want you to leave any schism or division anywhere. May the divinity of the great God keep you safe for many years, most honored sirs.

21 Copy of an imperial letter in which he orders a second synod to be held, to remove every division among the bishops. “Constantine Augustus to Chrestus, bishop of Syracuse. Some time ago, certain people began wickedly and perversely to break away from the religion of the holy and heavenly power and from the catholic sect. I wanted to cut short their quarrels, so I gave orders that some bishops be sent from Gaul. I also had the opposing party in Africa summoned, since they were contending with one another so stubbornly and persistently. With the bishop of Rome present as well, the matter that seemed to have been stirred up could then be settled by their presence, with every careful judgment. 22 But, as happens, some people have forgotten both their own salvation and the reverence owed to this most holy sect, and even now they do not stop prolonging their private hostilities. They refuse to agree to the judgment already given. They insist that only a few people gave their opinions and verdicts, or that those few hurried to give judgment too quickly and sharply, before everything that needed careful examination had been examined. The result is that these very men, who ought to have brotherly unity and a common mind, are shamefully, or rather abominably, divided from one another. They give people whose souls are strangers to this most holy religion a pretext for mockery. So I had to take care that this quarrel, which ought to have ended by voluntary agreement after the judgment already given, might now at last be settled with many people present.

23 Therefore we have ordered a great many bishops from different and countless places to assemble in the city of Arles by the Kalends of August, and we have thought it right to write to you as well. Obtain a public vehicle from the most illustrious Latronianus, corrector of Sicily. Join with yourself two others of the second rank, whomever you yourself choose to select, and take three servants who can attend you on the road. Then meet at the place named by that same day, 24 so that through your steadfastness, and through the united and like-minded understanding of the rest who come together, this dispute may be settled. Up to now it has gone on badly because of certain shameful quarrels. Everything will be heard that is to be said by those who are now at odds with one another, whom we have likewise ordered to be present. Then, even if slowly, they may be called back to the religion and faith that are due, and to brotherly harmony. May God Almighty keep you in health for many years.” Copy of an imperial letter in which he gives money to the churches.

Chapter 6

Copy of an Imperial Epistle in Which Money is Granted to the Churches.

2 “Constantine Augustus to Caecilian, bishop of Carthage. It has pleased us that in all the provinces, in Africa, Numidia and Mauritania, something be granted to cover the expenses of certain named ministers of the lawful and most holy catholic religion. I have therefore written to Ursus, the most distinguished finance officer of Africa, and told him to see that three thousand folles are paid to your steadfastness. So when you have had that sum of money received, order it to be distributed to all those mentioned, according to the list sent to you by Hosius. 4 But if you find that something more is needed to carry out my intention toward all of them, you must ask without hesitation for whatever you find necessary from Heracleides, the manager of our estates. For I ordered him, when he was present, that if your steadfastness asks him for any money, he should see that it is paid without any hesitation. And I have learned that some men of unsettled mind want to turn the people of the most holy catholic church aside by a wicked piece of deception. Know that I have given orders to Anulinus the proconsul, and also to Patricius, vicar of the prefects, when they were present. They are to give proper attention to everything else, and above all to this, and they are not to tolerate overlooking such a thing when it happens.

5 So if you see any such people persisting in this madness, go without any doubt to the judges I mentioned and report this very thing to them. Then they can set these people right, as I ordered them when they were present. May the divinity of the great God keep you for many years.”

Chapter 7

The Exemption of the Clergy. Copy of an Epistle in Which the Emperor Commands that the Rulers of the Churches Be Exempted from All Political Duties.

1 Copy of an imperial letter in which the emperor orders that the leaders of the churches be released from all public civic service. “Greetings, Anulinus, most esteemed by us. It is clear from many events that when religion is treated with contempt, the religion in which the highest reverence for the most holy heavenly Power is kept, great dangers come upon public affairs. It is also clear that when this religion is lawfully taken up and guarded, it brings the greatest good fortune to the Roman name and a special happiness to all the affairs of mankind, since the divine blessings grant this. Therefore, most esteemed Anulinus, it has seemed right that those men who offer their own service to the worship of the divine religion, with due holiness and steady devotion to this law, should receive the rewards of their labors. 2 Therefore it is my wish that those within the province entrusted to you, in the catholic Church over which Caecilianus presides, who give their own service to this holy religion, and whom people usually call clergy, be kept entirely free from all public duties. In this way they will not be drawn away from the worship owed to the Deity by any error or sacrilegious slip, but will serve their own law without any trouble. For when they offer the greatest worship to the Divine, it seems that they bring very great benefit to the common good. Farewell, Anulinus, most esteemed and most dearly missed by us.”

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Notes

[273] “Who had not yet gone mad” refers to Licinius’ later break with Constantine and his persecution of Christians. The Greek says only “the one in the East,” meaning Maximinus Daia.

[274] The quotations are from the Song of Moses, Exodus 15:4-5, in the Septuagint wording.

[275] The two quotations are from Psalm 7:16-17 (LXX) and Exodus 15:10 (LXX).

[276] These words come from the Song of Moses, Exodus 15:1-2 and 15:11, in the Septuagint wording. “Among the holy ones” is the literal Greek (ἐν ἁγίοις).

[277] Paulinus was bishop of Tyre, and Eusebius addresses him again in the festal oration in this book (10.4).

