CHURCH HISTORY
Modern English version · SermonIndex
Eusebius of Caesarea · c. AD 325

The first history of the Christian church, written by the bishop of Caesarea in Palestine soon after the persecutions ended. In ten books Eusebius follows the succession of bishops in the great churches, the spread of the gospel, the rise of heresies, the fate of the Jews, and the martyrs. Much of what we know about the first three centuries of the church, and many quotations from works now lost (Papias, Hegesippus, Dionysius of Alexandria and others), come only from him.

This is the modern English version of Church History from SermonIndex. It was prepared with AI from an older public-domain English translation (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 1 (1890)), checked clause by clause against the Greek, so please compare it with the Greek where it matters. Translator’s notes mark places where the older translation departs from the Greek. It is released under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read it beside the Greek at https://sermonindex.net/fathers/eusebius-church-history/


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BOOK 1
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CHAPTER 1

HE 1. 1.1  I intend to write about the successions of the holy apostles, and about the period from our Saviour’s time down to our own. I will tell how many and how great the events were that are said to have occurred in the history of the Church. I will name those who led and presided over the Church with distinction in the most notable local churches. I will name those in every generation who served as ambassadors of the divine Word, whether by speaking or by writing. I will also tell who they were, how many there were, and when they lived, those who were driven by a lust for novelty into the worst error. They proclaimed themselves introducers of a “knowledge” falsely so named, and like savage wolves they ruthlessly ravaged the flock of Christ.
   [Translator’s note] “Local churches” renders paroikiai, here the Christian communities of the leading cities and their surrounding areas, later called “parishes” or dioceses. “Unwritten” (agraphōs) means “without writing,” that is, by spoken teaching.
   [Scripture] Acts 20:29; 1 Timothy 6:20

HE 1. 1.2  Next I will describe what immediately came upon the whole Jewish nation because of their plot against our Saviour. I will describe how often, in what ways, and at what times the divine Word was attacked by the Gentiles. I will tell how many people, in one age after another, went through the contest of blood and torture for his sake. I will include the martyrdoms of our own time, and the gracious and kindly help our Saviour gave to all of them. Since I have resolved to put all this in writing, I will begin at no other point than the first dispensation concerning our Saviour and Lord, Jesus the Christ of God.
   [Translator’s note] The older version adds “misfortunes” and renders martyria as “confessions.” The Greek says “martyrdoms” (literally “testimonies”). “Dispensation” (oikonomia) means God’s plan carried out in Christ, including his coming in the flesh.

HE 1. 1.3  At this point my account must ask pardon from understanding readers. I admit that it is beyond my ability to promise a work that is complete and leaves nothing out. I am the first to take up this subject, and I am trying to travel a deserted and untrodden road. I pray to have God as my guide and the power of the Lord as my fellow-worker. Yet I cannot find even bare footprints of any who traveled the same road before me. There are only slight hints, in which one writer in one way and another in another have left us partial accounts of the times they lived through. From far off, like torches, they hold up their voices. From somewhere high above, as from a distant watchtower, they call out and urge us where we must walk, and how to steer the course of the account without going astray or into danger.

HE 1. 1.4-5  So I will gather whatever I think useful for my subject from what those writers mention here and there. I will pick the suitable words of the ancient authors, as if from meadows of learning, and try to give them a body in a historical narrative. I will be content if I can rescue the successions of the apostles of our Saviour, if not of all, then at least of the most distinguished, in the notable churches that are still remembered today. I consider this work most necessary, because I have not found that any church writer up to now has given careful attention to this part of the story. I hope it will prove very useful to those who care about the profitable learning that history offers.

HE 1. 1.6-8  In the Chronological Canons which I composed earlier, I already made a summary of these matters. Even so, I have now set out to give the fullest account of them. As I said, my account will begin with the dispensation and the doctrine of the divinity of Christ, which is understood to be higher and greater than anything merely human. Anyone who is going to write the history of the Church’s teaching must start from above, from the very first dispensation concerning Christ himself. We are honored to take our name from him, and his dispensation is more divine than most people suppose.
   [Translator’s note] The Chronological Canons were Eusebius’s earlier work of chronological tables. The Greek word theologia, here “doctrine of his divinity,” means the teaching about Christ’s divine nature.


CHAPTER 2

HE 1. 2.1  In Christ there are two ways of being. One is like the head of the body, in that he is understood to be God. The other is compared to the feet, in that for the sake of our salvation he took on a man’s nature with passions like ours. Our account will therefore be complete if we begin the whole history of him with the most essential and principal points. In this way the antiquity of the Christians, an antiquity ancient and worthy of God, will be shown to those who suppose it new and foreign, something that appeared only yesterday and no earlier.

HE 1. 2.2  No account could be adequate to express Christ’s origin and dignity, or his very being and nature. So the divine Spirit also says in the prophecies, “Who will declare his generation?” For no one knew the Father except the Son, and no one could ever know the Son worthily except the Father alone who begot him.
   [Translator’s note] Only “Who will declare his generation?” is given as the prophet’s words (compare Isaiah 53:8). The rest is Eusebius’s own statement, echoing Jesus’ words in Matthew 11:27.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 53:8; Matthew 11:27

HE 1. 2.3  Who but the Father could clearly understand the Light that was before the world, the Wisdom, intelligent and substantial, that existed before the ages, and the living God the Word, who was with the Father in the beginning? He is the first and only offspring of God, before every creature and every created thing, visible and invisible. He is the commander-in-chief of the rational and immortal host in heaven, the messenger of the great counsel, and the servant of the Father’s unspeakable purpose. With the Father he is maker of all things, the second cause of the universe after the Father, the true and only-begotten Child of God, the Lord and God and King of all things that have come into being. He has received from the Father authority and power, together with divinity itself, and honor. So the mystical teachings of the Scriptures about his divinity say: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made through him, and without him not one thing was made.”
   [Scripture] John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:15

HE 1. 2.4  This is also what the great Moses teaches. As the most ancient of all the prophets, he describes by the divine Spirit how the universe was brought into being and arranged. He teaches that the maker of the world and creator of all things handed over the making of lesser things to Christ himself, and to no other than his own divine and firstborn Word. He also teaches that God spoke with him about the making of man. For he says, “God said, Let us make man in our image and likeness.”
   [Scripture] Genesis 1:26

HE 1. 2.5-6  Another of the prophets vouches for this saying, speaking of God in the hymns like this: “He spoke, and they were begotten; he commanded, and they were created.” He presents the Father and Maker as ruler of all, giving orders with a royal nod. Second to him is the divine Word, no other than the one we proclaim, serving the Father’s commands. From the first creation of man, all who are said to have been outstanding in righteousness and the virtue of godliness have seen him with the pure eyes of the mind, and have known him and given him the worship due to the Son of God. Among them are the great servant Moses, and before him Abraham first of all, together with Abraham’s children, and all the righteous men and prophets who appeared afterward.

HE 1. 2.7  He, for his part, never neglected the worship of the Father, but was set up as teacher of the knowledge of the Father to all. For example, it is recorded that the Lord God appeared like an ordinary man to Abraham as he sat by the oak of Mambre. Abraham fell down at once, though with his eyes he saw a man. He worshiped him as God and begged him as Lord, and he acknowledged that he knew who he was, saying in these very words: “Lord, judge of all the earth, will you not execute judgment?”
   [Scripture] Genesis 18:1-2; Genesis 18:25

HE 1. 2.8  Reason does not allow us to think that the unbegotten and unchangeable essence of almighty God was changed into the form of a man. Nor does it allow us to think that it deceived the eyes of those who saw by the appearance of some created thing. Nor again may we say that Scripture falsely invents such things. Yet here the God and Lord who judges all the earth and executes judgment is seen in the form of a man. Who else, then, can he be called, if it is not right to say it was the first cause of all things, but only the Word who existed before? Of him it is also said in the Psalms: “He sent his Word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.”
   [Scripture] Genesis 18:25

HE 1. 2.9  Moses very clearly proclaims him as Lord, second after the Father, when he says, “The Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord.” The divine Scripture also calls him God when he appeared again to Jacob in the form of a man and said to Jacob, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name, because you have prevailed with God.” Then Jacob called the name of that place “Form of God,” saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and my life has been saved.”
   [Scripture] Genesis 19:24; Genesis 32:28; Genesis 32:30

HE 1. 2.10-11  Nor is it right to suppose that these recorded appearances of God were appearances of lesser angels and servants of God. When one of these appears to people, Scripture does not hide it. It says plainly that they were called angels, not God and not Lord, as countless testimonies make easy to prove. Joshua, the successor of Moses, also speaks of this one as the leader of the heavenly angels and archangels and of the powers above the world. He speaks of him as the Father’s viceroy, entrusted with second place in the kingdom and rule over all. He names him “commander of the army of the Lord.” Yet Joshua saw him only, once again, in the form and appearance of a man.
   [Scripture] Joshua 5:14

HE 1. 2.12  So it is written: “And it happened, when Joshua was at Jericho, that he looked up and saw a man standing opposite him, with his sword drawn in his hand. Joshua went up to him and said, ‘Are you on our side or on the side of our enemies?’ And he said to him, ‘I have come now as commander of the army of the Lord.’ Joshua fell on his face to the ground and said to him, ‘Master, what do you command your servant?’ And the commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, ‘Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you are standing is holy.’”
   [Scripture] Joshua 5:13-15

HE 1. 2.13  From these very words you will also notice that this was none other than the one who spoke with Moses. For Scripture uses the same words about him there: “When the Lord saw that he was coming near to look, the Lord called to him out of the bush, saying, ‘Moses, Moses.’ And he said, ‘What is it?’ And he said, ‘Do not come near here. Take your sandal off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.’ And he said to him, ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’”
   [Scripture] Exodus 3:4-6

HE 1. 2.14  There is a living substance that existed before the world and had its own being. It served the Father and God of the universe in making everything that has come into being, and it is called the Word of God and Wisdom. In addition to the proofs already given, we can hear this from Wisdom herself, speaking in her own person. Through Solomon she plainly teaches these mysteries about herself: “I, Wisdom, made counsel and knowledge my dwelling, and I called upon understanding. Through me kings reign, and rulers write down what is just. Through me the great are made great, and through me tyrants hold power over the earth.”
   [Scripture] Proverbs 8:12-16

HE 1. 2.15  To this she adds: “The Lord created me as the beginning of his ways, for his works. Before the age he founded me, in the beginning, before he made the earth, before the springs of water came forth, before the mountains were set in place. Before all the hills he begets me. When he prepared the heavens, I was present with him. When he set the springs under heaven on a firm footing, I was beside him, fitting things together. I was the one in whom he delighted, and every day I rejoiced before him at all times, when he rejoiced over the inhabited world.”
   [Scripture] Proverbs 8:22-25; Proverbs 8:27-31

HE 1. 2.16-18  That is enough, briefly, to show that the divine Word existed before and appeared to some, though not to all. Why, then, was he not proclaimed in ancient times to all people and all nations, as he is now? The answer will become clear. The life of people long ago could not take in the all-wise and all-virtuous teaching of Christ. Right at the beginning, after his first life among the blessed, the first man cared little for God’s command. He fell into this mortal and perishable life, and exchanged his former God-given delight for this earth under a curse. His descendants filled our whole world, and they proved far worse, apart from one or two. They took up a beastlike way of living, a life not worth living.

HE 1. 2.19  They gave no thought to city or government, to crafts or knowledge. They had no share even in the name of laws and justice, or of virtue and philosophy. They lived as nomads in the wilderness, like savage and cruel creatures. By an excess of deliberate wickedness they ruined the reasoning that belongs to human nature, and the gentle, rational seeds in the human soul. They handed themselves over entirely to every kind of ungodly deed. At one time they were eating human flesh, at another murdering one another, and at another eating human flesh again. They dared to fight against God, in those battles of the giants that everyone talks about. They schemed to build earth up as a wall against heaven. In the madness of their wild pride they prepared to make war on the God of all himself.

HE 1. 2.20-21  Because they had brought themselves to this state, God, who watches over all things, pursued them with floods and fires, as though they were a wild forest spread over the whole earth. He cut them down with constant famines and plagues, with wars, and with thunderbolts from above. He was treating a terrible and most severe disease of the soul with harsher punishments. Then the excess of wickedness had been poured out over almost everyone, like a dreadful drunkenness that overshadowed and darkened the souls of nearly all people. At that time the firstborn and first-created Wisdom of God, the pre-existent Word himself, out of his overflowing love for mankind, appeared to them. Sometimes he appeared through visions of angels to those of lower standing. At other times he appeared in his own person, as the saving power of God, to one or two of the men of old who were dear to God. He appeared to them only in human form, because there was no other way for him to do it.

HE 1. 2.22  By these appearances the seeds of true worship had now been sown among a multitude of men. A whole nation devoted to God arose from the Hebrews, descended from them from of old. But these people, like the crowd they were, still lived by their old ways. So through the prophet Moses he gave them images and symbols of a mystical Sabbath and of circumcision, and introductions to other spiritual teachings. He did not hand down the mysteries themselves in plain view.

HE 1. 2.23  The law of the Hebrews became famous and spread to all people like a sweet-smelling breath. Through lawgivers and philosophers everywhere, the minds of most of the other nations were now also tamed by it. Their wild and savage brutality was changed to gentleness, so that they enjoyed deep peace, friendship and contact with one another. By then all people, and the nations throughout the world, had been prepared in advance and were ready to receive the knowledge of the Father. At that time that same Teacher of unspeakable things appeared again. He is the Father’s servant in all good things, the divine and heavenly Word of God. He came in a man whose body did not differ in substance from our nature, at the beginning of the Roman empire. He did and suffered what the prophecies had foretold. They had foretold that one who was both man and God would come to live in the world, work wonders, and be shown to all nations as the teacher of the Father’s true worship. They also proclaimed beforehand the wonder of his birth, his new teaching, and his marvelous works. Besides these, they foretold the manner of his death, his resurrection from the dead, and finally his divine return to heaven.

HE 1. 2.24  The prophet Daniel saw by the divine Spirit the final kingdom of Christ. He was inspired to write about it in this way, describing the vision of God in rather human terms. “I kept looking,” he says, “until thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days sat down. His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head was like clean wool. His throne was a flame of fire, and its wheels were burning fire. A river of fire flowed out before him. A thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court sat, and books were opened.”
   [Scripture] Daniel 7:9-10

HE 1. 2.25-26  Next he says: “I kept watching, and look, one like a son of man was coming with the clouds of heaven. He came up to the Ancient of Days and was brought into his presence. To him were given rule, honor and kingship, and all peoples, tribes and languages serve him. His authority is an everlasting authority that will not pass away, and his kingdom will not be destroyed.” These words clearly can refer to no one other than our Savior. He is God the Word, who in the beginning was with God, and he is called Son of Man because of his final becoming man.
   [Scripture] Daniel 7:13-14

HE 1. 2.27  We have gathered the prophetic selections about our Savior Jesus Christ in separate writings of our own. In other works we have also set out the things revealed about him in a more demonstrative way. So for the present we will be content with what has been said.
   [Translator’s note] These are probably Eusebius’ works such as the Proof of the Gospel and the Prophetic Extracts; the Greek does not name them.


CHAPTER 3

HE 1. 3.1-2  It is now time to show that even the names “Jesus” and “Christ” were already held in honor among the ancient prophets, who were beloved of God. Moses was the first to make known the name of Christ, and he treated it as a name of the highest majesty and glory. He handed down types and symbols of heavenly things, and mysterious images, in keeping with the oracle that said to him, “See that you make everything according to the pattern shown to you on the mountain.” Then he appointed a man as high priest of God, as far as that was possible for a man, and called him “Christ.” So he attached the name of Christ, for honor and glory, to the dignity of the high priesthood, which in his eyes surpassed every other position of rank among men. In this way he showed that he knew Christ to be something divine.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek “Christ” (Hebrew “Messiah”) means “anointed one.” Moses’ words are quoted from the Greek text of Exodus 25:40 as Eusebius gives it. The high priest was anointed with oil.
   [Scripture] Exodus 25:40; Hebrews 8:5

HE 1. 3.3-4  In the same way Moses, foreseeing the name of Jesus very clearly by the divine Spirit, judged that it too deserved a special privilege. The title “Jesus” had never been spoken among men before Moses knew it. Moses gave it first, and to one man only: the man whom he knew, again as a type and symbol, would take over the rule over all after his own death. Moses’ successor had not used the name Jesus before. He was called by another name, Auses (Hoshea), which his parents had given him. Moses named him Jesus, giving him the name as an honor far greater than any royal crown. For Jesus the son of Nun himself bore the likeness of our Saviour. After Moses, and after the end of the symbolic worship that Moses handed down, he alone took over the leadership of the true and utterly pure worship of God.

HE 1. 3.5  In this way Moses gave the name of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, as the greatest mark of honor to the two men of his own time who stood out above all the people in excellence and glory: the high priest, and the one who would lead after him.

HE 1. 3.6  The prophets who came later also clearly proclaimed Christ by name beforehand. At the same time they bore witness in advance both to the plot that the Jewish people would devise against him and to the calling of the nations through him. Jeremiah speaks in this way: “The Spirit before our face, Christ the Lord, was caught in their corruptions, of whom we said, ‘In his shadow we shall live among the nations.’” At another time David, in amazement, says: “Why did the nations rage, and the peoples plan empty things? The kings of the earth stood by, and the rulers gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ.” Then he adds, speaking in the person of Christ himself: “The Lord said to me, You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as your possession.”
   [Translator’s note] The Jeremiah quotation is Lamentations 4:20 in the Greek version, a book traditionally ascribed to Jeremiah. The other quotations are Psalm 2:1-2 and 7-8.
   [Scripture] Lamentations 4:20

HE 1. 3.7-8  Among the Hebrews, the name of Christ did not adorn only those honored with the high priesthood, who were anointed with specially prepared oil as a symbol. It also adorned the kings. The prophets, by divine command, anointed them and so made them figures of Christ, because the kings too carried in themselves the types of the royal and ruling authority of the one true Christ, the divine Word who reigns over all. We have also received the report that some of the prophets themselves became Christs in type through anointing. All of these point to the true Christ, the divine and heavenly Word. He alone is High Priest of all, he alone is King of all creation, and he alone, among the prophets, is the Father’s chief prophet.

HE 1. 3.9-10  The proof of this is that none of those anointed long ago with the symbolic oil, whether priests, kings, or prophets, ever gained such great power of divine virtue as our Savior and Lord Jesus, the only true Christ, has shown. None of them, though they shone with rank and honor among their own people for many generations, ever gave their subjects the name of Christians from the figurative title “Christ” that they bore. None of them received reverent worship from his subjects. After their deaths their followers did not feel such devotion that they were ready to die for the one they honored. And no such upheaval among all the nations of the world was ever stirred up over any one of them. The power of the symbol in them could not do what the truth did when it was shown forth through our Savior.

HE 1. 3.11-12  He received no symbols or types of the high priesthood from anyone. He did not trace his bodily descent from priests. He was not raised to kingship by armed bodyguards. Nor was he a prophet in the way the men of old were, and he held no rank or place of honor among the Jews. Yet the Father adorned him with all these things, not with the symbols, but with the truth itself. So although he did not have honors like those we have mentioned, he is proclaimed Christ more than all of them. And as himself the one true Christ of God, he has filled the whole world with the truly venerable and holy name of Christians. To his company of followers he no longer hands down types or images, but the bare virtues themselves and a heavenly life, together with the very teachings of truth.

HE 1. 3.13-14  His anointing was not one made from bodily materials. It was the anointing that befits God: by the divine Spirit, through sharing in the unbegotten, fatherly deity. Isaiah teaches this too, crying out as if in the person of Christ himself: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because of which he anointed me. He has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to captives and sight to the blind.” And not Isaiah alone, but David also speaks to him: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; the rod of uprightness is the rod of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.” In these words the first line declares him God, and the second honors him with a royal scepter.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 61:1

HE 1. 3.15-16  Then the psalm goes on. After speaking of his divine and royal power, it presents him in third place as having become Christ, anointed not with oil made from material substances but with the divine oil of gladness. In this it hints at how distinct he is, how far better and different from those of old who were anointed in a more bodily way, as images. Elsewhere the same David explains the matter about him like this: “The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet,” and, “From the womb, before the morning star, I begot you. The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: you are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.”
   [Scripture] Psalm 110:1

HE 1. 3.17-18  This Melchizedek is introduced in the sacred writings as a priest of the Most High God. He was not shown to be a priest by any specially prepared anointing, and he did not belong to the Hebrew priesthood by family succession. For this reason our Savior was proclaimed Christ and priest, with the confirmation of an oath, according to Melchizedek’s order and not according to the order of the others who took up symbols and types. So the record does not say that he was anointed in the body among the Jews, or that he came from a priestly tribe. It says that he took his being from God himself before the morning star, that is, before the world was established, and that he holds an immortal and ageless priesthood for endless ages.
   [Translator’s note] “Before the morning star” is from the Greek (Septuagint) text of the psalm; Eusebius explains it as “before the foundation of the world.”

HE 1. 3.19  There is a great and clear proof of the bodiless, divine anointing that he received. He alone of all who have ever lived is called Christ by people everywhere in the world, even to this day. Under this name he is confessed and testified to by all, and remembered among Greeks and barbarians alike. Even now his followers throughout the world honor him as King, admire him as more than a prophet, and glorify him as the true and only High Priest of God. Beyond all this, as the Word of God who existed before all ages and had his being before them, he has received reverent honor from the Father, and he is worshiped as God.

HE 1. 3.20  But the most amazing thing of all is this: we who are devoted to him do not honor him only with our voices and the sound of words. We honor him with the whole disposition of our soul, so that we value witnessing to him above our own lives.


CHAPTER 4

HE 1. 4.1-2  Let me set these things down here, as needed, before the history itself. I do this so that no one will think our Savior and Lord Jesus the Christ is a recent figure because of the date of his life in the flesh. And so that no one will suppose his teaching is new and foreign, set up by a new man no different from other men, let us briefly consider this point too. It is agreed that the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ has only recently shone on all people. It is equally agreed that a new nation then appeared all at once, at times fixed by God’s unspeakable purpose. It is not a small nation, and it is not settled in some corner of the earth. It is the most populous and most God-fearing of all nations, and it cannot be destroyed or defeated, because it always receives help from God. This is the nation honored by all with the name of Christ.

HE 1. 4.3-4  One of the prophets was astonished at this. With the eye of the divine Spirit he saw beforehand what would be, and cried out: “Who has heard such things, and who has spoken like this? Did the earth go into labor in one day? Was a nation born all at once?” The same prophet also hints at the coming name, saying, “But to those who serve me a new name will be given, which will be blessed on the earth.” Now it is plain that we are new, and that the name of Christians is truly new, only recently known among all nations. Yet the manner of life and conduct that goes with these doctrines of godliness was not recently invented by us. From the very beginning of the human race, so to speak, it was lived out by the natural understanding of God-loving men of old. I will show this as follows.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 66:8; Isaiah 65:15-16

HE 1. 4.5  The Hebrew nation is not new. It is honored among all people for its antiquity, and everyone knows it. The writings and records of this people tell of ancient men. They were rare and few in number, but they were outstanding in godliness, righteousness and every other virtue. Some of them lived before the flood. Others lived after it, among the sons and descendants of Noah. Among these was Abraham, whom the Hebrews boast of as their founder and forefather.

HE 1. 4.6-7  All these men are attested as righteous. If anyone were to call them Christians in deed, though not in name, going back from Abraham himself to the first man, he would not be straying from the truth. For the name “Christian” means a man who is marked out by the knowledge and teaching of Christ. He is known for self-control and righteousness, for endurance in life and courage in virtue, and for confessing in godliness the one and only God over all. Those men pursued all of this no less eagerly than we do.

HE 1. 4.8  So they did not care about circumcision of the body, because we do not either. They did not care about keeping the Sabbaths, because we do not either. They did not keep rules about certain foods or make the other distinctions that Moses was the first to hand down to later generations to be carried out as symbols. Christians today do not do these things either. And they clearly knew the very Christ of God. It has already been shown that he appeared to Abraham, gave revelations to Isaac, spoke to Jacob, and conversed with Moses and the prophets after him.

HE 1. 4.9-11  For this reason you will find those God-beloved men counted worthy even of the name of Christ, according to the voice that says of them, “Do not touch my anointed ones, and do my prophets no harm.” So it is plain that we must regard the way of true godliness, which has just now been proclaimed to all nations through the teaching of Christ, as the first and oldest discovery of all. It was made by those God-beloved men around Abraham. Some say that Abraham received the command of circumcision long afterward. But before that he was already declared righteous through faith, as the divine word says: “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”

HE 1. 4.12-13  Abraham was already this kind of man before his circumcision. Then God, who had shown himself to him, gave him a promise in words about those who in later times would be justified in the same way as he. (This God was Christ himself, the Word of God.) He said, “And in you all the tribes of the earth will be blessed.” And again, “He will become a great and numerous nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed.” We can see that this has been fulfilled in our own day. Abraham was justified by faith in Christ, the Word of God, who had appeared to him. He gave up the superstition of his fathers and the error of his earlier life. He confessed the one God over all, and he served him by works of virtue, not by the worship prescribed in the law that Moses gave afterward. To a man of this character it was said that all the tribes of the earth and all the nations would be blessed in him.
   [Scripture] Genesis 12:3; Genesis 18:18

HE 1. 4.14-15  That same way of godliness which Abraham followed has now shown itself again. It is practiced, with deeds clearer than words, by Christians alone throughout the whole world. What then is left to stop us from agreeing that we who are of Christ and the God-beloved men of long ago share one and the same life and way of godliness? So the godliness handed down to us by the teaching of Christ is not new or strange. If we are to speak truthfully, it is the first, the only, and the true practice of godliness. Let that be enough on this subject.


CHAPTER 5

HE 1. 5.1-2  Now that we have made the necessary preparation for the church history we set out to write, let us begin, as it were, our journey, starting from the appearance of our Saviour in the flesh. We call on God, the Father of the Word, and on Jesus Christ himself, our Saviour and Lord, the heavenly Word of God, whom we have just spoken of, to help us and work with us in telling the truth of the story. It was the forty-second year of the reign of Augustus, and the twenty-eighth year since the conquest of Egypt and the deaths of Antony and Cleopatra, with whom the line of the Ptolemies in Egypt came to an end. At that time our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in keeping with the prophecies about him. This was at the time of the first census, when Quirinius was governor of Syria.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek has Κυρίνιος (Quirinius); “Cyrenius” is the older English form of the same name, as in the KJV of Luke 2:2.

HE 1. 5.3  The most famous of the Hebrew historians, Flavius Josephus, also mentions this census under Quirinius. He adds another account, of the sect of the Galileans that arose at the same time. Luke, one of our own writers, also mentions it in the Acts, where he says: “After this man Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census, and drew people away after him. He also perished, and all who obeyed him were scattered.”
   [Scripture] Acts 5:37

HE 1. 5.4-5  The historian just mentioned agrees with this in the eighteenth book of his Antiquities, and he writes the following, which I quote word for word: “Quirinius, a man of the senate who had held the other offices and had passed through them all to become consul, and a man of great dignity in other ways, came to Syria with a few attendants. Caesar had sent him to be judge of the nation and to make an assessment of their property.” A little later Josephus says: “But Judas, a Gaulanite from a city named Gamala, took Saddok, a Pharisee, as his partner and pressed for revolt. They said that the assessment brought nothing other than outright slavery, and they called on the nation to take up the cause of freedom.”

HE 1. 5.6  In the second book of his History of the Jewish War, Josephus writes this about the same man: “After this, a certain Galilean named Judas urged the people of the land to revolt. He reproached them for putting up with paying tribute to the Romans and for accepting mortal masters after God.” That is Josephus.


CHAPTER 6

HE 1. 6.1-2  About that time Herod, the first ruler of foreign descent, took over the kingdom of the Jewish nation, and the prophecy given through Moses reached its limit. It said that “a ruler from Judah will not fail, nor a leader from his loins, until he comes for whom it is reserved,” and it declared that he would be the expectation of the nations. The prophecy remained unfulfilled as long as the Jews were allowed to live under rulers of their own nation. That time began with Moses himself and lasted down to the reign of Augustus. In Augustus’ reign Herod, the first foreigner, was entrusted by the Romans with authority over the Jews. Josephus reports that Herod was an Idumean on his father’s side and an Arab on his mother’s. Africanus, himself no ordinary writer, says that those who knew the facts accurately report that Herod was the son of Antipater, and that Antipater was the son of a certain Herod of Ascalon, one of the so-called temple servants at the temple of Apollo.
   [Scripture] Genesis 49:10

HE 1. 6.3-4  This Antipater was captured as a boy by Idumean robbers and stayed with them, because his father was poor and could not pay a ransom for him. He grew up in their ways, and later became a friend of Hyrcanus, the high priest of the Jews. His son was the Herod who lived in the time of our Saviour. So the kingdom of the Jews had passed to such a man. By now the expectation of the nations, as the prophecy foretold, was at the door, because from that point on there were no longer any of their own people who ruled and led in succession from Moses himself.

HE 1. 6.5-6  Before their captivity and their removal to Babylon, the Jews were governed by kings, beginning with Saul first and then David. Before the kings, rulers governed them who were called judges. These too came after Moses and his successor Jesus. After the return from Babylon they continued without a break under an aristocratic government with a ruling few, for the high priests directed their affairs. This lasted until the Roman general Pompey came, besieged Jerusalem and took it by force. He defiled the holy places, going as far as the innermost sanctuary of the temple. Aristobulus, who by ancestral succession had been both king and high priest up to that time, he sent in chains to Rome together with his children. He gave the high priesthood to Aristobulus’ brother Hyrcanus, and from then on he made the whole Jewish nation pay tribute to the Romans.

HE 1. 6.7-8  Soon afterward Hyrcanus, the last in the succession of high priests, was taken captive by the Parthians. Then Herod, the first foreigner, as I said, was given charge of the Jewish nation by the Roman senate and by the emperor Augustus. In his time the coming of Christ was plainly at hand. The salvation and calling of the nations, which had been expected, followed in accordance with the prophecy. From that time the rulers and leaders from Judah, that is, those from the Jewish nation, had come to an end. As we would expect, the high priesthood was thrown into confusion at once. Until then it had passed steadily by descent to the nearest successors in each generation.

HE 1. 6.9-10  For this too you have Josephus as a reliable witness. He shows that when Herod had been entrusted with the kingdom by the Romans, he no longer appointed high priests from the ancient family but gave the honor to certain obscure persons. Herod’s son Archelaus did the same in appointing high priests, and after him so did the Romans, who took over the government of the Jews. The same writer shows that Herod was the first to lock up the high priest’s sacred robe and seal it with his own seal. He would no longer allow the high priests to keep it in their own hands. Archelaus after him did the same, and after Archelaus the Romans.

HE 1. 6.11  Let me say these things as one more proof that a prophecy was brought to its end at the appearance of our Saviour Jesus Christ. The word in Daniel plainly includes a number of weeks, expressly named, reaching to Christ the ruler. We have dealt with these in other writings. After the completion of those weeks, it prophesies, the anointing among the Jews would be destroyed. And this was clearly fulfilled at the time of the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ. We have had to set this out first to establish the truth about the dates.
   [Scripture] Daniel 9:24-26


CHAPTER 7

HE 1. 7.1-2  Matthew and Luke, in proclaiming the gospel, have handed down the genealogy of Christ in different forms, and most people think they disagree. Each believer, not knowing the truth, has worked hard to find explanations for these passages. So let us set down the account that has come down to us on this matter. Africanus, whom I mentioned a little earlier, gave it in a letter to Aristides about the agreement of the genealogies in the gospels. He refuted the views of others as forced and false, and then set out the account he himself had received, in these very words: “The names of the family lines in Israel were counted either by nature or by law. By nature, when a true-born child succeeded his father. By law, when one man fathered a child in the name of a brother who had died childless. (No clear hope of resurrection had yet been given, so they imitated the coming promise by a kind of mortal resurrection, so that the name of the one who had died would never fail.)
   [Translator’s note] Africanus is Julius Africanus, a Christian writer of the early third century. The “law” here is the Mosaic rule that a man should raise up a child for his dead childless brother (Deuteronomy 25:5-6).

HE 1. 7.3-4  “Now some of those listed in this genealogy succeeded their fathers as true sons. Others were born to one man but were assigned by name to another. So mention was made of both: those who actually fathered the child and those who were counted as fathering. In this way neither gospel is false, whether it counts by nature or by law. For the two lines, the one from Solomon and the one from Nathan, were woven together by the raising up of children for the childless, by second marriages, and by the raising up of offspring. As a result the same persons may rightly be counted now as belonging to one father, now to another, either to their reputed fathers or to their real ones. So both accounts are strictly true, and they come down to Joseph in a complicated but exact way.

HE 1. 7.5-6  “To make clear what I am saying, I will explain how the lines were interchanged. If we count the generations from David through Solomon, the third from the end is Matthan, who fathered Jacob, the father of Joseph. But if we count from David’s son Nathan, following Luke, the third from the end is likewise Melchi, whose son was Eli, the father of Joseph. For Joseph was the son of Eli, the son of Melchi. “Joseph, then, is our goal. We have to show how each man is recorded as his father: both Jacob, who traced his descent from Solomon, and Eli, who traced his from Nathan. First we must show how Jacob and Eli were brothers. Then we must show how their fathers, Matthan and Melchi, who belonged to different families, both turn out to be grandfathers of Joseph.

HE 1. 7.7-8  “Matthan and Melchi each married the same woman in turn and had sons who were brothers by the same mother. The law did not forbid a widow, whether divorced or widowed by her husband’s death, to marry another man. By Estha (for tradition says this was the woman’s name), Matthan, who traced his descent from Solomon, first fathered Jacob. When Matthan died, Melchi, who traced his line back to Nathan, married the widow. He was of the same tribe but of a different family, as I said before. By her he had a son, Eli.

HE 1. 7.9-10  “So we find that Jacob and Eli, though from two different families, were brothers by the same mother. Eli died without children, and the other brother, Jacob, took his wife and fathered by her Joseph, as the third. Joseph was Jacob’s own son by nature and by reckoning, and so it is written, ‘Jacob fathered Joseph.’ But by law he was the son of Eli, because Jacob, as Eli’s brother, raised up offspring for him. “So the genealogy that goes through him is not invalidated. Matthew the evangelist, in his count, says: ‘Jacob fathered Joseph.’ Luke, on the other hand, reverses the order and says: ‘who was the son, as was supposed’ (he adds this too) ‘of Joseph, of Eli, of Melchi.’ He could not have stated descent by law more distinctly. He leaves out the word ‘fathered’ all the way to the end of his list, since he traces the line back by working upward, as far as Adam, the son of God.”
   [Scripture] Matthew 1:16; Luke 3:23; Luke 3:38

HE 1. 7.11  This account is not unproven, nor is it a hasty invention. The Savior’s relatives according to the flesh handed down the following story as well. Whether they wished to boast or simply to instruct, they were in either case telling the truth. Idumean raiders attacked Ascalon, a city of Palestine, and from a temple of Apollo built near its walls they carried off, along with other plunder, Antipater, the son of a temple servant named Herod. The priest could not pay a ransom for his son, so Antipater was raised in the customs of the Idumeans. Later he won the friendship of Hyrcanus, the high priest of the Jews.
   [Translator’s note] The preceding sections are Eusebius’ quotation of Julius Africanus, who is the source of the story that follows. “Idumeans” are Edomites, from the region south of Judea.

HE 1. 7.12-13  Antipater was sent as an envoy to Pompey on behalf of Hyrcanus. He recovered for Hyrcanus the kingdom that his brother Aristobulus had been stripping from him, and he himself was fortunate enough to be appointed administrator of Palestine. Antipater was then murdered out of envy for his great success, and his son Herod succeeded him. Herod was later judged fit to be king of the Jews by a decree of the senate, under Antony and Augustus. His sons were Herod and the other tetrarchs. All this is also found in the Greek histories. Until then the genealogies of the Hebrews had been kept in the public archives. These included the lines of the early proselytes, traced back to Achior the Ammonite and Ruth the Moabitess, and of the mixed multitude who left Egypt together with Israel. Herod’s descent gave him no connection with the people of Israel, and he was stung by the knowledge of his low birth. So he burned the records of their genealogies. He thought he would appear to be of noble birth if no one else could trace his ancestry to the patriarchs or proselytes from any public record, or to the mixed people called “geiras.”
   [Translator’s note] The older translation has “Georae.” Greek “geiōras” (from Hebrew ger) means resident foreigners or proselytes. Achior appears in the book of Judith.

HE 1. 7.14  A few careful people kept private records of their own, either by remembering the names or by copying from other sources. They take pride in preserving the memory of their noble descent. Among them were the men mentioned above, called “Desposyni” because of their kinship with the Savior’s family. They came from the Jewish villages of Nazara and Cochaba and spread through the rest of the land. They set out the genealogy given above from memory and from the Book of Days, as far as it reached.
   [Translator’s note] “Desposyni” means “belonging to the Master” (the Lord’s family). “The Book of Days” probably refers to the Chronicles or the genealogical records, and is rendered “daily records” in the older translation.

HE 1. 7.15-16  Whether this is how it was or not, no one could find a clearer explanation, I think, and neither could any fair-minded person. Let this be enough for us. Even if it has no witness to support it, we have nothing better or truer to offer. In any case the Gospel is wholly true. At the end of the same letter Africanus adds these words: “Matthan, descended from Solomon, begat Jacob. After Matthan died, Melchi, descended from Nathan, begat Eli by the same woman. So Eli and Jacob were brothers by the same mother. When Eli died childless, Jacob raised up offspring for him by begetting Joseph, who was Jacob’s son by nature but Eli’s by law. So Joseph was the son of both.” That is what Africanus says.

HE 1. 7.17  Now that Joseph’s genealogy has been traced in this way, Mary is also shown, in effect, to belong to the same tribe as he does, since under the law of Moses it was not allowed to marry into other tribes. The law commands a person to marry someone from the same people and family, so that the inheritance does not pass from tribe to tribe. Let that be enough on these matters.


CHAPTER 8

HE 1. 8.1  Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judea, as the prophecies foretold, at the times already indicated. Magi from the east came asking where the newborn King of the Jews could be found. They said they had seen his star, and that this was the reason for their long journey, for they were eager to worship the child who was born as God. Herod was greatly disturbed at this, because he thought his rule was in danger. He asked the teachers of the law among the people where they expected the Christ to be born. When he learned that the prophecy of Micah announced Bethlehem, he gave a single order. All boys in Bethlehem and throughout its territory, from two years old and under, were to be killed, according to the time he had carefully learned from the magi. He supposed that Jesus, as was likely, would share the fate of others his age.
   [Scripture] Matthew 2:1-2; Matthew 2:3-6; Matthew 2:16

HE 1. 8.2-3  But the child escaped the plot. His parents had been warned beforehand by an angel who appeared to them, and they carried him off to Egypt. The holy Scripture of the Gospel teaches these things. It is worth noting, in addition, what Herod got in return for his daring act against Christ and the children of his age. Immediately, with not even a short delay, divine justice overtook him while he was still alive. It showed him a foretaste of what awaited him after he left this life.
   [Scripture] Matthew 2:13-15

HE 1. 8.4-5  It is not possible to list here how Herod darkened what he thought were the successes of his reign with a series of disasters in his own household. These were the murders of his wife, his children and the other relatives who were nearest and dearest to him. The story of these things outdoes every tragic drama, and Josephus has told it at length in his histories. But how a scourge sent by God struck him at the very time of his plot against our Saviour and the other infants, and drove him to his death, is better learned from the historian’s own words. In the seventeenth book of his Jewish Antiquities he describes the end of Herod’s life in these words: “The disease of Herod grew more bitter, since God was exacting punishment for the crimes he had committed.

HE 1. 8.6-7  “The fever was mild. It did not show as much heat to those who touched him as the torment it added inside. He had a terrible craving to eat, and it was impossible not to give in to it. His intestines were ulcerated, and he had terrible pains especially in the colon. A moist, clear swelling had formed about his feet. There was a similar affliction in his lower abdomen. His private parts were also rotting and breeding worms. He could breathe only sitting upright, and his breathing was very unpleasant because of the stench of his breath and its rapid panting. He had spasms in every limb, which added a strength that could not be endured.

HE 1. 8.8-9  It was said, in fact, by those who were inspired and who had the wisdom to foretell such things, that God was exacting this penalty from the king for his great ungodliness. The writer I mentioned reports these things in the work cited. In the second book of his Histories he gives a similar account of the same man, writing something like this: “From there the disease spread over his whole body and divided it among various torments. For he had a fever that was not violent, an unbearable itching over the whole surface of his skin, and pains in the colon. His feet were swollen as if with dropsy, his abdomen was inflamed, and his private parts were rotting and breeding worms. Besides this he could breathe only upright and with difficulty, and he had spasms in all his limbs. So those who spoke by divine inspiration said that the diseases were a punishment.”

HE 1. 8.10-11  Yet though he wrestled with so many sufferings, he still clung to life. He hoped for recovery and thought up remedies. He crossed the Jordan and used the warm springs at Callirhoe. These flow into the Asphalt Lake (the Dead Sea), but are sweet enough to drink. The physicians decided there to warm his whole body again with heated oil. He was lowered into a tub full of oil, but he went limp, his eyes rolled back, and he fell back as if dead. The attendants raised an uproar, and at the noise he revived. After this he gave up hope of recovery. He ordered fifty drachmas to be given to each soldier, and large sums to his officers and friends.

HE 1. 8.12-13  “Then he came back to Jericho, already in a black depression, and as if he were threatening death itself, he went on to plan a lawless deed. He gathered the prominent men from every village throughout Judea and ordered them shut up in the so-called hippodrome. Then he summoned his sister Salome and her husband Alexander and said, ‘I know that the Jews will celebrate my death. But I can be mourned by others as well and have a splendid funeral, if you are willing to carry out my orders. When I have breathed my last, surround the men under guard with soldiers and kill them at once, so that all Judea and every household will weep for me, even against their will.’”

HE 1. 8.14-15  And after a little he says: “Again he was racked by lack of food and by a convulsive cough. Overcome by his pains, he undertook to forestall his fate. He took an apple and asked for a knife, for he was in the habit of cutting up apples to eat them. Then he looked around to see that no one was there to stop him, and he raised his right hand as if to strike himself.” Besides this, the same writer records that Herod, shortly before the end of his life, had yet another of his own legitimate sons put to death by his command. This was the third son killed, after two already put to death earlier. Immediately afterward he breathed his last, in no small pain.

HE 1. 8.16  Such was the end of Herod. He paid a just penalty for the children he killed around Bethlehem, because of his plot against our Saviour. After this, an angel appeared in a dream to Joseph, who was staying in Egypt, and told him to go back to Judea with the child and his mother. He made clear that those who had been seeking the child’s life were dead. The evangelist then adds: “But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned in a dream, he withdrew to the region of Galilee.”
   [Scripture] Matthew 2:19-22


CHAPTER 9

HE 1. 9.1-2  The historian mentioned above also agrees about Archelaus taking over the rule after Herod. He records how Archelaus received the kingdom over the Jews by the will of his father Herod and the decision of Caesar Augustus. He also records how, after Archelaus lost his rule following a period of ten years, his brothers Philip and Herod the younger, together with Lysanias, governed their own tetrarchies. The same writer, in the eighteenth book of his Antiquities, makes clear that in the twelfth year of the reign of Tiberius, Pontius Pilate was entrusted with Judea. (Tiberius took over the rule of the whole empire after Augustus had held power for fifty-seven years.) He says Pilate stayed there for a full ten years, almost until the death of Tiberius.

HE 1. 9.3-4  So the invention of those who recently put out “records” against our Saviour is clearly disproved. First of all, the very date they attach to them exposes the lie of those who made them up. What they dared to write about the Saviour’s saving passion they place in the fourth consulship of Tiberius, which fell in the seventh year of his reign. But at that time Pilate had not yet come to Judea, if we are to trust Josephus as a witness. In the work already mentioned, Josephus plainly says that Pilate was made procurator of Judea by Tiberius in the twelfth year of his reign.


CHAPTER 10

HE 1. 10.1-2  It was in these times, then, according to the evangelist, in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar and the fourth year of the governorship of Pontius Pilate, while Herod, Lysanias and Philip were tetrarchs over the rest of Judea, that our Saviour and Lord Jesus, the Christ of God, was about thirty years old when he came to John’s baptism. It was then that he began the preaching of the gospel. The divine Scripture says that he spent the whole time of his teaching under the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas. It shows that the entire period of his teaching was completed within the years of service of these two. His teaching began during the high priesthood of Annas and lasted until the beginning of Caiaphas’s term. So the time between does not even amount to a full four years.
   [Scripture] Luke 3:1-2; Luke 3:23

HE 1. 10.3-4  By then the ordinances of the law had, in a way, already been abolished. The old arrangement, by which the duties of God’s service belonged to one man for life and passed down from his ancestors, had been set aside. Instead the Roman governors appointed one man after another to the high priesthood, and none stayed in it longer than a year. Josephus records that after Annas there were four high priests in succession down to Caiaphas. In the same work, the Antiquities, he says: “Valerius Gratus put an end to Ananus’s priesthood and appointed Ishmael, the son of Phabi, as high priest. Not long after, he removed him and appointed Eleazar, the son of Ananus the high priest, as high priest.”
   [Translator’s note] “Annas” in the Gospels is the same man Josephus calls “Ananus.” Counting Caiaphas, the four high priests after Annas are Ishmael, Eleazar, Simon and Caiaphas.

HE 1. 10.5-6  After a year had passed, Gratus removed him too and handed the high priesthood to Simon, the son of Camithus. Simon likewise held the office for no more than a year, and then Josephus, who is also called Caiaphas, succeeded him.” So the whole time of our Saviour’s teaching turns out to be not even four full years, since four high priests, one after another, each served a year, from Annas down to the appointment of Caiaphas. The Gospel writing therefore rightly names Caiaphas as high priest in the year in which the Saviour’s saving passion was accomplished. From this too, the length of Christ’s teaching is shown to agree with the reckoning set out above.
   [Translator’s note] The quotation from Josephus (Antiquities 18.34-35) begins in the previous section and ends here at “succeeded him.” Eusebius draws his own inference from it: he treats the four one-year terms as fixing the length of Jesus’ ministry at under four years.

HE 1. 10.7  Not long after the start of his preaching, our Saviour and Lord called the twelve apostles. Of all his disciples he named only these “apostles,” as a special honor. Then he appointed seventy others, and he sent them out two by two ahead of him, into every place and city he was himself about to visit.
   [Scripture] Luke 10:1; Luke 6:13


CHAPTER 11

HE 1. 11.1  Not long afterward John the Baptist was beheaded by the younger Herod. The divine writing of the Gospels records this, and Josephus also bears witness to it. He mentions Herodias by name and tells how Herod took her in marriage, though she was his brother’s wife. To do so Herod rejected his first, lawfully married wife, who was the daughter of Aretas, king of the Petraeans, and he separated Herodias from her husband while the man was still alive. Because of her Herod killed John, and he went to war with Aretas, since Aretas’s daughter had been dishonored.

HE 1. 11.2-3  Josephus says that in this war a battle was fought and Herod’s whole army was destroyed, and that Herod suffered this because of the plot against John. The same Josephus openly acknowledges that John, the Baptist, was an especially righteous man, and so he confirms what is written about John in the Gospels. He also records that Herod lost his kingdom because of this same Herodias. She went with him into exile beyond the borders, and he was condemned to live in Vienne in Gaul.

HE 1. 11.4-5  Josephus makes these statements in the eighteenth book of the Antiquities, where he writes about John in these very words: “Some of the Jews thought that Herod’s army was destroyed by God, who was most justly punishing Herod for what he did to John, called the Baptist. For Herod killed him, though he was a good man who urged the Jews to practice virtue, to be just toward one another and devout toward God, and so to come together for baptism. In this way, he said, baptism would be acceptable to God: when they used it not to beg pardon for particular sins, but for the purity of the body, since the soul had already been cleansed beforehand by righteousness.
   [Translator’s note] Josephus’s Greek has the Baptist’s baptism as being “for purity of the body,” not “for the forgiveness of sins.” Eusebius quotes it as written; the Gospels describe John’s baptism as one of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

HE 1. 11.6  “When others gathered around him (for they were delighted beyond measure at hearing his words), Herod became afraid. He feared that John’s great power to persuade people might lead to some revolt, since they seemed ready to do whatever he advised. So Herod judged it much better to strike first and kill him before any disturbance arose from him, than to wait until a change had come and then regret it when he was caught up in the trouble. Because of Herod’s suspicion, John was sent in chains to Machaerus, the fortress mentioned above, and was put to death there.

HE 1. 11.7-8  After going through these things about John, Josephus in the same work also mentions our Saviour, in these words: “At this time there appeared Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he was a doer of astonishing deeds, a teacher of people who received the truth with pleasure. He won over many Jews, and many of the Greeks as well. This man was the Christ. When Pilate, on the accusation of the leading men among us, condemned him to the cross, those who had loved him at first did not stop. For he appeared to them on the third day, alive again, as the divine prophets had spoken of this and countless other wonders about him. And even now the tribe of Christians, named after him, has not died out.”
   [Translator’s note] This is the well-known passage in Josephus about Jesus (the “Testimonium Flavianum”). Eusebius is the earliest writer to quote it in this form. Scholars still debate whether some of its wording was added later by Christians.

HE 1. 11.9  This Hebrew historian, one of their own people, has set down in his own work these things about John the Baptist and about our Saviour. What excuse is left, then, to keep those who forged the “Acts” against them from being exposed as shameless? But let that be enough on this subject.
   [Translator’s note] The “Acts” are forged documents (the Acts of Pilate) that were circulated against the Christians. Eusebius has discussed them earlier in this book. The “Hebrew historian” is Josephus.


CHAPTER 12

HE 1. 12.1-2  The names of the apostles of our Saviour are clear to everyone from the Gospels. But there is no list of the seventy disciples anywhere. Barnabas is said to have been one of them. The Acts of the Apostles mentions him in several places, and Paul does too, especially when writing to the Galatians. They say that Sosthenes, who wrote to the Corinthians together with Paul, was also one of them. This account is found in Clement, in the fifth book of his Hypotyposes. There he also says that Cephas was one of the seventy disciples, a man with the same name as the apostle Peter. He is the one about whom Paul says, “When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face.”
   [Translator’s note] Hypotyposes (“Outlines”) is a work by Clement of Alexandria that survives only in fragments. Eusebius quotes Galatians 2:11 here.
   [Scripture] Galatians 2:11

HE 1. 12.3-4  The tradition also holds that Matthias, who was added to the apostles in the place of Judas, and the man who was honored with him by the same vote, were counted worthy of the same calling among the seventy. They say that Thaddeus was another of them, and I will shortly set out an account about him that has come down to us. If you look carefully, you will also find that the Saviour had more disciples than the seventy. Paul is your witness. He says that after the resurrection from the dead Christ appeared first to Cephas, then to the twelve, and after them to more than five hundred brothers at once. Some of these, he said, had fallen asleep, but most were still alive at the time he wrote this.
   [Scripture] 1 Corinthians 15:5-6

HE 1. 12.5  Then Paul says that he appeared to James. This James was one of those called the Saviour’s brothers. Next, there were many others who were apostles in imitation of the Twelve, as Paul himself was. So Paul adds, “Then he appeared to all the apostles.” That is enough about these men. The account of Thaddeus runs as follows.
   [Scripture] 1 Corinthians 15:7


CHAPTER 13

HE 1. 13.1-2  The divine power of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was proclaimed among all people because of his wonder-working power. It drew countless people from foreign lands, far from Judea, in the hope of being healed of their diseases and all kinds of suffering. In this way King Abgar, who ruled the nations beyond the Euphrates with great distinction, was wasting away in his body with a terrible illness that no human power could cure. He heard of the name of Jesus and of his mighty works, which everyone agreed in attesting. So he sent a messenger with a letter, humbly asking Jesus to deliver him from his disease.

HE 1. 13.3-4  Jesus did not answer his call at that time. Yet he did think him worthy of a personal letter, saying that he would send one of his disciples to heal his disease, and promising salvation both to Abgar and to all his household. The promise was not long in being fulfilled. After the resurrection from the dead and the ascent into heaven, Thomas, one of the twelve apostles, was moved by a more than human prompting. He sent Thaddeus, who was himself counted among the seventy disciples of Christ, to Edessa as a preacher and evangelist of the teaching of Christ. Through him everything our Saviour had promised was brought to completion.

HE 1. 13.5  You have written evidence of this, taken from the record offices of Edessa, which was at that time a city ruled by a king. In the public documents there, which contain the ancient history and the acts of Abgar, these things are found preserved even to this day. The best thing is to hear the letters themselves. We took them from the archives and translated them word for word from the Syriac language, in this way. Here is a copy of a letter written by Abgar the ruler to Jesus, and sent to him at Jerusalem by the courier Ananias.
   [Translator’s note] “Toparch” means a regional ruler or governor. Eusebius’s Greek here also describes Edessa as a city “ruled by a king” (βασιλευομένην).