[278] “Perfect number” refers to ten, the number of the books of the History. The psalm quoted is Psalm 98 (97 in the Greek numbering). The last clause echoes Jesus’ words in Matthew 13:17.

[279] The quotation is from Psalm 46:8-9 (45 in the Greek numbering). The Greek word here is hoplon, “weapon.”

[280] The quotation is from Psalm 37:35-36 (36 in the Greek numbering). The Greek speaks of the absence of envy or grudging toward those outside.

[281] Eusebius uses the ordinary Greek word for “temple” (naos) for the church buildings.

[282] The emperors in view are Constantine and Licinius, whose letters and laws Eusebius goes on to quote. The “Roman language” is Latin.

[283] The “bone to bone” prophecy echoes Ezekiel 37, the vision of the dry bones. Eusebius takes it as foretelling the reunited church.

[284] Bezalel built the tabernacle (Exodus 31), and Zerubbabel led the rebuilding of the temple after the exile (Ezra, Haggai). The quotation is Psalm 44:1 in the English and Hebrew numbering, which is Psalm 43 in the Greek (LXX) numbering.

[285] “Pillar and foundation of the truth” is quoted from 1 Timothy 3:15. The other quotations are from the Psalms: Psalm 48:8 (LXX 47:9), Psalm 87:3 (LXX 86:3), Psalm 122:1 (LXX 121:1) and Psalm 26:8 (LXX 25:8).

[286] Eusebius weaves in biblical language: Psalm 48:1 (LXX 47:2), Daniel 2:21, Psalm 113:7 and 1 Samuel 2:8, and Mary’s song in Luke 1:51-53.

[287] The praise here echoes Psalm 136 (LXX 135): “who alone does great wonders,” “who struck down great kings,” and “who remembered us in our low estate and rescued us from our foes.”

[288] “Angel of the great counsel” (μεγάλης βουλῆς ἄγγελος) is the Septuagint title for the child in Isaiah 9:6 (LXX 9:5). Eusebius applies it here to Christ.

[289] The “ruling city” is Rome. Eusebius probably has in mind the statue of Constantine holding a cross, with its inscription, that he describes in 9.9.10–11, but he does not name it here.

[290] The quotation is Psalm 33:9 (32:9 LXX). It matches the Septuagint wording almost exactly: “αὐτὸς εἶπεν καὶ ἐγενήθησαν, αὐτὸς ἐνετείλατο καὶ ἐκτίσθησαν.”

[291] The Greek βεβηκότων means “firm, standing fast”, so the stones are firmly set. The thought echoes Ephesians 2:20 and Psalm 118:22 (117:22 LXX). The “old building” is the former Jewish temple and order.

[292] “Spokesman” renders hypophētēs, which can also mean interpreter or minister.

[293] The quotation echoes John 5:19. Bezalel is the craftsman of the tabernacle in Exodus 31:1-5.

[294] The Greek of the sentence about the site seems damaged in the manuscripts; I have given the sense that fits the context.

[295] “Crushed the jaws of the lions” echoes language found in the Psalms and Job; “to put the enemy and avenger to shame” echoes Psalm 8:2.

[296] The “new Zerubbabel” is Paulinus, bishop of Tyre, to whom the speech is addressed. Zerubbabel led the rebuilding of the temple after the exile. “The last glory of this house will be greater than the former” is Haggai 2:9; “Take courage, you faint of mind; be strong, do not fear” echoes Isaiah 35:4.

[297] “Royal house” translates the Greek for the great central hall of the church (a basilica, from the Greek word for “royal”). The quotation is from the Psalms, here given as Eusebius’s Greek has it.

[298] “The latter glory of this house is greater than the former” echoes Haggai 2:9 (LXX). Eusebius applies it to the newly built church at Tyre and to the Church itself.

[299] “Bridal attendant” (nymphostolos) is the one who dresses and presents the bride. Here it refers to Paulinus, bishop of Tyre, who is credited with raising up the fallen Church.

[300] The Greek verb at the end (agalmatophorein) means to carry or bear an image, as one carries a statue.

[301] The “boar out of the forest” echoes Psalm 80:13 (79:14 in the Greek numbering). The burning of the sanctuary echoes Psalm 74:7 (73:7 in the Greek numbering).

[302] The quotation is from Isaiah 54:11–13 (LXX).

[303] The wording echoes Hebrews 12:22-23 (Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, myriads of angels, the festal gathering and church of the firstborn enrolled in heaven). The closing quotation is from 1 Corinthians 2:9.

[304] The passage is built from phrases of Psalm 103 (102 in the Greek Bible).

[305] The Greek “haireseis” usually means “choices” or “sects.” Here it seems to render the Latin “condiciones” (conditions), so “conditions” gives the sense. The same word comes again in 10.5.5-6.

[306] “Your Devotion” translates a formal title of address (Greek “kathosiosis”) for the official receiving the letter.

[307] “The body” (sōma) of the Christians means the church as a corporate whole, which could hold property.

[308] The heading is Eusebius’s own and is not part of the emperor’s letter. The Greek says the decree was issued “again” (authis).

[309] Constantine’s sentence continues into the next section in the Greek, so it is left unfinished here. “Divine providence” (theia pronoia) is the emperor’s phrase, and “the Romans” means the city of Rome.