HE 1. 13.6-7  “Abgar, ruler of Edessa, to Jesus, the good Saviour who has appeared in the region of Jerusalem: greetings. I have heard about you and about your cures, how they are done by you without medicines or herbs. The report is that you make the blind see again and the lame walk. You cleanse lepers, cast out spirits and demons, heal those tormented by long illness, and raise the dead. Having heard all this about you, I have settled it in my mind that one of two things is true: either you are God, and came down from heaven to do these things, or you are the Son of God who does them.”

HE 1. 13.8-10  “For this reason I have written to ask you to trouble yourself to come to me and heal the suffering I have. I have also heard that the Jews are grumbling against you and want to harm you. My city is very small, but it is respectable, and it is big enough for both of us.” The reply written by Jesus to the ruler Abgarus, sent by the courier Ananias: “Blessed are you, who have believed in me without having seen me. For it is written about me that those who have seen me will not believe in me, and that those who have not seen me will believe and live. As for what you wrote asking me to come to you, I must complete here everything for which I was sent, and when I have completed it, I must be taken up to the one who sent me. When I have been taken up, I will send you one of my disciples, to heal your suffering and to give life to you and to those with you.”

HE 1. 13.11-12  Attached to these letters, in the Syriac language, was also the following account. After Jesus was taken up, Judas, who is also called Thomas, sent Thaddeus to Abgarus. Thaddeus was an apostle, one of the Seventy. When he came, he stayed with Tobias, the son of Tobias. When word of him spread, it was reported to Abgarus that an apostle of Jesus had come, just as Jesus had written to him. Thaddeus began to heal every disease and sickness by the power of God, so that everyone was amazed. When Abgarus heard of the great and marvelous things he was doing and how he healed, he began to suspect that this was the man about whom Jesus had written: “When I have been taken up, I will send you one of my disciples, who will heal your suffering.”

HE 1. 13.13-14  So Abgarus sent for Tobias, with whom Thaddeus was staying, and said, “I have heard that a certain man of power has come and is staying in your house. Bring him to me.” Tobias went to Thaddeus and said to him, “The ruler Abgarus sent for me and told me to bring you to him, so that you may heal his suffering.” Thaddeus said, “I will go up, since I have been sent to him with power.” So Tobias got up early the next day, took Thaddeus, and came to Abgarus. When Thaddeus went up, Abgarus’s nobles were present and standing around. As soon as he entered, a great vision appeared to Abgarus in the face of the apostle Thaddeus. When Abgarus saw it, he bowed down before Thaddeus. All who stood around were astonished, for they had not seen the vision, which appeared to Abgarus alone.

HE 1. 13.15-16  Abgarus asked Thaddeus, “Are you truly a disciple of Jesus, the Son of God, who said to me, ‘I will send you one of my disciples, who will heal you and give you life’?” Thaddeus said, “Because you have believed so strongly in the one who sent me, I was sent to you. And again, if you believe in him, the requests of your heart will be granted to you according to your faith.” Abgarus said to him, “I have believed in him so much that I wanted to take an army and cut to pieces the Jews who crucified him. I was only held back from this by the power of the Romans.” Thaddeus said, “Our Lord has fulfilled the will of his Father, and having fulfilled it, he was taken up to the Father.”

HE 1. 13.17-18  Abgarus said to him, “I too have believed in him and in his Father.” Thaddeus said, “For this reason I lay my hand on you in his name.” As soon as he did this, Abgarus was healed of the disease and the suffering he had. Abgarus was amazed that, just as he had heard about Jesus, so he had received it in actual deeds through his disciple Thaddeus, who healed him without medicine or herbs. Not only that, but Abdus, the son of Abdus, who had gout, also came and fell at Thaddeus’s feet. He received a blessing by the laying on of hands and was healed. Thaddeus healed many other citizens of the city as well, doing great and wonderful things and proclaiming the word of God.

HE 1. 13.19  After this Abgarus said, “Thaddeus, you do these things by the power of God, and we ourselves are amazed at you. But besides this, I beg you to tell me about the coming of Jesus, how it happened, and about his power, and by what power he did the things we have heard about.”

HE 1. 13.20  Thaddeus said, “For now I will keep silent, since I was sent to proclaim the word. But tomorrow gather all your citizens for me, and before them I will preach the word of God. I will sow the word of life among them: about the coming of Jesus, how it came about; about his mission, and why the Father sent him; about the power of his works and the mysteries he spoke in the world, and by what power he did these things; about his new preaching, and his smallness and humbling, and how he humbled himself, and died, and lowered his divinity, and was crucified, and went down into Hades. He tore through the barrier that had never been torn from the beginning of the ages, and brought up the dead. For he went down alone, but raised many with him, and so went up to his Father.”

HE 1. 13.21-22  So Abgarus ordered his citizens to gather in the morning and hear Thaddeus’s preaching. After this he commanded that gold and uncoined silver be given to him. But Thaddeus would not accept it. He said, “If we have left behind what was our own, how shall we take what belongs to others?” These things happened in the year 340. I have set them down here in their proper place, translated word for word from the Syriac, and I hope not without profit.


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BOOK 2
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GREETING

HE 2. Gr..1-2  In the previous book I set out briefly, as a kind of introduction, the matters that needed to be settled for this church history. These were the divine nature of the saving Word, and the ancient origin of the doctrines we teach. They included also the antiquity of the gospel way of life among Christians, as well as the recent appearing of Christ himself, his suffering, and the choosing of the apostles. In each case I kept the proofs short. Now let us look at what happened after his ascension. Some things I will point out from the divine Scriptures, and others I will add from outside writings, which I will mention as the occasion arises.


CHAPTER 1

HE 2. 1.1  First, then, Matthias was chosen by lot for the apostleship in place of the traitor Judas. As has been shown, he too was one of the Lord’s disciples. Seven approved men, including Stephen, were appointed by prayer and the laying on of the apostles’ hands for the work of service, to attend to the needs of the community. Stephen was the first after the Lord to be stoned to death by the Lord’s murderers, at the very time of his appointment, as if he had been brought forward for this very purpose. In this way he was the first to win the crown that shares his name, the crown of Christ’s martyrs, who are worthy of the victory prize.
   [Translator’s note] “Stephen” in Greek (Stephanos) means “crown,” which is the wordplay here.
   [Scripture] Acts 1:23-26; Acts 6:3-6; Acts 7:58-60

HE 2. 1.2  Then James, who was called the Lord’s brother, is recorded as the first to be entrusted with the bishop’s seat of the church in Jerusalem. He was called the Lord’s brother because he was named as a son of Joseph. Joseph was the father of Christ, since the Virgin was engaged to him and, before they came together, was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit, as the sacred Scripture of the Gospels teaches. The men of old called this James “the Just” because of his outstanding virtue.
   [Scripture] Matthew 1:18

HE 2. 1.3-4  Clement, in the sixth book of his Hypotyposes, writes this: “Peter, James and John, after the Savior’s ascension, though the Lord had honored them above the others, did not claim the glory for themselves. Instead they chose James the Just as bishop of Jerusalem.” In the seventh book of the same work the same writer also says this about him: “The Lord, after his resurrection, gave the knowledge to James the Just, John and Peter. They gave it to the other apostles, and the other apostles to the Seventy, one of whom was Barnabas.”
   [Translator’s note] Hypotyposes (“Outlines”) is a lost work of Clement of Alexandria, known only from quotations like this one.

HE 2. 1.5-6  There were two men named James. One was James the Just, who was thrown down from the parapet of the temple and beaten to death with a fuller’s club. The other was the one who was beheaded. Paul also mentions James the Just, writing, “But I saw none of the other apostles, except James the Lord’s brother.” At this time also the promise of our Savior to the king of the Osrhoenians was fulfilled. Thomas, moved by a divine impulse, sent Thaddeus to Edessa as a preacher and evangelist of the teaching about Christ, as we showed a little earlier from the document found there.
   [Translator’s note] Pterygion literally means “little wing” and is the term for the pinnacle or parapet of the temple. Osrhoene is the region around Edessa, ruled by Abgarus.
   [Scripture] Galatians 1:19

HE 2. 1.7-8  When Thaddeus reached the place, he healed Abgar by the word of Christ. He astonished everyone there with his extraordinary miracles. His works prepared them well and led them to revere the power of Christ, and he made them disciples of the Savior’s teaching. From that time to this, the whole city of the Edessenes has been devoted to the name of Christ. This is no small proof of our Savior’s kindness to them also. Let this much be said, drawn from ancient records. Now let us turn back to the divine Scripture. The first and greatest persecution of the church in Jerusalem was stirred up by the Jews themselves, on the occasion of Stephen’s martyrdom. All the disciples except the Twelve were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Some, as the divine Scripture says, went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch. But they did not yet dare to share the word of faith with the Gentiles, and preached it only to Jews.
   [Scripture] Acts 8:1; Acts 11:19

HE 2. 1.9-10  At that time Paul was still ravaging the church. He went into the homes of believers, dragged away men and women, and handed them over to prison. Philip, one of those appointed with Stephen for the ministry of service, was among those who were scattered. He went down to Samaria. Filled with divine power, he was the first to preach the word to the people there. Divine grace worked with him so strongly that even Simon the magician, along with a great many others, was drawn in by his words.
   [Scripture] Acts 8:3

HE 2. 1.11-12  Simon was so famous at that time, and held such power over those he had deceived by his sorcery, that they believed he was the great power of God. But now he was amazed at the miracles Philip did by divine power. He slipped in and pretended to have faith in Christ, even to the point of baptism. It is remarkable that the same thing still happens today among those who follow his most defiling heresy. Like their forefather, they creep into the church like a plague or a scabby disease. They do great harm to those in whom they can implant the incurable, terrible poison hidden inside themselves. Many of them have already been thrown out once they were caught in their wickedness. Simon himself was exposed by Peter and paid the penalty he deserved.

HE 2. 1.13  As the saving message was growing day by day, a providential plan brought an official of the queen of the Ethiopians. To this day that nation is ruled by a woman, according to an ancestral custom. He was the first of the Gentiles to share in the mysteries of the divine word through Philip, after a revelation. He became the firstfruits of believers throughout the world. The account holds that he was also the first to go back to his homeland and proclaim the knowledge of the God of the universe and the life-giving coming of our Savior among men. So through him the prophecy was fulfilled in fact, which says, “Ethiopia will stretch out her hand to God.”

HE 2. 1.14  After these events Paul, the “chosen vessel,” was shown to be an apostle. He was appointed “not from men, nor through men, but through the revelation of Jesus Christ himself and of God the Father, who raised him from the dead.” He was counted worthy of the call by a vision and by the heavenly voice that came in the revelation.
   [Scripture] Galatians 1:1; Acts 9:15


CHAPTER 2

HE 2. 2.1-2  By now the amazing resurrection of our Savior and his ascension into heaven were widely talked about. There was an old custom among the rulers of the provinces to report any new developments to the emperor, so that nothing would escape him. So Pilate informed the emperor Tiberius about the reports spreading all over Palestine concerning the resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ from the dead. Pilate had learned of his other marvels as well, and that many already believed he was God, having risen from the dead after dying. They say Tiberius referred the matter to the Senate, but the Senate rejected it. The apparent reason was that it had not examined the matter first, since an ancient law held that no one could be made a god among the Romans except by a vote and decree of the Senate. The real reason was that the saving teaching of the divine message did not need approval or endorsement from human judgment.

HE 2. 2.3-4  So the Roman Senate rejected the report about our Saviour. Tiberius kept the opinion he had held before, and he devised nothing hostile against the teaching of Christ. Tertullian records this. He was a man who knew Roman law thoroughly, was distinguished in other ways, and was among the most illustrious men in Rome. In his Apology for the Christians, written in Latin and translated into Greek, he reports it word for word as follows: “Let us also discuss the origin of such laws. There was an ancient decree that no emperor should consecrate a god before the Senate had approved him. Marcus Aemilius acted on this in the case of a certain idol of Alburnus. And this supports our argument, because among you divinity is conferred by human approval.

HE 2. 2.5-6  If a god does not please a man, he does not become a god. So, by this custom, man must be gracious to god! Tiberius, then, was emperor when the name of Christians came into the world. When this teaching was reported to him from Palestine, where it first began, he put it before the Senate, making clear to them that he himself was pleased with it. But the Senate rejected it, because it had not approved it for itself. Tiberius stayed with his own judgment and threatened death to those who accused the Christians. Heavenly providence, in its plan, was putting this into his mind so that the word of the gospel, unhindered in its beginnings, might run out over the whole earth.
   [Translator’s note] The sarcastic opening lines are Tertullian’s (Apology 5). The closing remark about heavenly providence is Eusebius’s own comment, not part of the Tertullian quotation.


CHAPTER 3

HE 2. 3.1-2  In this way, by heavenly power and co-operation, the saving word lit up the whole world all at once, like a ray of the sun. Straightway, in keeping with the divine Scriptures, the voice of his inspired evangelists and apostles went out over all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. In every city and village, churches sprang up at once, packed with countless people, like a threshing floor filled with grain. Many people had been bound in their souls by the old disease of idol superstition, handed down from their ancestors and rooted in ancient error. By the power of Christ, through the teaching and the wonders of his disciples, they were set free as if from cruel masters and found release from the harshest chains. They spat on every kind of demonic polytheism and confessed that there is only one God, the maker of all things. They honored him by the laws of true piety, in the God-inspired and sober worship that our Saviour sowed in human life.
   [Translator’s note] The words “their voice went out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world” echo Psalm 19:4, as Paul uses it in Romans 10:18.
   [Scripture] Romans 10:18

HE 2. 3.3  But divine grace was by now being poured out on the other nations too. First, at Caesarea in Palestine, Cornelius and his whole household received faith in Christ, through a striking divine appearance and the service of Peter. Then very many other Greeks at Antioch believed, those to whom the people scattered in the persecution over Stephen had preached. The church at Antioch was now flourishing and growing. At the same time a great many prophets from Jerusalem were there, and with them Barnabas and Paul and a further crowd of the brothers. It was there, then, that the name of Christians was first given out, as from a fresh and fruitful spring.

HE 2. 3.4  Agabus, one of the prophets who were with them, foretold that a famine was coming. Paul and Barnabas were sent to take part in the relief service for the brothers.
   [Scripture] Acts 11:27-30


CHAPTER 4

HE 2. 4.1  Tiberius died after reigning about twenty-two years. Gaius succeeded him in the rule of the empire and at once placed the crown of the Jewish realm on Agrippa, making him king of the tetrarchies of Philip and of Lysanias. Not long afterward he gave him the tetrarchy of Herod as well. Gaius punished Herod, the one who ruled at the time of the Saviour’s passion, together with his wife Herodias, with permanent exile for a great many offenses. Josephus is a witness to these events too.
   [Translator’s note] Gaius is the emperor commonly known as Caligula. This Herod is Herod Antipas.

HE 2. 4.2-3  In his reign Philo became well known. He was a man of great distinction, not only among many of our own people but also among many who came from the learning outside the church. By ancient descent he was a Hebrew, and he was inferior to none of the leading men in office at Alexandria. How much labor he put into the divine studies of his ancestors is plain to everyone from his work. As for his skill in philosophy and the liberal studies of outside learning, there is no need to say what sort of man he was. He is reported to have been especially zealous for the discipline of Plato and Pythagoras, and to have surpassed all his contemporaries.


CHAPTER 5

HE 2. 5.1  Philo wrote an account in five books of what happened to the Jews under Caius. In it he describes the madness of Caius, who proclaimed himself a god and committed countless outrages in his rule. He also tells of the sufferings of the Jews under him. He tells of the embassy he himself undertook to the city of Rome on behalf of his countrymen in Alexandria. He tells how he stood before Caius to defend the laws of his fathers and got nothing but laughter and mockery, and how he came close to losing his life.

HE 2. 5.2-3  Josephus also mentions these things in the eighteenth book of his Antiquities, writing in these words: “When a riot broke out in Alexandria between the Jews who live there and the Greeks, three envoys were chosen from each side and came before Caius. One of the Alexandrian envoys was Apion, who slandered the Jews. Among other things he said that they neglected the honors due to Caesar. All the peoples under Roman rule, he said, had set up altars and temples to Caius and in every way received him just as they did the gods. These people alone, he said, thought it disgraceful to honor him with statues and to swear by his name.

HE 2. 5.4-5  “Apion made many harsh charges, by which he hoped, quite reasonably, to stir up Caius. Philo, the head of the Jewish embassy, was a man of distinction in every respect. He was the brother of Alexander the alabarch and not without knowledge of philosophy, and he was ready to answer the accusations in defense. But Caius cut him off and ordered him to get out of his sight. He was furiously angry and plainly about to do them some serious harm. Philo left, having been grossly insulted, and told the Jews around him to take courage. In words, he said, Caius was angry with them, but in fact he was already setting himself against God.” So far Josephus.

HE 2. 5.6-7  Philo himself, in the work he wrote about the embassy, describes precisely, point by point, what was done then. I will pass over most of it and set down only what will make clear to readers that the troubles that fell on the Jews came soon after their daring acts against Christ, and because of them. First, he relates that in Rome in the time of Tiberius, Sejanus, who then had the greatest influence with the emperor, worked hard to destroy the whole Jewish nation completely. In Judea, he says, Pilate, under whom the deeds against the Saviour were done, tried something at the temple in Jerusalem, which was still standing then, that went against what the Jews permitted. He stirred them up to the greatest disturbances.


CHAPTER 6

HE 2. 6.1-2  After the death of Tiberius, Caius took over the empire. He committed many outrages against many people, but above all he did great harm to the whole nation of the Jews. We can learn this briefly from Philo’s own words, where he writes as follows: “Such was the inconsistency of Caius’s character toward everyone, and especially toward the Jewish people. He hated them bitterly. He took over their houses of prayer in the other cities, beginning with those in Alexandria, and filled them with images and statues of himself. (When he allowed others to set them up, he was in effect setting them up himself.) The temple in the holy city had until then remained untouched, honored with complete inviolability as a place of refuge. He set about changing it and remodeling it into a temple of his own, so that it would be called the temple of Caius, the new Zeus made manifest.”
   [Translator’s note] “Houses of prayer” translates the Greek proseuchai, the usual word for synagogues in Egypt and the Greek diaspora.

HE 2. 6.3-4  The same author records countless other terrible things that happened to the Jews in Alexandria, beyond all telling, in the second work mentioned, which he entitled On the Virtues. Josephus agrees with him. He likewise indicates that the calamities against the whole nation began in the time of Pilate, with the daring deeds against our Saviour. Hear what he says in the second book of the Jewish War, in these very words: “Pilate was sent to Judea as procurator by Tiberius. By night he brought Caesar’s images into Jerusalem, covered up. They are called standards. When day came, this caused the greatest uproar among the Jews. Those nearby were shocked at the sight, since their laws had been trampled underfoot. For they do not allow any image to be set up in the city.”

HE 2. 6.5-6  If you compare these things with what the Gospels record, you will see that the penalty did not wait long to overtake them for the cry they raised before Pilate himself, when they shouted that they had no king but Caesar. The same writer next records another calamity that came upon them. He says: “After this he stirred up another disturbance by spending the sacred treasure, which is called Corban, on an aqueduct that brought water from a distance of three hundred stadia. The crowd was furious at this.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek says the water “came down from” three hundred stadia away, so the distance is that of the water’s source. A stadion was about 600 feet (roughly 185 metres). Corban is the Hebrew word for a gift dedicated to God.
   [Scripture] John 19:15

HE 2. 6.7  When Pilate came to Jerusalem, they stood around his tribunal and shouted at him. He had foreseen their uproar. So he mixed armed soldiers among the crowd, hidden under ordinary clothes. He forbade them to use the sword, but ordered them to beat the shouters with clubs, and he gave the signal from the tribunal. The Jews were struck down. Many died from the blows, and many were trampled to death by their own people as they fled. The crowd was stunned by the fate of those who had been killed, and fell silent.”

HE 2. 6.8  Besides these, the same writer shows that countless other uprisings broke out in Jerusalem itself. He makes clear that from that time on, the city and all Judea never stopped having riots, wars and one wicked scheme after another, until at last the siege under Vespasian came upon them. In this way, then, divine justice overtook the Jews for what they had dared to do against Christ.


CHAPTER 7

HE 2. 7.1  It is worth knowing that the Pilate who served in the time of our Saviour is himself reported to have fallen, under Gaius (whose times we are describing), into such great misfortunes that he was driven to become his own murderer and to carry out the punishment with his own hand. Divine justice, it seems, did not wait long to overtake him. This is told by the Greek historians who recorded the Olympiads together with the events of each period.
   [Translator’s note] Olympiads were four-year periods used by Greek writers to date events. Eusebius names no particular historian here.


CHAPTER 8

HE 2. 8.1-2  Gaius did not hold power for even four full years. The emperor Claudius succeeded him. In his reign a famine pressed upon the whole world. Writers who have no connection with our message also handed this down in their histories. So the prophet Agabus’s prediction in the Acts of the Apostles, that a famine would come over the whole world, was fulfilled. Luke, in the Acts, notes the famine under Claudius. He tells how the brothers at Antioch, each according to his means, sent help to the brothers in Judea by Paul and Barnabas. Then he goes on to say:
   [Scripture] Acts 11:27-30


CHAPTER 9

HE 2. 9.1-2  “About that time” (clearly he means in the reign of Claudius) “King Herod laid hands on some of those from the church to mistreat them, and he killed James, the brother of John, with a sword.” Concerning this James, Clement, in the seventh book of his Hypotyposes, gives an account worth remembering. He says he has it from the tradition of those before him. The man who brought James into court, seeing him give his testimony, was moved and confessed that he too was a Christian.
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is from Acts 12:1-2. Clement of Alexandria’s Hypotyposes (“Outlines”) is a lost work, known mainly through quotations like this.
   [Scripture] Acts 12:1-2

HE 2. 9.3-4  So, Clement says, they were both led away together. On the way the man begged James to forgive him. James thought for a moment and said, “Peace to you,” and kissed him. And so both were beheaded together. Then, as the divine Scripture says, Herod saw that the killing of James pleased the Jews, and he went after Peter also. He handed him over to be bound in prison, and he would very soon have carried out his murder as well, had Peter not been marvellously freed from his chains by an angel who appeared to him at night, by God’s intervention. He was thus released for the service of preaching. That was how God’s plan worked out for Peter.


CHAPTER 10

HE 2. 10.1  The king’s attack on the apostles did not go unpunished for long. The agent of divine justice, the avenger, went after him right away, immediately after his plot against the apostles, as the Acts of the Apostles records. He had gone down to Caesarea. There, on a notable feast day, he put on splendid royal clothing and made a public speech from a high seat in front of the tribunal. All the people applauded the speech as the voice of a god and not of a man. The Scripture records that at once an angel of the Lord struck him, and he was eaten by worms and died.
   [Translator’s note] See Acts 12:19-23. The Greek says only that he spoke from on high before the tribunal (bēma), a raised platform.
   [Scripture] Acts 12:21-23

HE 2. 10.2-3  It is worth marveling that Josephus’s account agrees with the divine Scripture even in this astonishing event. In the nineteenth book of his *Antiquities* he plainly bears witness to the truth, and he tells the wonder in these very words: “He had now completed the third year of his reign over all Judea, and he came to the city of Caesarea, which was formerly called Strato’s Tower. There he put on spectacles in honor of Caesar, since he understood that this was a festival kept for Caesar’s well-being. A great crowd had gathered for it, made up of the leading men of the province and those of high rank.
   [Translator’s note] The “divine Scripture” here is Acts 12. The Greek word theōrias is general and means “spectacles” or public shows, not necessarily “games.”

HE 2. 10.4-5  “On the second day of the spectacles he put on a robe made entirely of silver, of marvelous workmanship, and came into the theater at the start of the day. There the silver was lit by the first strokes of the sun’s rays and shone wonderfully. It gleamed so brightly that it was fearful and made those who gazed at it shudder. At once his flatterers cried out from one place and another, in words that did him no good, calling him a god. They added, ‘Be gracious to us. Until now we have feared you as a man, but from now on we confess that you are above mortal nature.’

HE 2. 10.6-7  “The king did not rebuke them, and he did not turn away their impious flattery. But a little later he looked up and saw an angel sitting above his head. He understood at once that this angel, who had once been a bringer of good things, was now the cause of evil, and a pain pierced him to the heart. Then a sudden pain gripped his belly, beginning with great violence. He looked at his friends and said, ‘I, your god, am now ordered to end my life. Fate is immediately proving false the words you have just spoken about me. I, who was called immortal by you, am now being dragged off to die. But we must accept the destiny God has willed. For we have lived no ordinary life, but one of the kind men call blessed splendor.’ While he said this he was overcome by the growing pain.

HE 2. 10.8  “He was quickly carried to the palace, and word spread to everyone that he would certainly die before long. At once the whole crowd, with their wives and children, sat down in sackcloth in the manner of their fathers and begged God for the king. Everything was full of wailing and lamentation. The king lay in an upper room, and when he looked down and saw them throwing themselves face down on the ground, he could not keep from weeping himself.

HE 2. 10.9-10  “He suffered constantly from the pain in his belly for five days, and then ended his life. He was fifty-four years old, in the seventh year of his reign. He had reigned four years under Gaius Caesar: three years over the tetrarchy of Philip, and in the fourth year he took over Herod’s as well. Then he reigned three more years under the emperor Claudius.” I marvel that Josephus, in this as in other matters, agrees with the divine Scriptures. If anyone thinks there is a disagreement over the king’s name, the time and the events show that it is the same man. Either the name was changed by a copyist’s mistake, or the man had two names, as many people do.
   [Translator’s note] The king is Herod Agrippa I. Acts calls him Herod, while Josephus calls him Agrippa.


CHAPTER 11

HE 2. 11.1-2  Luke again, in Acts, has Gamaliel say, in the discussion about the apostles, that at the time in question Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody. He was destroyed, and all who had obeyed him were scattered. So let us set beside it what Josephus wrote about this man. In the work just mentioned he tells the following story, word for word: “While Fadus was governor of Judea, a certain charlatan named Theudas persuaded the great majority of the crowd to take their belongings and follow him to the river Jordan. He said he was a prophet, and that at his command he would split the river and give them an easy way across. By saying this he deceived many.
   [Translator’s note] “Fadus” is Cuspius Fadus, procurator of Judea. Luke’s wording is from Acts 5:36, which Eusebius paraphrases here.
   [Scripture] Acts 5:36

HE 2. 11.3  “But Fadus did not let them enjoy their folly. He sent a squadron of cavalry against them. It fell on them unexpectedly, killing many and taking many alive. They captured Theudas himself alive, cut off his head, and brought it to Jerusalem.” Next to this Josephus also mentions the famine that happened under Claudius, in these words:


CHAPTER 12

HE 2. 12.1-2  Besides these things, the great famine also came upon Judea. During it Queen Helen bought grain from Egypt at great cost and distributed it to those in need. You will find this agrees with the Acts of the Apostles. That book says that the disciples at Antioch, each according to his means, decided to send help to those living in Judea. They did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Paul.
   [Scripture] Acts 11:28-30

HE 2. 12.3  Of this Helen, whom the historian mentioned, splendid monuments are still shown in the suburbs of what is now Aelia. She is said to have been queen of the people of Adiabene.
   [Translator’s note] Aelia is Jerusalem. Hadrian refounded it as the Roman colony Aelia Capitolina, planned around AD 130 and completed after the Bar Kokhba revolt (AD 132-135), when Jews were barred from the city.


CHAPTER 13

HE 2. 13.1-2  By now faith in our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ had spread to all people. But the enemy of human salvation plotted to seize the imperial city first. He brought there the Simon mentioned earlier, and by assisting the man’s skillful sorceries he won over many of the people living in Rome and led them into error. Not long after the apostles, Justin, who was distinguished among the writers of our own faith, makes this clear. I will say what is fitting about him at the proper time. Take his writing and read it for me, from the first Apology he addressed to Antoninus in defense of our teaching. He writes as follows:

HE 2. 13.3  “After the Lord’s ascension into heaven, the demons put forward certain men who said they were gods. Not only were they not persecuted by you, they were even thought worthy of honors. One was a Samaritan named Simon, from a village called Gitton. In the reign of Claudius Caesar, through the art of the demons at work in him, he performed magical feats in your royal city of Rome and was regarded as a god. He has been honored by you with a statue, as a god, in the river Tiber between the two bridges. It carries this inscription in Latin: SIMONI DEO SANCTO, that is, ‘To Simon, holy god.’
   [Translator’s note] Many scholars think Justin misread an inscription to the Sabine god Semo Sancus; a stone dedicated to Semo Sancus was found on the Tiber island in 1574. This is a modern suggestion, not something Eusebius says.

HE 2. 13.4-5  “Almost all the Samaritans, and a few people in other nations, acknowledge him as the first God and worship him. They also say that a certain Helena, who traveled about with him at that time, and who had previously stood in a brothel in Tyre of Phoenicia, was the first thought that came forth from him.” So far Justin. Irenaeus agrees with him in the first book of his work Against Heresies. There he sets out the facts about the man and his impious and defiled teaching. It would be pointless to list that teaching here. Those who wish can learn the origins, the lives and the false doctrines of the later founders of heresies, one by one, together with the practices all of them cultivated. Irenaeus gives these in that book, and not as a passing matter.
   [Translator’s note] Justin’s quotation ends at “came forth from him.” The words that follow are Eusebius’s own.

HE 2. 13.6  We have received the tradition that Simon was the first leader of every heresy. From his time until now, those who follow his heresy pretend to hold the sober philosophy of the Christians, which is famous among all people for its purity of life. Yet they go back to the superstition about idols that they seemed to have left. They fall down before pictures and images of Simon himself and of the Helena mentioned with him, and they undertake to worship them with incense, sacrifices and drink offerings.

HE 2. 13.7-8  Their still more secret teachings are said to astonish anyone who hears them for the first time. According to a saying they have in writing, he will be “amazed.” In truth these teachings are full of amazement, loss of mind and madness. They are of such a kind that they cannot be put in writing, and decent men cannot even speak of them aloud, because of their extreme shamefulness and unspeakable character. Whatever the most defiled thing might be, or might be imagined, this most abominable heresy has gone beyond it all. They make sport of wretched women who are loaded down with every kind of evil.


CHAPTER 14

HE 2. 14.1-2  At that time the wicked power that hates what is good and plots against human salvation set up Simon as the father and author of such evils. He was meant to be a great opponent of the great and inspired apostles of our Saviour. Nevertheless, the divine and heavenly grace worked together with its own servants. By their appearing and their presence it quickly put out the evil flame that was being kindled. Through them it humbled and cast down every height raised up against the knowledge of God.
   [Translator’s note] The last words echo 2 Corinthians 10:5.
   [Scripture] 2 Corinthians 10:5

HE 2. 14.3-4  For this reason, neither Simon nor anyone else who arose at that time was able to build up any faction against the apostles themselves in those apostolic days. The light of the truth overcame and overpowered everything. The divine Word himself had only just shone from God upon humanity; he was flourishing on earth and living as a citizen among his own apostles. At once the sorcerer I have mentioned was struck in the eyes of his mind, as if by a divine and astonishing flash of light. He had first been caught in his wickedness in Judea by the apostle Peter. Now he set out on a very long journey across the sea, from the East to the West, and fled, thinking that only in this way could he live as he wished.
   [Translator’s note] The sorcerer is Simon Magus (see Acts 8). The story of his flight to Rome and Peter’s pursuit comes from later tradition, not from Acts.

HE 2. 14.5-6  When he reached the city of Rome, the power that lay in wait there helped him mightily. In a short time his undertaking succeeded so well that the people there honored him as a god by setting up a statue. But this did not last long. Right away, in the reign of Claudius, the all-good and most loving providence over all things led Peter to Rome. He was the strong and great apostle, the spokesman for all the rest because of his courage, and he was sent against such a destroyer of life. Like a noble general of God, armed with divine weapons, he brought the priceless merchandise of the light of the mind from the East to those in the West. He brought the light itself and the word that saves souls, announcing the good news and preaching the kingdom of heaven.


CHAPTER 15

HE 2. 15.1  So when the divine Word had come to stay among them, Simon’s power was put out, and it was destroyed at once together with the man himself. But the light of true religion shone so brightly on the minds of Peter’s hearers that they were not content to have heard it once. Nor were they satisfied with the unwritten teaching of the divine message. They pleaded with Mark, whose Gospel is still with us and who was a follower of Peter, with every kind of appeal, to leave them a written record of the teaching that had been handed on to them by word of mouth. They did not stop until they had won the man over, and so they became the cause of the writing of the Gospel called the Gospel according to Mark.

HE 2. 15.2  They say that the apostle learned what had been done when the Spirit revealed it to him. He was pleased with the eagerness of these men and authorized the writing to be read in the churches. Clement gives this account in the sixth book of his Hypotyposes, and Papias, the bishop of Hierapolis, also bears witness to it. They say too that Peter mentions Mark in his first letter, which they say he composed in Rome itself. He indicates this by calling the city Babylon in a figurative way, in these words: “The church in Babylon, chosen together with you, greets you, and so does Mark, my son.”
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is from 1 Peter 5:13, in Eusebius’s wording. Eusebius cites Clement’s Hypotyposes here as being in the sixth book.
   [Scripture] 1 Peter 5:13


CHAPTER 16

HE 2. 16.1-2  They say that this Mark was the first to be sent to Egypt. He preached the Gospel that he had also written down, and he was the first to establish churches in Alexandria itself. From the very first attempt, so great a crowd of men and women there came to believe, living by a most philosophical and strict discipline, that Philo thought it worth writing an account of their gatherings and meetings, their common meals, and their whole way of life.


CHAPTER 17

HE 2. 17.1-2  There is a report that Philo came into conversation with Peter in Rome, in the time of Claudius, when Peter was preaching to the people there. This is not unlikely, since the work of his that I mention was written later, some time afterward, and it plainly contains the rules of the church that are still kept among us to this day. Also, in describing as exactly as possible the life of our ascetics, he shows that he not only knew them but approved of them. He spoke of the apostolic men of his time with reverence and praise. They were, it seems, of Hebrew descent, and so they still kept most of the ancient customs in a rather Jewish manner.
   [Translator’s note] The “work” is Philo’s “On the Contemplative Life.” Eusebius here takes Philo’s Therapeutae to be Christians, a view modern readers should treat with caution.

HE 2. 17.3  First of all, Philo declares that he will add nothing of his own beyond the truth in what he is about to report. In the work he titled “On the Contemplative Life, or On Suppliants,” he says that these men are called Therapeutae, and the women with them Therapeutrides. He then gives the reasons for this name. Either it is because, like physicians, they relieve the souls of those who come to them from the diseases of vice, healing and treating them; or it is because of their pure and sincere service and worship of the Divine.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek “therapeuein” can mean both “to heal” and “to serve or worship,” and Philo plays on both senses here.

HE 2. 17.4-5  Whether Philo himself gave them this name, choosing a word that fitted their way of life, or whether the first of them really called themselves this at the beginning (the name “Christian” not yet being known everywhere), I need not insist here. But he does testify that, first of all, they gave up their property. He says that when they begin to pursue wisdom, they hand over their possessions to their relatives. Then they renounce all the cares of life, go outside the city walls, and spend their time in lonely places and gardens. They know well that mixing with people of unlike character is unprofitable and harmful. At that time, it seems, they did this out of a fervent and burning faith, striving to imitate the life of the prophets.
   [Translator’s note] Eusebius is arguing that Philo’s Therapeutae were Christians. Modern scholars generally do not accept this, but the text is translated here as Eusebius wrote it.

HE 2. 17.6  Accordingly, in the Acts of the Apostles, which is generally accepted as genuine, it is recorded that all the apostles’ disciples sold their lands and possessions and shared the proceeds with everyone, according to each one’s need, so that no one among them was in want. As the account says, all who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the price of what was sold, and laid it at the apostles’ feet, so that it could be distributed to each one according to his need.
   [Translator’s note] Compare Acts 4:34-35. Eusebius gives the sense of the passage in his own words rather than quoting it exactly.
   [Scripture] Acts 4:34-35

HE 2. 17.7-8  Philo gives testimony very like this, and then adds these words about them: “This race is found in many parts of the world, for it was right that both the Greek world and the non-Greek world should share in what is perfectly good. But they are most numerous in Egypt, in each of the districts called nomes, and especially around Alexandria. The best of them from every quarter go out, as to a colony that is the homeland of the Therapeutae, to a most suitable place. It lies above Lake Mareotis (Maria) on a rather low hill, well situated for security and for the mildness of the air.”
   [Translator’s note] The Greek has “Maria” (Philo’s Mareia), another name for Lake Mareotis, the lake just south of Alexandria.

HE 2. 17.9  Then, after describing what their dwellings were like, he says this about their places of meeting in that region: “In each house there is a sacred room, called a holy place and monastery, where they live apart and carry out the mysteries of the holy life. They bring nothing into it, neither drink nor food, nor anything else needed for the body’s necessities. They bring only the laws, the oracles given through the prophets, hymns, and other writings by which knowledge and piety are increased and brought to perfection.”
   [Translator’s note] The word “monastery” (monasterion) comes from the Greek for “alone.” Here it simply means a place of solitary retreat.

HE 2. 17.10-11  And after other matters he says: “The whole stretch of time from dawn to evening is given to spiritual discipline. They read the holy Scriptures and pursue the wisdom of their fathers by allegorical interpretation. They regard the words of the literal text as symbols of a hidden nature, which is made known through underlying meanings. They also have writings of ancient men who founded their sect and left behind many records of the method of allegory. They use these as patterns and imitate their way of doing it.”

HE 2. 17.12-13  Philo seems to have said this after hearing them explain the sacred Scriptures. But it is likely that the ancient writings he says they had were the Gospels and the writings of the apostles, and probably some explanations of the ancient prophets, like those found in the Epistle to the Hebrews and in many other letters of Paul. Then he goes on to write about their composing new psalms: “So they do not only contemplate, but they also compose songs and hymns to God in all kinds of meters and tunes, which they necessarily set down in rather solemn rhythms.”

HE 2. 17.14-16  The same work goes through many other matters as well, but I thought it necessary to pick out those passages that show the marks of the church’s way of life. If anyone thinks that what has been said does not belong specially to life under the gospel, and could fit others besides those described, let him be persuaded by Philo’s following words. If he is fair-minded, he will find in them undisputed testimony on this point. For Philo writes: “They first lay self-control in the soul like a foundation, and build the other virtues on it. None of them would take food or drink before sunset. They judge that pursuing wisdom belongs to the light, while the needs of the body belong to darkness. So they assign the day to the one, and a small part of the night to the other.”

HE 2. 17.17-18  Some, in whom a greater longing for knowledge has taken root, are reminded of food only after three days. Others so delight and revel in wisdom, which feeds them richly and without stint with her teachings, that they hold out for twice that long. They have grown used to tasting the food they need only after six days. We regard these words of Philo as clearly and undeniably describing our own people. But if anyone still objects and remains hard-hearted after this, let him also be rid of his unbelief and yield to plainer proofs. These are not to be found among any others, but only in the Christian religion according to the gospel.
   [Translator’s note] Eusebius is still quoting Philo (On the Contemplative Life) and claims that Philo’s “Therapeutae” were Christians. Most scholars today do not accept this.

HE 2. 17.19-20  Philo says that women also lived with the people he is speaking of, and that most of them were aged virgins. They had kept their purity not under compulsion, as some of the priestesses among the Greeks did, but of their own free choice, out of zeal and longing for wisdom. They were eager to live with wisdom, and so they disregarded the pleasures of the body. They desired not mortal children but immortal ones, which only the soul that loves God can bear of itself. Then, going on a little further, he states this more plainly: “Their interpretations of the sacred writings are made through hidden meanings, in allegories. For these men think the whole law is like a living creature. Its literal words are the body, and the invisible meaning lying within the words is the soul. This sect began to study that meaning with special care. They saw the extraordinary beauty of the thoughts shining out, as in a mirror of the words.”

HE 2. 17.21-22  Why should I add to this their gatherings in one place, the men and women spending time there separately, and the disciplines which we still practice by custom even now? We especially practice them at the feast of the Saviour’s passion, with fasting, all-night vigils, and attention to the divine words. The man I have mentioned recorded these things in his own writing, and he noted them quite exactly. They are a way of life kept up to this day among us alone. He describes especially the all-night vigils of the great feast and the disciplines practiced in them. He tells of the hymns we are accustomed to recite. One person sings in measured rhythm, with good order, while the rest listen quietly and join in only on the closing lines of the hymns. He also tells how on the days mentioned they sleep on the ground on beds of straw. In his own words, they “taste no wine at all, nor any meat. Water is their only drink, and the relish with their bread is salt and hyssop.”
   [Translator’s note] “The great feast” is Easter (Pascha). Eusebius reads Philo’s description of the Therapeutae’ vigils, hymns and fasting as describing Christian practice, but most scholars reject this identification.

HE 2. 17.23-24  Besides this, Philo writes about the way those were organized who were entrusted with the church’s services: the deacons’ ministries, and the highest seat of all, the bishop’s presidency. Anyone who wants an exact account of these matters can learn it from the work of this man. And it is plain to everyone that Philo wrote these things because he had come to know the first preachers of the gospel teaching and the customs handed down from the beginning by the apostles.


CHAPTER 18

HE 2. 18.1  Philo was rich in expression and broad in thought. He was lofty and soaring in his contemplation of the divine Scriptures, and he gave a varied and many-sided exposition of the sacred words. In one work he goes through the contents of Genesis in order and in sequence, and he titled it Allegories of the Sacred Laws. In another he divides the topics raised in the Scriptures into sections, raising difficulties and resolving them. He fittingly titled these works Questions and Answers on Genesis and Questions and Answers on Exodus.

HE 2. 18.2  Besides these he has other studies, worked out on particular problems. These include the two books On Agriculture and the same number On Drunkenness. There are others with their own fitting titles: On What the Sober Mind Prays for and Curses; On the Confusion of Tongues; On Flight and Finding; On the Preliminary Studies (literally, “On the Meeting with the Educational Subjects”); Who Is the Heir of Divine Things?; On the Division into Equal and Opposite Parts; and also On the Three Virtues, which Moses described along with others.

HE 2. 18.3-4  Besides these there is his work On Those Whose Names Were Changed, and Why They Were Changed. In it he says he had also written two books On Covenants. There is also his work On Emigration, and one On the Life of the Wise Man Made Perfect in Righteousness, or On Unwritten Laws. Then there is On Giants, or On the Unchangeableness of God. And there are five books On the Proposition That, According to Moses, Dreams Are Sent by God: first, second, third, fourth and fifth. These are the works on Genesis that have come down to us.
   [Translator’s note] In On Those Whose Names Were Changed (Mut. 53) Philo mentions that he wrote two books On Covenants. That work is lost.

HE 2. 18.5  On Exodus we know of his Questions and Answers, in five books: first, second, third, fourth and fifth. We also know his work On the Tabernacle and his work On the Ten Commandments. There are also the books On the Laws that are set out in particular forms under the main headings of the Ten Commandments, in the second, third and fourth books. There is also his work On Animals for Sacrifice, and what the kinds of sacrifices are. And there is his work On the Rewards laid down in the law for the good, and the penalties and curses for the wicked.

HE 2. 18.6-7  Besides all these, some single-volume works of his are also in circulation: On Providence; the book he wrote On the Jews; and The Statesman. There is also Alexander, or On the Proposition That Irrational Animals Have Reason. In addition there is On the Proposition That Every Wicked Man Is a Slave, followed by On the Proposition That Every Good Man Is Free. After these he composed On the Contemplative Life, or On Suppliants. From this work we have drawn what we reported about the way of life of the apostolic men. The interpretations of the Hebrew names in the Law and the Prophets are also said to be the product of his labor.

HE 2. 18.8-9  In the time of Gaius, Philo came to Rome. He had written an account of Gaius’s hatred of God, and with irony and in a moral tone he gave it the title On Virtues. He is said to have read this work before the whole Roman Senate in the reign of Claudius. His words so impressed them that they judged them worthy of being placed in the libraries. At that time Paul was making his journey from Jerusalem and around as far as Illyricum. Claudius drove the Jews out of Rome, and Aquila and Priscilla, leaving Rome with the other Jews, came to Asia. There they stayed with the apostle Paul, who was strengthening the churches in that region, whose foundations he had only just laid. The sacred book of Acts is our teacher on these matters too.
   [Translator’s note] Eusebius’s phrase “from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum” echoes Paul’s words in Romans 15:19. He is describing Paul’s travels, not quoting the verse exactly.


CHAPTER 19

HE 2. 19.1-2  While Claudius was still ruling the empire, a great uprising and disturbance broke out in Jerusalem at the Passover festival. Of those alone who were forced together in the crush at the temple exits, thirty thousand Jews died, trampled by one another. The feast became a time of mourning for the whole nation, and of wailing in every house. This is Josephus’s own account, word for word. Claudius appointed Agrippa, son of Agrippa, king of the Jews. He sent Felix as governor over the whole country of Samaria and Galilee, and over the region called Perea. Claudius himself governed for thirteen years and eight months. Then he died and left Nero as his successor in the empire.


CHAPTER 20

HE 2. 20.1-2  In the time of Nero, when Felix was governor of Judea, Josephus again, in his own words, describes the strife among the priests. He writes this in the twentieth book of the Antiquities: “A quarrel also broke out between the high priests on one side, and the priests and the leading men of the people of Jerusalem on the other. Each of them gathered a band of the boldest and most revolutionary men and became their leader. When they clashed, they abused one another and threw stones. No one stepped in to rebuke them. These things were done openly, as if in a city with no one in charge.

HE 2. 20.3-4  “Such shamelessness and daring came over the high priests that they dared to send their servants to the threshing floors to take the tithes owed to the priests. Poor priests were seen dying of want. In this way the violence of the rioters overpowered all justice.” The same writer also reports that at about this time a kind of robber appeared in Jerusalem, who, as he says, “in broad daylight, in the middle of the city, murdered those they met.”

HE 2. 20.5-6  “They did this especially at the festivals. They mixed with the crowd, hid small daggers in their clothes, and stabbed their opponents with them. Then, when the victims fell, the murderers themselves joined those who were expressing outrage. Because they were so believable, they could not be found out at all. The first to be killed by them was Jonathan the high priest. After him many were killed every day. The fear was worse than the calamities themselves, since everyone, as in a war, expected death at any hour.”


CHAPTER 21

HE 2. 21.1  Next, after other matters, Josephus goes on: “The Egyptian false prophet brought the Jews a blow even greater than these. A charlatan came into the country, gave himself the standing of a prophet, and gathered about thirty thousand of the deceived. He led them around from the desert to the Mount of Olives, as it is called. From there he was ready to force his way into Jerusalem, overpower the Roman garrison, and rule the people as a tyrant, using as bodyguards those who burst in with him.

HE 2. 21.2-3  “But Felix got ahead of his attack by meeting him with the Roman heavy infantry. All the people joined in the defense. When the clash came, the Egyptian fled with a few men, and most of those with him were killed or taken alive.” Josephus tells this in the second book of his Histories. It is worth comparing what is said here about the Egyptian with the Acts of the Apostles. There, in Felix’s time, the tribune in Jerusalem spoke to Paul when the Jewish crowd was rioting against him: “Are you not the Egyptian who some time ago stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Sicarii out into the wilderness?” So much for events under Felix.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek says “tribune” (χιλίαρχος) and “Sicarii” (σικαρίων), a word from the Latin for dagger-men, meaning assassins. The “Histories” here is Josephus’s Jewish War.
   [Scripture] Acts 21:38


CHAPTER 22

HE 2. 22.1-2  Festus was sent by Nero to succeed Felix. Under Festus, Paul made his defense and was taken to Rome as a prisoner. Aristarchus was with him, and Paul reasonably calls him his fellow prisoner somewhere in his letters. Luke, who handed down the Acts of the Apostles in writing, ended his history at this point. He noted that Paul spent two whole years in Rome living freely and preaching the word of God without hindrance. After Paul made his defense at that time, the account goes, the apostle set out again on the ministry of preaching. When he came to the same city a second time, he was brought to his end by martyrdom. While in chains then, he wrote his second letter to Timothy, in which he speaks both of his first defense and of his death, which was close at hand.
   [Translator’s note] “The account goes” translates λόγος ἔχει, which means “there is a tradition.” Eusebius is relying on tradition for Paul’s release and second arrest, not on Acts.
   [Scripture] Acts 28:30-31; Colossians 4:10

HE 2. 22.3-4  Now take Paul’s own testimony on these matters. “At my first defense,” he says, “no one stood by me, but everyone deserted me (may it not be counted against them). But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished and all the nations might hear. And I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.” By these words he shows plainly that the first time he was rescued from the lion’s mouth so that the proclamation through him might be fulfilled. By “lion” he evidently means Nero, because of his savage temper. That is why Paul did not go on to add something similar, such as “He will rescue me from the lion’s mouth.” For he saw by the Spirit that his death was very near.
   [Scripture] 2 Timothy 4:16-17

HE 2. 22.5-6  So after the words “and I was rescued from the lion’s mouth,” he adds, “The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and will save me for his heavenly kingdom.” This points to his martyrdom as imminent. He foretells it more clearly in the same letter when he says, “For I am already being poured out as an offering, and the time of my departure has come.” In the second letter to Timothy, then, he shows that Luke alone was with him as he wrote, but that at the first defense not even Luke was there. So it is reasonable that Luke ended his Acts of the Apostles at that point in time. His history went down to the period when he was with Paul.
   [Scripture] 2 Timothy 4:18; 2 Timothy 4:6

HE 2. 22.7-8  We have said all this to make the point that Paul’s martyrdom was not completed during the stay in Rome that Luke recorded. It is likely that at the beginning Nero was milder in disposition, so Paul’s defense of his teaching was accepted more easily. But when Nero went on to unlawful acts of daring, he attacked the apostles along with the others.


CHAPTER 23

HE 2. 23.1-2  After Paul appealed to Caesar and Festus sent him on to the city of Rome, the Jews lost the hope behind the plot they had prepared against him. So they turned on James, the brother of the Lord, to whom the apostles had entrusted the bishop’s seat at Jerusalem. This is what they dared to do to him. They brought him out in front of everyone and demanded that he deny his faith in Christ before all the people. But, against everyone’s expectation, he spoke out with a free voice and more boldly than they had expected. Before the whole crowd he confessed that our Savior and Lord Jesus is the Son of God. They could no longer bear the testimony of this man, who was believed by all to be the most righteous of men because of the high standard of discipline and godliness he followed in his life. So they killed him, taking the lawless situation as their chance to seize power. Festus had died in Judea at that very time, and the province was left without a ruler or governor.

HE 2. 23.3-4  The manner of James’s death has already been shown by the words of Clement quoted earlier. He recorded that James was thrown from the parapet and beaten to death with a club. Hegesippus, who belonged to the first generation after the apostles, gives the most exact account of him in the fifth book of his Memoirs. He writes this: “James, the brother of the Lord, took over the leadership of the church together with the apostles. From the Lord’s own time until ours he has been called the Just by everyone, since many others were named James.

HE 2. 23.5-6  “He was holy from his mother’s womb. He drank no wine or strong drink, and he ate no meat. No razor came near his head. He did not anoint himself with oil, and he did not use the bath. He alone was permitted to enter the holy place, for he wore no wool but only linen. He used to go into the temple alone, and he was found kneeling and asking forgiveness for the people. His knees grew hard like a camel’s, because he was always bending them in worship of God and asking forgiveness for the people.

HE 2. 23.7-9  “Because of his extraordinary righteousness he was called the Just, and Oblias, which in Greek means ‘protection of the people’ and ‘righteousness,’ as the prophets declare about him. Now some of the seven sects among the people, which I described earlier in my Memoirs, used to ask him, ‘What is the door of Jesus?’ He said that Jesus was the Savior. Some of them came to believe that Jesus is the Christ. But the sects I mentioned did not believe in a resurrection, or that anyone is coming to repay each person according to his works. Yet all who did believe, believed because of James.
   [Scripture] Romans 2:6

HE 2. 23.10  “Since many of the rulers also believed, there was an uproar among the Jews, scribes and Pharisees. They said, ‘There is a danger that the whole people will look for Jesus as the Christ.’ So they gathered and said to James, ‘We beg you, hold back the people, for they have been led astray after Jesus, as though he were the Christ. We beg you to persuade everyone who has come for the day of Passover about Jesus. We all listen to you. We and all the people testify that you are righteous and show no partiality.

HE 2. 23.11-12  “So you persuade the crowd not to be led astray about Jesus. All the people, and all of us, listen to you. Stand, then, on the parapet of the temple, so that you will be seen from above and your words will be easily heard by all the people. For all the tribes have gathered for the Passover, and the Gentiles with them.’ So the scribes and Pharisees I mentioned set James on the parapet of the temple. They shouted to him, ‘Righteous one, whom we all ought to obey, the people are going astray after Jesus who was crucified. Tell us, what is the door of Jesus?’”

HE 2. 23.13-14  And he answered with a loud voice, “Why do you ask me about Jesus, the Son of Man? He himself sits in heaven at the right hand of the great Power, and he is going to come on the clouds of heaven.” Many were fully convinced. They gave glory because of James’s testimony and said, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” Then the same scribes and Pharisees said to one another, “We did wrong to provide such a testimony for Jesus. But let us go up and throw him down, so that they will be afraid and not believe him.”
   [Scripture] Matthew 26:64; Matthew 21:9

HE 2. 23.15-16  And they cried out, “Oh, oh! Even the Just One has gone astray!” And they fulfilled the Scripture written in Isaiah: “Let us take away the just man, because he is troublesome to us; therefore they will eat the fruit of their deeds.” So they went up and threw the Just One down, and they said to one another, “Let us stone James the Just.” And they began to stone him, since he had not died from the fall. But he turned and knelt, saying, “I entreat you, Lord God our Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
   [Scripture] Isaiah 3:10; Luke 23:34

HE 2. 23.17-18  While they were stoning him like this, one of the priests, one of the sons of Rechab son of Rechabim, the people given testimony by the prophet Jeremiah, cried out, “Stop! What are you doing? The Just One is praying for you!” Then one of them, a fuller, took the club he used to press out clothes and brought it down on the head of the Just One. And so he was martyred. They buried him on the spot beside the temple, and his gravestone still remains beside the temple. He became a true witness, to both Jews and Greeks, that Jesus is the Christ. And immediately Vespasian began to besiege them.

HE 2. 23.19-20  Hegesippus also agrees with Clement on these matters, at greater length. James was so remarkable a man, and so famous among everyone for his righteousness, that the more thoughtful Jews believed this was the reason Jerusalem was besieged immediately after his martyrdom. They thought it came on them for no other reason than the outrage committed against him. Josephus, in fact, did not hesitate to testify to this in writing, in these words: “These things happened to the Jews as vengeance for James the Just, who was a brother of Jesus, called the Christ, because the Jews killed him, though he was a most righteous man.”

HE 2. 23.21  The same writer also describes James’s death in the twentieth book of his Antiquities, in these words: “Caesar sent Albinus to Judea as governor, when he learned of the death of Festus. But the younger Ananus, who as we said had received the high priesthood, was bold in manner and exceptionally reckless. He followed the party of the Sadducees, who are harsher in judgments than all the other Jews, as we have already explained.”

HE 2. 23.22-23  “Being such a man, Ananus thought he had a good opportunity, because Festus was dead and Albinus was still on the road. So he convened a council of judges. He brought before it the brother of Jesus, the so-called Christ, whose name was James, and some others. He made an accusation that they had broken the law and handed them over to be stoned. But those in the city who seemed the most fair-minded and strict about the laws were greatly offended at this. They secretly sent to the king, urging him to write to Ananus to stop doing such things, for he had not acted rightly even the first time.”

HE 2. 23.24  “Some of them also went to meet Albinus as he traveled from Alexandria. They told him it was not lawful for Ananus to convene a council without his consent. Albinus was persuaded by what they said and wrote to Ananus in anger, threatening to punish him. Because of this, King Agrippa removed him from the high priesthood after he had ruled three months, and appointed Jesus son of Damnaeus.” These are the events concerning James, whose letter is said to be the first of the so-called catholic epistles.

HE 2. 23.25  It should be known that this letter is regarded as not genuine. At least, not many of the ancients mention it, just as they do not mention the letter called Jude’s, which is also one of the seven so-called catholic epistles. Nevertheless we know that these letters, along with the rest, have been read publicly in most churches.


CHAPTER 24

HE 2. 24.1  In the eighth year of Nero’s reign, Annianus became the first to succeed Mark the evangelist in the ministry of the church at Alexandria.


CHAPTER 25

HE 2. 25.1-2  By now Nero’s power was well established. He plunged into unholy practices and took up arms against the worship of the God of the universe. It does not belong to the present work to describe how wicked he was. Many writers have given very accurate accounts of his life, and anyone who likes can learn from them about the crude folly of this strange man’s madness. In that madness he destroyed countless thousands without any reasoning, and he went so far in murder that he did not spare even his closest and dearest. His mother, his brothers and his wife, along with countless others of his family, he put to death in various ways, as though they were enemies and foes.

HE 2. 25.3-4  But among all his crimes this one was still lacking: that he should be the first of the emperors to be shown an enemy of the worship of God. The Roman Tertullian mentions this too, saying: “Consult your records. There you will find that Nero was the first to persecute this teaching, when, having subdued the whole East, he was especially cruel at Rome to everyone. We boast of having such a man as the originator of our punishment. For anyone who knows him can understand that Nero would not have condemned it unless it were something very good.”
   [Translator’s note] Tertullian, Apology 5. Eusebius gives a loose Greek rendering of the Latin, not a close translation. Tertullian says Nero raged against the sect when it was just beginning at Rome.

HE 2. 25.5-6  So this man, proclaimed first among those who fought against God, was stirred up to slaughter the apostles. It is recorded that Paul was beheaded at Rome itself, and that Peter was likewise crucified under Nero. The record is confirmed by the fact that the names of Peter and Paul are still kept to this day on the burial places there. It is confirmed no less by a churchman named Gaius, who lived in the time of Zephyrinus, bishop of the Romans. In a written dispute with Proclus, who led the Phrygian party, Gaius says this about the places where the sacred bodies of these apostles are laid: “But I can show the trophies of the apostles.
   [Translator’s note] “Phrygian party” refers to the Montanists. “Trophies” means monuments to the apostles’ victory, probably tombs or memorials. “Sacred tabernacles” (hiera skenomata) is Eusebius’ Greek for the apostles’ resting places.

HE 2. 25.7-8  If you will go to the Vatican or to the Ostian Way, you will find the trophies of those who founded this church.” That both were martyred at the same time, Dionysius, bishop of Corinth, shows in a letter to the Romans, where he says: “By such counsel you have joined together the planting of Peter and Paul at Rome and at Corinth. For both of them planted us in our Corinth and taught us in the same way. In the same way also they taught together in Italy, and were martyred at the same time.” I have added these things so that the history may be still more firmly established.
   [Translator’s note] In the last sentence Eusebius speaks in his own voice, not as part of Dionysius’ letter.


CHAPTER 26

HE 2. 26.1-2  Josephus again, after describing very many things about the disaster that befell the whole Jewish nation, tells among countless other details how a great many of the most honored of the Jews were flogged and then crucified in Jerusalem itself by Florus. Florus was procurator of Judea when the war broke out, in the twelfth year of Nero’s rule. Josephus then says that a terrible disturbance seized all of Syria because of the Jewish revolt. Everywhere the Jews were mercilessly plundered by the inhabitants of the cities, as if they were enemies. “So you could see cities full of unburied bodies, the old lying dead together with infants, and women without even a covering for their shame. The whole province was full of indescribable disasters, and the dread of what was threatened was greater than what was done in each place.” These are the words of Josephus. Such was the state of the Jews.


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BOOK 3
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CHAPTER 1

HE 3. 1.1-2  Such was the state of the Jews. Meanwhile the holy apostles and disciples of our Savior were scattered over the whole world. Thomas, as tradition holds, was allotted Parthia, Andrew Scythia, and John Asia; John stayed among the people there and died at Ephesus. Peter seems to have preached to the Jews of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Bithynia, Cappadocia and Asia. At the end he came to Rome and was crucified head downward, since he himself had asked to suffer in that way.
   [Translator’s note] “Dispersion” means Jews living outside Palestine; compare 1 Peter 1:1, which lists most of the same regions.
   [Scripture] 1 Peter 1:1

HE 3. 1.3  Why do I need to say anything about Paul? He fully preached the gospel of Christ from Jerusalem all the way to Illyricum, and later he was martyred in Rome under Nero. Origen says this in so many words in the third volume of his commentary on Genesis.
   [Translator’s note] Paul speaks of preaching “from Jerusalem and as far round as Illyricum” in Romans 15:19.
   [Scripture] Romans 15:19


CHAPTER 2

HE 3. 2.1  After the martyrdom of Paul and Peter, Linus was the first to be appointed to the office of bishop in the church of the Romans. Paul mentions him in the greetings at the end of his letter to Timothy, which he wrote from Rome.
   [Translator’s note] The greeting is in 2 Timothy 4:21. The Greek word for the office, episkopē, literally means “oversight.”
   [Scripture] 2 Timothy 4:21


CHAPTER 3

HE 3. 3.1-2  One letter of Peter, the one called his first, is acknowledged as genuine. The early elders freely used it in their own writings as beyond dispute. The second letter that goes under his name we have been taught is not part of the canon. Even so, many found it useful, and it has been studied along with the other Scriptures. But the writings called the Acts of Peter, the Gospel named after him, the so-called Preaching of Peter, and the so-called Apocalypse, we know were never handed down among the universally received writings. No church writer, ancient or of our own day, has used quotations from them.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek word ἐνδιάθηκος (“belonging to the covenant/testament”) is Eusebius’s term for books regarded as canonical. It is not simply the Greek word for “canon.” In the same sentence, ἐν καθολικαῖς means “among the universally received (general) writings.”

HE 3. 3.3-5  As my history goes on, I will take care to point out, along with the lists of bishops, which church writers in each period used which of the disputed books. I will also say what they reported about the canonical and acknowledged writings, and what about those that are not of that kind. So much for the writings that bear Peter’s name. I know of only one letter of his that is genuine and acknowledged by the early elders. Paul’s fourteen letters are well known and clear. Yet it is not right to ignore that some have rejected the letter to the Hebrews. They say that the church of Rome disputes it, on the ground that it is not by Paul. I will set out at the proper time what those before us have said about it. I have also not received the so-called Acts of Paul among the undisputed writings.
   [Translator’s note] Eusebius counts Hebrews among Paul’s “fourteen letters,” while noting that some dispute that it is his. “Lists of bishops” translates διαδοχαῖς, “successions.”

HE 3. 3.6  The same apostle, in the greetings at the end of the letter to the Romans, mentions Hermas among others. The book called The Shepherd is said to be his. You should know that this book too has been disputed by some, and for that reason it could not be placed among the acknowledged books. Others, however, have judged it most necessary, especially for those who need basic instruction. So we know that it has been read publicly in churches, and I have found that some of the earliest writers used it.
   [Translator’s note] The greeting is in Romans 16:14. Eusebius says the book is “said to be” by this Hermas. He does not state it as fact.
   [Scripture] Romans 16:14

HE 3. 3.7  Let this be enough to distinguish the divine writings that are undisputed from those that are not acknowledged by everyone.


CHAPTER 4

HE 3. 4.1-2  Paul preached to the Gentiles and laid the foundations of the churches from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum. This is clear from his own words and from what Luke recorded in the Acts. Peter also preached Christ to those of the circumcision and handed on the word of the new covenant. How many provinces he did this in is clear from his own words, in the letter I have mentioned as acknowledged. In it he writes to those of Hebrew origin who are scattered abroad in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia.
   [Translator’s note] The phrase “from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum” echoes Romans 15:19. Eusebius gives it as a paraphrase, not as a quotation.
   [Scripture] Romans 15:19; 1 Peter 1:1

HE 3. 4.3-4  It is not easy to say how many of these men became genuine, zealous followers of the apostles, or who they were, and were judged fit to shepherd the churches the apostles founded. The exception is those whom one can gather from Paul’s own words. He had countless fellow workers, and as he himself called them, fellow soldiers. Most of them he honored with a memorial that will never be forgotten, for he left lasting testimony about them in his own letters. Luke too, in the Acts, lists Paul’s companions and mentions them by name.
   [Scripture] Philemon 1:2

HE 3. 4.5-6  Timothy is recorded as the first to receive the office of bishop of the community at Ephesus, as Titus did for the churches on Crete. Luke was by birth from Antioch and a physician by profession. He spent most of his time with Paul and was in close contact with the other apostles as well. From them he gained the art of healing souls, and he has left us examples of it in two divinely inspired books. One is the Gospel, which tradition says he wrote down. He says that those who were eyewitnesses and servants of the word from the beginning handed their accounts down to him, and that he followed all of them closely from the start. The other is the Acts of the Apostles, which he composed from what he had learned no longer by hearsay but with his own eyes.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek says it “is attested” (μαρτυρεῖται) that Luke wrote the Gospel. This is tradition’s testimony, not Luke’s own claim.
   [Scripture] Luke 1:2-3

HE 3. 4.7-9  They say that Paul used to have Luke’s Gospel in mind whenever he wrote of “my gospel,” as though speaking of a gospel of his own, in the words “according to my gospel.” Of Paul’s other followers, Crescens is said by Paul himself to have been sent to Gaul. Linus, whom Paul mentions as being with him in Rome in the Second Letter to Timothy, was the first after Peter to be appointed bishop of the church of the Romans, as I have already stated. Clement too, who became the third bishop of the church of the Romans, is attested by Paul as his fellow worker and fellow contender.
   [Translator’s note] In 2 Timothy 4:10 Crescens is said to have gone to “Galatia”; most manuscripts read this, but some early ones (such as Sinaiticus and C) read “Gaul,” which is the reading Eusebius follows. Linus appears in 2 Timothy 4:21. Eusebius identifies the Clement of Philippians 4:3 with the bishop of Rome, an identification also found in Origen.
   [Scripture] Romans 2:16; 2 Timothy 4:10; 2 Timothy 4:21; Philippians 4:3

HE 3. 4.10-11  In addition, there was that famous member of the Areopagus named Dionysius, whom Luke records in Acts as the first to believe after Paul’s speech to the Athenians on the Areopagus. Another Dionysius, an early writer who was pastor of the church in Corinth, reports that he became the first bishop of the church in Athens. But at the proper point in the course of my work I will speak of the succession of the apostles’ successors in order of time. For now, let us go on with the rest of the history.
   [Scripture] Acts 17:34


CHAPTER 5

HE 3. 5.1-2  After Nero had held power for thirteen years, Galba and Otho spent a year and six months in power. Then Vespasian, who had won fame in the campaigns against the Jews, was declared emperor in Judea itself, proclaimed commander-in-chief by the armies there. He set out at once for Rome and handed the war against the Jews over to his son Titus. After our Saviour’s ascension, the Jews, besides their daring act against him, had already devised very many plots against his apostles. First Stephen was killed by them with stones. After him James, the son of Zebedee and brother of John, was beheaded. Then James, who was the first to be appointed to the bishop’s throne there after our Saviour’s ascension, departed this life in the way I described earlier. The rest of the apostles were plotted against in countless ways, to the point of death, and were driven out of the land of Judea. They set out for all the nations to teach the message, in the power of Christ, who had told them, “Go and make disciples of all the nations in my name.”
   [Translator’s note] The Greek sentence is very long and its main clause does not finish cleanly. “James, the first to be appointed bishop” is James the Lord’s brother, first bishop of Jerusalem, whose death Eusebius described earlier (2.23).
   [Scripture] Matthew 28:19

HE 3. 5.3  The people of the church in Jerusalem, however, had been commanded by a revelation given before the war to the approved men among them, to leave the city and live in a town of Perea called Pella. Those who believed in Christ moved there from Jerusalem. Once holy men had completely left the royal capital of the Jews and the whole land of Judea, the justice of God finally came upon them for all their lawless acts against Christ and his apostles, and wiped that ungodly generation entirely from among men.

HE 3. 5.4  Anyone who wishes may read in the history written by Josephus the full and accurate account of all that happened at that time. He tells of the evils that came upon the whole nation everywhere. He tells how the people of Judea in particular were driven to the extreme of disaster, and how many tens of thousands of young men, along with women and children, fell to the sword, to famine, and to countless other kinds of death. He describes the many sieges of Jewish cities, and what sieges they were. He tells what terrible things, and worse than terrible, were seen by those who fled to Jerusalem itself as to a most secure capital. He gives the course of the whole war and each of its events in turn. And he tells how, in the end, the “abomination of desolation” announced by the prophets stood in the very temple of God, once so renowned, which then suffered total ruin and final destruction by fire.
   [Translator’s note] “Abomination of desolation” comes from Daniel (9:27; 11:31; 12:11) and is quoted in the Gospels (Matthew 24:15). The Greek builds up to Josephus at the end of the sentence, and this version moves him to the front to keep it readable.
   [Scripture] Matthew 24:15

HE 3. 5.5-7  But I must point out that this same writer records that a crowd of about three million people, gathered from all Judea for the days of the Passover feast, were shut up in Jerusalem “as in a prison,” to use his own words. It was fitting that destruction from divine justice should overtake them, shut up as in a prison, in the very days when they had brought suffering on the Savior and Benefactor of all, the Christ of God. I will pass over the particular things that happened to them by the sword and in other ways. I think it necessary to set down only the calamities of the famine, so that those who read this work may know, at least in part, that the punishment from God came upon them for their lawless treatment of the Christ of God, and that it was not long delayed.
   [Translator’s note] Josephus (Jewish War 6.420-428) describes the crowds shut up in Jerusalem at Passover “as in a prison.” His own figure is 2,700,000 dead in the city, and Eusebius rounds the total to about three million.


CHAPTER 6

HE 3. 6.1-2  Heading: The Famine Which Oppressed Them. Take up the fifth book of the Histories of Josephus again, and go through the tragedy of what happened then. He says: “For the well-off, staying in the city meant destruction just the same. On the pretext of desertion, a man was killed for the sake of his property. The madness of the rebels grew along with the famine, and every day both evils blazed higher. Grain was nowhere to be seen. But the rebels burst in and searched the houses. If they found any, they abused the owners for having denied it. If they found none, they tortured them for having hidden it too carefully. The bodies of the poor wretches were their evidence of whether they had food or not. Those who were still in good shape were thought to be well supplied with food. Those who were already wasting away were passed over, since it seemed pointless to kill people who would soon die of want anyway.

HE 3. 6.3-4  “Many secretly traded all their possessions for a single measure of grain, wheat if they were rather wealthy, barley if they were poorer. Then they shut themselves up in the innermost rooms of their houses. Some ate the grain raw because of extreme hunger. Others baked it, as need and fear directed. No table was set anywhere. They snatched the food still raw from the fire and tore it apart. The fare was pitiful and the sight was worth weeping over: the stronger took more than their share while the weak wailed.

HE 3. 6.5-6  “Hunger overpowers every other feeling, but nothing does it destroy so much as shame. For what would normally deserve respect is despised in such a situation. Wives snatched food from their husbands, children from their fathers, and, most pitiful of all, mothers from their infants, taking it right out of their mouths. And while their dearest ones were wasting away in their arms, they felt no restraint about taking from them the drops that kept them alive. Yet even when they ate like this, they did not escape notice. Everywhere the rebels stood ready to rob them of even this. Whenever they saw a house shut up, it was a sign that the people inside were taking food. At once they smashed in the doors and rushed in, and they all but squeezed the morsels out of their throats.

HE 3. 6.7-8  “Old men who held on to their food were beaten. Women who hid what was in their hands had their hair torn out. There was no pity for gray hair or for infants. They lifted up babies who were clinging to their scraps of bread and shook them down onto the floor. They were even crueler toward those who had been quicker than they were and swallowed down what they were about to seize, as though they had been wronged by them. They devised terrible methods of torture to search out food. They stopped up the private passages of the poor wretches with bitter vetches and drove sharp rods up their rear passages. People suffered things horrible even to hear of, to make them confess to one loaf of bread, or to make them reveal a single handful of barley meal that they had hidden.
   [Translator’s note] ὀρόβοις is the dative of ὄροβος, “bitter vetch” (a legume, Ervum ervilia).

HE 3. 6.9-10  “The torturers were not themselves hungry. (Their cruelty would have been less savage if it had come from need.) They were exercising their madness and stocking up supplies for the coming days. When people crept out at night to the Roman guard posts to gather wild plants and herbs, the rebels would meet them. Just when these people thought they had escaped the enemy, the rebels snatched away what they had brought. Often the victims begged, and even called on the most awesome name of God, asking for some share of what they had risked their lives to bring. The rebels gave them nothing at all. A man was glad enough not to be killed as well as robbed.”

HE 3. 6.11-12  After some other matters, Eusebius adds to this account, quoting Josephus: “For the Jews, once the way out of the city was cut off, every hope of safety was gone. The famine sank deeper and devoured the people house by house and family by family. The upper rooms were full of women and babies wasted away in death, and the alleys were full of dead old men. Boys and young men, swollen up like ghosts, staggered about the marketplaces and fell down wherever the suffering overtook them. The sick had no strength to bury their own relatives. Those who still had strength held back, both because of the great number of the dead and because they were uncertain about their own fate. Many died while burying others, and many went to the graves before their appointed hour had come.
   [Translator’s note] Eusebius quotes Josephus, Jewish War 5, on the siege of Jerusalem (AD 70). The participle λελυμένων means “loosened” or “worn out,” so “wasted away” or “enfeebled” is the sense.

HE 3. 6.13-14  “In these disasters there was no weeping and no wailing. Hunger had overcome those feelings. Those who were dying slowly looked with dry eyes at those who had gone to their rest before them. A deep silence held the city, and a night full of death. Yet the robbers were worse than all this. They broke into the houses as if digging up tombs, robbed the dead, pulled the coverings off their bodies, and went out laughing. They tested the edges of their swords on the corpses, and some who were lying there still alive they ran through, to try the iron. Those who begged them for the loan of a right hand and a sword, they arrogantly left to the famine. Each of the dying stared fixedly at the temple as he died, leaving the rebels still alive.

HE 3. 6.15-16  “At first these men ordered the dead to be buried at public expense, because they could not bear the smell. Then, when that proved too much, they threw the bodies from the walls into the ravines. Titus went around and saw the ravines full of corpses and the thick liquid of decay flowing from the rotting bodies. He groaned, stretched out his hands, and called God as witness that this was not his doing.” After a few remarks in between, Josephus continues: “I will not hold back from saying what my feelings force me to say. I think that if the Romans had delayed longer against these wicked men, the city would either have been swallowed up by a chasm, or flooded, or struck by the thunderbolts that fell on Sodom. For it produced a generation far more godless than those who suffered such things. Through the madness of these men the whole people perished with them.”

HE 3. 6.17-18  In the sixth book he writes as follows: “Of those who were destroyed by the famine in the city, the number who fell was beyond counting, and the sufferings that happened cannot be told. In every house, if even a shadow of food showed up anywhere, there was a fight. The dearest friends came to blows with one another, snatching away the wretched supports of life. Even the dying were not believed when they said they had nothing. The robbers searched even those still breathing, in case someone had food hidden in his bosom and was pretending to be dying. Others, gaping with hunger like mad dogs, lurched and staggered about. They flung themselves against doors like drunken men, and in their helplessness they burst into the same houses two or three times in a single hour.

HE 3. 6.19-20  “Necessity drove them to put everything between their teeth. They collected things not even fit for the filthiest of the brute animals, and forced themselves to eat them. In the end they did not keep their hands off belts and shoes, and they tore the hides off their shields and chewed them. For some, scraps of old hay were food. Some gathered the fibers and sold the smallest weight of them for four Attic drachmas. But why should I speak of hunger’s shamelessness toward things without life? For I am about to describe a deed of the kind never recorded among Greeks or barbarians, horrible to tell and unbelievable to hear. I would gladly have passed over this disaster, so as not to seem to later generations to be inventing wonders, if I did not have countless witnesses among my own contemporaries. Besides, I would be paying my country a cold favor if I played down the account of what she suffered.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek ἶνας means “fibers,” that is, strands gathered from old hay (χόρτος).

HE 3. 6.21-22  “There was a woman from the region beyond the Jordan named Mary, the daughter of Eleazar, from the village of Bathezor (which means ‘house of hyssop’). She was well known for her family and wealth. She had fled to Jerusalem with the rest of the crowd and was shut up there in the siege. The tyrants had plundered the rest of her property, everything she had moved into the city from Perea. The remains of her treasures, and any bit of food that could be found, the armed guards rushed in and snatched away every day. The woman was filled with terrible anger. By often reviling and cursing them she stirred the plunderers up against herself.

HE 3. 6.23-24  But no one would kill her, whether out of anger or out of pity. She was also tired of searching for food for others to eat. By now finding any food was hard everywhere, and the famine was eating through her bowels and marrow. Her rage burned hotter even than the famine. So she took anger and necessity as her advisers and turned against nature itself. She seized her child, a nursing baby, and said, “Poor little one! In war, in famine, in civil strife, for whom am I keeping you? Under the Romans there is slavery, even if we live to see it, and famine gets to us before slavery does. And the rebels are harsher than both. Come, be food for me, a avenging fury to the rebels, and a tale for the world, the one thing still missing from the sufferings of the Jews.”
   [Translator’s note] “Στασιασταί” means the factions fighting one another inside Jerusalem, and “rebels” is used for them here. The “fury” (ἐρινύς, Erinys) is an avenging spirit of Greek myth.

HE 3. 6.25-26  As she said this she killed her son. Then she roasted him, ate half, and covered up the rest and kept it. The rebels were there at once. They caught the smell of the unspeakable cooking and threatened to cut her throat immediately unless she showed them what she had prepared. She said she had kept a fine portion for them, and she uncovered the remains of her child. Horror and bewilderment seized them at once, and they stood frozen at the sight. But she said, “This is my own child, and the deed is mine. Eat, for I have eaten too. Do not be softer than a woman or more tender-hearted than a mother. But if you are too devout and turn away from my sacrifice, then I have eaten my share for you, and let the rest stay for me.”

HE 3. 6.27-28  After that, the men went out trembling. In this one thing they were cowards, and they hardly left that food to the mother. At once the whole city was filled with the horror of it. Each person pictured the scene before his eyes and shuddered as though he himself had dared the deed. Those who were starving hurried toward death, and they called those blessed who had died before hearing and seeing such great evils.” Such was the payment the Jews received for their lawlessness and ungodliness against the Christ of God.


CHAPTER 7

HE 3. 7.1-2  It is worth setting beside these things the unfailing prediction of our Saviour, in which he foretold these very events, speaking prophetically like this: “Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing in those days. Pray that your flight does not happen in winter or on a Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not happened from the beginning of the world until now, and never will again.” The historian adds up the whole number of those killed and says that 1,100,000 died by famine and sword. The rest, the rebels and bandits, informed on one another after the capture of the city and were put to death. The tallest of the young men and those outstanding in bodily beauty were kept for the triumph. Of the remaining crowd, those over seventeen years old were sent in chains to labor in Egypt, and many more were distributed among the provinces to be destroyed in the theaters by the sword and by wild beasts. Those under seventeen were taken captive and sold, and the number of these alone came to ninety thousand men.
   [Translator’s note] The “historian” is Josephus (War 6.420), who gives 1,100,000 dead (Eusebius’s “110 myriads”) and about 97,000 captives. Eusebius’s Greek reads “nine myriads” (90,000) for the captives. Christ’s words follow Matthew 24:19-21 (compare Mark 13:17-19; Luke 21:23).
   [Scripture] Matthew 24:19-21

HE 3. 7.3-4  These things happened in this way in the second year of Vespasian’s reign. They agreed with the prophetic words of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who by divine power saw them beforehand as though they were already present. He wept and lamented, as the holy evangelists record. They also set down his very words. At one time he said, as though speaking to Jerusalem herself: “If you had known, even you, on this day, the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build a palisade around you, and surround you, and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground, you and your children.”
   [Scripture] Luke 19:42-44

HE 3. 7.5-6  At another time he spoke as though about the people: “For there will be great distress on the earth, and wrath on this people. They will fall by the mouth of the sword and be taken captive among all the nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by the nations, until the times of the nations are fulfilled.” And again: “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that her desolation has come near.” If anyone compares our Saviour’s words with the rest of the historian’s account of the whole war, how can he fail to marvel? He must admit that our Saviour’s foreknowledge and prediction were truly divine and wonderfully beyond expectation.
   [Scripture] Luke 21:23-24; Luke 21:20

HE 3. 7.7-8  Now as for the calamities that came on the whole nation after the Saviour’s passion, and after the cries in which the Jewish crowd begged that the robber and murderer be spared death but asked that the Author of life be taken away from them, there is no need to add anything to the historian’s account. But it is right to add the following, which shows the kindness of an all-good Providence. For a full forty years after their daring act against Christ, Providence held back their destruction. During that time many of the apostles and disciples were still alive, and James himself, the first bishop of that place, who was called the Lord’s brother. They lived in the city of Jerusalem itself, and they remained there like a very strong fence around the place.
   [Translator’s note] “Ἀρχηγός” can be rendered “Author” or “Prince” of life. The Greek says Providence “put off” (ὑπερθεμένης) their destruction. James is called the Lord’s brother here, as in Galatians 1:19.

HE 3. 7.9  In this time the divine oversight was still patient, in case they might at some point repent of what they had done and obtain forgiveness and salvation. Besides such great patience, it also gave them astonishing signs from God of what would happen to them if they did not repent. The historian already mentioned thought these signs worth recording, and I cannot do better than to set them before those who come to read this work.
   [Translator’s note] “Divine oversight” translates θεία ἐπισκοπή, which can also be rendered “visitation” or “providence.” The word is cognate with ἐπίσκοπος (“bishop,” literally “overseer”).


CHAPTER 8

HE 3. 8.1-2  The Signs Which Preceded the War. Take, then, and read what he records in the sixth book of his History. His words are these: “At that time the wretched people were being persuaded by cheats and by those who lied about God. But they paid no attention and gave no belief to the clear wonders that announced the coming desolation. As if thunderstruck, with neither eyes nor mind, they ignored the proclamations of God. There was a time when a star like a sword stood over the city, and a comet continued for a whole year. And there was another time, before the revolt and the movement toward war, when the people were gathering for the feast of unleavened bread. On the eighth of the month Xanthicus, at the ninth hour of the night, such a light shone around the altar and the temple that it seemed to be bright day. This lasted for half an hour. To the inexperienced it seemed a good sign, but the sacred scribes immediately judged it in light of what followed.
   [Translator’s note] The “historian” is Josephus, and the passage is from his Jewish War, book 6. Xanthicus was a spring month of the Macedonian calendar that Josephus equates with Nisan.

HE 3. 8.3-5  “At the same feast a cow, brought by the high priest to be sacrificed, gave birth to a lamb in the middle of the temple. The eastern gate of the inner temple was made of bronze and was very heavy. It was closed in the evening only with difficulty by twenty men. It rested on bars bound with iron and had bolts sunk very deep. Yet at the sixth hour of the night it was seen standing open by itself. Then, not many days after the feast, on the twenty-first of the month Artemisius, a supernatural apparition appeared that is beyond belief. What I am about to describe might seem a fable if it were not recorded by those who saw it, and if the sufferings that followed were not worthy of such signs. For before sunset, chariots and armed battalions were seen in the air over the whole country, darting out of the clouds and encircling the cities.

HE 3. 8.6-7  “At the feast called Pentecost, the priests went into the temple at night, as was their custom, to perform the services. They said that they first noticed a movement and a noise, and after that a sound of many voices saying, ‘We are leaving this place.’ What follows is even more fearful. A certain Jesus, son of Ananias, an untrained countryman, came to the feast four years before the war, when the city was especially at peace and prospering. At this feast it was the custom for everyone to build booths to honor God. Suddenly, in the temple, he began to cry out: ‘A voice from the east, a voice from the west, a voice from the four winds, a voice against Jerusalem and the temple, a voice against bridegrooms and brides, a voice against the whole people.’ Day and night he went about through all the narrow streets, shouting this.
   [Scripture] Jeremiah 7:34

HE 3. 8.8-9  “Some of the leading citizens were angry at this ill-omened cry. They seized the man and beat him with many blows. He said nothing in his own defense and said nothing in particular to those present. He kept on crying out the same words as before. The rulers concluded, correctly, that the man’s behavior was moved by something supernatural. So they brought him to the Roman governor. There he was torn to the bone with whips, yet he neither begged nor wept. He bent his voice to the most mournful tone he could and answered each stroke with, ‘Woe to Jerusalem!’”

HE 3. 8.10-11  The same writer reports something even more remarkable than this. He says that an oracle was found in their sacred writings, saying that at that time someone from their own country would rule the world. He himself took this to be fulfilled in Vespasian. But Vespasian did not rule the whole world, only the part under Roman rule. It could more rightly be applied to Christ. The Father said to him, “Ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as your possession.” At that very time the voice of the holy apostles went out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.
   [Translator’s note] Eusebius is drawing on Josephus (Jewish War 6.312–313) for the oracle. The quotation is from Psalm 2:8, and the last clause echoes Psalm 19:4 (quoted in Romans 10:18).


CHAPTER 9

HE 3. 9.1-2  On top of all this, since Josephus has contributed so much to the history we have in hand, we should not be ignorant of where he came from and of what family. He tells us this himself: “Josephus, son of Mattathias, a priest from Jerusalem, who himself fought against the Romans at the first and was present at the later events under compulsion.” He was the most distinguished of the Jews of that time, not only among his own countrymen but also among the Romans. As a result he was honored with a statue set up in Rome, and the works he labored over were judged worthy of a place in the library.

HE 3. 9.3-4  He set down the whole of the Jewish Antiquities in twenty books, and the history of the Jewish war of his own time in seven. He himself testifies that he gave the latter not only in Greek but also in his native language. He deserves to be believed, given his reliability in other matters. Two other works of his are also in circulation and are worth studying, On the Antiquity of the Jews. In them he answers Apion the grammarian, who had written an attack on the Jews at that time, and others who likewise tried to slander the ancestral customs of the Jewish nation.
   [Translator’s note] The two books “On the Antiquity of the Jews” are what we now call Against Apion.

HE 3. 9.5  In the first of these books he gives the number of the writings of the so-called Old Testament, setting out which ones were undisputed among the Hebrews, as handed down from ancient tradition. He teaches this in his own words, as follows:


CHAPTER 10

HE 3. 10.1-3  “We do not have countless books that disagree and contradict one another. We have only twenty-two books, containing the record of all time, which are rightly believed to be divine. Of these, five are the books of Moses. They contain the laws and the tradition of the origin of mankind, down to his death. This period falls a little short of three thousand years. From the death of Moses to Artaxerxes, who followed Xerxes as king of the Persians, the prophets after Moses wrote the history of their own times in thirteen books. The remaining four contain hymns to God and counsels for human life.”
   [Translator’s note] Eusebius is quoting Josephus (Against Apion 1.38–41). “Down to his death” refers to the death of Moses. Josephus gives only the count of twenty-two books, divided 5, 13 and 4, and does not name the individual books here.

HE 3. 10.4-5  “From Artaxerxes to our own time every event has been written down, but these accounts have not been thought worthy of the same trust as the earlier ones, because there was no exact succession of prophets. How we treat our own writings shows plainly how we regard them. Although so many ages have now gone by, no one has dared to add to them, take away from them, or change them. It is instinctive in all Jews from their very birth to regard them as God’s decrees, to hold to them, and, if need be, to die for them gladly.”

HE 3. 10.6-7  Let these words of the historian be set down here for their usefulness. The same man also produced another work of real merit, On the Sovereignty of Reason, which some have titled “Maccabaean.” It contains the struggles of the Hebrews who fought bravely for their devotion to God, as told in the writings called the Maccabean books. At the end of the twentieth book of the Antiquities, the same author also indicates that he planned to write four books on God and his being, according to the ancestral beliefs of the Jews, and on the laws: why, according to them, some things may be done and others are forbidden. In his own writings he also mentions other works he had labored over.
   [Translator’s note] The work On the Sovereignty of Reason is now usually called 4 Maccabees. Eusebius ascribes it to Josephus, which is generally doubted today.

HE 3. 10.8-9  In addition, it is reasonable to quote the words Josephus placed at the close of his Antiquities, in support of the testimony we have taken from his works. There he attacks Justus of Tiberias, who, like himself, had tried to write a history of the events of the same period, and he charges that Justus did not write the truth. After bringing many other accusations against the man, he goes on in these very words: “I, however, was not afraid, as you were, about my own writing. I gave my books to the emperors themselves, when the events were almost still before men’s eyes. For I knew in my own conscience that I had kept faithfully to the truth of the record, and I was not disappointed in expecting to receive their testimony.

HE 3. 10.10-11  I also gave my history to many others, some of whom had actually taken part in the war, such as King Agrippa and some of his relatives. The Emperor Titus so wished men to learn of these events from my books alone that he signed the volumes with his own hand and ordered them to be published. King Agrippa wrote sixty-two letters, testifying to the truth of my account.” Josephus adds two of these letters. But let this be enough about him; let us go on to what follows.


CHAPTER 11

HE 3. 11.1  After the martyrdom of James and the capture of Jerusalem that followed immediately, the story is that those of the apostles and disciples of the Lord who were still alive gathered from every direction. They met together with the Lord’s relatives according to the flesh, for many of these were still living then. They all took counsel together about whom to judge worthy to succeed James. With one mind they all approved Symeon, the son of Clopas, whom the Gospel writing also mentions, as worthy of the throne of the church there. He was, they say, a cousin of the Savior, for Hegesippus records that Clopas was the brother of Joseph.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek word is paroikia, here “church” (a local Christian community); “throne” means the bishop’s seat. “The Gospel writing” probably refers to John 19:25, where “Mary of Clopas” is named.


CHAPTER 12

HE 3. 12.1  Further, he relates that after the capture of Jerusalem Vespasian ordered a search for all who were of the family of David, so that none of the royal tribe would be left among the Jews. Because of this, a very great persecution again fell upon the Jews.


CHAPTER 13

HE 3. 13.1  After Vespasian had reigned ten years, his son, the emperor Titus, succeeded him. In the second year of Titus’s reign, Linus, who had held the ministry of the church of the Romans for twelve years as bishop, handed it over to Anencletus. Titus was succeeded by his brother Domitian, who reigned two years and the same number of months.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek text is not damaged here. “Two years and as many months” is an accusative participle, so it refers to Titus (about two years and two months), not Domitian. The English wrongly applies it to Domitian, who reigned about fifteen years.


CHAPTER 14

HE 3. 14.1  In the fourth year of Domitian, Annianus, the first head of the community at Alexandria, died after completing twenty-two years. Abilius succeeded him as the second.


CHAPTER 15

HE 3. 15.1  In the twelfth year of the same reign, Clement succeeded Anencletus, who had been bishop of the church of the Romans for twelve years. The apostle teaches in his letter to the Philippians that this Clement was his fellow worker. He says: “with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.”
   [Scripture] Philippians 4:3


CHAPTER 16

HE 3. 16.1  One letter of this Clement is acknowledged as genuine, long and remarkable. He wrote it in the name of the church of the Romans to the church of the Corinthians, when a dispute had broken out at Corinth. We know that this letter has been read publicly in very many churches, both long ago and in our own day. And that the Corinthian dispute took place at the time I have mentioned, Hegesippus is a reliable witness.


CHAPTER 17

HE 3. 17.1  Domitian showed great cruelty to many people. He put to death, without any reasonable trial, a considerable number of well-born and distinguished men in Rome. He punished countless other prominent men, without any charge, with exile beyond the borders and loss of their property. In the end he made himself the successor of Nero’s hatred of God and fighting against God. He was the second to stir up persecution against us, although his father Vespasian had planned nothing wrong against us.


CHAPTER 18

HE 3. 18.1-3  At this time, the story goes, the apostle and evangelist John, who was still living, was condemned to live on the island of Patmos because of his testimony to the divine Word. Irenaeus, in the fifth book of his work Against the Heresies, writes about the number that is given for the name of the Antichrist in the so-called Revelation of John, and says this about John: “If it had been necessary for his name to be proclaimed openly at the present time, it would have been said by the one who also saw the Revelation. For it was seen not long ago, but almost in our own generation, toward the end of Domitian’s reign.”

HE 3. 18.4  In the time I have described, the teaching of our faith shone so brightly that even writers outside our religion did not hesitate to record the persecution and the martyrdoms in it in their histories. They also marked the time exactly. They report that in the fifteenth year of Domitian, Flavia Domitilla, along with very many others, was punished by being handed over to exile on the island of Pontia because of her testimony to Christ. She was the niece (her mother was a sister) of Flavius Clement, who was at that time one of the consuls at Rome.


CHAPTER 19

HE 3. 19.1  When this same Domitian ordered that those of the family of David be put to death, an old tradition says that some of the heretics accused the descendants of Jude, who is said to have been the Saviour’s brother according to the flesh. They said these men were of David’s line and were relatives of Christ himself. Hegesippus shows this, saying in his own words something like the following:


CHAPTER 20

HE 3. 20.1-2  “There were still living some of the Lord’s family, grandsons of Jude, who is called his brother according to the flesh. They were informed against as being of David’s family. The Evocatus brought them to the Emperor Domitian, for he feared the coming of Christ, as Herod had also feared it. He asked them whether they were of David’s line, and they admitted that they were. Then he asked them how much property they had, or how much money they controlled. They both said that they had only nine thousand denarii between them, half of it belonging to each. They said they did not have this in silver, but in the assessed value of a piece of land of only thirty-nine plethra. From this land they paid their taxes, and they supported themselves by working it with their own hands.”
   [Translator’s note] The Evocatus was a Roman soldier who, after completing his service, had been recalled or had re-enlisted, often in a privileged post. A plethron was a Greek unit of land of about 100 by 100 Greek feet, roughly a fifth of an acre, so thirty-nine plethra is about 8–9 acres.

HE 3. 20.3-4  “Then they also showed their hands. The hardness of their bodies and the calluses stamped on their own hands by constant work were their evidence that they worked the land themselves. When they were asked about Christ and his kingdom, what kind it was, and where and when it would appear, they explained that it was not of this world or of the earth, but heavenly and angelic. It would come at the end of the age, when he would come in glory to judge the living and the dead and to repay each one according to his deeds.”
   [Scripture] Romans 2:6

HE 3. 20.5-7  “At this Domitian passed no sentence against them. He despised them as of no account, set them free, and by a decree stopped the persecution against the church. When they were released, they became leaders of the churches, both as martyrs and as members of the Lord’s family. Peace came, and they remained alive until the time of Trajan.” That is what Hegesippus says. Tertullian also mentions Domitian in these words: “Domitian too once tried to do the same thing as Nero, since he shared a part of Nero’s cruelty. But since he had some sense, I suppose, he quickly stopped, and even called back those he had banished.”

HE 3. 20.8-9  Domitian ruled for fifteen years, and Nerva then took over the empire. Those who have written down the history of those times report that the Roman Senate voted to cancel Domitian’s honors, and that those who had been unjustly banished should return to their homes and have their property restored. It was then, according to the account handed down among the ancient writers of our own church, that the apostle John came back from his exile on the island and took up residence at Ephesus.


CHAPTER 21

HE 3. 21.1  Nerva reigned a little over a year and was succeeded by Trajan. In Trajan’s first year, Abilius, who had led the church community at Alexandria for thirteen years, was succeeded by Cerdon. Cerdon was the third to lead it there after Annianus, who was the first. At that time Clement was still leading the church at Rome. He was the third to hold the office of bishop there after Paul and Peter. Linus was the first, and after him came Anencletus.
   [Translator’s note] “Church community” translates the Greek paroikia, the source of “parish.” It literally means a sojourning or dwelling as resident aliens, and in early Christian usage it came to mean a local church community.


CHAPTER 22

HE 3. 22.1  At Antioch, too, Ignatius was well known at this time as the second bishop there, Evodius having been appointed the first. In the same period Symeon was the second to hold office in the church at Jerusalem, the Saviour’s brother having been the first.


CHAPTER 23

HE 3. 23.1-3  After this, the apostle and evangelist John, the very one whom Jesus loved, was still living in Asia. He had come back from his exile on the island after Domitian’s death, and he directed the churches there. That he was still alive until those times can be established by two witnesses. They are trustworthy because they were champions of the church’s sound teaching, and such were Irenaeus and Clement of Alexandria. The first of them writes as follows in the second book of his work Against Heresies: “And all the elders who met John, the Lord’s disciple, in Asia bear witness that John handed it down. For he stayed with them until the time of Trajan.”

HE 3. 23.4-5  In the third book of the same work he says the same thing in these words: “Moreover, the church in Ephesus was founded by Paul, and John remained with them until the time of Trajan. It is a true witness of the apostles’ tradition.” Clement, for his part, both notes the time and adds a most necessary account for those who love to hear what is good and useful. He gives it in the writing he titled “Who Is the Rich Man Who Is Saved?” Take it and read what he writes:

HE 3. 23.6-7  “Listen to a story that is not just a story but a true account, handed down about John the apostle and kept safe in memory. When the tyrant died and John moved from the island of Patmos to Ephesus, he would go when invited to the neighboring Gentile regions as well. In some places he appointed bishops, in others he organized whole churches, and in others he chose by lot one of those marked out by the Spirit. Once he came to a city not far away (some people even give its name). He comforted the brothers in other matters, and then, looking at the bishop who had been appointed over them all, he saw a young man of strong build, pleasing appearance and fervent spirit. He said, ‘I entrust this young man to you with all earnestness, with the church and Christ as witnesses.’ The bishop accepted him and promised everything. John spoke to him again in the same terms and solemnly charged him once more.
   [Translator’s note] “The tyrant” is Domitian. Eusebius names him earlier, in his account of the persecution and of Nerva’s recall of exiles (3.17–20), not in the sentence just before this one.

HE 3. 23.8-9  “Then John departed for Ephesus. The presbyter took the young man he had been given into his own home. He fed him, kept him close, cared for him warmly, and finally baptized him. After that he relaxed his great care and watchfulness, thinking that in the seal of the Lord he had set over him a perfect safeguard. But the young man took his freedom too early, and some of his own age, idle and dissolute and used to evil, corrupted him. First they led him on with expensive banquets. Then they took him along when they went out at night to rob people. Then they expected him to join them in something even greater.
   [Translator’s note] “Seal of the Lord” means baptism. The Greek word translated “baptized” is literally “enlightened,” a common early Christian term for baptism. The “presbyter” is the bishop of the previous section.

HE 3. 23.10-12  “Little by little he became used to it. He had a strong nature, and like a powerful, hard-mouthed horse he left the straight road, took the bit between his teeth, and ran all the more wildly toward the precipices. He gave up completely on salvation in God. He no longer planned anything small. Having done some great deed, since he was lost once for all, he thought it right to suffer the same as the others. So he took these same men, formed a robber band, and became its ready chief, the most violent, bloodthirsty and cruel of them all. Time passed, and when some need arose, they called John back. When he had settled the other matters for which he had come, he said, ‘Come now, bishop, give back to us the deposit that Christ and I entrusted to you, with the church over which you preside as witness.’

HE 3. 23.13  “At first the bishop was thunderstruck. He thought he was being falsely accused over money he had never received, and he could neither believe the charge about what he did not have nor disbelieve John. But John said, ‘I am asking for the young man and for the soul of our brother.’ The old man groaned deeply and shed some tears. ‘That one is dead,’ he said. ‘How? What kind of death?’ ‘He is dead to God,’ the old man said. ‘He turned out wicked and ruined, and in short, a robber. And now, instead of the church, he has taken over the mountain with a band of armed men like himself.’

HE 3. 23.14-16  When the apostle heard this, he tore his clothes and struck his head, groaning loudly. “A fine guard I left for my brother’s soul!” he said. “But let a horse be brought to me at once, and let someone be my guide on the road.” He rode off just as he was, straight from the church. When he reached the place, the robbers’ outpost seized him. He did not try to flee or beg for mercy. He shouted, “This is why I have come! Take me to your leader.” The leader was waiting, armed as he was. But when he recognized John coming toward him, he was ashamed and turned to flee. John chased him with all his strength, forgetting his own age, and cried out:

HE 3. 23.17-18  “Why do you run from me, my child, from your own father, unarmed and old? Have pity on me, my child. Do not be afraid. You still have hope of life. I will answer to Christ for you. If need be, I will gladly undergo your death, as the Lord did for us. I will give my own life in place of yours. Stop! Believe me; Christ has sent me.” When the young man heard this, he first stood still, looking at the ground. Then he threw down his weapons. Then he trembled and wept bitterly. As the old man came up, he embraced him, pleading his case with groans as well as he could, and being baptized a second time with his tears. Only his right hand he kept hidden.

HE 3. 23.19  John pledged himself for him and swore that he had found forgiveness for him from the Saviour. He begged him, fell on his knees, and kissed that very right hand as though it had been cleansed by repentance. Then he brought him back to the church. He pleaded for him with abundant prayers, struggled alongside him in constant fasting, and worked on his mind with all sorts of charming words. He did not leave, so they say, until he had restored him to the church. In this way he gave a great example of true repentance and a great proof of new birth, a trophy of resurrection for all to see.
   [Translator’s note] “New birth” translates the Greek word palingenesia (literally “birth again”), also used in Titus 3:5.


CHAPTER 24

HE 3. 24.1-3  Let this account from Clement stand here, both for the history and for the benefit of those who read it. Now let us also point out the undisputed writings of this apostle. First, his Gospel is recognized by the churches everywhere under heaven, and let it be acknowledged as genuine. The ancients had good reason to place it fourth, after the other three, and this will become clear as follows. The apostles of Christ were inspired men, truly worthy of God. Their lives were thoroughly purified, and their souls were adorned with every virtue. But they were untrained in speech. They put their confidence in the divine, miracle-working power that the Saviour had given them. They neither knew how nor tried to present their teacher’s lessons with elaborate craft and rhetoric. Instead they relied only on the demonstration of the divine Spirit working with them, and on the miraculous power of Christ accomplished through them. In this way they proclaimed the knowledge of the kingdom of heaven throughout the whole world, and they gave little thought to writing books.
   [Translator’s note] “This apostle” is John. Eusebius has just finished the story of John and the young man, which he took from Clement of Alexandria.

HE 3. 24.4-5  They did this because they were serving in a ministry greater than any human one. Paul, for example, was the most powerful of all in preparing his words and was fully capable in his thoughts, yet he left in writing no more than very short letters. He could have said countless things that cannot be told, for he had touched the visions up to the third heaven, had been caught up into God’s own paradise, and had been counted worthy to hear unspeakable words there. The other followers of our Saviour were not without such experiences either: the twelve apostles, the seventy disciples, and countless others besides. Nevertheless, of all the Lord’s companions, only Matthew and John have left us written records of his teachings and life, and tradition says that necessity drove them to write.
   [Translator’s note] The “third heaven” and “paradise” allude to Paul’s account in 2 Corinthians 12:2-4. The Greek calls the written works hypomnemata, “memoirs” or “records.”
   [Scripture] 2 Corinthians 12:2-4

HE 3. 24.6-7  Matthew had first preached to the Hebrews. When he was about to go to others as well, he handed down his Gospel in writing in his native language. In this way his writing made up for his absence to those he was leaving. Then, after Mark and Luke had already published their Gospels, they say that John, who had used unwritten preaching all the time, finally came to writing for this reason. The three Gospels written before his had by now been passed on to everyone, including himself. They say he welcomed them and bore witness that they were true. But he said that only one thing was missing from the written account: the story of what Christ did at first, at the very beginning of his preaching.

HE 3. 24.8-9  And this account is true. For anyone can see that the other three evangelists wrote down only what the Savior did in the one year after John the Baptist was shut up in prison, and that they point this out at the start of their histories. Matthew, for example, after the forty days’ fast and the temptation that followed it, marks the time of his narrative when he says: “Now when he heard that John had been delivered up, he withdrew from Judea into Galilee.”
   [Scripture] Matthew 4:12

HE 3. 24.10-11  Mark likewise says, “Now after John was delivered up, Jesus came into Galilee.” And Luke, before he begins the deeds of Jesus, marks the time in a similar way, saying that Herod, adding to all the evil things he had done, shut John up in prison. For these reasons, they say, the apostle John was urged to hand down in his own Gospel the period that the earlier evangelists had passed over in silence, and the Savior’s deeds in that period, that is, the things that happened before the Baptist was put in prison. They say he himself points this out, sometimes saying, “This beginning of signs Jesus made,” and sometimes mentioning the Baptist in the middle of the deeds of Jesus, as still baptizing at Aenon near Salim. He makes it plain when he says, “For John had not yet been thrown into prison.”
   [Translator’s note] Eusebius’s Greek here has “paradoxa” (strange or marvelous things, wonders), not John’s own word “sēmeia” (signs, John 2:11). The English “signs” follows John 2:11, where Eusebius is paraphrasing John.
   [Scripture] Mark 1:14; Luke 3:19-20; John 2:11; John 3:23-24

HE 3. 24.12-13  So in writing his Gospel, John hands down what Christ did before the Baptist was thrown into prison, while the other three evangelists record what happened after the Baptist was shut up in prison. Anyone who takes note of this will no longer think the Gospels disagree with one another, since John’s Gospel contains the first of Christ’s deeds, while the others contain the history of the last part of his time. It was reasonable, then, that John passed over in silence the genealogy of our Savior according to the flesh, since Matthew and Luke had already written it, and that he began with the teaching about his divinity, which the divine Spirit had kept in reserve for him as the greater one.

HE 3. 24.14-15  Let this be enough from us about the writing of the Gospel according to John. The reason for the Gospel according to Mark has already been explained earlier. As for Luke, at the very beginning of his writing he himself states why he composed it. Many others, he says, had rashly taken it upon themselves to give an account of matters of which he himself had full assurance. So, to free us from the uncertain opinions held about those others, he handed down in his own Gospel the reliable account of what he himself had fully grasped as the truth. He had gained this from his time with Paul and his companionship with him, and from his conversation with the other apostles.
   [Scripture] Luke 1:1-4

HE 3. 24.16-18  That is what we have to say about these matters. At a more suitable time we shall try to set out what others have said about them, by quoting the ancient writers. Of the writings of John, besides the Gospel, his first epistle has been accepted without dispute, both by people today and by those of old. The other two are disputed. As for the Apocalypse, the opinion of most people is still pulled in both directions. Nevertheless, at the proper time this book too will be judged from the testimony of the ancients.


CHAPTER 25

HE 3. 25.1-3  Heading: The Divine Scriptures That Are Accepted and Those That Are Not. Since we have come to this point, it is reasonable to sum up the writings of the New Testament already mentioned. First we must place the holy fourfold set of the Gospels. The writing of the Acts of the Apostles follows them. After that we must list the epistles of Paul. Next we should affirm the epistle of John called his first, and likewise the epistle of Peter. After these we should place, if it seems right, the Apocalypse of John; we will set out the opinions about it at the proper time. These belong among the accepted books. Among the disputed books, which are nevertheless well known to many, are the one called the epistle of James, the epistle of Jude, the second epistle of Peter, and the ones called the second and third of John, whether they belong to the evangelist or to another person with the same name.
   [Translator’s note] “Fourfold set” translates a Greek word (tetraktys) meaning a group of four; the older translation has “quaternion.” “Accepted” (homologoumena) means books agreed on by everyone; “disputed” (antilegomena) means books some people spoke against.

HE 3. 25.4-5  Among the spurious books let us also place the Acts of Paul, the so-called Shepherd, the Apocalypse of Peter, and besides these the letter circulating under the name of Barnabas and the so-called Teachings of the Apostles. In addition there is, as I said, the Apocalypse of John, if that seems right. Some, as I said, reject it, while others count it among the accepted books. Some have also listed among these the Gospel according to the Hebrews, in which those Hebrews who have accepted Christ take special delight. All of these would belong among the disputed books.
   [Translator’s note] Eusebius uses “spurious” (nothoi) for books known to church writers but not accepted as genuine. He also says they could be counted among the disputed books, and in 3.25.6-7 he treats heretical forgeries as worse than either.

HE 3. 25.6  Still, I have felt it necessary to make a list of these books as well. I have distinguished the writings that are true, genuine and accepted according to the tradition of the church from the others. These others are not part of the covenant books but are disputed, though most church writers know them. I did this so that we could know these writings, and also the writings that heretics put forward under the apostles’ names. Such writings include gospels said to be by Peter, Thomas, Matthias or others besides them, and acts said to be by Andrew, John and the other apostles. No writer in the line of church writers has ever thought any of these worth mentioning in his writings.
   [Translator’s note] “Covenant books” translates the Greek “endiathēkous”, meaning “belonging to the (new) covenant”, that is, canonical. The older translation reads “canonical”.

HE 3. 25.7  The style of writing also differs widely from the apostolic manner. The thinking and purpose of what is in them are far out of tune with true orthodoxy, and show plainly that they are forgeries made by heretics. So they should not even be classed among the spurious books. They should be rejected as altogether absurd and impious. Let us now go on to the history that follows.


CHAPTER 26

HE 3. 26.1-2  After Simon the magician, Menander succeeded him. He proved to be a second weapon of the devil’s working, no less effective than the first. He too was a Samaritan. He went as far in sorcery as his teacher, and he indulged in even greater tall tales. He said that he himself was the Saviour, sent from somewhere above, out of the invisible ages, for the salvation of men. He taught that no one could overcome even the angels who made the world unless he had first been led through the magical skill that Menander handed on, and through the baptism that he gave. Those counted worthy of this baptism would share in everlasting immortality in this very life. They would no longer die, but would stay here and become ageless and immortal forever. One can easily learn all this from the writings of Irenaeus.

HE 3. 26.3-4  Justin also mentions Simon in the same way, and goes on to give an account of Menander. He says: “We know that a certain Menander, also a Samaritan, from the village of Capparattea, became a disciple of Simon. He too was goaded on by the demons. He came to Antioch and deceived many by the art of magic. He even persuaded his followers that they would not die. And even now there are some who profess this because of him.” It was indeed the devil’s doing to use such sorcerers, who took on the name of Christian, to slander the great mystery of godliness as though it were magic. Through them he also sought to ridicule the church’s teachings about the immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the dead. But those who have taken these men as their saviours have fallen away from the true hope.
   [Translator’s note] In the Greek, Justin’s quotation ends after “because of him.” The sentence beginning “It was indeed the devil’s doing...” is Eusebius’s own comment.
   [Scripture] 1 Timothy 3:16


CHAPTER 27

HE 3. 27.1-2  The wicked demon could not shake some others from their love for the Christ of God, but he found them open to attack from another side and made them his own. The first Christians rightly called them Ebionites, because they held poor and lowly opinions about Christ. They thought he was a plain, ordinary man, who was made righteous only through his progress in character, and who was born from the union of a man with Mary. They held that keeping the law was absolutely necessary, and that they could not be saved by faith in Christ alone and the life that goes with it.
   [Translator’s note] “Ebionites” comes from a Hebrew word meaning “poor,” which Eusebius plays on when he says they held “poor” opinions of Christ.

HE 3. 27.3-4  There were others with the same name who avoided the strange error of the first group. They did not deny that the Lord was born of a virgin and of the Holy Spirit. But they did not admit, any more than the others, that he existed before, as God, Word and Wisdom. So they fell into the same impiety as the first group, especially since they too were eager to keep the bodily worship of the law like them. These men thought they must reject all the letters of the apostle Paul, and called him a rebel against the law. They used only the so-called Gospel according to the Hebrews and took little account of the others.

HE 3. 27.5-6  They kept the Sabbath and the rest of the Jewish way of life just as the others did. But on the Lord’s days they did what we do, in memory of the Lord’s resurrection. Because of this practice they received their name. The name Ebionites points to the poverty of their understanding, for among the Hebrews a poor man is called by that name.
   [Translator’s note] “Lord’s days” translates a Greek phrase (kyriakai hemerai) that means Sundays. Eusebius says “Ebionites” comes from the Hebrew word for “poor.”


CHAPTER 28

HE 3. 28.1-2  We have learned that in the times just mentioned Cerinthus became the founder of another heresy. Gaius, whose words I have already quoted, writes this about him in the Dialogue that circulates under his name: “But Cerinthus also, through revelations that he claims were written by a great apostle, brings in marvelous tales to deceive us, as though angels had shown them to him. He says that after the resurrection the kingdom of Christ will be on earth, and that the flesh will again live as citizens in Jerusalem, enslaved to desires and pleasures. And he is an enemy of the Scriptures of God. Wanting to lead people astray, he says there will be a thousand years given to wedding festivities.”

HE 3. 28.3-5  Dionysius, who in our own time held the office of bishop over the church in Alexandria, also mentions this man. In the second book of his work On Promises, after saying some things about John’s Revelation as handed down from earlier times, he speaks of Cerinthus in these words: “Cerinthus founded the heresy that was named after him, the Cerinthian. He wanted a trustworthy name to attach to his own invention. For this was the teaching of his doctrine: that the kingdom of Christ would be on earth. And he dreamed that it would consist of the things he himself craved, since he loved the body and was thoroughly carnal. These were the filling of the belly and of what lies below the belly, that is, food and drink and marriage. And to make these things sound more respectable, he thought they would be supplied through feasts, sacrifices and the slaughter of animals.”

HE 3. 28.6  That is what Dionysius says. Irenaeus, in the first book of his work Against Heresies, sets out some more secret false teachings of the same man. In the third book he also gives an account in his writing that deserves not to be forgotten. He says, on the tradition of Polycarp, that the apostle John once went into a bathhouse to wash. When he learned that Cerinthus was inside, he jumped up and fled out the door, unable to stay under the same roof with him. He urged those with him to do the same, saying, “Let us flee, in case even the bathhouse falls down, since Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is inside.”


CHAPTER 29

HE 3. 29.1-2  After this, the so-called heresy of the Nicolaitans arose and lasted only a very short time. The Revelation of John mentions it. They boasted that their founder was Nicolaus, one of the deacons who, with Stephen, were chosen by the apostles to serve the needy. Clement of Alexandria, in the third book of his Stromata, tells this about him in these words: “They say that he had a beautiful wife. After the Savior’s ascension, the apostles reproached him for jealousy. So he brought his wife into the middle of them and allowed anyone who wished to marry her. For they say this act agreed with the saying that one must ‘abuse the flesh.’ And those who follow his heresy, imitating both what was done and what was said simply and without examination, shamelessly practice fornication.”
   [Scripture] Revelation 2:6; Revelation 2:15; Acts 6:5

HE 3. 29.3-4  “But I am told that Nicolaus had relations with no other woman than the one he married. And of his children, the daughters grew old as virgins, and the son remained unspoiled. If this is so, then bringing the wife he was jealous over into the midst of the apostles was a way of getting rid of his passion. And the saying ‘abuse the flesh’ taught self-control against the pleasures people pursue so eagerly. For I think he did not want to serve two masters, pleasure and the Lord, as the Savior commanded. They say that Matthias also taught in this way: that one must fight against the flesh and abuse it, giving it nothing for the sake of pleasure, and make the soul grow through faith and knowledge.” So much for those who in the times just mentioned tried to corrupt the truth, though they died out completely, quicker than a word.
   [Translator’s note] The “two masters” saying echoes Matthew 6:24 and Luke 16:13. The final sentence (“So much for those who...”) is Eusebius’s own comment, not part of the quotation from Clement of Alexandria.
   [Scripture] Matthew 6:24


CHAPTER 30

HE 3. 30.1-2  Clement, whose words we have just read, goes on after the passages above to list the apostles who were married, because of those who reject marriage. He says: “Or will they reject even the apostles? For Peter and Philip had children, and Philip also gave his daughters in marriage. And Paul does not hesitate, in one of his letters, to address his own wife. He did not take her about with him, so as to keep his service unburdened.” Since we have mentioned this, it is no trouble to add another story from the same author that is worth telling. He relates it in the seventh book of his Stromata: “They say, then, that when the blessed Peter saw his own wife being led away to death, he was glad at her calling and at her going home. He called out to her very encouragingly and comfortingly, addressing her by name: ‘Remember the Lord, my dear.’ Such was the marriage of the blessed, and such their perfect disposition toward those dearest to them.” Since this too fits the subject in hand, let it stand here in its proper place.
   [Translator’s note] Clement’s claim that Paul had a wife rests on his reading of “syzygos” (yoke-fellow) in Philippians 4:3 (he cites it in Stromata 3). Most interpreters take the word to mean a colleague, so the reading is disputed. The Greek “ὦ αὕτη” means roughly “O you” or “O this woman,” rendered here as “my dear.”


CHAPTER 31

HE 3. 31.1-2  The time and manner of the deaths of Paul and Peter, and the place where their bodies were laid after they left this life, have already been shown. The time of John’s death has also been mentioned in a general way. The place where he was buried is shown by a letter of Polycrates, who was bishop of the church at Ephesus. Writing to Victor, bishop of Rome, he mentions John together with the apostle Philip and Philip’s daughters, in these words: “For great lights have fallen asleep in Asia too, and they will rise again on the last day of the Lord’s appearing, when he comes from heaven with glory and will seek out all his saints. Among them are Philip, one of the twelve apostles, who sleeps in Hierapolis, and his two daughters, who grew old as virgins; and his other daughter, who lived in the Holy Spirit, rests at Ephesus.
   [Translator’s note] “Lights” translates “stoicheia,” a word that usually means “elements” but can also mean heavenly bodies or stars. Here it seems to be used figuratively for great leaders of the church.

HE 3. 31.3-4  “And then there is John, who leaned back on the breast of the Lord, who became a priest wearing the priestly plate, and a witness and a teacher. He has fallen asleep at Ephesus.” So much for their deaths. In the Dialogue of Gaius, which we mentioned a little earlier, Proclus, the man Gaius was arguing against, agrees with this account of the death of Philip and his daughters. He says: “After him there were four prophetesses, the daughters of Philip, at Hierapolis in Asia. Their tomb is there, and the tomb of their father.”
   [Translator’s note] The “plate” (petalon) is the gold plate worn on the high priest’s turban (see Exodus 28:36). Polycrates speaks of John in priestly terms. The older translation’s “Caius” is the same man as Gaius.
   [Scripture] John 13:25; Exodus 28:36

HE 3. 31.5-6  So Proclus says. Luke, in the Acts of the Apostles, mentions Philip’s daughters, who were then living at Caesarea in Judea with their father and had been given the gift of prophecy. His words are these: “We came to Caesarea, and entering the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, we stayed with him. He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.” So in these pages we have set out what has come to our knowledge about the apostles themselves and the apostolic age. We have also covered the sacred writings they left us, those that are disputed but nevertheless have been used by many in most of the churches, and those that are entirely spurious and foreign to apostolic orthodoxy. Having done this, let us go on to the history that follows.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek says “virgin daughters”; “unmarried” gives the sense. Eusebius quotes Acts 21:8-9 in his own wording.
   [Scripture] Acts 21:8-9


CHAPTER 32

HE 3. 32.1-2  After Nero and Domitian, in the time of the emperor whose years we are now examining, the report is that a persecution against us was stirred up here and there, city by city, through popular uprisings. In it, as we have learned, Symeon son of Clopas, whom we showed to have been appointed the second bishop of the church in Jerusalem, ended his life in martyrdom. Hegesippus, whom we have quoted several times already, is a witness to this. In telling about certain heretics, he adds that Symeon was accused by them at this time. He was tortured in many ways for many days as a Christian, and he astonished the judge himself and those with him in the highest degree. In the end he met a death much like the Lord’s suffering.
   [Translator’s note] The emperor in question is Trajan. The Greek says Symeon was tortured “as a Christian” (hōs Christianos).

HE 3. 32.3-4  But there is nothing like hearing the historian himself. He writes it down word for word like this: “Some of these heretics accuse Symeon, the son of Clopas, of being a descendant of David and a Christian. And so he bears witness by martyrdom, at the age of one hundred and twenty, under the emperor Trajan and the consular governor Atticus.” The same writer says that his accusers also were arrested, since a search was then being made for those of the royal tribe of the Jews, and they were found to belong to it. One might reasonably conclude that Symeon was among those who had seen and heard the Lord. The evidence is the length of his life, and the fact that the Gospel Scripture mentions Mary, the wife of Clopas, of whom, as our account showed earlier, he was the son.

HE 3. 32.5-6  The same writer says that others, from the family of one of the Saviour’s so-called brothers, whose name was Judas, lived on into the same reign. This was after their testimony for faith in Christ under Domitian, already told earlier. He writes: “So they come and take the lead of every church as martyrs and as members of the Lord’s family. When deep peace came to every church, they remained until the emperor Trajan, until the time when Symeon, the son of Clopas, an uncle of the Lord, was falsely accused by the sects. In the same way he too was accused on the same charge before the consular governor Atticus. He was tortured for many days and bore witness by martyrdom. Everyone, even the governor, was greatly amazed that at the age of one hundred and twenty he could endure it. And he was ordered to be crucified.”
   [Translator’s note] “From an uncle of the Lord” translates ὁ ἐκ θείου τοῦ κυρίου, meaning Symeon came of that relationship. Elsewhere (3.11; 4.22) Hegesippus makes Clopas the brother of Joseph.

HE 3. 32.7-8  After this, the same man, telling of those events, adds that up to those times the church had remained a pure and uncorrupted virgin. Those who tried to corrupt the sound rule of the saving message, if there were any, were still lurking somewhere in obscure darkness. But when the sacred company of the apostles had ended their lives in various ways, and that generation of those who had been counted worthy to hear the God-inspired wisdom with their own ears had passed away, then the framework of godless error began to take shape through the deceit of teachers of different doctrines. Since none of the apostles was left, they now attempted with bare head to preach their falsely named knowledge against the message of the truth.
   [Translator’s note] “Falsely named knowledge” echoes 1 Timothy 6:20, where ψευδώνυμος γνῶσις is the phrase. “With bare head” (γυμνῇ τῇ κεφαλῇ) is an idiom meaning openly and boldly.
   [Scripture] 1 Timothy 6:20


CHAPTER 33

HE 3. 33.1  Yet the persecution against us then grew so severe in many places that Pliny Secundus, one of the most distinguished of governors, was moved by the number of martyrs. He reported to the emperor about the multitude of those being put to death for their faith. In the same letter he stated that he had found them doing nothing unholy or against the laws, except that they rose at dawn and sang hymns to Christ as to a god. They themselves, he said, forbade adultery, murder and related unlawful offenses, and did everything in keeping with the laws.

HE 3. 33.2  In answer to this, Trajan issued a decree that the Christian people were not to be sought out, but that if they were caught they were to be punished. As a result the threat of the persecution, which had been pressing very hard, was to some extent put out. Still, those who wished to do us harm were not left with worse excuses. Sometimes the crowds, and sometimes the local rulers, were devising plots against us. So even without open persecutions, local ones flared up in one province after another, and many of the faithful contended in various martyrdoms.

HE 3. 33.3  Our account is taken from Tertullian’s Roman Apology, mentioned above, which in translation reads as follows: “And yet we have found that even the search for us has been forbidden. For Pliny Secundus, governor of a province, had condemned some Christians and removed them from their rank. Troubled by their number, he did not know what he should do next. So he consulted the emperor Trajan, saying that, apart from their refusal to worship idols, he had found nothing unholy in them. He also reported this: that the Christians rose at dawn and sang hymns to Christ as to a god, and that, to keep their way of life, they were forbidden to murder, commit adultery, be greedy, defraud, and the like. In reply Trajan wrote that the Christian people were not to be sought out, but if caught they were to be punished.” Such were the events of that time.
   [Translator’s note] Eusebius quotes Tertullian (Apology 2.6) through a Greek translation of the Latin. The word ἐπιστήμη normally means “knowledge,” and “way of life” is a free rendering. ἀποστερεῖν means to defraud or withhold what is owed.


CHAPTER 34

HE 3. 34.1  Among the bishops of Rome, in the third year of the reign of the emperor just mentioned, Clement handed his ministry to Evarestus and departed this life. He had presided over the teaching of the divine word for nine years in all.


CHAPTER 35

HE 3. 35.1  After Symeon had died in the way already described, a Jew named Justus took his seat as bishop of Jerusalem. He was himself one of the countless thousands of the circumcision who had come to believe in Christ at that time.


CHAPTER 36

HE 3. 36.1-3  In those days Polycarp, a companion of the apostles, was eminent in Asia. He had been entrusted with the bishopric of the church at Smyrna by those who had seen and served the Lord. At the same time Papias, himself bishop of the community at Hierapolis, was well known. So was Ignatius, who is still famous among very many people. He had received the bishopric of Antioch as the second in succession from Peter. The report is that he was sent from Syria to the city of Rome and became food for wild beasts because of his witness to Christ.

HE 3. 36.4-5  Ignatius made his journey through Asia under the closest guard of soldiers. In each city where he stayed, he strengthened the local communities with spoken sermons and encouragements. Above all he urged them to be on guard against the heresies that were then just beginning to spring up and spread. He also urged them to hold on tightly to the tradition of the apostles. For safety’s sake, now that he was bearing witness to it, he thought it necessary to set it down in writing as well. So when he came to Smyrna, where Polycarp was, he wrote one letter to the church at Ephesus, mentioning its pastor Onesimus. He wrote another to the church at Magnesia on the Maeander, where he again mentions a bishop, Damas. He wrote another to the church at Tralles, whose head at that time, he records, was Polybius.

HE 3. 36.6-7  Besides these he also wrote to the church of the Romans, appealing to them not to refuse his martyrdom and so rob him of the hope he longed for. It is worth quoting a very short passage from this letter to support what I have said. He writes in these words: “From Syria all the way to Rome I am fighting with wild beasts, by land and sea, night and day, tied to ten leopards, that is, a squad of soldiers, who become worse even when they are treated kindly. Yet through their wrongs I am learning more fully to be a disciple, but I am not justified by this.
   [Translator’s note] The “ten leopards” are the ten soldiers guarding Ignatius. The last phrase echoes 1 Corinthians 4:4, though Eusebius does not say so.
   [Scripture] 1 Corinthians 4:4

HE 3. 36.8-9  “May I have joy of the beasts that are ready for me. I pray that I will find them quick, and I will coax them to eat me quickly, not as they have done with some, which they were too afraid to touch. And if they are unwilling, I will force them. Forgive me; I know what is good for me. Now I am beginning to be a disciple. May nothing, visible or invisible, envy me, so that I may reach Jesus Christ. Let fire and cross, assaults of wild beasts, scattering of bones, cutting apart of limbs, grinding of my whole body, and the torments of the devil come upon me, only let me reach Jesus Christ.”

HE 3. 36.10-11  These things he laid down in writing from the city named above to the churches listed. After he had gone beyond Smyrna, he wrote again from Troas to the church at Philadelphia, and to the church of Smyrna, and personally to Polycarp, its leader. Since he knew Polycarp well as an apostolic man, he entrusted to him the flock at Antioch, as a true and good shepherd would, and asked him to take diligent care of it. The same Ignatius, writing to the Smyrnaeans, uses some words that I do not know the source of, saying about Christ something like this: “But I know and believe that he was in the flesh even after the resurrection. And when he came to Peter and those with him, he said to them, ‘Take hold of me, touch me and see that I am not a bodiless demon.’ And immediately they touched him and believed.”
   [Translator’s note] Eusebius admits he does not know where Ignatius took this saying of Jesus; it is not found in the Gospels in these words. Compare Luke 24:39. The Greek word for “demon” here means a bodiless spirit or ghost.
   [Scripture] Luke 24:39

HE 3. 36.12-13  Irenaeus also knew of his martyrdom and mentions his letters. He says: “As one of our people said, when he was condemned to the beasts for his witness to God: ‘I am God’s wheat, and I am being ground by the teeth of wild beasts, so that I may be found pure bread.’” Polycarp also refers to these same matters in his letter to the Philippians, which is still in circulation. He says: “I urge all of you to obey and to practice every kind of endurance. You saw it with your own eyes not only in the blessed Ignatius, Rufus and Zosimus, but also in others from among yourselves, and in Paul himself and the rest of the apostles. You can be sure that all these did not run in vain, but ran in faith and righteousness, and that they are now in the place due to them beside the Lord, with whom they also suffered. For they did not love the present age, but him who died for us and was raised by God for our sake.”
   [Scripture] Philippians 2:16; 2 Timothy 4:10; 2 Corinthians 5:15

HE 3. 36.14-15  Polycarp then goes on: “You wrote to me, you and Ignatius both, that if anyone is going to Syria, he should also carry your letters. I will do this if I have a suitable opportunity, either myself or someone I send to act as envoy for you as well. We are sending you the letters of Ignatius that he sent to us, and the others we had with us, as you instructed. They are attached to this letter, and you will be able to gain great benefit from them. For they deal with faith and endurance and every kind of building up that belongs to our Lord.” That is what we have on Ignatius. After him Heros took over the bishopric of Antioch.


CHAPTER 37

HE 3. 37.1  Among those who shone brightly at that time was Quadratus. Report has it that he and the daughters of Philip were outstanding for the gift of prophecy. Many others besides were known in those days, holding the first rank in the succession from the apostles. They were distinguished disciples of such great men, and they built on the foundations of the churches that the apostles had laid in every place. They spread the preaching further and sowed the saving seeds of the kingdom of heaven far and wide across the whole world.

HE 3. 37.2-3  Indeed, very many of the disciples of that time had their souls struck by the divine word with an intense love of wisdom. First they fulfilled the Saviour’s command by giving their possessions to the needy. Then they set out on journeys and did the work of evangelists. They were eager to preach Christ to those who had never yet heard the word of faith, and to hand on to them the written text of the divine Gospels. In foreign places they only laid the foundation of the faith. They appointed others as shepherds and entrusted to them the care of the newly converted. Then they themselves moved on to other lands and nations, with the grace and help of God. For at that time many extraordinary works of the divine Spirit were still being done through them. As a result, whole crowds, down to the last man, eagerly took into their souls reverence for the Creator of the universe at the very first hearing.
   [Translator’s note] “Love of wisdom” is literally “philosophy.” Eusebius often uses the word for the Christian way of life.
   [Scripture] 2 Timothy 4:5

HE 3. 37.4  We cannot list by name everyone who became a shepherd or evangelist in the churches throughout the world in the first generation after the apostles. So we have naturally recorded by name only those whose handing down of the apostolic teaching has reached us even now in their written works.
   [Scripture] Ephesians 4:11


CHAPTER 38

HE 3. 38.1-2  Such, for example, is Ignatius in the letters we have listed. Such too is Clement in the letter acknowledged by everyone, which he wrote in the name of the church of Rome to the church of Corinth. In it he sets out many thoughts from the letter to the Hebrews, and even quotes some of its words exactly. This shows very clearly that the writing is not a recent one. For that reason it seemed reasonable to count it among the other writings of the apostle. Paul had spoken to the Hebrews in writing in their native language. Some say that the evangelist Luke translated the writing, and others say that it was Clement himself.

HE 3. 38.3-5  This second view is more likely true, because the epistle of Clement and the Epistle to the Hebrews keep the same character of style, and the thoughts in the two writings are not far apart. You should also know that a second epistle of Clement is said to exist. But we do not know that it is recognized like the first, since we do not find that the ancient writers used it. Some people have also recently brought forward other long and wordy writings under his name, containing dialogues of Peter and Apion. The ancients make no mention at all of these, for they do not preserve the pure stamp of apostolic orthodoxy. So the acknowledged writing of Clement is plain. We have also already spoken of the works of Ignatius and Polycarp.
   [Translator’s note] The “second view” is that Clement translated Hebrews. The Greek says “yesterday and the day before” for “recently”. The “second epistle” is the work we now call 2 Clement.


CHAPTER 39

HE 3. 39.1-2  Five books of Papias are in circulation, and they are titled Expositions of the Sayings of the Lord. Irenaeus mentions these as the only books he wrote, saying: “Papias also bears witness to these things in writing, in the fourth of his books. He was a hearer of John and a companion of Polycarp, a man of the early days. For he composed five books.” That is what Irenaeus says. But Papias himself, in the preface to his discourses, makes it clear that he was never a hearer or eyewitness of the holy apostles. He teaches that he received the matters of the faith from those who had known them, and he does so in these words:

HE 3. 39.3-4  “I will not hesitate to set down for you, along with my interpretations, everything I once learned well from the elders and remembered well, guaranteeing its truth. For unlike most people, I did not take pleasure in those who say a great deal, but in those who teach the truth. Nor did I take pleasure in those who recall commandments from other people, but in those who recall the commandments given by the Lord to the faith and coming from the truth itself. And if ever someone came who had been a follower of the elders, I would ask about the words of the elders: what Andrew or Peter said, or Philip, or Thomas, or James, or John, or Matthew, or any other of the Lord’s disciples; and what Aristion and the elder John, the Lord’s disciples, are saying. For I did not think that what comes from books would profit me as much as what comes from a living and abiding voice.”

HE 3. 39.5-6  It is worth noting here that Papias lists the name John twice. The first John he places with Peter, James, Matthew and the other apostles, clearly meaning the evangelist. The other John he sets apart in his wording and puts among others outside the number of the apostles. He puts Aristion ahead of him and plainly calls him an elder. So this shows that the report is true of those who say there were two men in Asia with the same name, and that there are two tombs in Ephesus, each of which is still called John’s even now. This deserves attention. For it is likely that the second John, if one is not willing to say the first, saw the Revelation that circulates under the name of John.

HE 3. 39.7-8  Papias, whom we are now discussing, acknowledges that he received the words of the apostles from those who had followed them. But he says that he himself was a direct hearer of Aristion and the elder John. At any rate, he often mentions them by name in his writings and sets down their traditions. Let us hope that these remarks have not been made to no purpose. It is also worth adding to the words of Papias already quoted some other statements of his, in which he reports certain marvelous things and other matters that, as it were, came down to him by tradition.

HE 3. 39.9-10  We have already shown that the apostle Philip lived at Hierapolis with his daughters. But we should now note that Papias, who lived at the same time, says he received a marvelous account from Philip’s daughters. For he reports that a dead man was raised in his time. And he tells of another marvel concerning Justus, who was called Barsabbas: he drank a deadly poison and, by the Lord’s grace, suffered no harm. After the Savior’s ascension, the holy apostles put forward this Justus along with Matthias, and prayed over the casting of lots to fill up their number in place of the traitor Judas. The book of Acts records it something like this: “And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias; and they prayed and said,”
   [Scripture] Acts 1:23-24

HE 3. 39.11-13  The same Papias also sets down other things that he says came to him from unwritten tradition. These include some strange parables and teachings of the Savior, and some other, rather legendary material. Among them he says that there will be a period of a thousand years after the resurrection from the dead, and that Christ’s kingdom will be established in bodily form on this earth. I think he got these ideas by misunderstanding the apostles’ accounts. He did not see that what they said was spoken mystically, in figures. For he seems to have been a man of very small understanding, as one can judge from his own words. Even so, he was the reason that very many churchmen after him held the same opinion. They pointed to the antiquity of the man, as Irenaeus did, for example, and anyone else who has shown the same views.

HE 3. 39.14-15  Papias also hands down in his own book other accounts of the Lord’s words, taken from Aristion (mentioned above), and traditions from the presbyter John. I refer those who love learning to that book. But I must now add to the words of his already quoted a tradition about Mark, who wrote the Gospel. Papias sets it out in these words: “This also the presbyter used to say: Mark became Peter’s interpreter, and he wrote down accurately everything he remembered, though not in order, of what was said or done by Christ. For he neither heard the Lord nor followed him. Later, as I said, he followed Peter. Peter used to give his teachings as the needs of the moment required, but he did not make an orderly arrangement of the Lord’s sayings. So Mark did nothing wrong in writing down some things just as he remembered them. For he took care about one thing: to leave out nothing he had heard and to state nothing falsely in them.” This is what Papias reports about Mark.
   [Translator’s note] “Interpreter” (hermēneutēs) could mean someone who translated for Peter or someone who explained his teaching; the Greek does not settle which.

HE 3. 39.16-17  About Matthew he says this: “Matthew compiled the sayings in the Hebrew language, and each person interpreted them as well as he could.” Papias also uses quotations from John’s first letter, and likewise from Peter’s. He also sets out another story, about a woman accused before the Lord of many sins, which the Gospel according to the Hebrews contains. I have thought it necessary to note these things as well, in addition to what has been set out above.
   [Translator’s note] “Sayings” translates logia, which the older English renders “oracles”; it may mean sayings of the Lord or something broader. Scholars disagree about what work Papias meant.


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BOOK 4
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CHAPTER 1

HE 4. 1.1  About the twelfth year of Trajan’s reign, the bishop of the Alexandrian community mentioned a little earlier ended his life. Primus, the fourth from the apostles, received the ministry there. At this time also Alexander received the bishop’s office at Rome, after the eighth year had been completed. He traced the fifth succession from Peter and Paul.


CHAPTER 2

HE 4. 2.1-2  The teaching and the church of our Savior were flourishing day by day and advancing further. But the disaster of the Jews grew worse through one evil after another. In the eighteenth year of the emperor’s reign, another uprising of the Jews broke out and destroyed a very great number of them. In Alexandria, in the rest of Egypt, and also in Cyrene, they were stirred up as if by some terrible spirit of rebellion, and they rushed to revolt against their Greek neighbors. They made the rebellion much worse, and in the following year they started a considerable war. Lupus was governing all of Egypt at that time.

HE 4. 2.3-4  In the first clash it happened that the Jews defeated the Greeks. The Greeks fled to Alexandria, where they captured the Jews of the city and killed them. The Jews of Cyrene, having lost the help of these, kept plundering the land of Egypt and ruining its districts, under the leadership of Lucuas. The emperor sent Marcius Turbo against them with infantry, naval forces, and cavalry as well. Turbo fought the war against them in many battles and over a long time. He killed many tens of thousands of Jews, not only from Cyrene but also from Egypt, who had joined Lucuas their king.
   [Translator’s note] “Many tens of thousands” translates the Greek “many myriads”; a myriad is ten thousand.

HE 4. 2.5  The emperor suspected that the Jews in Mesopotamia would also attack the people living there. So he ordered Lusius Quietus to clear them out of the province. Quietus drew up his army, fought them, and killed a very great number of them. For this success the emperor appointed him governor of Judea. The Greek writers who recorded the events of those times tell these things in the same words.
   [Translator’s note] Lusius Quietus was a Moorish-born Roman general. He put down the Jewish revolt in Mesopotamia and was then made governor of Judea.


CHAPTER 3

HE 4. 3.1-2  Trajan ruled for nineteen years and six months. Aelius Hadrian then succeeded him as emperor. Quadratus addressed a discourse to Hadrian and presented it to him. It was a defense of our religion, written because certain wicked men were trying to harass our people. The writing is still in circulation among very many of the brothers, and we have a copy ourselves. It gives clear evidence of the man’s intelligence and of his sound apostolic teaching. He shows how early he lived in these words of his own: “The works of our Saviour were always present, for they were real. Those who were healed and those who were raised from the dead were not only seen when they were healed and raised. They were also always there. They remained, not only while the Saviour was living among us, but for a considerable time after he had departed, so that some of them lived even into our own times.”
   [Translator’s note] The Greek says Trajan ruled “twenty years, six months short,” that is, nineteen and a half years. “Departed” (ἀπαλλαγέντος) is Quadratus’s word for the Saviour’s leaving this world, and the people he healed or raised are said to have remained for a considerable time after that.

HE 4. 3.3  That was Quadratus. Aristides, too, was a faithful man who devoted himself to our religion. Like Quadratus, he left behind a defense of the faith addressed to Hadrian. His writing also survives to this day in the hands of very many people.


CHAPTER 4

HE 4. 4.1  In the third year of the same reign, Alexander, bishop of Rome, died after completing the tenth year of his ministry. Xystus succeeded him. At about the same time, Primus, head of the church community at Alexandria, died in the twelfth year of his leadership, and Justus succeeded him.


CHAPTER 5

HE 4. 5.1-2  I have not found the dates of the bishops of Jerusalem preserved in writing anywhere, for the report is that they all lived very short lives. But I have learned this much from written sources: down to the siege of the Jews under Hadrian, there were fifteen successions of bishops there. All of them, it is said, were Hebrews from the start, and they received the knowledge of Christ in a genuine way. So they were approved by those able to judge such matters and thought worthy of the bishop’s office. For at that time their whole church was made up of believing Hebrews, who had continued from the apostles’ time down to the siege of that day, in which the Jews rebelled against the Romans again and were conquered after severe wars.

HE 4. 5.3-4  Since the bishops of Jewish birth came to an end at that time, it is now necessary to list them from the first. The first was James, who is called the Lord’s brother. After him the second was Symeon, the third Justus, the fourth Zacchaeus, the fifth Tobias, the sixth Benjamin, the seventh John, the eighth Matthias, the ninth Philip, the tenth Seneca, the eleventh Justus, the twelfth Levi, the thirteenth Ephres, the fourteenth Joseph, and last of all, the fifteenth, Judas. These are the bishops of the city of Jerusalem from the apostles down to the time mentioned, and all of them were of the circumcision.

HE 4. 5.5  In the twelfth year of Hadrian’s reign, Xystus completed ten years as bishop of Rome, and Telesphorus, seventh from the apostles, succeeded him. After a year and some months, Eumenes, sixth in the line, took over the leadership of the church at Alexandria. The man before him had served eleven years.


CHAPTER 6

HE 4. 6.1-2  The Jewish revolt again grew large and serious. Rufus, governor of Judea, was sent military reinforcements by the emperor. He used their reckless folly as his opening and attacked them without mercy. He destroyed tens of thousands of men, women and children together, and under the law of war he enslaved their lands. The Jewish leader at that time was named Bar Kokhba, which means “star.” In other respects he was a bandit and a murderer, but he relied on his name, as one might with slaves. He claimed to be a light come down to them from heaven, working wonders to shine on them in their misery.

HE 4. 6.3  The war reached its height in the eighteenth year of Hadrian’s reign, at the city of Bethther, a very strong fortress not far from Jerusalem. The siege from outside went on a long time. The rebels were driven by hunger and thirst to the brink of destruction, and the man who had caused their madness paid the penalty he deserved. From then on the whole nation was forbidden to set foot even in the land around Jerusalem, by a legal decree and orders of Hadrian. He commanded that they not even look on their fathers’ soil from a distance. So Aristo of Pella reports.
   [Translator’s note] “Bethther” represents the Greek Bithther (Βίθθηρα), generally identified with Betar, the last stronghold of the Bar Kokhba revolt.

HE 4. 6.4  In this way the city was left empty of the Jewish nation, and its old inhabitants were completely destroyed. It was resettled by people of foreign stock, and the Roman city that arose afterward changed its name. In honor of the reigning emperor Aelius Hadrian, it was called Aelia. The church there was now gathered from the Gentiles, and the first to take charge of its ministry after the bishops of the circumcision was Marcus.


CHAPTER 7

HE 4. 7.1-2  By this time the churches throughout the world were shining like the brightest stars, and faith in our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ was flourishing among the whole human race. But the demon who hates what is good, who is the enemy of the truth and always the bitterest foe of human salvation, turned every scheme against the Church. In earlier times he had armed himself against her with persecutions from outside. Now that this means was closed to him, he used wicked men as instruments for destroying souls and as servants of ruin, and fought her by other methods, devising every kind of mischief. Sorcerers and deceivers slipped in and took over the very name of our teaching. Some of the believers who came to them they led down into the pit of destruction. At the same time, by what these men did, they turned away from the way to the saving Word those who did not yet know the faith.

HE 4. 7.3-4  From that Menander, whom we have already named as the successor of Simon, there came forth a kind of serpent-like power, double-mouthed and two-headed, like a snake. It set up the leaders of two different heresies: Saturninus, an Antiochene by birth, and Basilides, an Alexandrian. The one founded schools of God-hating heresy in Syria, the other in Egypt. Irenaeus makes clear that Saturninus told mostly the same lies as Menander. Basilides, however, under the pretext of more secret teachings, stretched his inventions without limit, and fashioned for himself monstrous fables for his ungodly heresy.

HE 4. 7.5-7  At that time many men of the Church were contending hard for the truth and defending the apostolic and churchly teaching with strong reasoning. Some of them also left writings that armed later generations against the heresies just mentioned. One of these has come down to us: a very able refutation of Basilides by Agrippa Castor, one of the best-known writers of that time. It exposes the dreadful power of the man’s sorcery. In revealing his secret teachings, Agrippa says that Basilides composed twenty-four books on the Gospel. He says he named prophets for himself, Barcabbas and Barcoph, and set up certain others who never existed, giving them barbarous names to overawe those who are amazed by such things. He says Basilides taught that it makes no difference whether one eats food offered to idols, and that denying the faith recklessly in times of persecution is also a matter of indifference. And like Pythagoras, he commanded those who came to him to keep silence for five years.

HE 4. 7.8-9  Agrippa also lists other things of this kind about Basilides, and thereby nobly brought the error of that heresy into the open. Irenaeus also writes that Carpocrates lived at the same time as these men. He was the father of another heresy, called the Gnostics. They saw fit to hand on the magic of Simon not secretly, as Simon had, but now openly. They were almost proud, as of something great, of their elaborately prepared love potions, their dream-sending spells, their attendant spirits, and other practices of the same sort. In keeping with this, they taught that anyone who was to reach the fullness of their initiation (or rather their defilement) must do every shameful deed. Otherwise, they said, he could not escape the “world-rulers,” as they called them, unless he paid every one of them his debt by unspeakable acts.

HE 4. 7.10-11  By using these men as his servants, the demon who rejoices in evil brought it about that those they deceived were miserably enslaved to destruction. He also gave the unbelieving nations ample occasion to slander the divine Word, since the reputation of these men spilled over into a slander against the whole body of Christians. In this way the unbelievers of that time very widely spread the wicked and utterly absurd suspicion about us that we had unlawful intercourse with mothers and sisters and ate unholy food.

HE 4. 7.12-13  Yet this did not succeed for him for long, because the truth established itself and, as time went on, shone with a great light. The schemes of the enemies were at once exposed by the truth’s own power and went out like a flame. One new heresy after another was invented, and the earlier ones kept slipping away and dissolving, now in one way and now in another, into many kinds and shapes. But the brightness of the universal and only true Church went on growing and increasing, always the same and in the same manner. Its dignity, sincerity and freedom, and the self-control and purity of its God-inspired way of life and philosophy, shone out to every race, Greek and barbarian alike.
   [Translator’s note] “Philosophy” here means a way of life or manner of living, as often in Eusebius, not a system of speculation.

HE 4. 7.14-15  In time the slander against the whole teaching died away too. Our teaching alone remained, prevailing and widely acknowledged to stand out above all others for its dignity and self-control, and for its divine and philosophical doctrines. As a result, no one to this day dares to bring any shameful charge against our faith, or any such slander as those who plotted against us once liked to use. Even so, in those times the truth again brought forward more defenders of itself. They fought against the godless heresies, not only by spoken refutations but also by written proofs.


CHAPTER 8

HE 4. 8.1-2  In those days Hegesippus was well known. We have already quoted him many times, setting down some events of the apostles’ age on the strength of his account. In five books he put down in writing the unerring tradition of the apostolic preaching, in a very plain style. He shows the time in which he was well known when he writes as follows about those who from the beginning set up idols: “They built tombs and temples for them, as is done to this day. Among these is Antinous, a slave of the Emperor Hadrian. The Antinoan games, held in our own time, are celebrated in his honor. For Hadrian also founded a city named after Antinous, and appointed prophets.”
   [Translator’s note] Antinous was Hadrian’s favorite, who drowned in the Nile in AD 130; Hadrian had him honored as a god and founded the city of Antinoopolis in his name.

HE 4. 8.3-4  In his time Justin also lived, a true lover of the true philosophy, and he was still occupied with the writings of the Greeks. He too indicates this time in his Apology addressed to Antoninus, where he writes: “We think it not out of place to mention in this connection Antinous as well, who lived recently, and whom everyone was quick to worship as a god out of fear, though they knew who he was and where he came from.” The same writer, recalling the Jewish war of that time, adds: “For in the recent Jewish war Bar Kochba, the leader of the Jewish revolt, ordered that Christians alone be led off to terrible punishments unless they denied Jesus the Christ and blasphemed him.”
   [Translator’s note] Greek “Barchochebas” is Bar Kochba (Bar Kokhba), leader of the Jewish revolt against Rome of about AD 132–135.

HE 4. 8.5  In the same work Justin also explains that his change from Greek philosophy to the worship of God did not come without reason but after careful judgment. He writes: “I myself, when I was delighted with the teachings of Plato, heard the Christians slandered. But I saw that they were fearless in the face of death and everything else regarded as terrible, and I concluded that it was impossible for them to be living in vice and love of pleasure. For what pleasure-loving or self-indulgent person, who thinks that feasting on human flesh is good, could welcome death, so as to be deprived of his own desires? Would he not rather try by every means to live this present life forever and to escape the notice of the rulers, instead of denouncing himself to be put to death?”

HE 4. 8.6-7  The same writer also reports that Hadrian received a letter on behalf of the Christians from Serennius Granianus, a most distinguished governor. It said that it was not right to kill them without trial, on no charge, merely to satisfy the shouts of the mob. Hadrian wrote back to Minucius Fundanus, proconsul of Asia, ordering him to put no one to death without a charge and a reasonable accusation. Justin gives a copy of the letter, keeping the Latin as it was. He introduces it with these words: “Though we could demand that you order trials to be held as we have asked, on the basis of a letter from the greatest and most illustrious Caesar Hadrian, your father, we have made our request not because Hadrian ordered it but because we know that our petition is just. We have also appended a copy of Hadrian’s letter, so that you may know that we are telling the truth in this matter too. It is as follows.”

HE 4. 8.8  After these words, the writer I have mentioned gives the rescript in its original Latin. We have translated it into Greek as best we could. It reads as follows:


CHAPTER 9

HE 4. 9.1-2  To Minucius Fundanus. I have received a letter written to me by Serennius Granianus, a most distinguished man, whom you have succeeded. It does not seem right to me to leave the matter without investigation, so that people are not stirred up and the informers are not given a chance to practice their malice. So if the people of the province can clearly support their charge against the Christians, so as to answer before a court, let them take this course only, and not rely on petitions or mere shouting. For it is much more proper, if anyone wishes to bring an accusation, that you should examine it.

HE 4. 9.3  If anyone, then, brings a charge and shows that these people are doing something contrary to the laws, you are to decide according to the seriousness of the offense. But by Hercules, if anyone brings this charge only to slander them, look into how serious that wrongdoing is, and see that you punish him. Such was the content of Hadrian’s reply.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek “μὰ τὸν Ἡρακλέα” (“by Hercules”) renders the Latin oath “mehercule” in Hadrian’s rescript.


CHAPTER 10

HE 4. 10.1  After Hadrian had completed his life, in the twenty-first year of his reign, Antoninus, called the Pious, succeeded to the rule of the Romans. In the first year of his reign Telesphorus ended his life in the eleventh year of his service, and Hyginus received the lot of the bishopric of Rome. Irenaeus records that Telesphorus’s death was made glorious by martyrdom. In the same place he shows that, in the time of this Hyginus, bishop of Rome, both Valentinus, the founder of his own sect, and Cerdon, the originator of the error of Marcion, were known in Rome. He writes as follows:


CHAPTER 11

HE 4. 11.1  “Valentinus came to Rome under Hyginus, was at his height under Pius, and stayed until Anicetus. Cerdon, who came before Marcion, also came in the time of Hyginus, who was the ninth bishop. He came into the church and made his confession, and he went on in this way, at one time teaching in secret, at another confessing again, and at another being exposed for the wrong things he taught and separating himself from the company of the brothers.” He says this in the third book of his work Against the Heresies.

HE 4. 11.2  But in the first book he again says this about Cerdon: “A certain Cerdon took his starting points from the followers of Simon and came to live in Rome under Hyginus, who held the ninth place in the succession of bishops from the apostles. He taught that the God proclaimed by the law and the prophets is not the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the one, he said, is known, but the other is unknown; the one is just, but the other is good. Marcion of Pontus succeeded him and enlarged the school, blaspheming shamelessly.”

HE 4. 11.3-5  The same Irenaeus vigorously sails through the boundless depth of Valentinus’s wandering, many-sided material, and strips bare his wickedness, which like a snake lurking in its hole was hidden and unnoticed. Besides these he says that there was another in their time, named Marcus, who was highly skilled in magical trickery. He also describes their unholy initiations and foul rites, exposing them in these very words: “Some of them prepare a bridal chamber and perform a secret rite, with certain spoken formulas, over those being initiated. They claim that what is done by them is a spiritual marriage, after the likeness of the pairings above. Others lead them to water, and as they baptize them they say: ‘Into the name of the unknown Father of the whole, into Truth, the mother of all things, into the one who came down upon Jesus.’ Others use Hebrew names, to astonish those being initiated even more.”
   [Translator’s note] “The pairings above” refers to the Valentinian teaching of paired spiritual powers (called “syzygies”) in the heavenly realm.

HE 4. 11.6-7  But when Hyginus died, after the fourth year of his office as bishop, Pius was entrusted with the service at Rome. In Alexandria, Marcus was appointed shepherd after Eumenes had completed thirteen years in all. When Marcus had ended ten years of service, Celadion received the service of the church of Alexandria. In the city of Rome, Pius died in the fifteenth year of his office as bishop, and Anicetus took charge of the church there. In his time Hegesippus records that he himself came to Rome and stayed there until the time of Eleutherus as bishop.

HE 4. 11.8-9  Justin was especially prominent in these times. In the dress of a philosopher he proclaimed the divine Word, and he fought for the faith in his writings. He also wrote a work against Marcion, in which he mentions Marcion as still living at the time he was writing. He says: “A certain Marcion of Pontus, who is even now still teaching those who believe him to think that there is some other god greater than the Creator, has persuaded many in every nation of mankind, with the help of demons, to speak blasphemy and to deny that the maker of this universe is the Father of Christ, and to confess that some other, who is greater than he, has made things. All who take their start from these men, as we said, are called Christians, just as, although philosophers do not share the same teachings, the name of philosophy which they all claim is shared.”

HE 4. 11.10-11  Justin goes on to say: “We have also written a treatise against all the heresies that have arisen. We will give it to you if you wish to read it.” This same Justin also labored with great effect against the Greeks. He addressed discourses containing a defense of our faith to the emperor Antoninus, called Pius, and to the Roman senate, for he was living in Rome. In this Apology he shows who he was and where he came from, in these words:


CHAPTER 12

HE 4. 12.1  “To the Emperor Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius Caesar Augustus; to Verissimus his son, a philosopher; to Lucius, a philosopher, the natural son of Caesar and adopted son of Pius, and a lover of learning; to the sacred senate and to the whole Roman people: on behalf of people of every nation who are unjustly hated and abused, I, Justin, son of Priscus and grandson of Bacchius, from Flavia Neapolis in Syria Palestine, being one of them, make this address and petition.” The same emperor was also petitioned by other brothers in Asia, who were suffering every kind of abuse from the local populations. He thought it right to send the Common Assembly of Asia the following decree:


CHAPTER 13

HE 4. 13.1-3  “The Emperor Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus, Armeniacus, Pontifex Maximus, in his fifteenth year of tribunician power, consul for the third time, to the Common Assembly of Asia, greeting. I know that the gods too take care that such people do not go unnoticed. For they would punish those who refuse to worship them far more than you would. But you throw these people into turmoil, and by accusing them of atheism you only strengthen them in the opinion they hold. When they are accused, they would prefer to be seen dying for their own God rather than to go on living. So they come out the winners, giving up their lives rather than obeying what you demand of them.”

HE 4. 13.4-6  “As for the earthquakes that have happened and are still happening, it is not out of place to remind you of something. You lose heart whenever they occur, and then you compare your conduct with theirs. They grow more confident toward God. You, however, throughout the whole time in which you seem to be ignorant, neglect both the other gods and the worship of the Immortal One. Yet when Christians worship him, you harass them and persecute them to death. Many of the provincial governors also wrote about such people to our most divine father. He wrote back that they should not trouble such people unless they were plainly attempting something against the Roman government. Many have also sent word to me about them, and I answered them in the same way, following my father’s judgment.”

HE 4. 13.7-8  “But if anyone persists in bringing charges against one of these people simply as being such, let the accused be acquitted of the charge, even if it is shown that he is such, and let the accuser be liable to punishment. Posted in Ephesus, in the Common Assembly of Asia.” Melito, bishop of the church in Sardis, who was well known at that time, bears witness to these events. This is clear from what he said in the defense of our teaching that he addressed to the emperor Verus.


CHAPTER 14

HE 4. 14.1-3  In the time of those mentioned, when Anicetus was leading the church of Rome, Irenaeus records that Polycarp, who was still living, came to Rome and met with Anicetus because of a question about the day of the Passover. The same writer gives another account of Polycarp, which I must add to what I have already said about him. It reads as follows: “Polycarp was not only taught by apostles and in the company of many who had seen Christ. He was also appointed by apostles as bishop of the church in Smyrna, in Asia. We ourselves saw him in our early youth.”

HE 4. 14.4-5  For he lived a long time. When he was very old he left this life after a glorious and most illustrious martyrdom. He had always taught the things he had learned from the apostles, which the Church also hands down, and which alone are true. All the churches throughout Asia bear witness to this, and so do those who have succeeded Polycarp down to the present day. He was a far more trustworthy and reliable witness to the truth than Valentinus, Marcion and the rest of the men with warped minds. When he visited Rome in the time of Anicetus, he turned many of these heretics back to the church of God. He proclaimed that he had received from the apostles this one and only truth, the one handed down by the Church.

HE 4. 14.6-7  And there are people who heard from Polycarp that John, the Lord’s disciple, went to bathe at Ephesus. When he saw Cerinthus inside, he rushed out of the bathhouse without bathing. He said, “Let us flee, in case even the bathhouse falls in, because Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is inside.” Polycarp himself once met Marcion, who said to him, “Do you recognize us?” He answered, “I recognize you as the firstborn of Satan.” The apostles and their disciples took such care that they would not even exchange words with any of those who falsify the truth. Paul also said, “Have nothing to do with a heretical man after one and a second warning, knowing that such a person has been turned aside and is sinning, condemned by himself.”
   [Translator’s note] “Heretical” (hairetikos) in Paul’s phrase (Titus 3:10) means a person who stirs up factions or division. Eusebius is quoting Irenaeus (Against Heresies 3.3.4) here.
   [Scripture] Titus 3:10-11

HE 4. 14.8-10  There is also a very substantial letter of Polycarp, written to the Philippians. From it, those who wish to and who care about their own salvation can learn the character of his faith and the preaching of the truth. That is what Irenaeus says. In this letter to the Philippians, which survives to this day, Polycarp uses some testimonies from the first letter of Peter. When Antoninus, called Pius, had completed the twenty-second year of his rule, Marcus Aurelius Verus, who was also called Antoninus, his son, succeeded him together with his brother Lucius.


CHAPTER 15

HE 4. 15.1-3  At this time, when very great persecutions were throwing Asia into an uproar, Polycarp was brought to completion by martyrdom. I think it most necessary to put his death on record in this history, since the written account of it still survives. The document is written in the name of the church he led, to the communities in Pontus, and it reports what happened to him in these words: “The church of God living as a stranger in Smyrna, to the church of God living as a stranger in Philomelium, and to all the communities of the holy catholic church in every place: may mercy, peace and love from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ be multiplied. We have written to you, brothers, about the martyrs and the blessed Polycarp. By his martyrdom he put an end to the persecution, as though he had set a seal on it.”
   [Translator’s note] The word translated “living as a stranger” (paroikousa) comes from paroikos, a resident foreigner or sojourner. It was used of Christian communities living as a pilgrim people in a place.

HE 4. 15.4  After this, before the account of Polycarp, they tell the story of the other martyrs and describe how firmly they stood against the pains. They say that the people standing around in a circle and watching were stunned. At one time the martyrs were torn with whips down to the innermost veins and arteries, so that even the hidden inner parts of the body, their entrails and limbs, could be seen. At another time they were laid on sea-shells and sharp spits. They went through every kind of punishment and torture, and in the end were handed over to wild beasts to be eaten.
   [Translator’s note] The “sea-shells” are literally “heralds” (kērykes), a word that also meant trumpet-shells, sea snails with hard shells.

HE 4. 15.5-6  They say that the most noble Germanicus especially stood out. By God’s grace he overcame the fear of bodily death that is born in us. The proconsul wanted to persuade him. He pointed to his youth and begged him, since he was very young and in his prime, to take pity on himself. But Germanicus did not hesitate. He eagerly pulled the beast toward himself, all but forcing and provoking it, so that he might be freed the sooner from their unjust and lawless life. At his glorious death the whole crowd marveled at the courage of this God-loved martyr and at the virtue of the whole race of Christians. Then they suddenly began to shout, “Away with the atheists! Let Polycarp be sought!”
   [Translator’s note] Christians were called “atheists” because they refused to honor the gods of the city and the emperor.

HE 4. 15.7-8  Then, in the great uproar caused by the shouting, a Phrygian named Quintus, who had only recently come from Phrygia, saw the wild beasts and the threats that went with them. His courage failed, he lost heart, and in the end he gave up on his salvation. The account in the letter mentioned above made clear that this man had rushed to the tribunal along with others, rashly and without proper caution. Yet when he was seized, he gave everyone a plain example that people ought not to take on such trials recklessly and without care. That was how things ended for these martyrs.

HE 4. 15.9  As for the truly admirable Polycarp, when he first heard these things he stayed calm and kept a steady, unshaken character. He wanted to remain in the city. But his companions begged him and urged him to slip away, and he gave in to them. He went out to a farm not far from the city and stayed there with a few others. Night and day he did nothing but continue steadfastly in prayer to the Lord. In these prayers he pleaded and made supplication, asking peace for the churches throughout the whole world, for this had always been his habit.

HE 4. 15.10-11  While he was praying, three days before his arrest, he saw a vision at night. The bedding under his head suddenly caught fire and was burned up. When he woke, he at once explained the vision to those with him, all but prophesying what was to come. He told them plainly that he must give up his life by fire for Christ. The men searching for him pressed on with all zeal. Then, they say, the devotion and affection of the brothers forced him to move to another farm. Not long afterward his pursuers arrived there. They seized two of the slave boys on the place and beat one of them, and through him they found out where Polycarp was staying.

HE 4. 15.12-13  They came late in the day and found him lying in an upstairs room. He could have gone from there to another house, but he refused, saying, “Let the will of God be done.” When he learned that they were there, as the account says, he went down and spoke with them. His face was so cheerful and gentle that those who had never seen him before thought they were looking at a wonder. They saw his great age and the dignity and calm of his face, and they wondered why such great effort had been made to arrest so old a man.
   [Scripture] Acts 21:14

HE 4. 15.14-15  Without delay he ordered a table to be set for them. Then he invited them to eat as much as they wished, and he asked them for one hour so that he could pray without being disturbed. They allowed it, and he stood and prayed. He was so full of the grace of the Lord that those present were astonished as they listened to him pray. Many of them already regretted that such a dignified and godly old man was about to be put to death. The account written about him then continues in these words: “When at last he ended his prayer, he had remembered everyone who had ever met him, small and great, well known and unknown, and the whole catholic church throughout the world. The hour for departure came. They put him on a donkey and brought him into the city. It was a great Sabbath. Herod, the chief of police, and his father Nicetes met him. They took him up into their carriage and sat beside him, trying to persuade him. They said, ‘What harm is there in saying “Lord Caesar,” and offering sacrifice, and being saved?’”
   [Translator’s note] “Catholic” here means “universal,” the whole church. “Chief of police” translates eirenarch, a local official responsible for keeping order. “Great Sabbath” is as written in the Greek.

HE 4. 15.16-17  At first he did not answer. When they kept pressing him, he said, “I am not going to do what you advise me.” When they failed to persuade him, they spoke harsh words and hurriedly pushed him down, so that as he came down from the carriage he scraped his shin. But he did not even turn around, as though nothing had happened to him. He went on eagerly and quickly, as he was led to the stadium. The uproar in the stadium was so great that hardly anyone could hear anything. But as Polycarp entered the stadium, a voice came from heaven: “Be strong, Polycarp, and be a man.” No one saw who spoke, but many of our people heard the voice.

HE 4. 15.18-19  When he was brought in, there was a great uproar, because people had heard that Polycarp had been arrested. As he came forward, the proconsul asked him whether he was Polycarp. When he admitted it, the proconsul tried to persuade him to deny Christ. He said, “Have respect for your age,” and added other things of the kind they are used to saying: “Swear by the Fortune of Caesar. Repent. Say, ‘Away with the atheists.’” But Polycarp looked with a stern face at the whole crowd in the stadium. He shook his hand at them, groaned, looked up to heaven, and said, “Away with the atheists.”
   [Translator’s note] Christians were called “atheists” because they refused to honor the gods of the city and the emperor. Polycarp turns the proconsul’s words against the pagan crowd. “Fortune” (Greek tyche) is the emperor’s fortune, by which people swore oaths. Do not call it a guardian spirit, which would be the Latin genius.

HE 4. 15.20-21  The governor kept pressing him: “Swear, and I will let you go. Curse Christ.” Polycarp said, “For eighty-six years I have been his servant, and he has never wronged me. How can I blaspheme my King, who saved me?” The governor insisted again: “Swear by the Fortune of Caesar.” Polycarp answered, “If you vainly imagine that I will swear by the Fortune of Caesar, as you say, and pretend not to know who I am, then listen plainly: I am a Christian. And if you want to learn the teaching of Christianity, set a day and hear it.”
   [Translator’s note] The “eighty-six years” may refer to his age or to the time since he became a Christian. The Greek does not say which.

HE 4. 15.22-23  The proconsul said, “Persuade the people.” Polycarp said, “I considered you worthy of an explanation, for we have been taught to give due honor to rulers and authorities appointed by God, as long as it does not harm us. But I do not think those people are worthy of a defense from me.” The proconsul said, “I have wild beasts. I will throw you to them unless you repent.” Polycarp said, “Call them. For us there is no turning from the better to the worse. But it is good to turn from what is harsh to what is just.”
   [Scripture] Romans 13:1; Romans 13:7

HE 4. 15.24-25  The proconsul said to him again, “If you despise the wild beasts, I will have you tamed by fire, unless you repent.” Polycarp said, “You threaten me with a fire that burns for an hour and is soon put out. You do not know about the fire of the coming judgment and eternal punishment, kept for the ungodly. But why are you waiting? Bring what you like.” As he said these things and more, he was filled with courage and joy, and his face was full of grace. He was not thrown into confusion by what was said to him. On the contrary, the proconsul was astonished. He sent his herald to proclaim three times in the middle of the stadium, “Polycarp has confessed that he is a Christian.”

HE 4. 15.26-27  When the herald had said this, the whole crowd of Gentiles and Jews living in Smyrna shouted with uncontrollable rage and a loud voice, “This is the teacher of Asia, the father of the Christians, the destroyer of our gods, the one who teaches many not to sacrifice or worship.” As they said this they kept shouting, and they asked the Asiarch Philip to set a lion on Polycarp. He said he was not allowed to, because the wild-beast hunts were finished. Then they decided to shout together that Polycarp should be burned alive.
   [Translator’s note] The Asiarch was a wealthy leading official of the province of Asia, linked to the imperial cult and the sponsoring of public games. His exact duties are debated.

HE 4. 15.28-30  For the vision that had appeared to him about his pillow had to be fulfilled. While he was praying, he had seen it burning. He turned and said, as a prophecy, to the believers with him, “I must be burned alive.” Now these things happened with such speed, faster than it takes to tell, as the crowds immediately gathered wood and brushwood from the workshops and the baths. The Jews, as is their custom, were especially eager in helping with this. When the pyre was ready, he took off all his outer clothes and loosened his belt. He also tried to take off his sandals, though he had not done this before, because each of the believers was always eager to be the first to touch his skin. Even before his hair turned gray, he had been honored in every way because of his good way of life.

HE 4. 15.31-33  Right away the materials prepared for the pyre were placed around him. When they were about to nail him as well, he said, “Leave me as I am. The one who gives me strength to endure the fire will also give me strength to stay on the pyre without flinching, even without the security of your nails.” So they did not nail him, but they tied him. He put his hands behind him and was tied, like a distinguished ram chosen from a great flock for an offering, a whole burnt offering acceptable to God Almighty. Then he said, “Father of your beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ, through whom we have received knowledge of you, God of angels and powers and all creation, and of the whole race of the righteous who live before you, I bless you that you have counted me worthy of this day and hour, to receive a share in the number of the martyrs, in the cup of Christ, for the resurrection to eternal life of soul and body, in the incorruption of the Holy Spirit.
   [Scripture] John 5:29; Matthew 20:22

HE 4. 15.34-36  May I be received among them before you today as a rich and acceptable sacrifice, just as you, the faithful and true God, have prepared and revealed it beforehand and now fulfilled it. For this reason, and for everything, I praise you, I bless you, I glorify you, through the eternal high priest Jesus Christ, your beloved Son. Through him, with him, in the Holy Spirit, be glory to you, now and for the ages to come. Amen.” When he had sent up his Amen and finished his prayer, the men in charge of the fire lit it. A great flame blazed out, and we saw a marvel, those of us to whom it was given to see. We were kept alive to report to the others what happened.

HE 4. 15.37-38  For the fire took the shape of an arch, like the sail of a ship filled by the wind, and formed a wall around the martyr’s body. He was in the middle of it, not like burning flesh, but like gold and silver refined in a furnace. We also caught such a fragrant scent, as if frankincense or some other costly spice were breathing out. At last the lawless men saw that his body could not be consumed by the fire. They ordered an executioner to go up to him and drive in a sword.

HE 4. 15.39-40  When he did this, so much blood came out that it put out the fire, and the whole crowd marveled that there should be such a difference between the unbelievers and the elect. This man was one of the elect, a most wonderful teacher in our own times, apostolic and prophetic, who became bishop of the catholic church in Smyrna. For every word that came out of his mouth was fulfilled and will be fulfilled. But the Evil One, jealous and envious, the enemy of the race of the righteous, saw the greatness of his witness and his blameless conduct from the beginning. He saw that Polycarp was crowned with the crown of incorruption and had carried off a prize no one could dispute. So he worked to keep us from taking even his poor body, though many of us longed to do it and to share in his holy flesh.
   [Scripture] 1 Corinthians 9:25

HE 4. 15.41  So some people put Nicetes up to it, the father of Herod and brother of Alce, to approach the governor and ask him not to hand over the body. “Otherwise,” he said, “they will abandon the crucified one and begin to worship this man.” They said this at the prompting and urging of the Jews, who also kept watch when we were about to take him from the fire. They did not know that we can never abandon Christ, who suffered for the salvation of the whole world of those who are being saved, nor worship any other.

HE 4. 15.42-43  For him, because he is the Son of God, we worship. But the martyrs, as disciples and imitators of the Lord, we love as they deserve, because of their unsurpassed devotion to their own King and Teacher. May we also be made their partners and fellow disciples. So when the centurion saw the quarrelsomeness of the Jews, he put the body in the middle and burned it, as is their custom. And so afterward we gathered up his bones, which are more precious than costly stones and more valuable than gold, and laid them where it was fitting.

HE 4. 15.44-46  There the Lord will allow us to gather, as far as we can, in gladness and joy, to celebrate the birthday of his martyrdom. We will do this in memory of those who have already contended, and to train and prepare those who are yet to do so. Such was the story of the blessed Polycarp, who was the twelfth martyr at Smyrna, counting those from Philadelphia. He alone is remembered above all the others, so that even the nations speak of him everywhere. Such was the end that the admirable and apostolic Polycarp was counted worthy of. The brothers of the church of Smyrna set down the account in the letter I have mentioned. In the same writing about him, other martyrdoms were attached that took place in that same city of Smyrna, about the same time as the martyrdom of Polycarp. Among them was Metrodorus, who seemed to be a presbyter of the error of Marcion, and who was handed over to the fire and put to death.

HE 4. 15.47  Among the martyrs of that time, one named Pionius became especially famous. A writing about him gives a very full account: his separate confessions, his boldness of speech, his defenses of the faith before the crowd and the magistrates, his teaching addresses to the people, and his welcome of those who had fallen under the trial of the persecution. It tells of the comfort he gave in prison to the brothers who came to him, the tortures he endured and the pains that followed them, his being nailed down, his steadfastness on the pyre, and his death, which came after all these amazing trials. I will refer those who are interested to that writing, which is included in the collection of ancient martyrdoms I have gathered.

HE 4. 15.48  Next, records are also in circulation of others who were martyred in the city of Pergamum in Asia: Carpus, Papylus, and a woman, Agathonice. They died gloriously after many outstanding confessions.


CHAPTER 16

HE 4. 16.1-2  Around this time Justin, whom I mentioned a little earlier, presented a second book in defense of our teachings to the rulers I named. He was then honored with a divine martyrdom. A philosopher named Crescens, who followed the Cynic way of life and manners that his name suggests, set a trap for him. Justin had several times questioned him in debates before an audience and shown him to be in the wrong. At last Justin won the prize of victory by his martyrdom, dying for the truth he served as an envoy. This very man, a true philosopher in the fullest sense, foresaw it and stated it plainly in the Apology I mentioned, as something that was about to happen to him. He said, in these very words:

HE 4. 16.3-4  “So I too expect to be plotted against by one of those I have named, and to be fastened in the stocks, or perhaps by Crescens, that unphilosophical lover of show. A man who testifies publicly against things he does not know, saying that Christians are godless and impious, does not deserve to be called a philosopher. He does this in error, to please and gratify the crowd. For if he attacks us without having read the teachings of Christ, he is thoroughly wicked, and much worse than ordinary uneducated people, who often take care not to speak or give false testimony about things they do not understand. And if he has read them but did not grasp their greatness, or grasped it and acts this way so as not to be suspected of being a Christian, he is far more ignoble and thoroughly wicked, since he is ruled by common opinion and irrational fear.

HE 4. 16.5-6  “For I want you to know that I put to him certain questions of this kind and questioned him, and I learned and proved that he truly knows nothing. To show that I am telling the truth, if the records of our discussions were not reported to you, I am ready to take up the questions again in your presence. That would be a worthy task for an emperor. But if my questions and his answers have become known to you, it is plain to you that he knows nothing of our teachings. Or if he does know, but does not dare to speak because of those listening, then, as I said before, he shows himself to be no philosopher but a lover of glory. He does not even honor the saying of Socrates, so worthy of love.” So Justin wrote.

HE 4. 16.7-8  Tatian reports that Justin was killed through Crescens’ scheming, just as Justin had predicted. Tatian spent his early life as a teacher of Greek learning and won no small reputation in it, and he left behind many written works. In his work *Against the Greeks* he says something like this: “And the most admirable Justin rightly declared that the men mentioned above are like robbers.” After adding some remarks about the philosophers, he goes on: “Crescens, who made his nest in the great city, surpassed everyone in the love of boys, and he was very devoted to money.

HE 4. 16.9  “Though he advised others to despise death, he himself feared it so much that he schemed to bring death on Justin, as if death were a great evil. This was because Justin, in proclaiming the truth, exposed the philosophers as greedy and deceitful men.” Such was the cause of Justin’s martyrdom.


CHAPTER 17

HE 4. 17.1-2  The Martyrs Whom Justin Mentions in His Own Work. Before his own contest, Justin mentions in his first Apology others who had been martyred before him, and he records these events in a way that is useful for our subject. He writes: “A certain woman lived with a husband who was dissolute, and she herself had formerly been dissolute too. But when she came to know the teachings of Christ, she became self-controlled. She tried to persuade her husband to be self-controlled as well, setting out the teachings to him and announcing the punishment in eternal fire that will come on those who do not live self-controlled lives in accordance with right reason.

HE 4. 17.3-5  But he kept on in the same debauchery, and by his actions made his wife a stranger to him. She now thought it ungodly to share a bed with a husband who, against the law of nature and what is right, tried every means of finding pleasure. So she wanted to be separated from the marriage. Her family urged her to stay on, in the hope that her husband might someday change, and their pleading overcame her. She forced herself and remained. But then her husband went to Alexandria and was reported to be behaving even worse. So that she would not share in his wrongs and ungodly acts by staying in the marriage and sharing his table and his bed, she gave him what we call a *repudium* (a notice of divorce) and left him.

HE 4. 17.6-7  But her fine and upright husband should have been glad that she had given up what she once did freely with servants and hired men, when she delighted in drunken parties and every kind of vice, and that she wanted him to give up the same things. Instead, since she had left him against his will, he brought an accusation against her, saying that she was a Christian. She submitted a petition to you, the emperor, asking first to be allowed to put her own affairs in order, and then, once her affairs were settled, to make her defense against the charge. And you granted this.

HE 4. 17.8-9  Her former husband could no longer proceed against her, so he turned against a certain Ptolemaeus, whom Urbicius punished. Ptolemaeus had been her teacher in the Christian teachings. The husband did it this way. A centurion, who was his friend, had put Ptolemaeus in chains. The husband persuaded him to take hold of Ptolemaeus and ask him just this one question: whether he was a Christian. Ptolemaeus was a lover of truth, and not deceitful or false in his thinking. He confessed that he was a Christian, so the centurion kept him in chains and punished him in prison for a long time.

HE 4. 17.10-12  Finally, when the man was brought before Urbicius, he was again asked only this: whether he was a Christian. Again, aware of the good he had gained from the teaching of Christ, he confessed the school of divine virtue. For whoever denies anything either denies it because he condemns the thing itself, or he avoids confessing because he knows he is unworthy of it and a stranger to it. Neither is true of the real Christian. When Urbicius ordered him to be led away, a certain Lucius, who was also a Christian, saw how senseless the judgment was. He said to Urbicius: “What is the reason for punishing this man? He has not been convicted as an adulterer, fornicator, murderer, thief or robber, or of any wrongdoing at all. He only confesses that he bears the name of Christian. Urbicius, you do not judge in a way that suits the pious emperor, or the philosopher son of Caesar, or the sacred senate.”
   [Translator’s note] “Pious emperor” translates Greek Eusebes, a pun on the title of Antoninus Pius.

HE 4. 17.13  Urbicius said nothing else in reply, but told Lucius, “You seem to me to be such a one too.” When Lucius said, “Certainly,” he ordered that Lucius also be led away. Lucius declared that he was grateful. He said he was being freed from such wicked masters, and was going to God, the good Father and King. Then a third man came forward and was likewise sentenced to be punished. Justin fittingly and consistently adds to this the words we quoted earlier: “I too, then, expect to be plotted against by one of those I have named,” and so on.


CHAPTER 18

HE 4. 18.1-2  Justin left us a great many writings. They show an educated mind that was earnest about divine things, and they are full of every kind of benefit. I will refer lovers of learning to them, and as I go I will note those that have come to my knowledge. One is a discourse addressed to Antoninus, called the Pious, and to his sons and the Roman senate, in defense of our teachings. Another contains a second defense of our faith. He made it to Antoninus Verus, the successor and namesake of the emperor just mentioned, whose times we are now describing.

HE 4. 18.3-5  Another work is addressed to the Greeks. In it he writes at length on very many of the questions debated between us and the Greek philosophers, and he explains the nature of demons. There is no need to set those matters out here. Another writing of his against the Greeks has also come down to us, which he titled Refutation. Besides these there is another, On the Sovereignty of God, which he proves not only from our Scriptures but also from Greek books. Next there is a work titled Psaltes, and another school-style work On the Soul. In it he puts forward various questions on the problem under discussion and sets out the opinions of the Greek philosophers. He promises to argue against them and to state his own view in another work.
   [Translator’s note] “Psaltes” means “the Psalmist” or “the Singer.” The work has not survived.

HE 4. 18.6-7  He also composed a dialogue against the Jews. He held it in the city of Ephesus with Trypho, the most distinguished Hebrew of that time. In it he shows how divine grace urged him toward the word of faith. He also tells how eagerly he had first applied himself to the study of philosophy and how passionately he had searched for the truth. In the same work he reports that the Jews plotted against the teaching of Christ. He says this to Trypho: “Not only did you not repent of the evil you did, but you chose men at that time and sent them out from Jerusalem to the whole earth, saying that a godless sect of Christians had appeared. You repeated the very things that all who do not know us say against us. So you are the cause of wrongdoing not only for yourselves but for all other people as well.”

HE 4. 18.8-9  He also says that prophetic gifts still shone in the Church up to his own time. He mentions the Revelation of John, saying plainly that it was the apostle’s. He also cites certain prophetic sayings, and he charges Trypho with the claim that the Jews had cut them out of the Scripture. Many other works of his are still in circulation among many of the brothers. The ancients too thought the man’s writings so worthy of attention that Irenaeus quoted his words. In the fourth book of Against Heresies he writes: “Justin rightly says in his work against Marcion that he would not have believed the Lord himself if he had proclaimed another God besides the Creator.” And in the fifth book of the same work he says: “Justin rightly said that before the Lord’s coming Satan never dared to blaspheme God, since he did not yet know his own condemnation.”

HE 4. 18.10  I have felt bound to say these things to encourage lovers of learning to study his writings diligently. So much for Justin.


CHAPTER 19

HE 4. 19.1  In the eighth year of this reign, Soter succeeded Anicetus as bishop of the church of Rome. Anicetus had served eleven years in all. In the church of Alexandria, Celadion had led for fourteen years, and Agrippinus succeeded him.
   [Translator’s note] “This reign” is that of Marcus Aurelius (Antoninus Verus), named earlier in Book 4. His eighth year is about 167/168.


CHAPTER 20

HE 4. 20.1  At that time in the church of Antioch, Theophilus was well known as the sixth bishop after the apostles. Cornelius, who followed Hero, had been the fourth there. After him Eros took over the office as the fifth in order.


CHAPTER 21

HE 4. 21.1  In those days Hegesippus, whom we know from earlier, was at the height of his work in the Church. So were Dionysius, bishop of Corinth, and Pinytus, another bishop, of Crete. After them came Philip, Apolinarius, Melito, Musanus and Modestus, and above them all Irenaeus. Through their writings the sound and orthodox faith of the apostolic tradition has come down to us.


CHAPTER 22

HE 4. 22.1-2  In the five Memoirs that have come down to us, Hegesippus left a very full record of his own convictions. In them he shows that he met a great many bishops on a journey as far as Rome, and that he received the same teaching from all of them. After some remarks about Clement’s letter to the Corinthians, he adds the following, which is worth hearing: “And the church of the Corinthians remained in the right doctrine until Primus was bishop in Corinth. I mixed with them on my voyage to Rome, and I spent a good many days with the Corinthians, during which we were refreshed together in the right doctrine.

HE 4. 22.3-4  “When I came to Rome, I drew up a succession list down to Anicetus, whose deacon was Eleutherus. Anicetus was succeeded by Soter, and after him came Eleutherus. In every succession, and in every city, things stand just as the Law, the Prophets and the Lord proclaim.” The same writer also describes the beginnings of the heresies of his time, in these words: “After James the Just had borne witness by martyrdom, as the Lord also had for the same message, Symeon, son of Clopas, the uncle of the Lord, was appointed bishop. All put him forward as the second, since he was a cousin of the Lord. For this reason they called the Church a virgin, for it had not yet been corrupted by empty teachings.

HE 4. 22.5-6  “But Thebuthis, because he had not been made bishop, began to corrupt it. He came from the seven sects (he himself belonged to the people). From these sects came Simon, from whom the Simonians; Cleobius, from whom the Cleobians; Dositheus, from whom the Dositheans; Gorthaeus, from whom the Goratheni; and Masbotheus, from whom the Masbotheans. From these came the Menandrianists, Marcionists, Carpocratians, Valentinians and Basilidians. Each of them in his own way and apart from the others brought in his own opinion. From these came false Christs, false prophets and false apostles, who split the unity of the Church with corrupting words against God and against his Christ.”

HE 4. 22.7-8  The same writer also records the heresies that arose long before among the Jews. He says: “Now there were different opinions among the circumcision, among the sons of Israel, held by those who were against the tribe of Judah and the Christ. These were: Essenes, Galileans, Hemerobaptists, Masbotheans, Samaritans, Sadducees, Pharisees.” He writes many other things as well, some of which we have already mentioned, having set the accounts in their proper times. He quotes some things from the Gospel according to the Hebrews and from the Syriac Gospel, and in particular some from the Hebrew language. This shows that he himself had come to believe from among the Hebrews. He also mentions other things as drawn from unwritten Jewish tradition.
   [Translator’s note] “Hemerobaptists” means “daily baptizers.” The Greek names “the Gospel according to the Hebrews” and “the Syriac” as separate items.

HE 4. 22.9  Not only Hegesippus but also Irenaeus and the whole company of the ancients called the Proverbs of Solomon “all-virtuous Wisdom.” Hegesippus also discusses the so-called apocryphal books. He records that in his own time some of them had been fabricated by certain heretics. But now we must move on to another subject.


CHAPTER 23

HE 4. 23.1-2  First we must say of Dionysius that he had been entrusted with the bishop’s seat of the church at Corinth. He shared his God-inspired labor generously, not only with those under his care but also with people abroad. He made himself most useful to everyone in the general letters he drafted to the churches. One of these is to the Lacedaemonians, giving instruction in orthodox belief and urging peace and unity. Another is to the Athenians, stirring them up to faith and to the life required by the gospel. He rebukes them for neglecting that life, as though they had almost fallen away from the word since the time when their leader Publius was martyred in the persecutions of those days.
   [Translator’s note] “General letters” translates the Greek word often rendered “catholic.” Here it means letters addressed to churches generally, not the New Testament “Catholic Epistles.”

HE 4. 23.3-4  He also mentions Quadratus, who was appointed their bishop after the martyr Publius. He testifies that through Quadratus’s zeal they were gathered together again and their faith was rekindled. Dionysius further shows that Dionysius the Areopagite, who was won over to the faith by the apostle Paul as recorded in the Acts, was the first to be entrusted with the bishop’s office in the church at Athens. Another letter of his, to the Nicomedians, is also in circulation. In it he opposes the heresy of Marcion and takes his stand on the rule of truth.
   [Scripture] Acts 17:34

HE 4. 23.5-6  He also wrote to the church at Gortyna and the other churches in Crete. He commends their bishop Philip, because the church under him is attested for its many acts of courage, and he warns them to guard against the perversions of the heretics. He also wrote to the church at Amastris and the churches in Pontus. He mentions that Bacchylides and Elpistus urged him to write, and he adds explanations of divine Scriptures, hinting at the name of their bishop, Palmas. He gives them much counsel about marriage and chastity. He also orders them to welcome those who turn back from any kind of fall, whether moral failure or heretical error.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek verb hyposēmainōn means “indicating” or “hinting at,” so Dionysius points to Palmas as bishop rather than simply naming him.

HE 4. 23.7-8  Another letter is included with these, addressed to the church at Cnossus. In it he urges Pinytus, the bishop of that church, not to lay on the brothers the heavy burden of compulsory chastity, but to take account of the weakness of the many. Pinytus wrote back. He admires and welcomes Dionysius, but in turn urges him at some point to give stronger food. He asks that Dionysius feed his people from then on with more mature writings, so that they would not stay forever on milky teachings and grow old without noticing, still living under a childish training. In this letter Pinytus’ sound faith and his concern for the benefit of those under his care are shown as in an exact portrait, as are his skill with words and his understanding of divine things.
   [Translator’s note] “Milky” teaching and “stronger food” echo the contrast between milk and solid food in 1 Corinthians 3:2 and Hebrews 5:12-14.
   [Scripture] Hebrews 5:12-14

HE 4. 23.9-10  There is also a letter of Dionysius to the Romans, addressed to Soter, who was bishop at that time. The best thing is to quote from it the words in which he approves the custom of the Romans, kept up until the persecution of our own day. He writes as follows: “From the beginning it has been your custom to do good to all the brothers in various ways, and to send help to many churches in every city. In some places you relieve the poverty of the needy, and to brothers in the mines you give support. By the supplies you have sent from the beginning, you Romans keep up the ancestral custom of the Romans. Your blessed bishop Soter has not only kept this custom but has increased it. He adds to the generous supply sent to the saints, and he encourages the brothers who come to Rome with blessed words, as a loving father does his children.”

HE 4. 23.11-12  In the same letter he also mentions the letter of Clement to the Corinthians. He shows that it had been read in church from ancient custom, from the beginning. He says: “Today we have kept the holy Lord’s day, and on it we read your letter. We will always have it to read, and so be admonished by it, just as by the earlier letter written to us through Clement.” The same Dionysius also says this about his own letters, which had been tampered with: “When brothers asked me to write letters, I wrote them. And the apostles of the devil have stuffed these letters with weeds, taking some things out and putting other things in. A woe is laid on them. So it is no wonder that some have also set about tampering with the Lord’s Scriptures, since they have plotted against writings that are not of that kind.”
   [Translator’s note] “Lord’s day” is Greek kyriake (hemera), the usual early Christian term for Sunday. “Weeds” (zizania) is the word used in the parable of the weeds in Matthew 13. The Greek says the devil’s apostles plotted against writings “not of such a kind.”

HE 4. 23.13  Another letter of Dionysius is also in circulation besides these. It was written to Chrysophora, a most faithful sister. He wrote what was fitting for her and gave her too the spiritual nourishment suited to her. That is all about Dionysius.
   [Translator’s note] “Spiritual” translates Greek logikos, “rational” or “spiritual.” The same adjective appears in 1 Peter 2:2, “spiritual milk.”


CHAPTER 24

HE 4. 24.1  Of Theophilus, whom we have already named as bishop of the church of Antioch, three elementary books addressed to Autolycus survive. There is also another work, titled Against the Heresy of Hermogenes, in which he uses testimonies from the Revelation of John. Some other instructional books of his survive as well. In those days the heretics were doing just as much harm as ever, like weeds ruining the pure seed of apostolic teaching. The shepherds of the churches everywhere drove them off like wild beasts from Christ’s sheep and kept them out. Sometimes they did this by warnings and exhortations to the brothers. At other times they stripped for the fight and met the heretics more openly, with unwritten inquiries and refutations face to face. They also corrected their opinions in written treatises with very precise arguments. Theophilus fought against them along with the others. This is clear from a work he labored over, and not weakly, against Marcion, which has survived to the present along with the other works we have mentioned. Maximinus, the seventh bishop after the apostles, succeeded him in the church of Antioch.
   [Translator’s note] “Unwritten inquiries” (agraphois zetesesin) means spoken, face-to-face debate, as opposed to the written treatises mentioned next.


CHAPTER 25

HE 4. 25.1  Philip, whom we know from the words of Dionysius to have been bishop of the church at Gortyna, also wrote a very careful work against Marcion. So did Irenaeus, and so did Modestus. Modestus, more clearly than the others, exposed the man’s error for everyone to see. There were many others too, whose writings are still kept by a great number of the brethren.
   [Translator’s note] The older translation has “parish” for paroikia; it means a local church community (the root of “parish”), not a parish in the modern sense.


CHAPTER 26

HE 4. 26.1-2  In the same period Melito, bishop of the church in Sardis, and Apolinarius of Hierapolis were both famous and in their prime. Each of them separately addressed a defense of the faith to the Roman emperor who was reigning at that time. The following works of theirs have come to my knowledge. Of Melito: two books On the Passover; On the Conduct of Life and the Prophets; On the Church; On the Lord’s Day; On the Nature of Man; On Creation; On the Obedience of Faith to the Senses; and besides these, On Soul and Body or Mind; On Baptism; On Truth; On the Creation and Birth of Christ; his discourse On Prophecy; On Hospitality; The Key; the works On the Devil and On the Apocalypse of John; On God Incarnate (or “God in a body”); and last of all, the little book addressed to Antoninus.

HE 4. 26.3-5  In the books On the Passover he indicates the time when he wrote, beginning like this: “When Servilius Paulus was proconsul of Asia, at the time when Sagaris was martyred, there was a great dispute in Laodicea about the Passover, which fell at that time in those days; and these things were written.” Clement of Alexandria mentions this work in his own discourse On the Passover, which he says he composed because of Melito’s writing. In his book to the emperor, Melito reports that the following was happening to us in his reign: “The race of the godly is now being persecuted, something that never happened before, and is being hounded throughout Asia by new decrees. For shameless informers, greedy for other people’s property, take advantage of the edicts and openly rob, plundering innocent people night and day.”

HE 4. 26.6  And after some other remarks he says: “If this is done at your command, let it be counted well done. For a just king would never plan anything unjust, and we gladly accept the honor of such a death. But we make you this one request: that you yourself first examine the men who stir up this quarrel, and judge fairly whether they deserve death and punishment, or safety and peace. But if this plan and this strange new decree, which would not be right even against barbarian enemies, does not come from you, then we beg you all the more not to leave us exposed to this kind of mob plundering.”

HE 4. 26.7  Then he continues: “Our philosophy first flourished among the barbarians. But when it blossomed among your own nations during the great reign of your ancestor Augustus, it became above all a good and favorable gift to your empire. For from that time the power of Rome grew great and splendid. You have become its longed-for successor, and will remain so together with your son, if you protect the philosophy that grew up with the empire and began with Augustus, which your ancestors also honored alongside the other religions.”

HE 4. 26.8-10  “And here is the greatest proof that our teaching flourished together with an empire that began well, for the good of it: nothing bad has happened since the reign of Augustus began. On the contrary, everything has been splendid and glorious, according to everyone’s prayers. Only Nero and Domitian, persuaded by certain malicious men, wanted to bring our teaching into disrepute. From them the false slander against such people has flowed down through an unreasoning habit. But your pious fathers corrected their ignorance, often rebuking in writing many who dared to make new moves against us. Among them your grandfather Hadrian is shown to have written to many others, and also to Fundanus, the proconsul, who governed Asia. And your father, when you were administering everything together with him, wrote to the cities not to make any new moves against us. Among these he wrote to the Larissaeans, to the Thessalonians, to the Athenians, and to all the Greeks.”
   [Translator’s note] Hadrian was Marcus Aurelius’s adoptive grandfather: he adopted Antoninus Pius, who then adopted Marcus. “Your father” means Antoninus Pius, and the Greek says Marcus was “managing all things for him.”

HE 4. 26.11-13  “As for you, we are convinced that you hold the same view about these matters as they did, and a far kinder and more philosophical one. So we are persuaded that you will do everything we ask of you.” These words are found in the work mentioned. But in the Extracts that Melito composed, he begins right at the preface with a list of the Old Testament writings that are agreed upon, and it is necessary to set it down here. He writes as follows: “Melito to his brother Onesimus, greetings. You have often asked me, out of your zeal for the word, to make extracts for you from the Law and the Prophets concerning the Savior and our whole faith. You also wanted to learn the exact facts about the ancient books: how many they are and in what order they stand. I have worked hard to do this, since I know your earnestness about the faith and your love of learning in the word. Above all else, out of longing for God, you rank these things first, as you strive for eternal salvation.
   [Translator’s note] The “work mentioned” is Melito’s apology to the emperor, which Eusebius has been quoting. The emperor is most likely Marcus Aurelius, since “your father” is Antoninus Pius.

HE 4. 26.14  “So I went up to the East, and came to the place where these things were proclaimed and done. There I learned the books of the Old Testament accurately, and I have listed them and sent them to you. Their names are these: five books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus, Deuteronomy); Jesus Nave (Joshua); Judges; Ruth; four books of Kingdoms; two of Chronicles; the Psalms of David; the Proverbs of Solomon, also called Wisdom; Ecclesiastes; Song of Songs; Job. Of the prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah; the Twelve in a single book; Daniel; Ezekiel; Ezra. From these I made the extracts, dividing them into six books.” This is what Melito says.
   [Translator’s note] “Jesus Nave” is the Greek form of Joshua son of Nun. “Four books of Kingdoms” are 1–2 Samuel and 1–2 Kings. Esther is not in the list, and “Ezra” probably includes Nehemiah.


CHAPTER 27

HE 4. 27.1  Many works of Apolinarius have been preserved by many people. The ones that have reached us are these: the discourse addressed to the emperor mentioned above; five books Against the Greeks; two books On Truth; two books Against the Jews; and the works he wrote afterward against the Phrygian heresy. That heresy had been introduced as a novelty not long before, and was then just beginning to sprout, since Montanus and his false prophetesses were still making the first moves in their departure from the truth.


CHAPTER 28

HE 4. 28.1  There is also a very persuasive discourse by Musanus, whom we listed among the earlier writers. He wrote it to some brothers who had turned aside to the heresy of the so-called Encratites. That heresy was just then beginning to sprout, and it brought into life a strange and destructive false teaching. The story is that Tatian became the founder of this departure from the faith.


CHAPTER 29

HE 4. 29.1-2  Tatian is the man whose words about the admirable Justin we quoted a little earlier, when we noted that he was the martyr’s pupil. Irenaeus makes this clear in the first book of his work Against Heresies, where he writes about Tatian and his heresy together: “From Saturninus and Marcion came those called Encratites, who preached against marriage. They set aside God’s original creation, and quietly find fault with the one who made male and female for the generation of human beings. They also introduced abstinence from what they call ‘animate’ creatures, showing ingratitude to God who made all things. And they argue against the salvation of the first-formed man.

HE 4. 29.3  “This last point has only recently been invented among them. A certain Tatian was the first to bring in this blasphemy. He had been a hearer of Justin, and as long as he was with him he showed nothing of the kind. But after Justin’s martyrdom he left the church. Lifted up with the conceit of being a teacher, and puffed up as though he were better than everyone else, he set up his own distinctive kind of school. Like the followers of Valentinus, he made up myths about certain invisible aeons. Like Marcion and Saturninus, he declared marriage to be corruption and fornication. And as for the salvation of Adam, he came up with his own argument against it.”

HE 4. 29.4-6  That is what Irenaeus wrote at that time. A little later a man named Severus strengthened the heresy mentioned above, and so those who came out of it received the name Severians, taken from him. They use the Law, the Prophets and the Gospels, but they interpret the meaning of the sacred Scriptures in their own way. They blaspheme Paul the apostle and reject his letters, and they do not even accept the Acts of the Apostles. Their earlier leader Tatian, however, put together a kind of joining and gathering of the Gospels, I do not know how, and called it “The Gospel through Four” (Diatessaron). This is still in circulation among some people today. They say he also dared to rework some of the apostle’s wording, as if correcting the style of his phrasing.

HE 4. 29.7  Tatian left a very large number of writings. The one best known and most often mentioned is his famous Address to the Greeks. In it he recalls the earliest times and shows that Moses and the Hebrew prophets were older than all the famous men of the Greeks. This appears to be the finest and most useful of all his works. So much, then, for these men.


CHAPTER 30

HE 4. 30.1  In the same reign, as heresies were multiplying, Bardesanes appeared in Mesopotamia. He was a very capable man and a most skillful debater in the Syriac language. He composed dialogues against the followers of Marcion and against certain others who led various schools of thought, and he put them into writing in his own language, along with a great many other works. His disciples, of whom he had very many since he was a forceful speaker, translated these writings from Syriac into Greek.

HE 4. 30.2-3  Among these is his very able dialogue On Fate, addressed to Antoninus, and other works which, they say, he wrote because of the persecution at that time. He had earlier belonged to the school of Valentinus. But he condemned it and refuted most of its mythical inventions. He thought he had changed over to a sounder understanding, yet he did not entirely wash off the filth of the old heresy. In this period Soter, bishop of the church of Rome, also died.


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BOOK 5
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GREETING

HE 5. Gr.  Soter, bishop of the church of Rome, died after leading it for eight years. Eleutherus, the twelfth from the apostles, succeeded him. This was the seventeenth year of the emperor Antoninus Verus. In some parts of the world the persecution against us flared up more fiercely then, through attacks by the city mobs. From what happened in just one nation we can judge that tens of thousands of martyrs distinguished themselves throughout the world. These events have been handed down in writing to later generations, and they are truly worthy of undying remembrance.

HE 5. Gr..2-3  The fullest and most complete account of these events is in my Collection of Martyrdoms, which contains a narrative that teaches as well as records history. Here I will select and set down only what belongs to the present work. Other writers of history would certainly record victories in war, trophies won over enemies, the exploits of generals and the courage of soldiers. These men were stained with blood and countless killings, fought for the sake of children, country and other possessions.

HE 5. Gr..4  But our account of the way of life of our community will inscribe on everlasting monuments something different. It will record the most peaceful wars, fought for the sake of peace of soul itself. It will record those who in these wars showed courage more for truth than for country, and more for godliness than for their dearest ones. It will proclaim for eternal remembrance the endurance of the athletes of godliness and their long-suffering courage, the trophies won over demons, the victories over invisible opponents, and the crowns given for all these things.


CHAPTER 1

HE 5. 1.1-3  The country where the contest took place was Gaul. Its most notable and outstanding cities are Lugdunum (Lyons) and Vienna (Vienne). The Rhone River flows through both of them, running in a broad stream around the whole region. The most distinguished churches there sent a written account about the martyrs to the churches in Asia and Phrygia, telling what had happened among them in the following way. I will give their own words: “The servants of Christ living as foreigners in Vienne and Lyons in Gaul, to the brothers in Asia and Phrygia who have the same faith and hope of redemption as we do: peace, grace and glory from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord.”

HE 5. 1.4-5  After this and some other introductory remarks, they begin their account like this: “We are not able to describe accurately the greatness of the affliction here, the great rage of the pagans against the saints, or all that the blessed martyrs endured. Nor could it be fully put in writing. The adversary attacked with all his strength. He was already giving a preview of his coming, which will be unrestrained. He went through every means to accustom his own people and train them in advance against the servants of God. As a result we were not only shut out of houses, baths and the marketplace, but it was forbidden for any of us to be seen at all in any place whatever.”

HE 5. 1.6-7  But the grace of God took command against him. It rescued the weak, and it set against him firm pillars, able by their endurance to draw the whole force of the Evil One onto themselves. These went straight into battle against him, putting up with every kind of abuse and punishment. They counted great sufferings as small and hurried on toward Christ. They showed in truth that “the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” First they bravely endured what the whole crowd heaped on them together: shouting, blows, dragging through the streets, plundering, stoning, confinement, and everything that a savage mob likes to do to those it treats as enemies and foes.
   [Scripture] Romans 8:18

HE 5. 1.8-9  Then they were led into the marketplace by the tribune and the city authorities. They were questioned before the whole crowd, confessed their faith, and were shut up in prison until the governor arrived. Afterward they were brought before the governor, and he treated us with complete cruelty. Then Vettius Epagathus, one of the brothers, stepped forward. He was filled to the full with love toward God and his neighbor. His manner of life was so exact that, though young, he was counted equal to the testimony given of the elder Zacharias. For he had walked blamelessly in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord. He never grew tired of serving his neighbor in any way, he had great zeal for God, and he was fervent in spirit. Being such a man, he could not bear the senseless judgment being passed on us. He was extremely indignant and demanded that he too be heard in defense of the brothers, to show that there is nothing godless or impious among us.
   [Scripture] Luke 1:6; Romans 12:11

HE 5. 1.10  Those around the judgment seat shouted him down, for he was a man of note. The governor would not accept his entirely just request. He asked only whether Vettius himself was a Christian. Vettius confessed in a ringing voice, and he too was taken up into the company of the martyrs. He was called “the advocate of the Christians,” but he had the Advocate within himself, the Spirit, more fully than Zacharias. He showed this by the fullness of his love, being glad to lay down even his own life to defend the brothers. For he was, and is, a genuine disciple of Christ, following the Lamb wherever he goes.
   [Translator’s note] “Advocate” translates the Greek “paraklētos,” the same word used of the Holy Spirit in John 14–16. “Following the Lamb wherever he goes” echoes Revelation 14:4.
   [Scripture] Revelation 14:4

HE 5. 1.11  From this point the rest were sorted out. The first martyrs were plainly ready, and they completed their confession of witness with complete eagerness. But others also appeared who were unprepared and untrained, still weak, and unable to bear the strain of so great a contest. About ten of these miscarried, as it were. They caused us great grief and immeasurable sorrow, and they dampened the eagerness of the others who had not yet been arrested. Yet these others, though they suffered every kind of hardship, still stayed with the martyrs and did not abandon them.
   [Translator’s note] “Miscarried” translates the Greek verb “exetrōsan” (from “ektitrōskō,” to miscarry), a figure for those whose faith failed before it was fully formed.

HE 5. 1.12-14  Then we were all greatly shaken, because it was uncertain who would confess. We were not afraid of the punishments being inflicted. We were looking to the outcome and fearing that someone might fall away. Yet every day those who were worthy were arrested, filling up the number of the fallen. So all the earnest believers were gathered from the two churches, the very ones through whom the life of the church here was chiefly sustained. Some of our servants who were pagans were also arrested, since the governor had ordered that all of us be openly hunted down. By Satan’s snare, in fear of the tortures they saw the saints suffering, and urged on by the soldiers, they falsely accused us of “Thyestean feasts” and “Oedipean unions,” and of things that it is not right for us even to speak or think of, and that we cannot even believe ever happened among human beings.
   [Translator’s note] “Thyestean feasts” refers to the myth of Thyestes, who was tricked into eating his own children. “Oedipean unions” refers to Oedipus, who married his mother. These were slanders of cannibalism and incest commonly brought against Christians.

HE 5. 1.15-17  Once these stories were spread about, everyone turned on us like wild beasts. Even those who had earlier held back out of friendship now became very angry and ground their teeth against us. What our Lord had said was fulfilled: “The time will come when everyone who kills you will think he is offering service to God.” From then on, holy martyrs, you endured sufferings beyond all description. Satan was eager to have some blasphemy spoken through you as well. The rage of the crowd, the governor and the soldiers fell with extreme force on Sanctus, the deacon from Vienne; on Maturus, a new convert but a noble fighter; on Attalus, a native of Pergamum, who had always been a pillar and support of the church here; and on Blandina. Through her Christ showed that what people think cheap, ugly and contemptible is counted worthy of great glory with God, because of love for him, a love shown in power and not boasting in outward appearance.
   [Scripture] John 16:2

HE 5. 1.18  All of us were afraid. Her earthly mistress, who was herself one of the martyrs in the contest, was in agony that Blandina, because of her bodily weakness, would not be able even to make a bold confession. But Blandina was filled with such power that the men who tortured her in turn, in every way, from morning until evening, grew exhausted and gave up. They themselves admitted they were beaten, for they had nothing more to do to her. They were amazed that she was still breathing, since her whole body was torn and gaping. They testified that any one kind of torture was enough to take her life, let alone so many and such severe ones.

HE 5. 1.19-20  But the blessed woman, like a noble athlete, grew young again in her confession. Saying, “I am a Christian, and nothing wicked is done among us,” brought her renewal, rest and freedom from feeling what was happening to her. Sanctus too bore bravely, beyond measure and beyond any other man, all the cruelties that men could inflict. The lawless men hoped that the length and severity of the tortures would make him say something improper. But he stood against them with such firmness that he would not even tell his own name, or his nation, or the city he came from, or whether he was slave or free. To every question he answered in Latin, “I am a Christian.” This he confessed in place of a name, a city, a race, and everything else, one thing after another. The pagans heard no other word from him.

HE 5. 1.21-23  So the governor and the torturers became fiercely determined to break him. When they had nothing left to do to him, they finally fastened red-hot bronze plates to the most tender parts of his body. These parts were burned, but he stayed unbending and unyielding, firm in his confession. He was refreshed and strengthened by the heavenly spring of the water of life that flows from the body of Christ. His poor body was a witness to what had happened: it was all one wound and bruise, shrunken and twisted, and it had lost any outward human shape. In that body Christ, suffering, accomplished great things for his glory. He brought the adversary to nothing, and as a pattern for the others he showed that nothing is frightening where the Father’s love is, and nothing painful where Christ’s glory is.
   [Scripture] John 7:38

HE 5. 1.24  Some days later the lawless men tortured the martyr again. They supposed that his body was swollen and inflamed, so that he could not even bear to be touched by a hand. They thought that if they applied the same instruments, they would overcome him, or that if he died under the tortures he would frighten the others. Not only did nothing of the kind happen, but, against all human expectation, his poor body rose up and was straightened in the later torments. It regained its former appearance and the use of its limbs. So by the grace of Christ the second round of torture became for him not punishment but healing.

HE 5. 1.25-26  There was also a woman named Biblis, one of those who had denied the faith. The devil thought he had already swallowed her. He wanted to condemn her further through blasphemy, so he had her brought to punishment, forcing her, as one already easily broken and unmanly, to say godless things about us. But under the torture she came to her senses and woke as if from a deep sleep. The temporary punishment reminded her of the eternal punishment in Gehenna. She answered the blasphemers directly: “How could such people eat children, when they are not even allowed to eat the blood of irrational animals?” From then on she confessed herself a Christian and was added to the lot of the martyrs.
   [Translator’s note] “Gehenna” is the word the Greek uses (“geenna”) for the place of eternal punishment, often rendered “hell.”

HE 5. 1.27  But when Christ had made the tyrants’ tortures useless through the endurance of these blessed ones, the devil devised other schemes. He shut them up in the dark and most miserable part of the prison. He stretched their feet in the stocks, spreading them to the fifth hole. He added all the other cruelties that angry attendants, filled with the devil, are accustomed to inflict on prisoners. As a result most of them were suffocated in prison, all those, that is, whom the Lord willed to depart in this way, to show his glory.
   [Translator’s note] The “fifth hole” refers to the stocks (Greek “xylon”), which had a row of holes. The prisoner’s feet were stretched apart to the fifth hole.

HE 5. 1.28-29  Some had been tortured so bitterly that they seemed unable to live even with every kind of care. Yet they remained in prison, left without any human attention, but strengthened by the Lord and made strong in body and soul, and they urged on and comforted the rest. But the young ones, who had only just been arrested and whose bodies had not been worn down beforehand, could not bear the weight of the confinement, and died inside. The blessed Pothinus had been entrusted with the service of the bishop’s office in Lyons. He was over ninety years old and very weak in body. He could scarcely breathe because of his bodily weakness, but he was revived by eagerness of spirit, because of his pressing desire for martyrdom. He too was dragged to the judgment seat. His body was broken down by both age and sickness, but his life was kept in him so that Christ might triumph through it.
   [Scripture] 2 Corinthians 2:14

HE 5. 1.30-31  He was brought to the judgment seat by the soldiers, with the city authorities and the whole crowd escorting him. They shouted at him in every way, as if he himself were Christ, and he gave the good witness. The governor asked him who the God of the Christians was, and he said, “If you are worthy, you will know.” After that he was dragged along without mercy and suffered blows of every kind. Those close by abused him in every way with hands and feet, with no respect for his age. Those farther off hurled at him whatever each one had in hand. All of them thought it a great fault and impiety if anyone fell short in outrage against him, for they believed that this was how they would avenge their own gods. He was thrown into prison scarcely breathing, and two days later he died.

HE 5. 1.32-33  Then a great providence of God took place, and the immeasurable mercy of Jesus was shown. Such a thing happens only rarely among the brotherhood, yet it did not fall short of the skill of Christ. Those who had denied him at the first arrest were shut up too and shared the sufferings. Their denial did them no good at this time. Those who confessed what they were were imprisoned as Christians, with no other charge brought against them. But the deniers were held from then on as murderers and defiled persons, and were punished twice as heavily as the rest.

HE 5. 1.34-35  The first group were lightened by the joy of martyrdom, the hope of what was promised, love for Christ, and the Spirit of the Father. But the deniers were sorely punished by their conscience, so that as they passed by, their faces stood out from all the others. The confessors walked forward cheerful, with glory and much grace mingled in their faces. Even their chains hung on them as a fine adornment, like a bride dressed in golden, richly worked clothing. They gave off the sweet fragrance of Christ at the same time, so that some thought they had been anointed with worldly perfume. The deniers were downcast, humble, ugly to look at and full of every kind of shame. On top of that the pagans reproached them as cowardly and unmanly. They bore the charges of murderers, and they had lost the all-honored, glorious and life-giving name. When the others saw this, they were strengthened. Those who were arrested confessed without wavering, and gave no thought to the devil’s reasoning.
   [Translator’s note] “The all-honored, glorious and life-giving name” is the name “Christian.” The “murderers” are not the false charge of cannibalism. Those who denied were held as common criminals, “murderers and defiled” (see 5.1.33), instead of being treated as Christians.
   [Scripture] 2 Corinthians 2:15

HE 5. 1.36-37  After adding some remarks in between, the writers continue: After this, the martyrdoms of their departure were divided into every kind. They wove one crown out of different colors and all sorts of flowers and offered it to the Father. It was right that the noble athletes, who had endured a many-sided contest and won a great victory, should receive the great crown of immortality. So Maturus, Sanctus, Blandina and Attalus were led out to the wild beasts in the public arena, to be a spectacle for the common entertainment of the pagans. The day for fights with wild beasts was given over expressly because of our people.
   [Scripture] 1 Corinthians 9:25

HE 5. 1.38  Maturus and Sanctus again went through every kind of torment in the amphitheater. It was as if they had suffered nothing before. Or rather, they had already beaten their opponent in many rounds and were now fighting for the crown itself. Again they endured the whippings that were customary there, as they ran between the lines of guards. They endured the dragging and mauling by the beasts. They endured everything the maddened crowd shouted for and urged on, each from a different part of the stands. Last of all came the iron chair, on which their bodies were roasted and the smell of it filled them.

HE 5. 1.39-41  Even then their persecutors did not stop. They raged still more, wanting to defeat their endurance. Yet from Sanctus they heard nothing except the words of confession he had been used to saying from the beginning. After a long and great struggle, in which their spirit held out for a long time, these two were finally sacrificed. All through that day they had been a spectacle to the world, in place of the whole variety of the gladiator contests. Blandina was hung on a stake and set out as food for the beasts that were let in. Because she could be seen hanging in the shape of a cross, and because of her earnest prayer, she put great eagerness into those who were fighting. In their struggle they looked on their sister with their outward eyes and saw in her the one who was crucified for them. So he persuaded those who believe in him that everyone who suffers for the glory of Christ has fellowship forever with the living God.

HE 5. 1.42-43  None of the beasts touched her at that time. She was taken down from the stake and brought back to the prison, kept for another contest. She would win through more trials and make the sentence on the crooked serpent final. And she, small, weak and easily despised, but clothed with Christ, the great athlete, would encourage her brothers. She would force back the adversary through many rounds, and through the struggle win the crown of incorruptibility. Attalus also was loudly demanded by the crowd, for he was well known. He came in ready for the fight because of his good conscience. He had been truly trained in the Christian way of life, and had always been a witness of the truth among us.

HE 5. 1.44-45  He was led around the amphitheater, with a placard carried before him on which was written in Latin, “This is Attalus the Christian.” The crowd was greatly worked up against him. But the governor learned that he was a Roman citizen. He ordered Attalus to be taken back with the others who were in prison. He had written to Caesar about them and was waiting for his decision. That time in between was neither idle nor fruitless for them. Through their endurance the measureless mercy of Christ was made plain. The dead were made alive through the living. The martyrs showed favor to those who were not martyrs. And the virgin mother had great joy in receiving back alive those whom she had miscarried as dead.

HE 5. 1.46-47  Through the martyrs most of those who had denied the faith were conceived again in the womb, brought back to life, and rekindled. They learned to confess. Now alive and strengthened, they came to the judgment seat, so that the governor could question them again. God, who does not want the death of the sinner but is kind toward repentance, made it sweet for them. Caesar had written that those who confessed should be executed, but that any who denied should be released. The festival held there was just beginning, and it draws a great crowd from all the nations. So the governor brought the blessed ones up to the judgment seat, making a theater of them and parading them before the crowds. For this reason he questioned them again. Those who seemed to have Roman citizenship he beheaded, and the rest he sent to the beasts.
   [Scripture] Ezekiel 33:11

HE 5. 1.48-49  Christ was greatly glorified in those who had denied him before but now confessed, against the expectation of the heathen. They were questioned separately, as people who were supposedly about to be released. But when they confessed, they were added to the company of the martyrs. Those who remained outside were people who had never had a trace of faith, no sense of the wedding garment, and no thought of the fear of God. By their way of life they blasphemed the Way. These were the sons of destruction. All the rest were added to the church. While these were being questioned, a man named Alexander stood near the judgment seat. He was a Phrygian by birth and a physician by profession, and he had spent many years in Gaul. Almost everyone knew him for his love toward God and his boldness in speaking, for he was not without a share of the apostolic gift. By signs he urged them on to confession. To those standing around the judgment seat he looked like a woman in labor.
   [Translator’s note] “The Way” is an early name for the Christian faith, as in Acts 9:2 and 19:9. “Wedding garment” recalls Jesus’ parable in Matthew 22. The Greek says they blasphemed the Way “through their manner of life.”
   [Scripture] Matthew 22:11; John 17:12; Acts 19:9

HE 5. 1.50-51  The crowds were angry that those who had earlier denied the faith were now confessing it again, and they shouted against Alexander as though he were the cause. The governor had him stand forward and asked who he was. When Alexander said he was a Christian, the governor became furious and condemned him to the wild beasts. The next day he came into the arena together with Attalus, for the governor, to please the crowd, had handed Attalus over to the beasts again. In the amphitheater they went through every instrument of torture devised for punishment. They endured a very great struggle, and in the end they too were sacrificed. Alexander neither groaned nor made any sound at all, but spoke with God in his heart.

HE 5. 1.52-53  When Attalus was set on the iron chair and was being burned, and the smell of his roasting body rose up, he said to the crowd in Latin, “Look, this is eating human beings, and it is what you are doing. We do not eat human beings, nor do we do anything else evil.” When he was asked what name God has, he answered, “God does not have a name as a man has.” After all this, on the last day of the gladiatorial contests, Blandina was brought in again, together with a boy named Ponticus, about fifteen years old. Every day these two had been brought in to watch the punishment of the others, and they had been forced to swear by the crowd’s idols. Because they stood firm and treated the idols with contempt, the crowd turned savage against them, so that they had no pity for the boy’s youth and no respect for the woman.

HE 5. 1.54-55  They exposed them to every terror and took them around the whole circle of tortures, again and again forcing them to swear, but they could not make them do it. Ponticus was urged on by his sister, so that even the pagans could see that she was encouraging and strengthening him. He bravely endured every torture and gave up his spirit. The blessed Blandina came last of all. Like a noble mother who has encouraged her children and sent them ahead victorious to the King, she went back over all their struggles herself and hurried after them. She was glad and rejoicing at her departure, as though she had been invited to a wedding banquet rather than thrown to the beasts.

HE 5. 1.56-57  After the whips, after the beasts, after the hot griddle, she was finally put in a net and thrown to a bull. The animal tossed her about many times, but she no longer felt what was happening to her, because of her hope, her firm hold on what she had believed, and her fellowship with Christ. She too was sacrificed. The pagans themselves admitted that never among them had a woman suffered so many and such terrible things. But even this did not satisfy their madness and their cruelty toward the saints. Savage and barbarous tribes, stirred up by a savage beast, were hard to calm, and their insolence found a new and different start in dealing with the bodies.

HE 5. 1.58-59  That they had been defeated did not shame them, for they had no human reasoning. It rather fed their anger like that of a wild beast. The governor and the people alike showed the same unjust hatred toward us, so that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Let the lawless man still act lawlessly, and let the righteous man still be made righteous.” Those who had suffocated in the prison they threw to the dogs, and they guarded them carefully night and day so that none of us could bury anyone. Then they put out the remains left by the beasts and by the fire, torn in places and charred in others, along with the heads of the rest and their severed trunks. These too they kept unburied under careful military guard for many days.
   [Scripture] Revelation 22:11

HE 5. 1.60-61  Some raged at the bodies and ground their teeth, looking to take some further revenge on them. Others laughed and jeered, praising their own idols and crediting them with the punishment of the Christians. Those who were more reasonable, and seemed to feel some sympathy, reproached the Christians sharply, saying, “Where is their God? What good has their religion done them, which they chose in preference to their own lives?” So the reactions on their side were mixed. On our side there was deep grief, because we could not bury the bodies in the earth. Night gave us no help for this, money did not persuade them, and pleading did not move them. They kept watch in every way, as if they would gain something great if the bodies did not receive burial.

HE 5. 1.62-63  After other things they go on to say: “The bodies of the martyrs had been put on public display and exposed to the smoke and the weather for six days. Afterward the lawless men burned them, reduced them to ashes, and swept them into the Rhone, which flows close by, so that no trace of them might still be seen on the earth. They did this as though they could defeat God and take away the new birth from these people. They did it, as they said, ‘so that they may have no hope of resurrection. Trusting in that hope, they bring in a strange new religion among us, despise terrors, and go to their death ready and even joyful. Now let us see whether they will rise again, and whether their God can help them and rescue them from our hands.’”


CHAPTER 2

HE 5. 2.1-2  Such things also happened to the churches of Christ under the emperor already mentioned. From these we can reasonably guess what was done in the other provinces. It is worth adding other words from the same letter, in which the gentleness and kindness of these martyrs are recorded in these very terms. They became such zealous imitators of Christ, “who, being in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped.” They were in such glory, and had borne witness not once or twice but many times. They had been taken back from the wild beasts and bore burns, bruises and wounds all over them. Yet they did not proclaim themselves martyrs, nor did they allow us to call them by that name. If any of us ever addressed them as martyrs, whether in a letter or in conversation, they sharply rebuked him.
   [Scripture] Philippians 2:6

HE 5. 2.3  For they gladly gave up the title of martyr to Christ, the faithful and true witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the author of the life of God. They reminded us of the martyrs who had already departed, and said, “Those are martyrs already, whom Christ thought worthy to be taken up in their confession, having sealed their testimony by their departure. But we are only modest and lowly confessors.” With tears they begged the brothers to pray earnestly that they might be brought to completion.
   [Scripture] Revelation 1:5; Revelation 3:14; Acts 3:15

HE 5. 2.4-5  They showed the power of martyrdom in their actions. They spoke with great boldness before all the nations, and they made their noble character plain through endurance, fearlessness and courage. But they declined to be called martyrs by their brothers, because they were filled with the fear of God. After a short interval the letter says again: They humbled themselves under the mighty hand, by which they are now greatly exalted. At that time they defended everyone but accused no one. They set everyone free but bound no one. They prayed for those who treated them cruelly, as Stephen did, the perfect martyr: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” If he prayed for those who were stoning him, how much more for the brothers!
   [Scripture] 1 Peter 5:6; Acts 7:60

HE 5. 2.6-7  And again, after other matters, they say: This was their greatest battle against the Beast, because of the genuineness of their love: that the Beast, choked, might vomit up alive those whom he had thought he had swallowed. For they took no pride in themselves over the fallen. Instead, what they had in abundance they gave to those who lacked it, having a mother’s tenderness and pouring out many tears for them before the Father. They asked for life, and he gave it to them, and they shared it with their neighbors. Having won the victory over all, they went to God. They had always loved peace and always urged peace on others, and they went to God in peace. They left no grief for their mother and no strife or war for their brothers, but joy, peace, harmony and love.

HE 5. 2.8  Let this be added, for its usefulness, about the affection of those blessed ones toward the brothers who had fallen. It stands against the inhuman and merciless attitude of those who afterward dealt ruthlessly with the members of Christ.


CHAPTER 3

HE 5. 3.1-2  The same letter of the martyrs I have mentioned contains another account worth remembering. No one could object to my passing it on to those who will read it. It goes like this. One of them, a man named Alcibiades, lived a very strict life. He had formerly taken nothing at all except bread and water, and he tried to go on living that way in prison. But it was revealed to Attalus, after his first contest in the amphitheater, that Alcibiades was not acting rightly in refusing the creatures of God and leaving an example that might cause others to stumble.

HE 5. 3.3-4  Alcibiades was convinced, and from then on he ate everything freely and gave thanks to God. For these martyrs were not without God’s gracious oversight, and the Holy Spirit was their counselor. So much for that matter. At that time Montanus, Alcibiades and Theodotus, with their followers in Phrygia, were just beginning to spread among many people the belief that they were prophets. Many other miraculous works of God’s gift were still being done in various churches, and this led many to believe that these men also were prophesying. When a disagreement arose about them, the brethren in Gaul again set out their own judgment on these matters, a careful and thoroughly orthodox one. They also published several letters from the martyrs who had been put to death among them. The martyrs had written these letters while still in chains, to the brethren in Asia and Phrygia, and also to Eleutherus, who was then bishop of Rome. They were acting as envoys for the peace of the churches.


CHAPTER 4

HE 5. 4.1-2  The same martyrs also recommended Irenaeus, who was then a presbyter of the church at Lyons, to the bishop of Rome mentioned above. They gave the man a very strong testimony, as the following words show: “Father Eleutherus, we pray that you may rejoice in God in all things, and always. We have urged our brother and partner Irenaeus to carry this letter to you, and we ask you to hold him in high regard, since he is zealous for the covenant of Christ. For if we thought that a position could win righteousness for anyone, we would have recommended him first of all as a presbyter of the church, which is what he is.”

HE 5. 4.3  Why should I list the roll of martyrs given in that letter: those who died by beheading, those thrown to the wild beasts as food, those who fell asleep in prison, and the number of confessors still living at that time? Anyone who wishes can easily learn all this in full by taking up the writing itself. As I said, I have included it in my Collection of Martyrdoms. That is what happened under Antoninus.
   [Translator’s note] Eusebius’s “Collection of Martyrdoms” is a work of his own that has not survived.


CHAPTER 5

HE 5. 5.1-2  The story goes that Marcus Aurelius Caesar, his brother, was drawn up for battle against the Germans and Sarmatians when his army, suffering from thirst, fell into helpless distress. The soldiers of the legion called Melitene, a legion that has stood firm in the faith from that time to this, were standing in line facing the enemy. They knelt on the ground, as is our custom in prayer, and turned to pleading with God. This sight seemed strange to the enemy. But the story says that something even stranger followed at once. A thunderbolt drove the enemy into flight and destruction, while rain poured down on the army of those who had called on God and revived it, though the whole army had been on the point of dying of thirst.

HE 5. 5.3-4  This story is told both by writers far removed from our teaching, who took an interest in writing about those times, and by our own writers. The outside historians, since they are strangers to the faith, record the marvel, but they do not admit that it came about through the prayers of our people. Our own writers, as friends of the truth, hand down what happened in a simple and honest way. One of them is Apolinarius. He says that from that time the legion whose prayer had worked the marvel received from the emperor a name suited to the event. In the Roman language it was called the “Thunderbolt” legion.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek word is “keraunobolon,” meaning “thunderbolt-hurling.” The legion is traditionally known as the “Thundering Legion” (Latin “fulminata”).

HE 5. 5.5-6  Tertullian is a reliable witness to these things. He addressed his Apology for the Faith to the Roman Senate, a work we have mentioned before, and there he confirms the story with greater and clearer proof. He writes that letters of the wise emperor Marcus are still in circulation. In them Marcus himself testifies that in Germany his army was about to perish for lack of water, and was saved by the prayers of the Christians. Tertullian says that this emperor also threatened death to those who tried to bring charges against us.

HE 5. 5.7-8  The same writer adds these words: “What kind of laws are these, which only the ungodly, the unjust and the cruel follow against us? Vespasian did not keep them, though he had conquered the Jews. Trajan partly set them aside by forbidding that Christians be hunted out. Neither Hadrian, though he poked into every curiosity, nor the one called Pius gave them his approval.” Let each person take these things as he wishes. We will move on to what follows. Pothinus died at the full age of ninety years, together with those who were martyred in Gaul. Irenaeus then took over the oversight of the church at Lyons, which Pothinus had led. We have learned that in his youth Irenaeus was a hearer of Polycarp.
   [Translator’s note] “The one called Pius” is the emperor Antoninus Pius; in Greek his title is Eusebes, “devout.” The quotation is from Tertullian, as the preceding section shows.

HE 5. 5.9  In the third book of his work against the heresies, Irenaeus set out the succession of the bishops of Rome. He brought the list down to Eleutherus, whose times we are now examining, as though he were writing in Eleutherus’s own day. He writes as follows:


CHAPTER 6

HE 5. 6.1-2  “When the blessed apostles had founded and built up the church, they handed over the work of the bishop’s office to Linus. Paul mentions this Linus in his letters to Timothy. Anencletus followed him. After him, in the third place from the apostles, Clement received the bishop’s office. He had seen the blessed apostles and had met with them, and he still had the apostles’ preaching ringing in his ears and their tradition before his eyes. He was not alone in this, for many were still left who had been taught by the apostles.
   [Scripture] 2 Timothy 4:21

HE 5. 6.3-4  “In the time of this Clement, no small dissension arose among the brothers in Corinth. The church in Rome then wrote a most effective letter to the Corinthians, urging them to make peace, renewing their faith, and renewing the tradition which it had recently received from the apostles.” A little later he says: “Evarestus succeeded this Clement, and Alexander succeeded Evarestus. Then Xystus was appointed, the sixth from the apostles. After him came Telesphorus, who also was gloriously martyred; then Hyginus, then Pius, and after him Anicetus. Soter succeeded Anicetus, and now, in the twelfth place from the apostles, Eleutherus holds the inheritance of the bishop’s office.

HE 5. 6.5  “By this same order and this same teaching, the tradition from the apostles in the church and the preaching of the truth have come down to us.”


CHAPTER 7

HE 5. 7.1-2  Irenaeus wrote these things in agreement with the accounts we have already gone through. They come from the work in five books that he titled *Refutation and Overthrow of the Falsely Named Knowledge*. In the second book of the same work he points out that, down to his own time, examples of divine and miraculous power remained in some churches. He says: “But they fall so far short of raising a dead person, as the Lord raised the dead and the apostles did through prayer, that this has often happened in the brotherhood. When there was need, the whole church in that place asked with fasting and much pleading, and the spirit of the dead person returned, and the man was granted to the prayers of the saints.”

HE 5. 7.3  Again, after some other remarks, he says: “But if they claim that the Lord also did such things only in appearance, we will take them back to the writings of the prophets. From these we will show that everything was foretold about him in this way and happened firmly as foretold, and that he alone is the Son of God. For this reason his true disciples, having received grace from him, carry out these works in his name for the benefit of other people, each as he has received the gift from him.

HE 5. 7.4-5  “Some drive out demons surely and truly, so that those who have been cleansed from the evil spirits often believe and are in the church. Others have foreknowledge of things to come, visions, and prophetic words. Others heal the sick by laying on their hands and make them well. Already, as we said, even the dead have been raised, and they stayed with us for many years. And what more can I say? It is impossible to give the number of the gifts which the church throughout the whole world has received from God in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and which she uses every day for the benefit of the nations. She does not deceive anyone, and she makes no money from it. For as she has received freely from God, she also serves freely.”
   [Scripture] Matthew 10:8

HE 5. 7.6  In another place the same author writes: “We also hear that many brothers in the church have certain gifts. They speak in all kinds of languages through the Spirit, bring the hidden things of people into the open for their good, and explain the mysteries of God.” This shows that various gifts remained among the worthy up to the times I have mentioned.


CHAPTER 8

HE 5. 8.1-2  At the beginning of this work I promised to set out, at the proper time, the words of the ancient church elders and writers. In them they wrote down the traditions that had come to them about the Scriptures of the covenant. Irenaeus was one of these, so let me now give his words. First, here is what he says about the holy Gospels: “Matthew also produced a written Gospel among the Hebrews, in their own language, while Peter and Paul were preaching the gospel in Rome and laying the foundation of the church.”

HE 5. 8.3-5  “After their departure, Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, also handed down to us in writing what Peter had preached. Luke, the follower of Paul, set down in a book the gospel that Paul preached. Then John, the disciple of the Lord, who also leaned back on his chest, himself published the gospel while he was living in Ephesus in Asia.” Irenaeus says this in the third book of the work I mentioned. In the fifth book he writes as follows about the Revelation of John and the reckoning of the name of the Antichrist: “Since these things are so, and this number is found in all the good and ancient copies, and those who saw John face to face bear witness to it, and reason itself teaches us that the number of the name of the beast is shown by the letters in it, according to the Greek way of reckoning...”
   [Scripture] John 21:20

HE 5. 8.6-7  A little further on he says about the same matter: “We do not take the risk of declaring the name of the Antichrist with confidence. If his name had to be proclaimed openly at the present time, it would have been stated by the one who saw the Revelation. For it was seen not long ago, but almost in our own generation, toward the end of Domitian’s reign.” That is what Irenaeus records about the Revelation. He also mentions the first letter of John and quotes very many testimonies from it, and likewise the first letter of Peter. He not only knows the writing called The Shepherd but accepts it, saying: “The Scripture said well, ‘First of all, believe that God is one, who created all things,’” and so on.
   [Translator’s note] The Shepherd is the Shepherd of Hermas, an early Christian writing. The quotation is from Mandate 1.1, which continues “who created and completed all things.” Eusebius breaks off after “created all things” with “and so on.”

HE 5. 8.8-9  He also uses some statements from the Wisdom of Solomon, saying very nearly this: “The vision of God brings about incorruption, and incorruption makes us near to God.” He also mentions the memoirs of a certain apostolic elder, whose name he passes over in silence, and sets out that elder’s explanations of the divine Scriptures. He also mentions Justin the martyr and Ignatius, again using testimonies from what they wrote. He himself promised to answer Marcion, from Marcion’s own writings, in a separate work.

HE 5. 8.10  Now hear what Irenaeus writes, word for word, about the translation of the divinely inspired Scriptures by the Seventy: “God therefore became man, and the Lord himself saved us, giving the sign of the virgin. It is not as some say, who now dare to translate the Scripture: ‘Behold, the young woman will be with child and will bear a son.’ That is how Theodotion of Ephesus and Aquila of Pontus translated it, both of them Jewish converts. The Ebionites follow them and say that he was born of Joseph.”
   [Translator’s note] The passage is Isaiah 7:14. The Greek of the Seventy uses a word meaning “virgin,” while Theodotion and Aquila used a word meaning “young woman.” The Ebionites were a Jewish-Christian group who denied the virgin birth.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 7:14

HE 5. 8.11-12  A little later he adds to this: “Before the Romans had established their rule, while the Macedonians still held Asia, Ptolemy son of Lagus wanted to adorn the library he had built in Alexandria with all the worthwhile writings of all peoples. So he asked the people of Jerusalem to let him have their Scriptures translated into the Greek language. They were still subject to the Macedonians at that time, so they sent Ptolemy seventy elders, the men among them most experienced in the Scriptures and in both languages, to do what he wanted.”

HE 5. 8.13-14  Ptolemy wanted to test them one by one. He was afraid they might agree among themselves to hide the truth of the Scriptures in their translation. So he separated them from each other and ordered all of them to write out the same translation. He did this for every one of the books. When they came together before Ptolemy and compared their translations, God was glorified and the Scriptures were recognized as truly inspired. All of them had given the same things in the same words and the same terms from beginning to end. So even the Gentiles who were present knew that the Scriptures had been translated by the inspiration of God.
   [Translator’s note] The account that the translators worked separately and produced identical texts is Irenaeus’s report, which Eusebius is quoting. Eusebius does not vouch for it here.

HE 5. 8.15  It is nothing surprising that God did this. In the captivity of the people under Nebuchadnezzar the Scriptures were destroyed. After seventy years the Jews went back to their own land. Then, in the time of Artaxerxes king of the Persians, God inspired Ezra the priest, of the tribe of Levi, to set in order again all the words of the earlier prophets and to restore to the people the law given through Moses. So much for Irenaeus.


CHAPTER 9

HE 5. 9.1  Antoninus reigned for nineteen years, and then Commodus took over the government. In Commodus’s first year Julian was entrusted with the oversight of the churches at Alexandria. Agrippinus had completed twelve years of service there.


CHAPTER 10

HE 5. 10.1-2  At that time the community of believers in Alexandria was led by a man of great reputation for learning, whose name was Pantaenus. A school for the sacred writings had been set up among them from ancient custom. It continues down to our own day, and we have learned that it was run by men who were strong in learning and in zeal for divine things. The report is that Pantaenus was among the most brilliant of these teachers in his time. He had come to the faith from a philosophical training in the school called Stoic. They say he showed such intense eagerness for the divine Word that he was appointed a herald of the gospel of Christ to the nations of the East, and set out as far as the land of the Indians. For there were still, yes, still at that time, many evangelists of the Word. They took care to bring a God-inspired zeal, in imitation of the apostles, to promote the growth and building up of the divine Word.
   [Translator’s note] “India” here may not mean what we call India today. Ancient writers used the name loosely for lands in the far East, or sometimes for regions near southern Arabia or Ethiopia. The Greek participle (στειλάμενος) means he “set out” or “journeyed” to the land of the Indians.

HE 5. 10.3-4  Pantaenus was one of these men, and he is said to have gone to the Indians. The story goes that he found there, before his arrival, the Gospel according to Matthew among some who already knew Christ. Bartholomew, one of the apostles, was said to have preached to them and left Matthew’s writing with them in Hebrew letters, and it was preserved until the time of Pantaenus. After many fine accomplishments, Pantaenus ended his life as head of the school at Alexandria. He explained the treasures of the divine teachings both by the spoken word and in writing.


CHAPTER 11

HE 5. 11.1-3  In his time Clement became well known at Alexandria, where he trained in the divine Scriptures alongside Pantaenus. He had the same name as the Clement who long ago led the church of the Romans and was a student of the apostles. In the *Hypotyposes* that he wrote, Clement names Pantaenus as his teacher. I think he also hints at him in the first book of his *Stromata*. There he points out the more distinguished of the men he had met in the line of apostolic succession, and says: “This treatise is not a piece of writing crafted for show. It is notes stored up for my old age, a remedy against forgetfulness. It is simply an image and a rough sketch of those vivid and living words which I was counted worthy to hear, and of those blessed and truly remarkable men.

HE 5. 11.4-5  “One of these was in Greece, an Ionian. Another was in Magna Graecia, and one of them was from Coele-Syria. Another was from Egypt, and others were in the East. Of these, one was an Assyrian, and another was a Hebrew by origin in Palestine. I met the last one, who in ability was truly the first, and I found rest. I had tracked him down hidden away in Egypt. These men kept the true tradition of the blessed teaching, which came straight from the holy apostles Peter, James, John and Paul, a son receiving it from his father. (Few sons were like their fathers.) By God’s will they have come down even to us, to plant those ancestral and apostolic seeds.”


CHAPTER 12

HE 5. 12.1-2  In their time Narcissus was bishop of the church at Jerusalem. Many people still speak of him today. He was the fifteenth in succession since the siege of the Jews under Hadrian. We have already shown that from that time the church there was first made up of Gentiles, after those of the circumcision, and that Marcus was the first Gentile bishop to lead them. After him the lists of the succession there record Cassianus as bishop, then Publius, then Maximus, then Julian, then Gaius, then Symmachus, another Gaius, and again another Julian, then Capito, Valens and Dolichianus, and after all of them Narcissus, the thirtieth from the apostles in the order of succession.


CHAPTER 13

HE 5. 13.1-2  In the same period Rhodo, a native of Asia, wrote various books. As he himself tells us, he had been taught at Rome by Tatian, whom we have already come to know. Among his other writings, he drew up one against the heresy of Marcion. He relates that in his time this heresy split into differing opinions. He names those who caused the split and carefully refutes the falsehoods each of them devised. Hear what he himself writes: “This is why they have also become inconsistent among themselves, clinging to an unstable opinion. For Apelles, one of their herd, who prides himself on his way of life and his old age, says there is one first principle, but that the prophecies come from an opposing spirit. He was persuaded of this by the utterances of a possessed girl named Philumene.

HE 5. 13.3-4  “Others, like the seaman Marcion himself, introduce two first principles. Among these are Potitus and Basilicus. These men followed the wolf of Pontus. Like him, they could not work out how things are divided, so they took the easy way and simply declared two principles, with no proof. Others again among them ran aground into something worse and suppose not only two but three natures. The founder and leader of these is Syneros, as those who put forward his school say.”

HE 5. 13.5  The same writer says that he also held a discussion with Apelles. He puts it this way: “The old man Apelles, when he met with us, was shown to be wrong in many of the things he said badly. So he claimed that one should not examine doctrine at all, but that each person should stay with what he has believed. For he declared that those who have set their hope on the Crucified would be saved, provided they were found in good works. But the most obscure of all his teachings was, as we said before, the one about God. For he spoke of one first principle, just as our doctrine does.”

HE 5. 13.6-7  Then Rhodo sets out Apelles’ whole view and goes on: “I said to him, ‘Where does your proof come from? Or how can you say there is one first principle? Tell us.’ He said that the prophecies refute themselves, because they have said nothing true at all. They are inconsistent, false and self-contradictory. But how there is one first principle, he said he did not know. He was simply moved to believe it. Then I solemnly urged him to tell the truth, and he swore that he was speaking truly when he said he did not understand how there is one unbegotten God, but that he believed it. I laughed and condemned him, because he called himself a teacher and yet did not know how to establish what he taught.”

HE 5. 13.8-9  In the same work, which is addressed to Callistion, Rhodo again admits that he was taught at Rome by Tatian. He says that Tatian had worked on a book of Problems, in which he promised to bring out the obscure and hidden things in the divine Scriptures. Rhodo himself announces that he will set out, in a work of his own, the solutions to Tatian’s problems. A commentary of his on the Hexaemeron (the six days of creation) is also in circulation. This Apelles, for his part, wrote countless impieties against the law of Moses. In several works he blasphemed the divine words, and, as he thought, put no small effort into refuting and overthrowing them. So much for these men.


CHAPTER 14

HE 5. 14.1  The enemy of God’s church hates what is good and loves what is evil. He leaves no way of plotting against people untried. So he once again set strange heresies growing up against the church. Some of these crawled like venomous reptiles over Asia and Phrygia. They boasted that Montanus was the Paraclete, and that the women who followed him, Priscilla and Maximilla, had become Montanus’s prophetesses.
   [Translator’s note] “Paraclete” is the title Jesus gives the Holy Spirit in John’s Gospel (usually rendered Comforter, Helper or Advocate).


CHAPTER 15

HE 5. 15.1  Others flourished at Rome. Their leader was Florinus, who had been removed from the presbyterate of the church. Blastus was caught in a similar fall along with him. They drew many members of the church away and brought them over to their purpose. Each of the two, in his own way, tried to bring innovations concerning the truth.


CHAPTER 16

HE 5. 16.1-2  Against the so-called heresy of the Phrygians, the power that fights for the truth raised up Apolinarius of Hierapolis, whom my account has already mentioned, as a strong and unbeatable weapon. It raised up many other learned men of that time with him, and from them a great store of material for history has been left to us. One of them, at the start of his writing against these people, first points out that he had also gone after them with refutations that were not written down. He begins this way:

HE 5. 16.3  “For a very long time, more than long enough, dear Avircius Marcellus, you have been urging me to write a treatise against the heresy of those called after Miltiades. Until now I have held back somewhat. It was not that I lacked the ability to refute the lie and bear witness to the truth. I was afraid and cautious that I might seem to some to be adding to the word of the gospel of the new covenant, or laying further commands on it. No one who has chosen to live by the gospel itself can add anything to that word or take anything away.
   [Scripture] Revelation 22:18-19

HE 5. 16.4  “Recently I was in Ancyra in Galatia, and I found the church in Pontus buzzing with talk about this new thing. It is not prophecy, as they claim, but rather, as will be shown, false prophecy. So, as far as I could, with the Lord’s help, we spoke in the church over several days about these people and about each of the points they put forward. As a result the church rejoiced and was strengthened in the truth, those on the other side were driven back for the time being, and our opponents were distressed.

HE 5. 16.5-6  “The local presbyters then asked us to leave some written record of what had been said against those who oppose the word of truth. Our fellow presbyter Zoticus of Otrous was present. We did not do that then, but we promised that, if the Lord allowed, we would write it here and send it to them quickly.” After saying this and other things like it at the beginning of his work, Apolinarius goes on to tell the cause of the heresy in this way: “Their opposition, and their recent heresy that split them off from the church, arose from the following cause.

HE 5. 16.7-8  “There is said to be a village called Ardabau in Mysia, on the Phrygian side. There, they say, a recent convert named Montanus first did this. Gratus was then proconsul of Asia. Montanus had a boundless desire of soul for preeminence, and he gave the adversary an entrance into himself. He was carried away by a spirit, and suddenly, in a kind of possession and ecstasy, he fell into a frenzy. He began to babble and to utter strange sounds. He was supposedly prophesying, but in a way contrary to the custom of the church handed down by tradition and succession from the beginning. Some of those who heard his false utterances at that time were annoyed. They rebuked him as a man worked on by a demon, possessed, held by a spirit of error, and disturbing the crowds, and they tried to stop him speaking. They remembered the Lord’s distinction and warning to watch vigilantly for the coming of false prophets. But others thought they were hearing a holy spirit and a prophetic gift, and they were lifted up and not a little puffed up. They forgot the Lord’s distinction and called on the mind-damaging, flattering, people-deceiving spirit. They were charmed and led astray by it, so that it could no longer be held back into silence.
   [Translator’s note] “The Lord’s distinction and warning” probably refers to his warnings about false prophets, as in Matthew 7:15 and 24:11. “Strange sounds” translates a Greek verb meaning to utter foreign or unfamiliar speech.

HE 5. 16.9  “By some craft, or rather by such a method of wicked craft, the devil plotted the ruin of those who disobeyed. They honored him more than he deserved. He secretly stirred up and inflamed their minds, which had already fallen asleep to the true faith. He went on to rouse two other women and filled them with the false spirit, so that they too spoke in a frenzy, at the wrong times and in strange ways, like the man mentioned before. The spirit called blessed those who rejoiced in him and were puffed up over him, and he swelled them with the greatness of his promises. Yet at times he condemned them outright, plausibly and in a way that seemed trustworthy, so as to look like a reprover. (Those of the Phrygians who were deceived were few.) But the arrogant spirit taught them to slander the whole church under heaven, because the spirit of false prophecy received neither honor nor entrance into it.

HE 5. 16.10-12  “The believers throughout Asia met often, in many places across Asia, to look into this matter. They examined the recent utterances, declared them profane, and rejected the heresy. In this way these people were driven out of the Church and shut out from fellowship.” Having recorded these things at the beginning, and having carried his refutation of their error through the whole work, the writer says this in his second book about the end of those just mentioned: “They called us killers of the prophets because we would not accept their wild-talking prophets. (These, they say, are the ones the Lord promised to send to his people.) So let them answer us before God: my good friends, is there a single one of these, from Montanus and the women onward, who began to speak and was persecuted by the Jews or put to death by lawless men? Not one. Was any of them arrested for the Name and crucified? Certainly not. Was any of the women ever flogged in the Jewish synagogues, or stoned? Never, nowhere.
   [Scripture] Matthew 23:34

HE 5. 16.13-14  Montanus and Maximilla are said to have died by a different kind of death. The story is that the spirit of mischief stirred up each of them to hang himself or herself. They did not die together, but each at the time that common report gives for each death. In this way they died and ended their lives, like Judas the traitor. In the same way, a widespread story says that Theodotus, that remarkable man who was the first, so to speak, to be steward of their so-called prophecy, was at one time lifted up and taken into heaven. He fell into a trance and entrusted himself to the spirit of deceit, and was thrown down like a quoit (a discus), and died miserably.

HE 5. 16.15-17  “So they say these things happened this way. But we do not think we know anything of the kind without having seen it, my friend. Perhaps they died this way, and perhaps not: Montanus, Theodotus, and the woman mentioned above.” Again in the same work he says that the holy bishops of that time tried to expose the spirit in Maximilla, but were stopped by others who were clearly working along with that spirit. He writes: “Let not the spirit that spoke through Maximilla, in the same work against Asterius Urbanus, say, ‘I am being driven like a wolf from the sheep. I am not a wolf. I am word and spirit and power.’ Instead let him show the power in the spirit plainly and prove it. Let him use the spirit to force a confession from those who were present then to test the speaking spirit and talk with it: Zoticus from the village of Comana and Julian from Apamea, men of proven character and bishops. The followers of Themiso shut their mouths, and would not let them expose the false spirit that led the people astray.”
   [Translator’s note] The phrase “the work against Asterius Urbanus” is obscure in the Greek. Asterius Urbanus is otherwise unknown, and the text may be corrupt.

HE 5. 16.18-19  In the same work, after saying other things in refutation of Maximilla’s false prophecies, he also indicates the time when he was writing. He mentions her predictions of wars and disorders, and exposes their falsehood like this: “And hasn’t this lie also become obvious by now? It is more than thirteen years to this very day since the woman died, and there has been no war, either local or worldwide. On the contrary, even for Christians there has been lasting peace, by God’s mercy.” These things are from the second book.

HE 5. 16.20-21  I will also add a few short passages from the third book. There he answers those who boasted that even more of their people had been martyred. He says: “So when they are refuted on everything that has been said and have no answer, they try to take refuge in their martyrs. They say they have many martyrs, and that this is reliable proof of the power of what they call the prophetic spirit among them. But this, it seems, is anything but true. For some other heresies also have a great many martyrs, and surely we will not agree with them for that reason, or admit that they have the truth. First of all, the Marcionites, as they are called, from the heresy of Marcion, say they have a great number of martyrs for Christ. Yet they do not truly confess Christ himself.” And after a few lines he continues:

HE 5. 16.22  For this reason, whenever people from the Church are called to martyrdom for the faith of the truth and happen to meet some of the so-called martyrs of the Phrygian heresy, they quarrel with them. They die without having fellowship with them, because they do not want to agree with the spirit that works through Montanus and the women. That this is true, and that it happened in our own time at Apamea on the Maeander, is plain from the case of those who were martyred with Gaius and Alexander of Eumeneia.
   [Translator’s note] “They are perfected” (τελειοῦνται) is an early Christian way of saying they died as martyrs.


CHAPTER 17

HE 5. 17.1-2  In this work he also mentions a writer, Miltiades, who wrote a discourse of his own against the heresy mentioned above. After quoting some of their words, he adds: “I found these things in a writing of theirs which attacks the writing of Miltiades, our brother. In that writing Miltiades shows that a prophet ought not to speak in ecstasy. I have made an abridgment of it.” A little further on, the writer lists those who prophesied under the new covenant, and among them he counts a certain Ammia and Quadratus. He says: “But the false prophet speaks in a frenzy, which is followed by lack of restraint and lack of fear. It begins with voluntary ignorance and ends in involuntary madness of soul, as was said before.”
   [Translator’s note] The Greek spells the name Kodratos, which is the Greek form of the name Quadratus.

HE 5. 17.3-4  “In this way they will not be able to show that any prophet, whether of the old covenant or the new, was inspired by the Spirit. They cannot point to Agabus, or Judas, or Silas, or the daughters of Philip, or Ammia in Philadelphia, or Quadratus. Nor will they boast of any others who have nothing to do with them.” And again, a little later, he says: “If the women around Montanus received the prophetic gift after Quadratus and Ammia in Philadelphia, as they claim, let them show which of their people succeeded the followers of Montanus and the women. For the apostle holds that the prophetic gift must be in the whole Church until the final coming. But they cannot show it, though this is now about the fourteenth year since the death of Maximilla.”
   [Scripture] Acts 21:9; Acts 11:28; Acts 15:32

HE 5. 17.5  So much for him. But the Miltiades he refers to has left other memorials of his own zeal for the divine oracles. He wrote discourses against the Greeks and against the Jews, answering each group separately in two books. He also composed a defense, addressed to the worldly rulers, on behalf of the philosophy he followed.
   [Translator’s note] “Philosophy” here means the Christian faith, which early Christian writers often called “our philosophy.”


CHAPTER 18

HE 5. 18.1-2  Apollonius, another writer of the Church, also took up the refutation of the so-called Phrygian heresy. It was still flourishing in Phrygia at that time. He wrote a separate work against it, correcting their circulating prophecies word by word and showing them to be false. He also exposed what kind of life the founders of the heresy had lived. Hear his own words about Montanus: “But who this new teacher is, his works and his teaching show. This is the man who taught the dissolving of marriages. He made laws about fasting. He named Pepuza and Tymion, which are small towns of Phrygia, ‘Jerusalem,’ wanting to gather people there from everywhere. He appointed collectors of money. He cleverly arranged for the taking of gifts under the name of offerings. He supplied salaries to those who preach his message, so that the teaching of his message might grow strong through gluttony.”

HE 5. 18.3-5  So much about Montanus. A little further on he writes this about his prophetesses: “We show, then, that these very first prophetesses left their husbands from the moment they were filled with the Spirit. How then do they lie when they call Prisca a virgin?” Then he adds: “Does Scripture seem to you to forbid a prophet to take gifts and money? So when I see the prophetess has taken gold and silver and costly clothing, how can I not reject her?” Again, a little further on, he says this about one of their confessors: “Then there is Themison, who was dressed in a trustworthy-looking greed. He did not bear the mark of his confession. Instead he laid aside his chains for a large sum of money. He should have been humbled by this, but he dared to boast as a martyr. In imitation of the apostle he composed a letter addressed to the whole Church. In it he instructed people whose faith was better than his own, joined the fight for words of empty sound, and blasphemed against the Lord, the apostles and the holy Church.”
   [Translator’s note] In the Greek the verb after “to instruct” is damaged, and the sense “to join the fight for” is supplied from the context. The older translation reads it as “contending for.” Apollonius speaks ironically of Themison’s “trustworthy” greed.

HE 5. 18.6-7  Eusebius goes on, writing of others whom they honor as martyrs: “I will not speak of many. Let the prophetess herself tell us about Alexander, who calls himself a martyr. She feasts with him, and many people bow down to him. We need not tell of his robberies and the other crimes for which he was punished, because the archive holds the record of them. So who forgives whose sins? Does the prophet forgive the martyr’s robberies, or the martyr forgive the prophet’s greed? The Lord said, ‘Do not acquire gold or silver or two tunics.’ These people have done the complete opposite and have sinned by owning the very things that were forbidden. For we will show that those they call prophets and martyrs take in money, coin by coin, not only from the rich but also from the poor, from orphans, and from widows.
   [Translator’s note] “The archive” translates the Greek opisthodomos, the rear chamber of a temple, used to store treasure and records. The Lord’s saying is close to Matthew 10:9-10.
   [Scripture] Matthew 10:9-10

HE 5. 18.8-9  “If they are confident, let them stand their ground and settle this with us. Then, if they are proved wrong, they may at least stop sinning from now on. For the fruits of a prophet must be tested, because a tree is known by its fruit. But so that anyone who wishes may know about Alexander: he was tried by Aemilius Frontinus, the proconsul at Ephesus. It was not because of the Name but because of the robberies he had dared to commit, and he was already a transgressor. Later he lied by claiming the name of the Lord, and he was released, having deceived the believers there. His own church community, where he came from, would not take him in, because he was a robber. Those who want to learn about him can consult the public archive of Asia.
   [Scripture] Matthew 7:16-20; Matthew 12:33

HE 5. 18.10-11  “Yet the prophet lived with this man for many years and does not know him! By exposing him, we also expose the true nature of the prophet. We could show the same thing in many other cases, and if they are bold enough, let them submit to the test.” Again, in another part of his work, Apollonius says this about the prophets they boast of: “If they deny that their prophets have received gifts, let them agree to this: if it is proved that they did receive them, they are not prophets. We will bring ten thousand proofs of it. But all the fruits of a prophet must be tested. Tell me, does a prophet dye himself? Does a prophet paint his eyelids? Does a prophet love finery? Does a prophet play board games and dice? Does a prophet lend at interest? Let them say whether these things are permitted or not. I will show that they have happened among them.”
   [Translator’s note] Greek βάπτεται means “dyes himself” and names no object, though hair is implied. δανείζει means simply “lends”, and interest is probably implied. ὑπόστασις means “substance” or “real nature”, here the real character of the prophet.

HE 5. 18.12-13  In the same work, Apollonius also records that it was the fortieth year since Montanus had begun his pretended prophecy, counting to the time he was writing. He says again that Zoticus, whom the earlier writer also mentioned, came forward at Pepuza while Maximilla was pretending to prophesy. Zoticus tried to test and refute the spirit working in her, but those who sided with her stopped him. Apollonius also mentions a certain Thraseas, one of the martyrs of that time.
   [Translator’s note] “The earlier writer” is the anonymous author Eusebius quoted earlier in this book.

HE 5. 18.14  He also says, as something handed down by tradition, that the Savior commanded his apostles not to leave Jerusalem for twelve years. He uses testimonies from John’s Revelation, too, and he reports that John himself raised a dead man at Ephesus by divine power. He adds other things by which he fully and thoroughly set right the error of the heresy I have described. That is what Apollonius says.


CHAPTER 19

HE 5. 19.1-2  Serapion mentions the writings of Apolinarius against this heresy. Report has it that Serapion became bishop of the church of Antioch after Maximinus, in the period I am describing. He refers to Apolinarius in a private letter to Caricus and Pontius, in which he himself also refutes this same heresy. He adds these words: “So that you may also see that the working of this false order, which calls itself the New Prophecy, is detested by the whole brotherhood throughout the world, I have sent you the writings of Claudius Apolinarius, the most blessed man who was bishop of Hierapolis in Asia.”

HE 5. 19.3-4  In this letter of Serapion there are also signed notes from various bishops. One signs this way: “I, Aurelius Cyrenius, martyr, pray that you are well.” Another signs like this: “I, Aelius Publius Julius, bishop from Debeltum, a colony of Thrace. As God lives in the heavens, the blessed Sotas at Anchialus wished to drive out the demon of Priscilla, and the hypocrites would not let him.” In the same letter there are also signatures, in their own handwriting, of many other bishops who agreed with these. That is how matters stood with these people.
   [Translator’s note] “Martyr” (Greek “martys”) can also mean “witness.” Here it probably describes someone who had suffered for the faith, but this is uncertain. Priscilla is the same prophetess called Prisca in 5.18.3.


CHAPTER 20

HE 5. 20.1  Irenaeus also wrote several letters against those at Rome who were corrupting the sound order of the Church. One he addressed to Blastus, On Schism. Another he addressed to Florinus, On Monarchy, or That God Is Not the Maker of Evils, since Florinus seemed to be defending that opinion. Florinus was later drawn away into the error of Valentinus, and because of him Irenaeus also wrote his work On the Ogdoad. In it he points out that he himself had reached the first generation after the apostles.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek verb paracharattō literally means to alter the stamp on a coin, and so to counterfeit or debase. It is a strong word for corrupting the Church’s order.

HE 5. 20.2  Near the end of that work we found a most charming note by Irenaeus, and we must include it here. It reads: “I adjure you who will copy this book, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by his glorious coming, when he comes to judge the living and the dead: compare what you have copied, and correct it carefully against the manuscript you copied from. Copy this oath as well, and put it in your copy.”
   [Scripture] 2 Timothy 4:1; 1 Peter 4:5

HE 5. 20.3-4  Let these words of his be useful to us, and let us record them, so that we may have those ancient and truly holy men as an excellent example of the most earnest care. In the letter to Florinus that we mentioned, Irenaeus again recalls his time with Polycarp, saying: “These teachings, Florinus, to put it with restraint, are not of sound judgment. These teachings are out of harmony with the Church, and throw those who believe them into the greatest ungodliness. Not even the heretics outside the Church have ever dared to put forward these teachings. These teachings were not handed down to you by the presbyters before us, who had also studied together with the apostles.
   [Translator’s note] “Studied together with” (sumphoitēsantes) literally means “attended school with,” a stronger word than “were companions of.”

HE 5. 20.5-6  “For I saw you when I was still a boy, in lower Asia, with Polycarp. You were doing splendidly in the royal court and trying to win his good opinion. I remember the events of those days better than those of recent years. What we learn as children grows with the soul and becomes one with it. So I can tell you the very place where blessed Polycarp sat when he talked, and his comings and goings, his manner of life, his physical appearance, and the talks he gave to the crowds. I can tell how he described his dealings with John and with the others who had seen the Lord, how he recalled their words, and what he had heard from them about the Lord, about his miracles and his teaching. Polycarp had received it all from eyewitnesses of the life of the Word, and he reported everything in agreement with the Scriptures.
   [Scripture] 1 John 1:1; Luke 1:2

HE 5. 20.7  “By God’s mercy to me, I listened eagerly to these things even then. I wrote them down not on paper but in my heart, and by God’s grace I continually go over them again, faithfully. I can testify before God that if that blessed apostolic presbyter had heard anything of this kind, he would have cried out, stopped his ears, and said as he usually did, ‘O good God, to what times have you kept me, that I should put up with this!’ And he would have fled from the very place where he had been sitting or standing when he heard such words.

HE 5. 20.8  “This can also be shown from the letters he sent, either to the neighboring churches to strengthen them, or to some of the brothers to warn and encourage them.” So says Irenaeus.


CHAPTER 21

HE 5. 21.1  About the same time, in the reign of Commodus, our circumstances changed for the gentler. By God’s grace, peace came over the churches throughout the whole world. The saving Word was then bringing souls from every race of people to the devout worship of the God of the universe. So now many at Rome who were very prominent in wealth and family were turning, with their whole households and relatives, toward their own salvation.

HE 5. 21.2-3  But the demon who hates what is good, and is envious by nature, could not bear this. He stripped for the contest again and devised various schemes against us. In the city of Rome he had Apollonius brought to court. Apollonius was a believer of that time, famous for his education and philosophy. The demon did this by stirring up one of his servants who was suited to such work to accuse him. But the wretched man had come to the trial at the wrong time. An imperial decree said that informers against such people were not allowed to live, so his legs were broken at once, the judge Perennius having given that sentence against him.

HE 5. 21.4-5  The martyr, who was deeply loved by God, was earnestly urged by the judge and asked to give an account of himself before the Senate. Before them all he gave a most eloquent defense of the faith for which he was bearing witness. Then, as though by decree of the Senate, he was put to death by beheading. An ancient law among them held that those who had once appeared before the court and in no way changed their purpose were never to be released. Anyone who wants to know his words before the judge, his answers to the questions of Perennius, and his whole defense before the Senate will find them in the account of the ancient martyrdoms that we have collected.


CHAPTER 22

HE 5. 22.1  In the tenth year of the reign of Commodus, Victor succeeded Eleutherus, who had served as bishop for thirteen years. In the same year Julian completed his tenth year over the churches of Alexandria, and Demetrius was entrusted with them. At this time Serapion, whom I have already mentioned, the eighth bishop of the church of Antioch from the apostles, was still well known. Theophilus led the church at Caesarea in Palestine. Narcissus, whom my account has also mentioned before, still held his office in the church at Jerusalem. About the same time Bacchylus was bishop of Corinth in Greece, and Polycrates of the church at Ephesus. As one would expect, countless others were also prominent in those days. But I have listed by name only those whose written statement of the orthodox faith has come down to us.


CHAPTER 23

HE 5. 23.1  No small controversy arose at this time. All the churches of Asia, following what they took to be an older tradition, thought they should keep the fourteenth day of the moon for the feast of the Saviour’s Passover. This was the day on which the Jews had been told to sacrifice the lamb. They held that, whatever day of the week it fell on, they must end their fast on that day. But the churches in the rest of the world did not have this custom. They kept the practice that has prevailed to this day by apostolic tradition, that the fast should end on no day other than the day of our Saviour’s resurrection.

HE 5. 23.2-3  Synods and gatherings of bishops were held on this matter. With one mind they all set out, in letters, a decision for the church everywhere: that the mystery of the Lord’s resurrection from the dead should be celebrated on no day other than the Lord’s day, and that on that day alone we should end the Passover fasts. A writing is still in circulation from those who then met in Palestine, over whom Theophilus, bishop of the church at Caesarea, and Narcissus, bishop of Jerusalem, presided. There is likewise another from those at Rome on the same question, which names Victor as bishop. There is one from the bishops in Pontus, over whom Palmas presided as the eldest, and one from the churches in Gaul, over which Irenaeus was bishop.

HE 5. 23.4  There is also one from the bishops of Osrhoene and its cities, and a personal letter from Bacchylus, bishop of the church of Corinth, along with very many others. They all expressed one and the same opinion and judgment, and cast the same vote. Their decision was a single one, as I have stated.


CHAPTER 24

HE 5. 24.1-2  The bishops of Asia insisted that they must keep the custom handed down to them long before. Polycrates led them. In the letter he wrote to Victor and the church of Rome, he set out the tradition that had come down to him in these words: “We, then, keep the day without tampering, neither adding nor taking away. For great lights have fallen asleep in Asia too, and they will rise on the day of the Lord’s coming, when he comes with glory from heaven and will raise all the saints. They include Philip, one of the twelve apostles, who has fallen asleep in Hierapolis, and his two daughters, who grew old as virgins. His other daughter lived her life in the Holy Spirit and rests at Ephesus.

HE 5. 24.3-5  “And there is also John, who leaned back on the Lord’s chest, who became a priest wearing the priestly plate, and was a witness and a teacher. He has fallen asleep at Ephesus. There is also Polycarp at Smyrna, both bishop and martyr, and Thraseas, bishop and martyr from Eumeneia, who has fallen asleep in Smyrna. Why should I mention Sagaris, bishop and martyr, who has fallen asleep in Laodicea? Or the blessed Papirius, or Melito the eunuch, who lived his whole life in the Holy Spirit? He lies in Sardis, waiting for the visitation from heaven, when he will rise from the dead.”
   [Translator’s note] “The priestly plate” was the gold plate (petalon) worn on the forehead of the Jewish high priest (see Exodus 28:36). Polycrates uses it as a figure for John’s standing. “Visitation” translates the Greek episkopē, which can also mean “oversight” or “the office of bishop.” The Greek text at “Thraseas... from” is damaged, and “Eumeneia” is the usual reading.
   [Scripture] John 13:25; John 21:20; Exodus 28:36

HE 5. 24.6-7  “All these men kept the fourteenth day of the Passover according to the Gospel. They did not depart from it in any way, but followed the rule of faith. I too, Polycrates, the least of you all, follow the tradition of my relatives, some of whom I have closely followed. Seven of my relatives were bishops, and I am the eighth. My relatives always kept the day when the people put away the leaven. So, brothers, I have been sixty-five years in the Lord. I have conferred with the brothers from all over the world, and I have read through all of Holy Scripture. I am not frightened by those who try to intimidate us. For those greater than I have said, ‘We must obey God rather than men.’”
   [Translator’s note] The last words echo Acts 5:29. The Greek text of this passage is damaged in places. The verb in “my relatives always [kept] the day” is missing in the manuscripts and is supplied from the sense.
   [Scripture] Acts 5:29

HE 5. 24.8-9  Then, writing about all the bishops who were with him and shared his view, he adds: “I could mention the bishops who were present, whom you asked me to summon, and I did summon them. If I wrote down their names, they would be a great crowd. They saw how insignificant I am, yet they agreed with this letter. They knew that I have not worn gray hair for nothing, but have always lived my life in the Lord Jesus.” At this, Victor, who led the church of Rome, tried to cut off at one stroke the churches of all Asia, together with the neighboring churches, from the common unity, on the ground that they held wrong teaching. He denounced them in letters and proclaimed that all the brothers there were completely excommunicated.

HE 5. 24.10-11  But not all the bishops agreed with this. They urged him in return to think of peace, and of unity and love toward their neighbors. Their words are still preserved, and they rebuke Victor rather sharply. Among them was Irenaeus. He wrote in the name of the brothers in Gaul whom he led. He held that the mystery of the Lord’s resurrection should be celebrated only on the Lord’s day. But he also gave Victor much fitting advice: he should not cut off whole churches of God that kept a tradition of ancient custom. Among other things he wrote the following, in these very words:

HE 5. 24.12-13  “For the dispute is not only about the day, but also about the manner of the fast itself. Some think they should fast one day, some two, some more. Others count their ‘day’ as forty hours, day and night together. This variety among those who keep the fast did not begin in our time. It goes back long before us, to our forefathers. They probably did not hold strictly to accuracy, and in their simplicity and plain way they formed a custom and passed it on to later generations. Yet all of these lived in peace, and we also live in peace with one another. The difference over the fast only confirms our agreement in the faith.”

HE 5. 24.14-15  Irenaeus adds to this an account, which I will quote here because it fits. It goes as follows: “The presbyters before Soter, who led the church which you now lead, kept it up in the same way. I mean Anicetus, Pius, Hyginus, Telesphorus and Xystus. They did not keep the custom themselves, and they did not allow those with them to keep it. Even so, they were at peace with people from the parishes where it was kept, when these came to them. Yet keeping it was more offensive to those who did not keep it. Nobody was ever rejected for this reason. On the contrary, the presbyters before you, though they did not keep it, sent the Eucharist to those from the parishes that did keep it.”
   [Translator’s note] “Eucharist” here refers to the consecrated bread of the Lord’s Supper, which the Roman presbyters sent to other churches. Sending it was understood as a sign of fellowship between the churches.

HE 5. 24.16  “When the blessed Polycarp was staying in Rome in the time of Anicetus, they had some small disagreements about other matters. They made peace at once, and did not quarrel over this point. Anicetus could not persuade Polycarp not to keep it, since Polycarp had always kept it with John the disciple of our Lord and with the other apostles with whom he had lived. Nor did Polycarp persuade Anicetus to keep it. Anicetus said he had to hold to the custom of the presbyters before him.”

HE 5. 24.17-18  “This was how matters stood, and still they stayed in communion with each other. In the church Anicetus gave place to Polycarp to celebrate the Eucharist, plainly out of respect. They parted from each other in peace. The whole church was at peace, both those who kept the custom and those who did not.” So Irenaeus, who lived up to his name (“peaceful”) and was a peacemaker in character, made such appeals and acted as an envoy for the peace of the churches. He wrote letters about the controversy that had arisen, not only to Victor but also to many other leaders of churches, saying what suited each case.
   [Translator’s note] Irenaeus’s name comes from the Greek word for “peace” (eirēnē).


CHAPTER 25

HE 5. 25.1  The bishops in Palestine whom we have just discussed were Narcissus and Theophilus, and with them Cassius, bishop of the church at Tyre, and Clarus, bishop of the church at Ptolemais, together with those who met with them. They set out at great length the tradition about the passover that had come down to them in succession from the apostles. Near the end of their writing they add these words: “Try to send copies of our letter to every church, so that we may not be guilty before those who so easily mislead their own souls. We also let you know that in Alexandria they keep the passover on the same day that we do. Letters are carried from us to them and from them to us, so that we keep the holy day in agreement and together.”


CHAPTER 26

HE 5. 26.1  Besides the writings and letters of Irenaeus already mentioned, there is also a very short and extremely necessary work of his, entitled *On Knowledge*. There is another that he dedicated to a brother named Marcianus, *Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching*. There is also a book of various discourses, in which he mentions the Epistle to the Hebrews and the so-called Wisdom of Solomon, quoting some passages from them. That is all of Irenaeus’s works that have come to our knowledge. Commodus ended his reign after thirteen years. Severus then became emperor, less than six months after Commodus’s death, with Pertinax having ruled in the meantime.


CHAPTER 27

HE 5. 27.1  Many memoirs of the ancient churchmen of that time, written with virtuous zeal, are still preserved by many people. Of those we have examined ourselves, there are the works of Heraclitus on the Apostle, and of Maximus on the question much talked about among the heretics, where evil comes from, and on whether matter was created. There are also the works of Candidus on the Six Days of creation, and of Apion on the same subject; likewise of Sextus on the resurrection, another treatise by Arabianus, and the writings of countless others. Because we have nothing to go on for them, we cannot record when they lived or say anything of their history. Writings of very many others have also come down to us, whose names we cannot even list. They are orthodox and churchly, as each one’s interpretation of the divine Scripture shows, but they are unknown to us, because the writings do not carry the names of their authors.


CHAPTER 28

HE 5. 28.1-3  In one of these works, a serious labor written against the heresy of Artemon, which Paul of Samosata in our own day has tried to revive, there is an account that bears on the history we are examining. The writer was correcting this heresy, which says that the Saviour was a mere man and which had been introduced as a novelty not long before, since its promoters wanted to dignify it as ancient. Besides many other arguments refuting their blasphemous lie, he reports the following, in these words: “They say that all the earlier teachers, and the apostles themselves, received and taught what they now say, and that the truth of the preaching was preserved until the times of Victor, who was the thirteenth bishop in Rome from Peter, but that from his successor Zephyrinus the truth was falsified.

HE 5. 28.4-5  “What they say might perhaps be convincing, if first of all the divine Scriptures did not stand against them. There are also writings of certain brothers older than the time of Victor, which they wrote to the nations in defense of the truth and against the heresies of their day. I mean Justin, Miltiades, Tatian, Clement, and many others, in all of whom Christ is spoken of as God. For who does not know the books of Irenaeus and Melito and the rest, which proclaim Christ as God and man? And all the psalms and hymns written by believing brothers from the beginning sing of Christ as the Word of God, speaking of him as God.

HE 5. 28.6  “Since the church’s teaching has been proclaimed for so many years, how could those before Victor have preached as these men claim? And how are they not ashamed to tell such lies about Victor? They know perfectly well that Victor excommunicated Theodotus the cobbler, the leader and father of this God-denying apostasy, who was the first to say that Christ was a mere man. For if Victor held the views that their blasphemous teaching holds, as they claim, how could he have thrown out Theodotus, the inventor of this heresy?” So much for what was said about Victor.

HE 5. 28.7-8  Victor served in this office for ten years. Zephyrinus was then appointed his successor, about the ninth year of the reign of Severus. The author of the book mentioned above, written about the originator of this heresy, adds another event that happened in Zephyrinus’s time. He writes, in these words: “I will remind many of the brethren of something that happened in our own day. I think that if it had happened in Sodom, it might perhaps have warned even the Sodomites. There was a certain confessor, Natalius, who lived not long ago but in our own times.
   [Translator’s note] A “confessor” was a believer who had openly confessed Christ under persecution and suffered for it, but had not been put to death. Severus became emperor in 193, so his ninth year is about AD 201–202.
   [Scripture] Matthew 11:23

HE 5. 28.9-11  “Once he was deceived by Asclepiodotus and another Theodotus, a banker. Both were disciples of Theodotus the cobbler, who, as I said, was the first to be cut off from communion by Victor, the bishop at that time, because of this way of thinking, or rather this senselessness. Natalius was persuaded by them to be chosen bishop of this heresy, for a salary: he was to receive from them one hundred and fifty denarii a month. While he was with them, he was often warned by the Lord in visions. For our compassionate God and Lord Jesus Christ did not want a witness of his own sufferings to perish by living outside the church.

HE 5. 28.12  “But Natalius paid too little attention to the visions. He was lured by the place of honor among them, the first seat, and by the shameful love of gain that destroys so many. In the end he was whipped by holy angels, and was badly beaten through the whole night. So at daybreak he got up, put on sackcloth, scattered ashes over himself, and with great haste and tears threw himself down before Zephyrinus the bishop. He rolled at the feet not only of the clergy but of the laity too, and moved the compassionate church of the merciful Christ to tears. He pleaded long, and showed the welts from the blows he had received, and only with difficulty was he restored to communion.”

HE 5. 28.13-14  Let us add to these some other words of the same writer about these people, which run as follows: “They have fearlessly tampered with the divine Scriptures. They have rejected the rule of the ancient faith, and they have not known Christ. They do not ask what the divine Scriptures say. Instead they labor eagerly to find some form of reasoning that will support their godlessness. And if someone sets before them a passage of divine Scripture, they examine whether it can be made into a conditional or a disjunctive form of syllogism. They abandon the holy Scriptures of God and take up geometry, as men who are from the earth and speak from the earth, and who do not know the one who comes from above. Indeed, among some of them Euclid is studied with great zeal, Aristotle and Theophrastus are admired, and Galen, perhaps, is even worshiped by some.
   [Scripture] John 3:31

HE 5. 28.15-16  “But as for those who make use of the arts of unbelievers to support their heretical opinion, and who peddle the plain faith of the divine Scriptures by the cunning of the godless, what need is there to say that they are not even near the faith? For this reason they have fearlessly laid hands on the divine Scriptures, claiming that they have corrected them. I am not slandering them in saying this, and anyone who wishes can find out. If someone collects the copies of each of them and compares them with one another, he will find them differing greatly. The copies of Asclepiades, for example, will not agree with those of Theodotus.
   [Translator’s note] Eusebius is quoting an anonymous earlier writer. “Peddle” translates a word for retail trading, often with the sense of adulterating goods for sale.

HE 5. 28.17-18  “There are plenty of these to be had, because their disciples have eagerly copied out what each of them has “corrected,” as they call it, which is really what he has destroyed. Again, the copies of Hermophilus do not agree with these. As for those of Apollonides, they are not even consistent with themselves. You can compare the copies they first prepared with those they later twisted again, and you will find them very different. They cannot fail to know how bold a sin this is. Either they believe that the divine Scriptures were spoken by the Holy Spirit, and then they are unbelievers; or they consider themselves wiser than the Holy Spirit, and then what else are they but demon-possessed? They cannot deny that the daring deed is their own, since the copies are written in their own hand. They did not receive such Scriptures from those who taught them the faith, and they cannot show any copies from which they transcribed them.

HE 5. 28.19  “Some of them have not even thought it worth the trouble to falsify the Scriptures. They simply reject the law and the prophets. Under the pretext of grace, they teach a lawless and godless doctrine, and have slid down to the lowest depth of destruction.” Let this account suffice.


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BOOK 6
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CHAPTER 1

HE 6. 1.1  When Severus began to persecute the churches, brilliant martyrdoms for the sake of true religion took place everywhere. They were most numerous in Alexandria. The finest of God’s champions from Egypt and the whole Thebaid were sent there, as to a vast arena, and by their steadfast endurance of every kind of torture and death they won the crowns laid up with God. Among them was Leonides, who is called the father of Origen. He was beheaded and left his son still very young. It is not out of place to describe briefly how devoted this son was to the divine Word from that time on, since his fame is so widely spoken of.
   [Translator’s note] “Athletes” and “arena” are the author’s sporting images for martyrs and the place of their contest. The Thebaid is the region of Upper Egypt.


CHAPTER 2

HE 6. 2.1-2  Someone trying to give a full account of this man’s life could say a great deal, and a work about him would need a book of its own. For now, though, I will leave out most of it and relate a few facts as briefly as I can. I take them from certain letters and from the reports of his acquaintances who are still alive in our own time. Even Origen’s earliest years, from his swaddling clothes, seem to me worth recording. It was the tenth year of Severus’s reign. Laetus governed Alexandria and the rest of Egypt, and Demetrius had recently taken over the oversight of the churches there, after Julian.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek word paroikiai here means the Christian communities (churches) of Alexandria and its area. Eusebius dates this to Severus’s tenth year, about AD 202.

HE 6. 2.3-4  The fire of persecution was now blazing fiercely, and countless people were winning the crown of martyrdom. Origen was still only a boy, yet such a longing for martyrdom took hold of his soul that he wanted to meet the dangers head on. He was eager to leap forward and rush into the contest. In fact, the end of his life would have been very near, had not the divine and heavenly providence, for the benefit of many, stood in the way of his eagerness through his mother.

HE 6. 2.5-6  At first she pleaded with him in words and begged him to have pity on a mother’s feelings. But he learned that his father had been arrested and was being held in prison, and he gave himself wholly to his drive toward martyrdom. When she saw how much more intense he had become, she hid all his clothes and forced him to stay at home. Since there was nothing else he could do, and his zeal was too great for his years to let him stay quiet, he sent his father an urgently encouraging letter about martyrdom. In it he urged him, in these exact words: “Hold firm, and do not change your mind on our account.” Let this be written down as the first proof of Origen’s boyhood sharpness of mind and of his thoroughly genuine devotion to God.

HE 6. 2.7-9  Already he had laid no small foundations in the teachings of the faith, since he had been trained in the divine Scriptures from childhood. In fact he had worked hard at them, for besides the usual general education, his father had taken no casual interest in this study. Before any training in Greek subjects, he urged him above all to practice in the sacred studies, and each day he required him to memorize passages and recite them. The boy did this willingly, and he worked at it with great eagerness. The plain and obvious reading of the sacred words was not enough for him. Even then he wanted something more and was already probing for deeper insight. He even gave his father trouble by asking what the meaning of the God-inspired Scripture really was.
   [Scripture] 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Timothy 3:15

HE 6. 2.10-11  His father, to all appearances, scolded him. He told him not to look for anything beyond his age or beyond the obvious meaning. But privately he was filled with joy, and he gave great thanks to God, the cause of all good things, for counting him worthy to be the father of such a child. They say that he often stood over the boy as he slept, uncovered his chest as though a divine Spirit were dedicated within it, kissed it reverently, and counted himself blessed in his fine child. These and other similar things are recorded of Origen as a boy.

HE 6. 2.12-13  When his father was made perfect by martyrdom, Origen was left alone with his mother and six younger brothers. He was not yet seventeen years old. The father’s property was seized for the imperial treasury, and Origen and his family were left without the necessities of life. But he was counted worthy of God’s care. He found a welcome and a place of rest with a very wealthy woman, who was distinguished in other ways too. She was looking after a man who was notorious among the heretics then in Alexandria. He was an Antiochene by birth. The woman kept him with her as an adopted son and treated him with the very greatest honor.

HE 6. 2.14-15  Origen, though obliged to be in the same house with this man, gave clear proof of his orthodoxy in the faith. A huge crowd gathered at Paul’s house (this was the man’s name), because he seemed to have great ability in speech. They were not only heretics but also our own people. Yet Origen could never be induced to join him in prayer. From boyhood he kept the rule of the Church, and he loathed the teachings of the heresies, as he himself says somewhere in those very words. His father had advanced him in Greek studies. After his father’s death he threw himself more eagerly into the study of letters, so that he had no small preparation in literature. Not long after his father’s death he gave himself to this work, and for a young man of his age he was amply supplied with what he needed.
   [Translator’s note] “Rule of the Church” (kanōn tēs ekklēsias) means the settled body of belief the Church held and taught. The Greek word for the studies he took up is grammatika, which covers literature and language study in general.


CHAPTER 3

HE 6. 3.1-2  While he was busy with his teaching (as he himself tells us somewhere in writing), no one in Alexandria was giving instruction to new believers, because all had been driven away by the threat of persecution. Some of the Gentiles came to him to hear the word of God. He notes that the first of these was Plutarch, who lived well and was then adorned with a divine martyrdom. The second was Heraclas, Plutarch’s brother. He also gave abundant proof, under Origen’s teaching, of a philosophic and disciplined life. After Demetrius he was counted worthy of the bishopric of Alexandria.

HE 6. 3.3-4  Origen was in his eighteenth year when he took charge of the school for catechumens. During this time he also made progress, in the persecutions under Aquila, the governor of Alexandria. Then he won a very famous name among all who were of the faith, because of the welcome and eagerness he showed to all the holy martyrs, whether he knew them or not. He was with them not only when they were in chains, or while they were being examined up to the final sentence. Even after that, when the holy martyrs were led away to death, he spoke with great boldness and went right up to the danger. So he would boldly approach and greet the martyrs with a kiss, and often the Gentile mob around them, enraged, all but stoned him. Only because the hand of God was his helper did he escape, once and for all, in a marvelous way.

HE 6. 3.5-6  This same divine and heavenly grace guarded him again and again (it is impossible to say how many times) when plots were made against him in those days, because of his great zeal and boldness for the word of Christ. The unbelievers waged such a war against him that they gathered in bands and posted soldiers around the house where he was staying, because of the number of people being taught the sacred faith by him. Day by day the persecution against him blazed so fiercely that the whole city could no longer hold him. He moved from house to house and was driven out from every side, because of the crowds who came to the divine teaching through him. For his practical conduct also showed the right actions of true philosophy, and they were truly admirable.

HE 6. 3.7-8  They say that his conduct matched his teaching, and his teaching matched his conduct. For this reason especially, with divine power working along with him, he stirred up countless people to share his zeal. Then he saw more and more students coming. Demetrius, who presided over the church, had entrusted the work of instructing new believers to him alone. Origen judged that teaching literature did not fit with training in divine learning. So without delay he broke off his literature school, as useless and opposed to sacred studies.

HE 6. 3.9  After sound reflection, so that he would not depend on help from others, he sold all the copies of ancient literature he had once collected with such care and love. The buyer paid him four obols a day, and he lived on that. For many years he kept up this philosophic way of life and removed from himself every occasion for youthful desires. All day he took on no small labors of self-discipline. For most of the night he gave himself to the study of the divine Scriptures. He held as firmly as he could to a most philosophic manner of life. Sometimes he trained himself by fasting, and sometimes he strictly limited his hours of sleep. He was careful never to sleep on a bed, but on the ground.
   [Translator’s note] An obol was a small Greek coin, one-sixth of a drachma; four obols a day was a very meager income.

HE 6. 3.10-11  Above all, he thought he must keep the Saviour’s words in the Gospel. These urge us not to have two tunics or use sandals, and not to wear ourselves out with worry about the future. He showed zeal beyond his years. He endured cold and nakedness and pushed his poverty to the extreme, and this astonished those around him. He also grieved a great many people who longed to share their possessions with him, because they saw how hard he labored in teaching the divine message. But he did not give way in his endurance.
   [Translator’s note] Compare Matthew 10:9-10 (instructions to the Twelve: no two tunics, no sandals), Luke 10:4 (to the Seventy-two: no sandals), and Matthew 6:25-34 // Luke 12:22-31 on not worrying about tomorrow.
   [Scripture] Matthew 10:10; Matthew 6:34; Luke 9:3

HE 6. 3.12-13  It is said that for many years he walked on the bare ground and never wore any shoes. For a great many years he also went without wine and without any food beyond what was necessary. As a result he fell into danger of upsetting and ruining his chest. By giving those who watched him such examples of a philosophic life, he naturally stirred more of his students to the same zeal. Even among the unbelieving Gentiles, a good number of people of education and philosophy, and not just ordinary ones, were won over to his teaching. These people received faith in the divine Word through him, genuinely and deep in the soul. They became so distinguished in the persecution of that time that some of them were arrested and brought to completion in martyrdom.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek word thōrax means “chest” or “upper body,” so the danger described is to his chest or torso.


CHAPTER 4

HE 6. 4.1-3  The first of these was Plutarch, whom I mentioned a little earlier. As he was being led away to death, Origen, the man we are speaking of, stayed with him right to the end of his life. Because he seemed to be to blame for Plutarch’s death, he was almost killed once more by his fellow citizens. But again God’s purpose kept him safe. After Plutarch, the second of Origen’s students to be revealed as a martyr was Serenus. Through fire he gave proof of the faith he had received. The third martyr from the same school was Heraclides, and the fourth was Hero. The first of these was still a catechumen and the other had only recently been baptized. Both were beheaded. Then a fifth champion of godliness from the same school was proclaimed, another Serenus, different from the first. The account says he endured great torture and then was punished by beheading. Among the women, Herais, who was still a catechumen, received “the baptism through fire,” as Origen himself says somewhere, and so departed from life.
   [Translator’s note] A catechumen was a person still being instructed before baptism. “Baptism through fire” means martyrdom, which was regarded as a baptism for those not yet baptized with water.
   [Scripture] Luke 12:50; Mark 10:38


CHAPTER 5

HE 6. 5.1  Basilides should be counted the seventh among these. He was the man who led away the famous Potamiaena. Much is still said and sung about her among the people of that region. She fought off countless attempts by would-be lovers to defend the purity and virginity of her body, for which she was famous. The bloom of her body was in full flower along with that of her soul. She also endured countless sufferings for faith in Christ. Finally, after tortures terrible and dreadful to tell, she was put to death by fire together with her mother, Marcella.

HE 6. 5.2-3  They say that the judge, whose name was Aquila, inflicted harsh torments on her whole body. At last he threatened to hand her over to the gladiators to have her body abused. She thought it over for a moment. Then, when he asked her what she had decided, she gave an answer that seemed to them to be impious. As soon as she had spoken, she received the sentence. Basilides, one of the soldiers, took charge of her and led her away to death. The crowd tried to harass her and insult her with filthy words. But he held them back and drove off the abusers, showing her great pity and kindness. She welcomed his sympathy and told him to take courage. When she had departed, she said, she would ask her Lord on his behalf, and before long she would repay him for what he had done for her.

HE 6. 5.4-5  They say that after she had said this, she bravely went through with her death. Burning pitch was poured slowly, little by little, over different parts of her body, from the tips of her feet to the top of her head. Such was the contest endured by this much-praised young woman. Not long afterward Basilides was asked by his fellow soldiers to swear an oath for some reason. He insisted that he was not allowed to swear at all, for he was a Christian, and he said so openly. At first they thought he was joking. But when he stubbornly kept affirming it, he was taken to the judge. There he confessed his resolve and was handed over to be put in chains.

HE 6. 5.6  When the brethren in God came to him and asked the reason for this sudden and astonishing decision, he is said to have told them this: three days after her martyrdom, Potamiaena appeared to him at night and put a crown on his head. She said she had pleaded with the Lord on his behalf, that her request had been granted, and that before long she would take him to herself. After this the brethren gave him the seal of the Lord. The next day he bore a splendid witness to the Lord and was beheaded.
   [Translator’s note] “The seal of the Lord” here most likely means baptism, which the early church often called a “seal.”

HE 6. 5.7  Many others in Alexandria are also recorded to have come over to the word of Christ in great numbers at this time, because Potamiaena had appeared to them in their sleep and called them. But let that be enough on this subject.


CHAPTER 6

HE 6. 6.1  Clement succeeded Pantaenus and led the instruction of new believers in Alexandria up to that time, so that Origen was among his students. In the first book of his work the Stromata, Clement set out a table of dates and ended his reckoning with the death of Commodus. So it is clear that he worked on these writings in the time of Severus, whose reign this present account is recording.
   [Translator’s note] “Stromata” means “Miscellanies” or “Patchwork,” the title of Clement’s major work.


CHAPTER 7

HE 6. 7.1  At this time another writer, Judas, wrote about the weeks in Daniel and carried his chronology down to the tenth year of the reign of Severus. He also believed that the much-talked-about coming of the Antichrist was already near. So violently had the persecution then raging against us unsettled the minds of many.
   [Translator’s note] “The weeks in Daniel” refers to the “seventy weeks” of Daniel 9.


CHAPTER 8

HE 6. 8.1-2  At this time, while Origen was carrying on the work of instruction in Alexandria, he did something that showed an immature and youthful mind, yet also gave the greatest proof of faith and self-control. He took the words “there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven” in a very simple and youthful way. He thought he was fulfilling the Savior’s word. He also reasoned that, being young, he taught divine things not only to men but also to women, and he wanted to shut out every suspicion of shameful slander among unbelievers. So he set out to carry out the Savior’s saying in action, and he took care that most of his acquaintances would not find out.
   [Translator’s note] The saying is from Matthew 19:12. Eusebius presents the act as a youthful misreading of it.
   [Scripture] Matthew 19:12

HE 6. 8.3-4  But, even though he wished it, he could not keep so great a deed hidden. Demetrius, who presided over the community there, learned of it later. He greatly admired Origen’s boldness, and since he approved of his eagerness and the sincerity of his faith, he immediately told him to take courage and urged him to give himself even more to the work of instruction. That is how Demetrius was at that time. But not long afterward he saw Origen doing well, great, brilliant and famous among all, and he was moved by human feeling. He tried to write to the bishops throughout the world that what Origen had done was utterly improper. This was after the most respected and distinguished bishops in Palestine, those of Caesarea and Jerusalem, had judged Origen worthy of the highest honor and had laid hands on him for the presbyterate.

HE 6. 8.5-6  By then Origen had risen to great fame. His name was known to people everywhere, and he had won no small reputation for virtue and wisdom. Demetrius had no other charge to bring, so he made a terrible slander out of the deed Origen had done long before as a boy. He even dared to include in his accusations those who had advanced Origen to the presbyterate. But this happened a little later. At that time Origen, in Alexandria, carried on the work of teaching divine things without reserve to all who came to him, by night and by day. He gave all his time tirelessly to the study of divine lessons and to the students who came to him.

HE 6. 8.7  Severus ruled for eighteen years and was succeeded by his son Antoninus. During his reign Alexander, whom I mentioned a little earlier as bishop of the church in Jerusalem, was counted worthy of that office. He was one of those who had shown courage in the persecution and had been kept safe by God’s providence after the struggles of confession. He had stood out for his confessions for Christ, and he received the bishopric while Narcissus, his predecessor, was still alive.


CHAPTER 9

HE 6. 9.1-3  The people of that diocese recall many other marvels about Narcissus, handed down from the brothers who followed one another in succession. Among them they tell of this miracle done through him. They say that once, during the great all-night vigil of the Passover, the oil ran out for the deacons. The whole congregation was gripped by deep discouragement. Narcissus told those who were preparing the lamps to draw water and bring it to him. When this was done at once, he prayed over the water and, with genuine faith in the Lord, ordered them to pour it into the lamps. They did so, and beyond all expectation, by a marvelous and divine power, the nature of the water was changed into the quality of oil. A small sample of that miracle has been kept by very many of the brothers there from that day to ours.

HE 6. 9.4-5  They also relate many other things about this man’s life that are worth remembering, among them the following. Some worthless little men could not bear the strictness and firmness of his life. They were conscious of countless wrongs of their own and feared being caught and punished, so they got in ahead of him. They put together a plot against him and poured out a terrible slander. Then, to win over their hearers, they confirmed the charges with oaths. One swore that he would perish by fire if it were not true; another, that his body would be consumed by a foul disease; the third, that he would lose his sight. Yet even with their oaths none of the believers paid them any attention, because everyone could see Narcissus’s self-control and wholly virtuous conduct, which shone out in all he did.

HE 6. 9.6-7  Narcissus himself, however, could not bear the wickedness of these men. He had in any case long loved the philosophic life, so he slipped away from the whole body of the church and lived in hiding for many years in deserted places and remote country. But the great eye of justice did not stay quiet over what had been done. It quickly came after the ungodly men for the curses they had called down on themselves by their false oaths. The first man’s house was set on fire at night by a small spark that fell for no apparent reason, and he was burned up with his whole family. The second was suddenly covered with the disease he had named for himself, from the tips of his feet to his head.

HE 6. 9.8  The third man saw what had happened to the others. He feared the inescapable justice of God, who watches over all, and he confessed to everyone the wicked scheme they had jointly devised. In his repentance he wore himself down with so much lamenting, and wept so ceaselessly, that both his eyes were destroyed. Such were the punishments these men received for their lying.


CHAPTER 10

HE 6. 10.1  Narcissus had withdrawn, and no one knew where he was. So the leaders of the neighboring churches decided to appoint another bishop. His name was Dius. He did not preside long, and Germanion succeeded him, and after him Gordius. In Gordius’s time Narcissus appeared from somewhere, as if come back to life, and the brothers again urged him to take the leadership. Everyone admired him even more than before, for his withdrawal and his philosophic life, and above all for the vengeance God had thought fit to bring on his behalf.


CHAPTER 11

HE 6. 11.1-2  Narcissus could no longer carry out his duties because of his very great age. So by God’s arrangement Alexander, who was bishop of another diocese, was called to share the ministry with Narcissus, through a revelation that appeared to him at night in a vision. He set out from the land of the Cappadocians, where he had first been made bishop, and traveled to Jerusalem to pray and to see the holy places, as if following a divine oracle. The people there welcomed him warmly and would not allow him to return home. They too had received another revelation at night, and one very clear voice had spoken to the most earnest among them. It told them to go outside the gates and receive the bishop God had appointed for them. They did this, and with the common agreement of the bishops who oversaw the surrounding churches they forced him to stay.

HE 6. 11.3-4  Alexander himself, in his own letters to the Antinoites, which we still have, mentions that Narcissus shared the leadership with him. At the end of the letter he writes these words: “Narcissus greets you. He held the office of bishop here before me, and now he is joined with me in prayer. He is a hundred and sixteen years old, and he urges you, as I do, to be of one mind.” So these things stood. In the church at Antioch, when Serapion died, Asclepiades succeeded to the bishopric. He too had been outstanding among the confessors during the persecution.

HE 6. 11.5-6  Alexander also mentions Asclepiades’ appointment, writing to the Antiochenes as follows: “Alexander, a servant and prisoner of Jesus Christ, to the blessed church of the Antiochenes, greetings in the Lord. The Lord made my chains light and easy to bear during my time in prison, when I learned that by divine providence Asclepiades, whose faith makes him most fitting for it, and who is worthy of it, has been entrusted with the bishopric of your holy church of the Antiochenes.” Eusebius notes that Alexander sent this letter by Clement, for near the end he writes: “I have sent you this letter, my brothers and lords, by Clement, the blessed presbyter, a man of virtue and proven character. You know him, and you will know him better. By the providence and oversight of the Master he came here, and he has strengthened and increased the church of the Lord.”


CHAPTER 12

HE 6. 12.1-2  Serapion no doubt left other writings, kept by others, as evidence of his skill with words. But the only ones that have come down to us are these: the writings to Domninus, who in the time of persecution fell away from faith in Christ to the Jewish religion; those to Pontius and Caricus, men of the church; and other letters to various people. There is also another work he composed on the so-called Gospel of Peter. He wrote it to refute the false statements in that book, because some people in the church at Rhossus had used that writing as a pretext for turning aside to teachings that differed from the church’s. It is reasonable to quote a few short sentences from it, in which he sets out his view of the book. He writes as follows:

HE 6. 12.3-4  “We, brothers, accept Peter and the other apostles as we would Christ. But as people with experience, we reject the writings falsely put out in their names, knowing that we did not receive such things. When I was with you, I assumed that all of you held to the right faith. So I had not gone through the gospel they put forward under Peter’s name, and I said: ‘If this is the only thing that seems to give you petty-mindedness, let it be read.’ But now I have learned from what I was told that their minds were harboring some heresy. So I will hurry to come to you again. Brothers, expect me soon.

HE 6. 12.5-6  “You, brothers, will learn from what has been written to you what kind of heresy Marcianus held, and how he contradicted himself because he did not understand what he was saying. For we were able to borrow this very gospel from others who had made a study of it, that is, from the successors of those who began it, whom we call Docetists (for most of their ideas belong to that teaching). We went through it and found that most of it agreed with the true teaching of the Saviour, but that some things had been added. We have set these out for you below.” So much for Serapion.
   [Translator’s note] “Docetists” (Greek Dokētai) comes from dokein, “to seem”; they held that Christ only seemed to have a real human body and to suffer.


CHAPTER 13

HE 6. 13.1-3  All eight of Clement’s Stromata survive among us. He gave them this title: “Titus Flavius Clement’s Stromata of Notes on Knowledge, according to the True Philosophy.” There are also the same number of books called Hypotyposes, in which he names Pantaenus as his teacher and sets out Pantaenus’s interpretations and traditions. He also wrote the Exhortation to the Greeks, the three books of the work called the Instructor, and another work titled “Who Is the Rich Man Who Is Being Saved?” There is also his treatise On the Passover, discussions On Fasting and On Slander, the Exhortation to Endurance, or To the Newly Baptized, and the work called the Church Canon, or Against the Judaizers, which he dedicated to Alexander, the bishop already mentioned.
   [Translator’s note] “Stromata” means “patchwork” or “miscellanies,” and “Hypotyposes” means “outlines” or “sketches.” The Greek gnōstikōn here means “relating to knowledge,” not the heresy called Gnosticism.

HE 6. 13.4-5  In the Stromata Clement did not only make a patchwork collection from the divine Scripture. He also quotes the Greeks, wherever he thought they had said something useful. He sets out the teachings held by many people, Greek and non-Greek alike. He corrects the false opinions of the founders of heresies. He lays out a great deal of history, and so gives us a base for wide learning. He mixes in the doctrines of the philosophers with all of this. It is therefore natural that he gave the work a title that fits its subject, Stromata.
   [Translator’s note] “Stromata” means “patchwork” or “miscellanies,” a collection of varied material. Eusebius explains the title by using katastrōsis (“spreading out”), which comes from the same root as stroma.

HE 6. 13.6-7  In these books he also uses testimony from the disputed writings: the so-called Wisdom of Solomon, the Wisdom of Jesus son of Sirach, the letter to the Hebrews, and the letters of Barnabas, Clement and Jude. He mentions Tatian’s Discourse to the Greeks, and Cassian, who also wrote a work on chronology. He also mentions the Jewish writers Philo, Aristobulus, Josephus, Demetrius and Eupolemus. All of them show in their writings that Moses and the Jewish people were older than the earliest beginnings of the Greeks.
   [Translator’s note] “Disputed writings” (antilegomena) are books that some in the church accepted and others questioned. The “Clement” named here is probably the letter known as 1 Clement.

HE 6. 13.8-9  These books of his are full of much other useful learning as well. In the first of them he says of himself that he came very close to the succession of the apostles. In them he also promises to write notes on Genesis. In his work on the Passover he admits that his friends pressed him to write down for later generations the traditions he happened to have heard from the early presbyters. In that work he mentions Melito, Irenaeus and some others, and quotes their accounts.


CHAPTER 14

HE 6. 14.1-2  In the Hypotyposes, to put it briefly, Clement gave condensed explanations of all the Scripture of the covenant, and he did not pass over the disputed books. I mean Jude and the other general letters, the letter of Barnabas, and the so-called Apocalypse of Peter. He says that the letter to the Hebrews is Paul’s, and that it was written to the Hebrews in the Hebrew language. Luke, he says, translated it with great care and published it for the Greeks. That is why the same style of expression is found in this letter and in the Acts.
   [Translator’s note] “Hypotyposes” means “Outlines.” The older translation says “canonical Scripture”; the Greek says “all the Scripture of the covenant” (endiathēkos graphē), which Eusebius then says includes disputed books. “General letters” are also called the Catholic Epistles.

HE 6. 14.3-4  He says that the words “Paul, an apostle” were not put at the head of the letter, and with good reason. The letter was going to Hebrews, who were already prejudiced against Paul and suspicious of him. So he wisely did not turn them away at the start by putting his name first. Then a little further on Clement adds: “As the blessed presbyter used to say, the Lord was the apostle of the Almighty and was sent to the Hebrews. Out of modesty, therefore, Paul, who was sent to the Gentiles, does not describe himself as an apostle of the Hebrews. He does this out of respect for the Lord, and because he was writing to the Hebrews as something extra, being a preacher and apostle to the Gentiles.”
   [Translator’s note] The “blessed presbyter” is probably Pantaenus, Clement’s teacher, though Clement does not name him here.

HE 6. 14.5-6  In the same books Clement again sets down a tradition of the earliest presbyters about the order of the Gospels. It goes like this. The Gospels that contain the genealogies were written first. The Gospel of Mark came about in this way. Peter had publicly preached the word in Rome and, by the Spirit, proclaimed the gospel. Those present, who were many, urged Mark to write down what had been said, since he had followed Peter for a long time and remembered his words. Mark did this and gave the Gospel to those who asked for it.

HE 6. 14.7-8  When Peter learned of it, he neither forbade it nor urged it on. Last of all, John saw that the physical facts had been made clear in the Gospels. Urged on by his friends and carried along by the Spirit of God, he composed a spiritual Gospel. That is Clement’s account. Alexander, mentioned earlier, also speaks of Clement and Pantaenus in a letter to Origen, as men he had known personally. He writes: “This, as you know, was also God’s will, that the friendship we inherited from our forefathers should remain unbroken, and even become warmer and firmer.

HE 6. 14.9-10  “For we know as fathers those blessed men who went on before us, and to whom we shall soon go: Pantaenus, truly blessed and my lord, and the holy Clement, who became my lord and helped me, and anyone else like them. Through them I came to know you, who are excellent in every way, my lord and brother.” So much for that. Now Adamantius (this was also a name of Origen) says himself somewhere that he visited Rome at this time, when Zephyrinus was leading the church of the Romans. He says he had prayed to see the very ancient church of the Romans. He did not stay long there and then returned to Alexandria.
   [Translator’s note] Alexander here is the bishop of Jerusalem mentioned earlier in Book 6. “Lord” is a respectful title for a teacher, not a claim of divinity.

HE 6. 14.11  So Origen carried out the usual work of catechetical instruction there with great zeal. Demetrius, who was still bishop there at that time, kept urging him on and all but pleaded with him to work tirelessly for the good of the brothers.
   [Translator’s note] “Catechetical instruction” means teaching those preparing to join the church, and Eusebius uses the word loosely for Origen’s school at Alexandria.


CHAPTER 15

HE 6. 15.1  But Origen saw that he could not keep up with the deeper study of divine things, the examination and interpretation of the sacred writings, and at the same time the instruction of those who came to him. They gave him no chance even to catch his breath, for one group after another came to his school from dawn until evening. So he divided the crowds. From among his pupils he chose Heraclas, a man zealous in the study of divine things and also very learned, and not without knowledge of philosophy. He made him a partner in the work of instruction. He entrusted to him the first introduction of beginners, and kept for himself the teaching of those who were more advanced.


CHAPTER 16

HE 6. 16.1  Origen brought such exact scholarship to the study of the divine writings that he even learned the Hebrew language. He made his own the original Scriptures in Hebrew letters that circulated among the Jews. He also tracked down the editions of others who had translated the sacred writings besides the Seventy. He found some other translations, differing from the familiar ones, besides those of Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion. I do not know from what hiding places he searched them out and brought them to light, for they had long been lost to view.

HE 6. 16.2-4  Because their origin was uncertain, and he did not know whose they were, he simply noted that he had found one at Nicopolis near Actium, and another in some other such place. In the Hexapla of the Psalms, after the four well-known editions, he set beside them not only a fifth translation but also a sixth and a seventh. Of one of these he again noted that it had been found in a jar at Jericho, in the time of Antoninus, the son of Severus. He gathered all these together, divided them line by line, and set them side by side, along with the Hebrew text itself. In this way he left us the copies of what we call the Hexapla. In the Tetrapla he also arranged separately the editions of Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion together with that of the Seventy.
   [Translator’s note] “Hexapla” means “sixfold” and “Tetrapla” “fourfold,” referring to the number of parallel columns or versions. “Seventy” is the Septuagint, the Greek Old Testament.


CHAPTER 17

HE 6. 17.1  Of these translators, you should know that Symmachus was an Ebionite. The Ebionite heresy, as it is called, is the teaching of those who say that Christ was born of Joseph and Mary. They considered him a mere man, and insisted that the law should be kept in a more strictly Jewish way, as we learned earlier in this history. Commentaries by Symmachus are still in circulation, in which he seems to argue against the Gospel of Matthew in order to support this heresy. Origen indicates that he received these, along with other interpretations of the Scriptures by Symmachus, from a certain Juliana, who he says received the books from Symmachus himself.


CHAPTER 18

HE 6. 18.1-2  About this time Ambrose, who held the views of the Valentinian heresy, was refuted by the truth that Origen taught. His mind was lit up as if by a light, and he joined the Church’s orthodox teaching. Many other educated people also came to Origen, since his fame was ringing out everywhere, to test his ability in the sacred writings. Countless heretics, and quite a few of the most distinguished philosophers, gave him their eager attention. They were taught by him not only the divine teachings but, one might almost say, the secular philosophy as well.

HE 6. 18.3-4  For whenever he saw people with a natural gift for it, he led them on to philosophical studies too. He taught them geometry, arithmetic and the other preliminary subjects. He then took them on to the schools of thought among the philosophers and explained their writings, commenting on and examining each point, so that the man was proclaimed a great philosopher even among the Greeks themselves. He also urged many of the less educated to take up the ordinary school studies. He said these would give them no small help toward studying and understanding the divine Scriptures. For this reason he thought it especially necessary for himself to practice the secular and philosophical studies.


CHAPTER 19

HE 6. 19.1-2  The Greek philosophers who flourished in his own time bear witness to his success in these studies. In their writings we find frequent mention of him. Sometimes they addressed their own works to him. Sometimes they submitted their labors to him, as to a teacher, for his judgment. But why mention this, when Porphyry, who settled in Sicily in our own day, wrote books against us? In them he tried to discredit the divine Scriptures and mentioned those who had interpreted them. He could not bring any real charge against our doctrines, so for lack of arguments he turned to abuse and tried to slander the interpreters, above all Origen.

HE 6. 19.3-4  Porphyry says he had known Origen in his youth, and he tries to slander him. Without realizing it, however, he ends up commending him. Where he could not say otherwise he tells the truth, and where he thought he would go undetected he lies. At one moment he accuses Origen as a Christian, and at another he describes his progress in the study of philosophy. Hear what he says, in his own words: “Some people were eager to find not a way of abandoning the wretchedness of the Jewish Scriptures but a way of resolving it. They turned to interpretations that do not hang together and do not fit what is written. These bring not so much a defense of the foreign writings as acceptance and praise for their own people. For they boast that what Moses plainly says are riddles. They treat his words as inspired oracles full of hidden mysteries. By their conceit they bewitch the critical faculty of the soul, and then they bring in their interpretations.”

HE 6. 19.5-6  Then, after some other remarks, he says: “Let the way of this absurdity be taken from a man I met myself when I was still very young. He was highly esteemed, and still is, through the writings he has left. I mean Origen, whose fame has spread widely among the teachers of these doctrines. He was a hearer of Ammonius, who in our time made the greatest progress in philosophy. From his teacher he gained great benefit in skill with words and learning. But in the right choice of how to live, he took the opposite road from his teacher.”

HE 6. 19.7  “For Ammonius was a Christian, brought up by Christian parents. When he took up thinking and philosophy, he at once changed to a way of life in keeping with the laws. But Origen was a Greek educated in Greek learning, and he ran aground on barbarian recklessness. He took himself and his skill in argument over to it and peddled them. In his way of life he lived as a Christian, and contrary to the laws. But in his opinions about the world and about the divine he played the Greek, and worked Greek ideas into foreign myths.”

HE 6. 19.8-9  “For he was always in the company of Plato. He spent his time with the writings of Numenius and Cronius, Apollophanes, Longinus, Moderatus, Nicomachus, and the distinguished men among the Pythagoreans. He also used the books of Chaeremon the Stoic and of Cornutus. From these he learned the method of adapting the Greek mysteries, and he applied it to the Jewish Scriptures.” Porphyry said this in the third book of his work against the Christians. He told the truth about Origen’s discipline and wide learning. But he plainly lied (what would a writer against Christians not say?) when he said that Origen had changed over from the Greeks, and that Ammonius had fallen from a godly way of life into the pagan way.

HE 6. 19.10  In Origen’s case, the teaching of Christ had been kept in his family from his forefathers, as the earlier account showed. In the case of Ammonius, divinely inspired philosophy remained pure and unfallen to the very end of his life. His works still bear witness to this, through the writings he left, which are well thought of by most people. One of them is titled On the Harmony of Moses and Jesus, and there are others that lovers of what is excellent have found.

HE 6. 19.11-12  Let this serve as proof of the slander of this liar, and of Origen’s wide experience in Greek learning. Some people criticized Origen for his zeal for such learning. Defending himself against them, he writes in a letter: “I had devoted myself to the word, and the report of my ability was spreading. Sometimes heretics came to me, and sometimes people trained in Greek learning, especially in philosophy. So it seemed right to me to examine the doctrines of the heretics, and what the philosophers claim to say about the truth.”

HE 6. 19.13-14  I did this in imitation of Pantaenus, who helped many people before our time and was well prepared in these subjects. I also followed Heraclas, who now sits in the presbytery of Alexandria. I found him with the teacher of philosophy, and he had already stayed with him five years before I began to attend those lectures. Before this he wore ordinary clothes. He took them off and put on the philosopher’s dress, and he still wears it today. “As far as he is able, he does not stop studying the books of the Greeks.” That is what Origen said in defense of his study of Greek learning.

HE 6. 19.15-16  About this time Origen was living in Alexandria. A soldier came and delivered letters to Demetrius, the bishop of the church there, and to the prefect of Egypt at that time. They were from the governor of Arabia and asked that Origen be sent to him with all speed to talk with him. So they sent him on his way, and he came to Arabia. He soon finished the purpose of his visit and returned to Alexandria. Some time later a serious war broke out in the city. Origen slipped away from Alexandria, and since he did not think it safe to stay anywhere in Egypt, he went to Palestine and settled in Caesarea. There the bishops of that region asked him to teach and to explain the divine Scriptures in the public assembly of the church, even though he had not yet been ordained a presbyter.

HE 6. 19.17-18  This also becomes clear from what Alexander, bishop of Jerusalem, and Theoctistus of Caesarea wrote to Demetrius, defending themselves on this point. They said: “Demetrius added to his letter that it was never heard of before, and has never happened now, for laymen to address the people when bishops are present. Somehow he is plainly not telling the truth. Wherever men are found who are able to help the brothers, the holy bishops invite them to speak to the people. In Laranda, Euelpis was invited by Neon; in Iconium, Paulinus by Celsus; in Synnada, Theodorus by Atticus, our blessed brothers. This probably happens in other places too, though we do not know of them.” So even while he was still a young man, Origen was honored in this way, not only by his acquaintances but by bishops in foreign lands.

HE 6. 19.19  But Demetrius recalled him by letter and urged him, through men who were deacons of the church, to come back to Alexandria. So Origen returned and resumed his usual labors.


CHAPTER 20

HE 6. 20.1-2  At this time a number of learned churchmen were flourishing. It is easy to find the letters they wrote to one another, which still survive. These have been preserved down to our own day in the library at Aelia, which Alexander, then head of the church there, had built up. From that library I have also been able to gather the material for the present work. Among these men, Beryllus left behind letters and writings of various kinds, marked by fine literary taste. He was bishop of the Arabs at Bostra. Hippolytus likewise was head of some other church.
   [Translator’s note] Aelia was the Roman name for Jerusalem.

HE 6. 20.3  There has also come down to us a dialogue by Gaius, a very learned man. It took place at Rome in the time of Zephyrinus, with Proclus, who was defending the Phrygian heresy. In it Gaius silences the rashness and boldness of his opponents in producing new writings, and he mentions only thirteen letters of the holy apostle. He does not count the letter to the Hebrews with the others, since even to this day some at Rome do not regard it as the apostle’s.
   [Translator’s note] The “Phrygian heresy” is the movement named after Montanus, which began in Phrygia. The “apostle” is Paul.


CHAPTER 21

HE 6. 21.1-2  After Antoninus had reigned seven years and six months, Macrinus succeeded him. Macrinus lasted about a year, and then another Antoninus took over the Roman government. In this man’s first year Zephyrinus, bishop of Rome, died, having served for a full eighteen years. After him Callistus was entrusted with the episcopate. He lived five more years and left the office to Urbanus. After this the emperor Alexander succeeded to the Roman rule, when Antoninus had lasted only four years. In this same period Philetus succeeded Asclepiades in the church of Antioch.
   [Translator’s note] The first Antoninus is the emperor usually called Caracalla; the second is usually called Elagabalus. The Greek text here reads “Thilētos,” an evident corruption of Philetus, bishop of Antioch.

HE 6. 21.3-4  The emperor’s mother, whose name was Mammaea, was a deeply devout woman, if ever there was one, and reverent in her manner of life. Origen’s fame had spread everywhere and had even reached her ears. She thought it very important to be given the chance to see him and to test for herself his understanding of divine things, which everyone admired. She was staying at Antioch with a military guard, and she summoned him there. He spent some time with her and showed her a great many things that served the glory of the Lord and the excellence of the divine teaching. Then he hurried back to his usual occupations.


CHAPTER 22

HE 6. 22.1  At that time Hippolytus also wrote many other treatises, including a work on the Passover. In it he set out a chronological record and laid down a sixteen-year cycle for calculating the Passover, and he brought his reckoning of the years down to the first year of the Emperor Alexander. Of his other writings, these have reached us: On the Hexaemeron, On the Things After the Hexaemeron, Against Marcion, On the Song of Songs, On Parts of Ezekiel, On the Passover, and Against All the Heresies. You could find many others preserved among many people.
   [Translator’s note] The Hexaemeron is the six days of creation in Genesis. Hippolytus’ work on it is known only by title, and the Greek name is plain Ἱππόλυτος.


CHAPTER 23

HE 6. 23.1-2  From that time Origen also began his commentaries on the divine Scriptures. Ambrose pressed him hard with countless encouragements. He did not only urge him with words and appeals, but also supplied him very generously with everything he needed. More than seven shorthand writers were on hand while Origen dictated, taking turns at set times. There were at least as many copyists, together with girls trained in fine handwriting. Ambrose provided all of them with plenty of whatever they required. He also contributed an indescribable eagerness of his own to the study of the divine oracles and to diligence in it, and this above all drove Origen on to compose his commentaries.

HE 6. 23.3-4  While this was going on, Urban, who had been bishop of the church of Rome for eight years, was succeeded by Pontianus. In Antioch, Zebinus succeeded Philetus. At this time Origen set out for Greece because of urgent business concerning church affairs. He traveled through Palestine and received the laying on of hands for the presbyterate at Caesarea from the bishops there. The controversy this stirred up about him, the decisions that the leaders of the churches made on the matters raised, and the other works on the divine word that he produced in his prime would need a separate treatise. I have given a modest account of them in the second book of the Defense that I wrote on his behalf.
   [Translator’s note] “Defense” refers to the Defense of Origen that Eusebius wrote together with Pamphilus; it is not preserved in the original Greek.


CHAPTER 24

HE 6. 24.1-2  To this I should add the following. In the sixth volume of his exposition of the Gospel of John, Origen says that he wrote the first five while still in Alexandria. Of his work on the whole Gospel, only twenty-two volumes have come down to us. In the ninth volume on Genesis (there are twelve in all) he shows that not only the volumes before the ninth were written at Alexandria, but also his commentaries on the first twenty-five Psalms and on Lamentations. Of the work on Lamentations, five volumes have reached us. In them he also mentions his books On the Resurrection, which are two in number.

HE 6. 24.3  He also wrote On First Principles before he moved away from Alexandria. The ten books titled Stromata he composed in the same city, during the reign of Alexander, as the notes in his own hand at the front of the volumes make clear.
   [Translator’s note] “On First Principles” is the Greek Peri Archon, known in Latin as De Principiis. “Stromata” means “Miscellanies” or “Patchwork.”


CHAPTER 25

HE 6. 25.1  In expounding the first Psalm, Origen gives a list of the sacred Scriptures of the Old Testament, writing word for word as follows: “We must not be ignorant that the books of the Testament, as the Hebrews hand them down, are twenty-two, which is the number of the letters in their alphabet.”

HE 6. 25.2  Then, after a few remarks, he continues: “The twenty-two books, according to the Hebrews, are these. The book we call Genesis the Hebrews call Bresith, from the opening of the book; it means ‘In the beginning.’ Exodus is Ouelesmoth, that is, ‘These are the names.’ Leviticus is Ouikra, ‘And he called.’ Numbers is Ammesphekodeim. Deuteronomy is Eleaddebareim, ‘These are the words.’ Jesus son of Nave is Iosoue ben Noun. Judges and Ruth are in one book among them, Saphateim. The first and second of Kings are one book among them, Samouel, ‘the one called by God.’ The third and fourth of Kings are one, Ouamelch David, that is, ‘the kingdom of David.’ The first and second of Chronicles are one, Dabreiamein, that is, ‘Words of the days.’ The first and second of Esdras are one, Ezra, that is, ‘a helper.’ The book of Psalms is Thelleim. The Proverbs of Solomon are Meloth. Ecclesiastes is Koelth. The Song of Songs is Sir Assirim. Isaiah is Iessia. Jeremiah, with Lamentations and the Letter, in one book, is Ieremia. Daniel is Daniel. Ezekiel is Iezekiel. Job is Job. Esther is Esther. Apart from these there are the Maccabean books, which are entitled Sarbeth Sabanaiel.”
   [Translator’s note] The Hebrew titles are given in Greek spelling, and the forms are uncertain and partly corrupt. The list as transmitted omits the Twelve Prophets; adding them would give the stated total of twenty-two books.

HE 6. 25.3-4  He sets these out in the work just mentioned. In the first book of his commentary on Matthew, keeping to the rule of the church, he testifies that he knows only four Gospels. He writes: “I have learned by tradition about the four Gospels, which alone are undisputed in the church of God under heaven. The first was written by Matthew, once a tax collector but afterward an apostle of Jesus Christ. He published it for those who came to faith from Judaism, and it was composed in Hebrew letters.”

HE 6. 25.5-7  “The second is by Mark, who wrote it as Peter directed him. Peter acknowledged him as a son in his letter, saying, ‘She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, greets you, and so does Mark, my son.’ The third is by Luke, the Gospel praised by Paul, which he made for those who came from the Gentiles. Last of all is the Gospel by John.” In the fifth book of his expositions on John’s Gospel, the same man says this about the letters of the apostles: “Paul, who was made fit to be a minister of a covenant not of letter but of Spirit, and who fully preached the gospel from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum, did not write to all the churches he taught. And even to those he wrote to, he sent only a few lines.”
   [Scripture] 1 Peter 5:13; 2 Corinthians 3:6; Romans 15:19

HE 6. 25.8-10  “Peter, on whom the church of Christ is built, and against which the gates of Hades will not prevail, left one letter that is acknowledged as his. Let us allow a second as well, though that is doubted. What need is there to speak of John, who leaned on Jesus’ breast? He left one Gospel, though he confessed that he could have written so many that even the world could not contain them. He also wrote the Revelation, though he was commanded to keep silent and not to write down the voices of the seven thunders. He also left a letter of very few lines. Let us allow a second and a third as well, since not everyone says these are genuine. In any case, the two together do not run to a hundred lines.”
   [Scripture] Matthew 16:18; John 13:25; John 21:25; Revelation 10:4

HE 6. 25.11-12  Besides this, in his homilies on the Letter to the Hebrews he gives the following account: “The character of the style of the letter entitled ‘To the Hebrews’ does not have the plainness of speech of the apostle, who admitted that he was unskilled in speech, that is, in expression. Rather, the letter is better Greek in the construction of its wording, as anyone who knows how to judge differences of style would agree. Again, the thoughts of the letter are wonderful and not inferior to the acknowledged writings of the apostle. Anyone who pays close attention to reading the apostle would agree that this is true.”
   [Scripture] 2 Corinthians 11:6

HE 6. 25.13-14  After other remarks he adds this: “If I were to give my own opinion, I would say that the thoughts are the apostle’s, but the wording and composition belong to someone who recalled the apostle’s teachings, and who, as it were, wrote notes on what his teacher had said. So if any church holds this letter to be Paul’s, let it be commended for that too, for it was not without reason that the men of old handed it down as Paul’s. But who actually wrote the letter, God knows. The account that has reached us is from some who say that Clement, who became bishop of the Romans, wrote the letter, and from others that it was Luke, who wrote the Gospel and the Acts.” But let that be enough on these matters.


CHAPTER 26

HE 6. 26.1  This was the tenth year of the reign just mentioned. In that year Origen moved from Alexandria to Caesarea, leaving the catechetical school there in the care of Heraclas. Not long afterward Demetrius, bishop of the church of Alexandria, died after serving in that ministry a full forty-three years, and Heraclas succeeded him. At this time Firmilian, bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, was prominent.


CHAPTER 27

HE 6. 27.1  Firmilian showed such great zeal for Origen that sometimes he summoned him to his own region for the benefit of the churches, and sometimes he went to Judea himself and spent some time with Origen there, to grow in the knowledge of divine things. Moreover, Alexander, who led the church at Jerusalem, and Theoctistus, the bishop at Caesarea, throughout almost the whole time stayed close to Origen as their only teacher. They allowed him to interpret the divine Scriptures and to carry out the rest of the church’s work of teaching.


CHAPTER 28

HE 6. 28.1  After Alexander, the Roman emperor, had completed a reign of thirteen years, Maximinus Caesar succeeded him. Because of his hatred for the household of Alexander, which included many believers, he stirred up a persecution. He ordered that only the leaders of the churches be put to death, as the ones responsible for the teaching of the gospel. At that time Origen wrote his work On Martyrdom, and dedicated it to Ambrose and to Protoctetus, a presbyter of the community at Caesarea. Both of them had been caught up in no ordinary danger in the persecution, and the report is that they were outstanding in their confession of the faith. Maximinus’ reign lasted no more than three years. Origen noted the time of this persecution in the twenty-second book of his Commentaries on John, and in various letters.


CHAPTER 29

HE 6. 29.1-3  After Maximinus, Gordian took over the Roman government. In the church at Rome, Pontian had been bishop for six years, and Anteros succeeded him. Anteros served in the office for a month, and then Fabian succeeded him. They say that after the death of Anteros, Fabian came in from the country with others and was staying in Rome. There, in a most astonishing way, divine and heavenly grace brought him to the office. All the brothers had gathered at the church to ordain the man who would succeed to the bishopric. Many distinguished and famous men were in the minds of most people. Fabian was present, but no one was thinking of him at all. Yet they recall that suddenly a dove flew down from above and settled on his head, a likeness of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Saviour in the form of a dove.
   [Scripture] Matthew 3:16

HE 6. 29.4  At this the whole people, as though moved by one divine Spirit, cried out with all eagerness and with one soul that he was worthy. Without delay they took him and placed him on the bishop’s throne. At that time Zebinus, the bishop of Antioch, departed this life, and Babylas took over the office. In Alexandria, after Demetrius, Heraclas had received the ministry, and Dionysius took over his work in the catechetical school there. Dionysius too was one of Origen’s students.
   [Scripture] Acts 4:32


CHAPTER 30

HE 6. 30.1  While Origen was carrying on his usual work in Caesarea, countless students came to him, not only from the surrounding area but from other lands, having left their own homelands. The best known of these that we are aware of were Theodore, who is the same man as Gregory, the famous bishop of our own day, and his brother Athenodore. They were intensely devoted to Greek and Roman studies. Origen put a love of philosophy into them and urged them to trade their former pursuit for the discipline of divine things. They stayed with him a full five years and made such progress in the knowledge of God that, while both were still young, they were thought worthy of the office of bishop in the churches of Pontus.


CHAPTER 31

HE 6. 31.1-2  During this time Africanus, the author of the work called the Cesti, also became well known. A letter of his to Origen survives, in which he raises doubts about the story of Susanna in Daniel, as being spurious and invented. Origen wrote back to him at great length. Other works of this same Africanus have also come down to us: five books of Chronology, carefully and diligently prepared. In them he says that he made a journey to Alexandria because of the great reputation of Heraclas. As we have shown, Heraclas was outstanding in philosophical discourse and in the other studies of the Greeks, and was entrusted with the bishopric of the church there.

HE 6. 31.3  There is also another letter of the same Africanus, written to Aristides, about the supposed disagreement between the genealogies of Christ in Matthew and in Luke. In it he shows very clearly that the evangelists agree, on the basis of an account that had come down to him. I set that account out earlier, in its proper place, in the first book of this work.


CHAPTER 32

HE 6. 32.1-2  About this time Origen was putting together his commentaries on Isaiah and, along with them, on Ezekiel. Of the commentary on Isaiah, thirty volumes have come down to us, covering the third part of the book, as far as the vision of the four-footed beasts in the desert. On Ezekiel we have twenty-five volumes, which are all he wrote on that whole prophet. He was in Athens at that time and finished his work on Ezekiel there. He also began his commentary on the Song of Songs and carried it as far as the fifth volume. When he returned to Caesarea, he brought this work to completion as well, in ten volumes in all.

HE 6. 32.3  Why should I now draw up an exact list of the man’s writings? It would need a treatise of its own. I did record such a list in my account of the life of Pamphilus, the holy martyr of our own time. There I wanted to show how great Pamphilus’ zeal for divine things was, so I set out the catalogue of the library he had gathered of the works of Origen and of other church writers. Anyone who wishes can learn from it, in the fullest way, which of Origen’s labors have come down to us. For now, we must go on with the course of the history.


CHAPTER 33

HE 6. 33.1-2  Beryllus, whom I mentioned a little earlier as bishop of Bostra in Arabia, was turning aside from the rule of the church and trying to introduce certain things foreign to the faith. He dared to say that our Saviour and Lord had not existed beforehand in a being of his own before his coming to live among men, and that he had no divinity of his own, but only the Father’s divinity living in him. Many bishops held inquiries and discussions with the man over this. Origen was invited along with others. He first went down to talk with him, to test what he really thought. When he understood what Beryllus was saying, he saw that his teaching was not sound. He persuaded him by reasoning and won him over by proof, set him on the truth of the doctrine, and restored him to his former sound belief.

HE 6. 33.3-4  Written records of Beryllus and of the synod held because of him are still in circulation today. They contain Origen’s questions to him, the discussions held in Beryllus’ own diocese, and everything that was done at that time. The elders of our own day pass down countless other recollections of Origen, which I think I will leave aside, since they do not belong to the present work. As for what was necessary to know about him, it can be gathered from the defense of Origen that Pamphilus, the holy martyr of our day, and I wrote together. We worked on it jointly and with great care because of those who love to find fault.


CHAPTER 34

HE 6. 34.1  Gordian had held the Roman rule for six full years when Philip, together with his son Philip, succeeded to the throne. The story is told that Philip was a Christian. On the day of the last paschal vigil he wanted to share with the crowd in the prayers of the church. But the man who then presided would not let him enter until he had confessed and placed himself among those who were counted as sinners and held a place of repentance. Otherwise, because of the many charges against his conduct, the bishop would never have received him. It is said that Philip obeyed willingly, showing by his actions the sincere and reverent state of his heart toward the fear of God.


CHAPTER 35

HE 6. 35.1  In the third year of Philip’s reign, Heraclas died after leading the churches of Alexandria for sixteen years, and Dionysius took over the office of bishop.


CHAPTER 36

HE 6. 36.1-2  At that time, as one would expect, the faith was growing and our teaching was being spoken openly before everyone. They say that Origen, now past sixty, had built up great skill through his long preparation. So he allowed stenographers to take down the talks he gave before the public, something he had never permitted before. In this period he also wrote eight books against the work titled “True Discourse,” which Celsus the Epicurean had written against us. He also wrote twenty-five volumes on the Gospel of Matthew, and commentaries on the Twelve Prophets, of which we have found only twenty-five volumes.

HE 6. 36.3-4  A letter of his is also still in circulation, written to the emperor Philip himself, and another to Philip’s wife Severa. There are various other letters of his to various people. I was able to collect those that survived scattered among different owners, and I have listed them in volumes of their own so that they would not be scattered any longer. They number more than a hundred. He also wrote to Fabian, bishop of Rome, and to a great many other leaders of churches, about the soundness of his own teaching. You have the evidence for this in the sixth book of the defense I wrote about the man.


CHAPTER 37

HE 6. 37.1  At about this same time, others again appeared in Arabia, introducing a doctrine foreign to the truth. They said that for the present time the human soul dies at the moment of death and perishes along with the body, but that at the time of the resurrection it will come to life again together with the body. A fairly large synod was then assembled, and Origen was invited there once more. He opened a discussion before the assembly on the question at issue, and argued so effectively that the thinking of those who had previously gone astray was changed.


CHAPTER 38

HE 6. 38.1  At that time another distortion of the faith began, the so-called heresy of the Elkesaites, which was put out as soon as it began. Origen mentions it in a public homily on the eighty-second Psalm, speaking something like this: “Someone has come recently, very proud of his ability to champion a godless and most impious opinion, called that of the Elkesaites, which has newly appeared against the churches. I will set before you the evil things that this opinion says, so that you will not be carried off by it. It rejects some things from the whole of Scripture. Again, it uses texts from the whole of the Old Testament and the Gospels, yet it rejects the apostle completely. It says that denying the faith is a matter of indifference, and that the person who understands will, when forced, deny with his mouth but not with his heart. They also produce a certain book which they say has fallen down from heaven. They say that whoever hears it and believes will receive forgiveness of sins, a different forgiveness from the one Christ Jesus gave.” So much for these people.
   [Translator’s note] “Elkesaites” is also spelled “Elchasaites.” The Greek says only “will deny” and names no object; denial under pressure of persecution is evidently meant. “The apostle” most likely means Paul.


CHAPTER 39

HE 6. 39.1-3  Philip reigned seven years and was succeeded by Decius. Because of his hatred for Philip, Decius started a persecution against the churches. In it Fabian was martyred at Rome, and Cornelius succeeded him as bishop. In Palestine, Alexander, bishop of the church of Jerusalem, once again stood before the governor’s courts at Caesarea for Christ’s sake. He distinguished himself by a second confession and was thrown into prison, crowned with the honor of a full old age and venerable gray hair. After his bright and conspicuous witness before the governor’s courts, he fell asleep in prison, and Mazabanes was appointed to succeed him as bishop of Jerusalem.

HE 6. 39.4-5  In the same way, Babylas of Antioch also died in prison after his confession, and Fabius took over leadership of the church there. As for Origen, the demon of evil drew up all his forces against him as though against an equal, and waged war on him with every device and every power. He attacked Origen more fiercely than any of those who were being fought at that time. How many things the man endured for the word of Christ, and what kind: chains and tortures of his body, punishments under the iron collar and in the depths of the prison. For many days his feet were stretched four notches apart in the stocks, and he bore it. He bore the threats of fire and everything else his enemies inflicted. And what kind of end he met, since the judge stubbornly insisted with all his might that on no account should he be put to death. And what words he left behind after this, full of help for those who need to be lifted up again. A great many of the man’s letters give a true and accurate account of all this.


CHAPTER 40

HE 6. 40.1-2  I will set out what happened to Dionysius from his letter to Germanus, where he tells the story about himself in this way: “I speak even in the sight of God, and he knows that I am not lying. It was not by any decision of my own, and not without God, that I took flight. Even earlier, before the persecution under Decius was announced, Sabinus immediately sent a frumentarius to search for me. I stayed at home four days, waiting for the frumentarius to arrive. He went everywhere looking: the rivers, the roads, the fields, wherever he guessed I might be hiding or walking. But he was struck with blindness and did not find the house, because he could not believe that a man being hunted would stay at home.”
   [Translator’s note] A frumentarius was originally a grain-supply soldier who came to serve as a courier and agent for the Roman authorities. The Greek says this happened before the Decian persecution was announced. Sabinus is probably the Roman prefect of Egypt, though the text does not say so.
   [Scripture] 2 Corinthians 11:31

HE 6. 40.3-4  Only after the fourth day did God command me to leave, and he opened a way for me in a wonderful, unexpected manner. So I, my servants, and many of the brothers set out together. That this was the work of God’s providence was shown by what followed, in which perhaps we were of some use to others. Then, after a few remarks in between, Dionysius tells what happened to him after his flight, and goes on: “About sunset I was seized, together with those who were with me, and the soldiers took me to Taposiris. Timothy, by God’s providence, happened not to be there, and was not caught. When he came later, he found the house deserted, with guards posted in it, and us carried off as captives.”
   [Translator’s note] Taposiris was a town in Egypt, near Alexandria. The Greek verb translated “carried off as captives” literally means “enslaved.”

HE 6. 40.5-6  After some other remarks he says: “And what was the manner of his marvelous arrangement of things? I will tell the truth. One of the country people met Timothy as he was running away in confusion, and asked him why he was in such a hurry. Timothy told him the plain truth. The man heard it. He was on his way to a wedding feast, for it is their custom to spend the whole night in such gatherings. He went in and told those who were reclining at the table. All of them, as if at a signal, jumped up together, ran as fast as they could, and burst in on us with a shout. The soldiers who were guarding us fled at once. The men then stood over us, as we were, lying on bare bedframes without bedding.
   [Translator’s note] “His marvelous arrangement” refers to God’s providential ordering of events (Greek oikonomia).

HE 6. 40.7-8  “As for me, God knows, I thought at first that they were robbers who had come to strip and plunder us. So I stayed on the bed where I lay, wearing only a linen garment, and held out to them the rest of my clothing that lay beside me. But they told me to get up and leave quickly. Then I understood why they had come, and I cried out, begging and pleading with them to go away and leave us alone. If they wanted to do me a kindness, I asked them to get ahead of those who were taking me away and cut off my head themselves. As I was shouting such things, as my companions, who shared everything with me, know well, they lifted me up by force. I let myself drop on my back on the ground, but they took hold of my hands and feet, dragged me out, and led me away.

HE 6. 40.9  “Those who witnessed all these things followed me: Gaius, Faustus, Peter and Paul. They picked me up, carried me out of the little town, set me on a bare-backed donkey, and led me away.” This is what Dionysius says about himself.
   [Translator’s note] “Witnesses” translates the Greek martyres. By Dionysius’s time the word was already coming to mean “martyrs”, but here it most likely means those who were eyewitnesses of these events.


CHAPTER 41

HE 6. 41.1-2  In his letter to Fabian, bishop of Antioch, the same Dionysius describes the contests of those who died as martyrs in Alexandria under Decius. He writes: “The persecution among us did not begin with the emperor’s decree. It began a whole year earlier. A prophet and contriver of evils for this city, whoever he was, got in ahead of the decree. He stirred up the crowds of pagans against us and fanned their native superstition into flame. Provoked by him and given free rein to commit wickedness, they decided that the only true devotion in their religion was to murder us.

HE 6. 41.3-4  “First they seized an old man named Metras. They ordered him to speak blasphemous words, and when he refused, they beat his body with clubs and stabbed his face and eyes with sharp reeds. Then they took him out to the suburb and stoned him. Next they led a believing woman named Quinta to their idol temple and tried to force her to worship. When she turned away in disgust, they tied her feet and dragged her through the whole city over the rough paving stones, bashing her against the millstones and whipping her at the same time. Then they took her to the same place and stoned her to death.

HE 6. 41.5-6  “Then all of them together rushed to the homes of the godly. Each group hurried to drag out any whom they knew, and they robbed and plundered them. They stole the more valuable goods, but the cheaper things and anything made of wood they threw about and burned in the streets, so that the city looked as if an enemy had captured it. The brothers gave way and withdrew, and, like those Paul spoke of, they accepted the seizure of their property with joy. I do not know of anyone, except perhaps one who fell into their hands, who up to this point denied the Lord.
   [Translator’s note] The allusion is to Hebrews 10:34 (joyfully accepting the plundering of one’s property). The Alexandrian tradition, which Dionysius follows, attributed Hebrews to Paul.
   [Scripture] Hebrews 10:34

HE 6. 41.7-8  They also caught that most admirable aged virgin, Apollonia. They struck her on the jaws and knocked out all her teeth. Then they built a pyre in front of the city and threatened to burn her alive unless she would join them in shouting their blasphemous slogans. She asked for a brief delay, and when they let her go, she leaped eagerly into the fire and was burned to death. They also found Serapion at home. They tortured him cruelly, broke every joint in his body, and threw him headlong from the upper floor. There was no road, no highway, no alley open to us, either by night or by day. Always and everywhere everyone was shouting that anyone who would not chant their blasphemous words must be dragged away and burned.

HE 6. 41.9-10  This raged on in this way for a long time. Then strife and civil war overtook those wretched people and turned their cruelty against one another instead of us. We got a little relief, since their anger toward us was occupied elsewhere. But very soon word came that the reign that had been kinder to us was changing, and great fear of the threat against us grew. And then the decree arrived, almost exactly like that most terrible thing the Lord foretold, one that would, if possible, cause even the elect to stumble.
   [Translator’s note] The Lord’s saying alluded to is probably Matthew 24:24 (the elect being led astray, “if possible”). The change of reign refers to the emperor Philip being replaced by Decius.
   [Scripture] Matthew 24:24

HE 6. 41.11  All of them cowered in fear. Many of the more prominent people came forward at once. Others, who held public positions, were led by their official duties. Others were dragged along by those around them. They were called by name and went up to the unclean and unholy sacrifices. Some were pale and trembling, as if they were not going to sacrifice but to be sacrificed themselves as victims and offerings to the idols. The crowd standing around mocked them, and it was plain that they were cowards in every way, afraid both to die and to sacrifice.

HE 6. 41.12-13  Others ran to the altars more eagerly, boldly insisting that they had never been Christians even before. Of these the Lord’s prediction is most true, that they will be saved with difficulty. Of the rest, some followed one or the other of these groups, some fled, and some were arrested. Of the arrested, some went as far as chains and prison, and some, after being shut up for several days, denied the faith even before they came to trial. Others endured torture for a while and then gave way in the end.

HE 6. 41.14-15  But the firm and blessed pillars of the Lord were strengthened by him. They received power and endurance equal and fitting to the strong faith in them, and became admirable witnesses of his kingdom. The first of these was Julian, a man with gout who could neither stand nor walk. He was brought in with two others who carried him. One of them denied the Lord immediately. The other, named Cronion and nicknamed Eunus, and the old man Julian himself, confessed the Lord. They were set on camels and carried high up through the whole city, which is very large, as you know, and were whipped as they went. In the end, with the whole crowd pressing around them, they were burned in a fire of quicklime.
   [Translator’s note] ἀσβέστῳ πυρί literally means “unquenched fire”, but ἄσβεστος can also mean quicklime, so “fire of quicklime” is an interpretation. μετέωροι means the men were lifted up on the camels as they were whipped.

HE 6. 41.16-17  As they were being led away, a soldier stood by them and opposed those who were jeering. When the crowd shouted against him, he was brought forward. This was Besas, a most courageous fighter for God, who had distinguished himself in the great war for godliness, and he was beheaded. Another man, a Libyan by birth, truly named Macar (“Blessed”) and blessed in fact, was strongly urged by the judge to deny the faith. He would not be moved, and he was burned alive. After them Epimachus and Alexander, who had stayed in chains for a long time and endured countless pains, scrapers and whips, were also consumed in a fire of quicklime.

HE 6. 41.18  With them were four women. One was Ammonarion, a holy virgin. The judge tortured her very stubbornly and for a long time, because she had declared beforehand that she would say nothing that he demanded. She proved her declaration true and was led away. The others were Mercuria, a most venerable old woman, and Dionysia, a mother of many children, who did not love her children more than the Lord. The governor was ashamed to go on torturing to no purpose and to be defeated by women, so they were put to death by the sword without going through any torture. For their champion Ammonarion had taken the tortures on behalf of them all.
   [Scripture] Matthew 10:37

HE 6. 41.19-20  Three Egyptians, Heron, Ater and Isidorus, were handed over, and with them a boy of about fifteen named Dioscorus. The judge first tried to deceive the boy with words, thinking he was easy to lead astray. Then he tried to force him, thinking he would give way easily. But Dioscorus neither yielded nor was persuaded. The judge tore the others savagely with scourges, and when they held out, he gave them over to the fire. But Dioscorus had spoken so brilliantly in public and answered the judge’s own questions so wisely that the judge marveled at him and let him go. He said he was granting him time to repent because of his youth. And now this man, so worthy of God, is with us. He has been kept for a longer struggle and a more lasting contest.

HE 6. 41.21-22  A certain Nemesion, also an Egyptian, was falsely accused of being a companion of robbers. He cleared himself of this charge, which was utterly foreign to him, before the centurion. But then he was reported as a Christian and was brought in chains before the governor. That most unjust man inflicted on him twice the tortures and scourgings he gave the robbers, and then burned him between the robbers. So the blessed man was honored by being made like Christ. A whole squad of soldiers, Ammon, Zeno, Ptolemy and Ingenes, and with them an old man, Theophilus, were standing before the tribunal. Someone was being tried as a Christian and was already leaning toward denying the faith. These men, standing by, ground their teeth, signaled with their faces, stretched out their hands, and made gestures with their bodies.

HE 6. 41.23  Everyone turned to look at them. But before anyone could lay hands on them, they ran ahead up to the platform, saying that they were Christians. The governor and his assessors were seized with fear. Those on trial appeared full of courage about what they would suffer, while the judges shrank back in fear. These men then marched out from the court in triumph and exulted in their witness, as God led them in glorious triumph.
   [Scripture] 2 Corinthians 2:14


CHAPTER 42

HE 6. 42.1-2  “Very many others in cities and villages were torn to pieces by the pagans. I will mention one as an example. Ischyrion was employed for wages as the steward of one of the rulers. His employer ordered him to sacrifice. When he refused, the man abused him. When he stayed firm, the man heaped insults on him. When he still held out, the man took a very large staff, thrust it through his bowels and entrails, and killed him. Why should I speak of the multitude who wandered in deserts and mountains and perished from hunger, thirst, cold, disease, robbers and wild beasts? The survivors among them are witnesses to their choice and their victory. But I will set down one deed from among these to make the point clear.
   [Scripture] Hebrews 11:38

HE 6. 42.3-4  Chaeremon was a very old man, bishop of the city called Nilus. He fled to the Arabian mountain with his wife and never came back. The brothers searched thoroughly but could never find them again, neither them nor their bodies. Many others in that same Arabian mountain were enslaved by Saracens. Some were ransomed, though only barely and at great cost. Others have not been ransomed even to this day. I have not told these things for nothing, brother. I want you to know how many and how terrible were the things that happened among us. Those who have experienced more of them would know still more.”

HE 6. 42.5  Then, a little later, he continues: “Now the divine martyrs among us, who are now seated beside Christ, sharers in his kingdom, partners in his judgment and judging with him, took up some of the fallen brothers who had become liable to the charge of sacrificing. They saw their turning back and their repentance, and judged that it could be acceptable to him who does not at all desire the death of the sinner but rather his repentance. So after testing that repentance, they welcomed them, gathered them in, and stood by them. They shared prayers and meals with them.
   [Translator’s note] “Seated beside” (paredroi) means sitting as assessors or associates, as at a court. The wording echoes Ezekiel 18:23, 32, but Dionysius gives it in his own words.
   [Scripture] Ezekiel 33:11

HE 6. 42.6  “What counsel do you give us then, brothers, about these people? What must we do? Shall we agree with the martyrs and share their mind, keep their judgment and their act of grace, and be kind to those they pitied? Or shall we treat their judgment as unjust, set ourselves up as examiners of their opinion, grieve their kindness, and overturn the arrangement?” Dionysius fittingly put these questions, raising the matter of those who had grown weak in the time of the persecution.


CHAPTER 43

HE 6. 43.1-2  Novatus, a presbyter of the church at Rome, was puffed up with arrogance against these fallen brethren. He claimed there was no longer any hope of salvation for them, not even if they did everything that belongs to genuine conversion and pure confession. So he became the founder of a sect of his own, whose members, swollen with their own reasoning, call themselves the “Pure” (Cathari). A very large synod was therefore held at Rome. There were sixty bishops, and even more presbyters and deacons. In the other provinces the local pastors also deliberated separately about what should be done. All agreed on this decision: Novatus and those who had been puffed up with him, along with any who chose to approve this man’s brother-hating and utterly inhuman opinion, were to be counted as outsiders to the church. But those brethren who had fallen into the misfortune were to be healed and treated with the medicines of repentance.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek opens with the causal Ἐπειδήπερ (“Since…”), tying the passage back to the preceding account of the lapsed. “Cathari” (Καθαροί) means “the pure ones.”

HE 6. 43.3  Letters of Cornelius, bishop of Rome, have come down to us, addressed to Fabius of the church at Antioch. They report on the Roman synod and on what all those in Italy, Africa and the regions there decided. Other letters have also reached us, written in the Roman (Latin) language, from Cyprian and those with him in Africa. These show that they too agreed that those who had been put to the test should receive help. They also agreed that the leader of the heresy, and all who were led away with him, should rightly be excluded by public notice from the catholic church.

HE 6. 43.4-5  Another letter of Cornelius was attached to these, about what the synod had resolved. There was yet another about the actions of Novatus. Nothing prevents me from quoting parts of it, so that readers of this work may know about him. To inform Fabius what sort of man Novatus had been in his conduct, Cornelius writes these very words: “But I want you to know that this admirable man had long desired the office of bishop. He kept this reckless ambition hidden within himself, and used the confessors who had been with him from the beginning as a cover for his own folly.

HE 6. 43.6  “Maximus, one of our presbyters, and Urbanus, who twice won the highest glory through confession, and Sidonius, and Celerinus (a man who endured every torture with the greatest steadfastness through God’s mercy, strengthened the weakness of his flesh by the power of his faith, and so utterly defeated the adversary): these men observed him closely and caught him out in his cunning and his shifting about, his perjuries and lies, his refusal of fellowship and his wolfish friendship. They came back to the holy church. In the presence of many bishops, presbyters and a great number of lay people, they declared all his tricks and wicked deeds, which he had long kept concealed within himself. They did this with weeping and repentance, because they had trusted this deceitful and malicious beast and for a short time had been cut off from the church.”

HE 6. 43.7-8  A little later he says: “Beloved brother, it is beyond description how great a change we saw come over him in a short time. This most distinguished man, who guaranteed with fearful oaths that he did not seek the office of bishop at all, suddenly appears as a bishop, as if flung into our midst by some stage machine. This teacher of doctrine, this champion of church knowledge, tried to tear away and snatch for himself a bishopric that had not been given him from above. He chose two companions who had despaired of their own salvation, and sent them to a small and very remote part of Italy. There they were to deceive three bishops, simple country men, by a made-up story. He insisted and strongly maintained that these bishops must come to Rome quickly, supposedly so that any division that had arisen could be settled with their mediation, together with other bishops.
   [Translator’s note] Manganon means a contrivance or machine, used for pulleys and siege engines. The phrase suggests a device that suddenly hurls or hoists someone into view, possibly a theatrical machine, but the exact device is uncertain.

HE 6. 43.9-10  “When they arrived, being, as I said, quite simple men where the schemes and tricks of wicked men are concerned, they were shut in by some men of his own sort who had been posted for the purpose. At the tenth hour, when they were drunk and sick from drinking, he forced them to give him the episcopate by a sham and worthless laying on of hands. He claims this office, which did not belong to him, by plot and cunning. Not long after, one of these bishops came back to the church, weeping and confessing his sin. We received him into communion as a layman, with all the people present pleading for him. As for the other bishops, we ordained successors and sent them to the places where those men had been.”

HE 6. 43.11-12  So this “champion of the Gospel” did not know that there must be only one bishop in a catholic church. Yet he was well aware (how could he not be?) that in that church there were forty-six presbyters, seven deacons, seven subdeacons, forty-two acolytes, and fifty-two exorcists, readers and doorkeepers together, and more than fifteen hundred widows and needy people. The grace and kindness of the Master feeds them all. Yet not even this great and necessary body in the church, nor the large and growing number, by God’s providence rich in members, nor the huge, countless people, could turn him back from such a course. Neither did it call him back to the church, nor did it shame him out of his rash and desperate attempt.

HE 6. 43.13-14  Then, after other matters, he adds this: “Come, let us go on to say what deeds or what manner of life gave him the confidence to lay claim to the bishopric. Was it that he had lived in the church from the beginning, had fought many battles for her, and had been in many great dangers for the sake of true religion? Not at all. The occasion of his coming to faith was Satan, who entered him and lived in him for a long time. Helped by the exorcists, he fell into a severe illness. Since he was thought to be all but dead, he was baptized by pouring, there on the bed where he lay, if one can say that such a man received baptism at all.

HE 6. 43.15-16  “Nor, when he recovered from his illness, did he receive the other things that one ought to receive according to the rule of the church, namely being sealed by the bishop. And since he did not receive these, how could he have received the Holy Spirit?” Again, a little later, he says: “In the time of persecution, out of cowardice and love of life, he denied that he was a presbyter. The deacons urged and begged him to come out of the little room where he had shut himself in, and to help the brothers as far as it is right and possible for a presbyter to help brothers in danger and in need of aid. But he was so far from obeying the deacons’ appeals that he went off in anger. He said he no longer wished to be a presbyter, for he was a lover of another philosophy.”

HE 6. 43.17-18  Passing over a few things, he again continues: “For this brilliant man abandoned the church of God. In that church, after he came to faith, he was counted worthy of the presbyterate by the favor of the bishop, who laid hands on him for the office of presbyter. The whole clergy opposed this, and many of the laity as well, since it was not permitted for anyone who had been baptized by pouring on a sickbed, as he was, to enter any clerical rank. But the bishop asked that he be allowed to ordain this one man alone.” Then he adds another thing, the worst of this man’s outrages, saying: “When he has made the offerings and is distributing to each person his share and handing it over, he forces the poor wretches to swear instead of giving a blessing. He holds the receiver’s hands in both of his own and will not let go until they swear, saying these words (for I will use his own): ‘Swear to me by the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ that you will never leave me and turn back to Cornelius.’
   [Translator’s note] The “offerings” (prosphoras) are the eucharistic elements. The portion handed to each communicant is the consecrated bread, as the oath “by the body and blood” shows.

HE 6. 43.19-20  “And the miserable man does not taste it unless he first calls a curse down on himself. Instead of saying ‘Amen’ as he takes that bread, he says, ‘I will never return to Cornelius.’” After other things he says again: “Know now that he has been stripped and left desolate, as the brothers leave him every day and return to the church. Blessed Moses too, the martyr who recently gave among us a fine and wonderful witness, saw his boldness and folly while he was still in the world. He cut him off from communion, along with the five presbyters who had separated themselves from the church with him.”

HE 6. 43.21-22  At the end of the letter, Cornelius gives a list of the bishops who came to Rome and condemned the foolishness of Novatus. He notes their names together with the community each one led. He also mentions those who did not come to Rome but agreed by letter with the verdict of those just named, giving their names and the cities from which each sent his letter. This is what Cornelius wrote to Fabius, bishop of Antioch.
   [Translator’s note] Eusebius calls the man Novatus, while Latin writers such as Cyprian call him Novatian. They are the same person.


CHAPTER 44

HE 6. 44.1-2  Dionysius of Alexandria also wrote to this same Fabius, who was leaning somewhat toward the schism. In his letter he discussed many other matters concerning repentance, and he described the struggles of those in Alexandria who had recently been martyrs. Along with the rest of his account he tells of a remarkable event, which I must also record here. It runs as follows: “I will set before you one example that happened among us. There was a certain Serapion among us, an aged believer. He had lived blamelessly for a long time, but he fell in the time of testing. He begged often, and no one paid attention to him, for he had sacrificed. Then he fell ill, and for three days in a row he lay speechless and unconscious.

HE 6. 44.3-4  “On the fourth day he recovered a little and called for his grandson, his daughter’s son. ‘How long, my child, are you going to keep me here?’ he said. ‘I beg you, hurry, and release me quickly. Call one of the presbyters for me.’ After saying this he became speechless again. The boy ran to the presbyter. But it was night, and the presbyter was ill, so he could not come. Now I had given an instruction that those departing this life should be released from their sin if they asked, and especially if they had begged for it earlier, so that they might depart with good hope. So the presbyter gave the boy a small piece of the Eucharist, telling him to moisten it and let it drip into the old man’s mouth.
   [Translator’s note] “Eucharist” (literally “thanksgiving”) is the Greek word for the Lord’s Supper, here meaning the consecrated bread. “Released” translates a form of aphiesthai, a verb that can also mean “forgiven” or “absolved.”

HE 6. 44.5-6  “The boy came back carrying it. As he drew near, before he went in, Serapion revived again and said, ‘Have you come, child? The presbyter could not come, but you must quickly do what he commanded, and let me go.’ The boy moistened the bread and at the same time poured it into his mouth. The old man swallowed a little, and immediately gave up his spirit. Was he not plainly kept alive and made to wait until he was set free? His sin was wiped away, and he could be acknowledged for the many good things he had done.” This is what Dionysius says.


CHAPTER 45

HE 6. 45.1  Now let us see what the same Dionysius wrote to Novatus, who was then troubling the brotherhood at Rome. Novatus used some of the brothers as an excuse for his break and schism, claiming that they had forced him into it. See how Dionysius writes to him: “Dionysius to his brother Novatus, greetings. If, as you say, you were led on against your will, you will prove it by withdrawing willingly. One ought to suffer anything at all rather than split the church of God. Martyrdom to avoid causing a schism is no less glorious than martyrdom to avoid idolatry, and in my opinion it is greater. In the one case a man bears witness for his own single soul; in the other, for the whole church. Even now, if you could persuade or compel the brothers to come to agreement, your achievement will outweigh your fault. The fault will not be counted against you, and the achievement will be praised. But if you cannot prevail over those who refuse, then at any rate save your own soul. I pray that you may be well, holding fast to peace in the Lord.” This is what he wrote to Novatus.
   [Translator’s note] Greek “Novatus” is the form Eusebius uses here; the schismatic is usually known as Novatian.


CHAPTER 46

HE 6. 46.1-2  Dionysius also wrote a letter to the believers in Egypt on repentance. In it he set out his judgment about those who had fallen away, and he described the different degrees of offenses. There is also a private letter of his on repentance addressed to Conon, who was bishop of the diocese of Hermopolis, and another letter of encouragement to his own flock at Alexandria. Among these is also the one written to Origen on martyrdom. He wrote to the brothers at Laodicea, whose bishop was Thelymidres, and likewise a letter on repentance to the brothers in Armenia, whose bishop was Merozanes.
   [Translator’s note] “Diocese” translates the Greek paroikia, the area under a bishop’s care.

HE 6. 46.3-4  In addition to all these, he wrote to Cornelius of Rome after receiving his letter against Novatus. In it he says that Helenus, bishop of Tarsus in Cilicia, and the others with him, Firmilian in Cappadocia and Theoctistus in Palestine, had urged him to come to the synod at Antioch, where some people were trying to strengthen the schism of Novatus. He also writes that he had been told that Fabius had fallen asleep, and that Demetrianus had been appointed his successor in the bishopric of Antioch. He also writes about the bishop of Jerusalem, saying in these very words: “For the blessed Alexander was put in prison, and he went to his rest in blessedness.”
   [Translator’s note] “Fallen asleep” is the common Christian expression for dying.

HE 6. 46.5  Next to this letter there is another letter of Dionysius to the church in Rome, a “diaconal” one, sent by the hand of Hippolytus. He also composed another to the same people on peace, and likewise one on repentance. Again he wrote another to the confessors there who still agreed with the opinion of Novatus. To these same people he wrote two more after they had turned back to the Church. He also wrote to many others by letter, and he has left these writings with many kinds of benefit for those who still study his words diligently.


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BOOK 7
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GREETING

HE 7. Gr.  In this seventh book of the Church History, the great bishop of Alexandria, Dionysius, will again work alongside us in his own words. In the letters he left, he sets out one by one the events of his own time. My account will begin from here.


CHAPTER 1

HE 7. 1.1  Decius ruled for less than two full years. He was killed at once, together with his sons, and Gallus succeeded him. At this time Origen died, having lived seventy years less one. Dionysius, writing to Hermammon about Gallus, says this: “But Gallus did not recognize the evil of Decius, nor did he look ahead to see what had brought Decius down. He stumbled on the same stone, though it lay right before his eyes. His reign was going well and affairs were turning out as he wished, yet he drove out the holy men who were praying to God for his peace and health. So along with them he persecuted the prayers they were making for him.” That is what is said about Gallus.


CHAPTER 2

HE 7. 2.1  In the city of Rome, Cornelius held the episcopate for about three years, and Lucius was appointed to succeed him. Lucius lived less than eight full months and at his death passed the office on to Stephen. To Stephen Dionysius wrote the first of his letters about baptism. A serious question had been raised at that time: whether people returning from any heresy at all should be cleansed by washing. The long-established custom in such cases had been to use only prayer with the laying on of hands.


CHAPTER 3

HE 7. 3.1  Cyprian, the shepherd of the church at Carthage, was the first of the leaders of that time to hold that such people should not be received in any other way than by first being cleansed from their error through washing. But Stephen thought that no innovation should be introduced contrary to the tradition that had prevailed from the beginning, and he was very angry about this.


CHAPTER 4

HE 7. 4.1  Dionysius wrote to Stephen at great length about this matter. Toward the end he reports that the persecution had eased, that the churches everywhere had turned away from the innovation of Novatus, and that they had regained peace among themselves. He writes as follows:


CHAPTER 5

HE 7. 5.1  “But know now, brother, that the churches which were formerly divided have been united throughout the East and even farther. All who preside over churches everywhere are of one mind. They rejoice exceedingly at the peace that has come beyond all expectation. Demetrianus is in Antioch, Theoctistus in Caesarea, Mazabanes in Aelia, Marinus in Tyre (Alexander having fallen asleep), and Heliodorus in Laodicea (Thelymidres having passed to his rest). Helenus is in Tarsus with all the churches of Cilicia, and Firmilianus is over all Cappadocia. I have named only the more prominent bishops, so that I do not make my letter long or my words heavy.

HE 7. 5.2-3  “As for the whole of Syria and Arabia, which you help whenever there is need and to which you have now written, and Mesopotamia, Pontus and Bithynia, in short everyone everywhere is rejoicing in harmony and brotherly love, and they are glorifying God.” So far Dionysius. Stephen completed his service after two years, and Xystus succeeded him. To Xystus Dionysius wrote a second letter about baptism. In it he sets out the opinion and judgment of Stephen and of the other bishops, and he says this about Stephen:

HE 7. 5.4-5  “Stephen had written earlier about Helenus and Firmilianus and all those from Cilicia and Galatia and all the neighboring nations beyond. He said that he would not be in fellowship with them either, for this same reason: because, he says, they baptize heretics again. But consider how serious the matter is. For decisions have in fact been made on this subject in the very largest councils of bishops, as I learn. They decided that those who come over from heresy should first be taught, and then be washed and cleansed from the filth of the old and unclean leaven. I wrote to Stephen, begging him about all these things.
   [Scripture] 1 Corinthians 5:7

HE 7. 5.6  And after other matters he says: “I also wrote to our beloved fellow presbyters Dionysius and Philemon. They had earlier voted with Stephen, and they are now writing to me about these same matters. I wrote to them briefly at first, and now at greater length.” So much for the controversy mentioned above.


CHAPTER 6

HE 7. 6.1  In the same letter he also points out the heretics who follow Sabellius, who were becoming widespread in his day. He says: “Concerning the teaching now stirred up in Ptolemais of the Pentapolis, which is impious and full of blasphemy against the almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and full of unbelief toward his only-begotten Son, the firstborn of all creation, the Word who became man, and shows no perception of the Holy Spirit: brothers came to me from both sides, bringing written statements and ready to discuss the matter. I wrote some letters, as well as I could with God’s help, setting out the teaching in a more instructive way. I have sent you copies of them.”
   [Scripture] Colossians 1:15


CHAPTER 7

HE 7. 7.1-2  In the third letter on baptism, which the same Dionysius wrote to Philemon, the presbyter at Rome, he sets down these words: “I have read the writings and the traditions of the heretics. For a short time I defiled my soul with their utterly foul thoughts, but I gained this benefit from them: I refuted them in my own mind, and I loathed them far more. One of the brothers among the presbyters tried to hold me back. He was afraid that I would be mixed up in the mire of their wickedness and that my own soul would be ruined. I saw that he was speaking the truth. But a vision sent from God came to me and strengthened me.

HE 7. 7.3-4  A word came to me and commanded me plainly: ‘Read everything that comes into your hands. You are able to set each thing right and to test it, and this was the cause of your faith from the beginning.’ I accepted the vision, because it agrees with the apostolic saying to the stronger: ‘Be approved money-changers.’” Then, after saying some things about all the heresies, he adds: “I received this rule and pattern from our blessed father Heraclas. Some people came over from the heresies. They had left the church, or rather had not really left it, but seemed to attend the assemblies, and then were reported as going to hear one of the teachers of a different doctrine. He drove them out of the church, and though they pleaded with him, he would not receive them until they had openly declared everything they had heard from their opponents. Then he admitted them, and did not require another baptism of them, for they had received the holy baptism from him earlier.”

HE 7. 7.5  Again, after discussing the question at length, he adds: “I have also learned that this practice was not introduced just now by the people in Africa. Long ago, under the bishops before us, in the most populous churches and in the councils of the brothers, at Iconium and Synnada and among many others, this was the decision. I cannot bear to overturn their decisions and throw them into strife and quarrelling. For it says, ‘You shall not move your neighbor’s boundaries, which your fathers set.’”
   [Scripture] Deuteronomy 19:14

HE 7. 7.6  His fourth letter on baptism was written to Dionysius of Rome. Dionysius was then a presbyter, but not long afterward he received the office of bishop there. From this letter we can see how the Alexandrian Dionysius bore witness that this man was learned and admirable. After other matters, he mentions the followers of Novatus and writes to him as follows:


CHAPTER 8

HE 7. 8.1  “We are right to hate Novatian. He has torn the church apart, and has drawn some of the brothers into impiety and blasphemy. He has brought in a most unholy teaching about God, and he slanders our most kind Lord Jesus Christ as merciless. On top of all this, he rejects the holy washing, overturns the faith and confession that come before it, and drives the Holy Spirit completely away from them, if there was any hope that the Spirit would remain with them or return to them.”
   [Translator’s note] Eusebius spells the name both “Novatus” and “Novatian.” The Greek here is “Novatian,” and he is the same man.


CHAPTER 9

HE 7. 9.1-2  His fifth letter was written to Xystus, bishop of the Romans. After saying much against the heretics, he tells of an incident that happened in his time: “Brother, I truly need advice, and I ask for your judgment. Something has come to me, and I am afraid I may be making a mistake. One of the brothers who meet with us was considered a believer. He had been a member of the congregation for a long time, since before my ordination, and I think even before the appointment of the blessed Heraclas. He was present with some who had just been baptized, and he heard the questions and answers. He came to me weeping and lamenting over himself, and fell at my feet. He confessed, and swore, that the baptism he had received among the heretics was not like this one and had nothing in common with it, because that baptism was full of impiety and blasphemy.”
   [Translator’s note] Dionysius refers to his own ordination (χειροτονία) as bishop and to the appointment (κατάστασις) of the blessed Heraclas as bishop of Alexandria.

HE 7. 9.3-4  He said that his soul was now deeply pierced, and that he no longer dared to lift his eyes to God, because he had begun from those unholy words and deeds. For this reason he begged to receive this wholly pure cleansing, and acceptance, and grace. I did not dare to do this. I told him that his long fellowship with us was enough. He had heard the thanksgiving and joined in saying the Amen. He had stood at the table and held out his hands to receive the holy food. He had received it, and for a good while had shared in the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. I would not dare to undo all that and start him over from the beginning. Instead I urged him to take courage, and to come to the sharing of the holy things with firm faith and a good conscience.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek says “a good conscience” (ἀγαθῆς συνειδήσεως), not “good hope.”

HE 7. 9.5-6  “But he does not stop mourning. He shudders at the thought of coming to the table, and even when urged, he can hardly bring himself to stand with us at the prayers.” Besides what has been quoted, there is another letter of the same man on baptism. It was sent in his own name and that of the church he led, to Xystus and the church at Rome. In it he extends the discussion of the question at hand with a long argument. After this there is also another letter of his, to Dionysius of Rome, concerning Lucian. So much for these.


CHAPTER 10

HE 7. 10.1-3  Gallus and his associates held power for not even two full years before they were removed. Valerian then took over the rule together with his son. What Dionysius says about this, we can learn from his letter to Hermammon, where he tells it this way: “It is likewise revealed to John: ‘And there was given to him,’ he says, ‘a mouth speaking great things and blasphemy, and authority was given to him, and forty-two months.’ Both can be marveled at in the case of Valerian. Above all, one should consider how things stood with him before this: how gentle and friendly he was toward the people of God. None of the emperors before him was so kindly and favorably disposed toward them, not even those said to have become openly Christians. At the beginning of his reign he showed plainly that he welcomed them as his own, with the warmest affection. His whole household was full of God-fearing people, and it was a church of God.”
   [Translator’s note] The Greek says only “a son” (παιδί). Historically this was Gallienus. The quotation is Revelation 13:5, but in a form that differs somewhat from the standard text.
   [Scripture] Revelation 13:5

HE 7. 10.4  “But the teacher and synagogue-leader of the Egyptian magicians persuaded him to get rid of them. He ordered that the pure and holy men be killed and hunted down, since they were rivals and obstacles to those utterly defiled and detestable enchanters. (For these holy men are able, and always were, merely by being present and seen, merely by breathing and speaking, to scatter the plots of the accursed demons.) He urged the emperor to carry out unclean initiations, abominable sorceries, and sacrifices that gave no favorable omens. He told him to slaughter wretched boys, to offer up the children of unhappy fathers, to cut open the bodies of newborn babies, and to hack and carve up God’s creatures, as though by these things they would gain good fortune.”
   [Translator’s note] The Greek verb ἀποσκευάσασθαι means “to get rid of” (the Christians), and the children are called ἀθλίους, “wretched.”

HE 7. 10.5-6  To this he adds: “Macrianus, then, has paid them a fine thank-offering for the kingdom he hoped for. He was said to be in charge of the emperor’s general accounts, yet he had no sensible or general thought in his mind. Instead he fell under the prophetic curse that says, ‘Woe to those who prophesy from their own heart and do not see the whole.’ For he did not grasp God’s providence over all, and he did not look ahead to the judgment of the One who is before all, through all, and over all. So he became an enemy of God’s universal church. He cut himself off from God’s mercy and made himself a stranger to it. He drove himself as far as he could from his own salvation, and in this he proved his own name true.”
   [Translator’s note] The Greek word for “general” and “whole” (katholou) is the same word that gives us “catholic,” so Dionysius is playing on it. “Macrianus” resembles the Greek makros, “far,” which is probably the point of the remark about his name.
   [Scripture] Ephesians 4:6

HE 7. 10.7-8  And again, after other things, he says: “Valerian was led on to these acts by this man, and was handed over to insults and shame, in keeping with what was said to Isaiah: ‘These have chosen their own ways and their abominations, which their soul desired. And I will choose their mockeries, and I will pay them back for their sins.’ But this man was madly set on the kingdom, though he was unworthy of it. Because of his crippled body he could not put on the royal robes himself. So he put forward his two sons, who took on their father’s sins. In their case the saying God spoke is plainly fulfilled: ‘repaying the sins of fathers on the children, to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me.’”
   [Scripture] Isaiah 66:3-4; Exodus 20:5

HE 7. 10.9  “For he threw his own wicked desires, in which he had succeeded, onto the heads of his sons. He wiped off onto them his own wickedness and his hatred toward God.” That is what Dionysius says about Valerian.


CHAPTER 11

HE 7. 11.1-2  Now the persecution that raged so fiercely in Valerian’s time, and what Dionysius endured along with others because of his devotion to the God of the universe, his own words will show. He wrote them to Germanus, a bishop of his day who was trying to slander him. He states it this way: “I run the risk of falling into great folly and real senselessness, since I am forced to tell of God’s wonderful dealing with us. But it is said that ‘it is good to keep a king’s secret, but glorious to reveal the works of God.’ So I will meet the attack of Germanus head on.
   [Translator’s note] The quotation about keeping a king’s secret echoes Tobit 12:7 (in the Apocrypha); Dionysius introduces it with “he says” and does not name his source.

HE 7. 11.3-4  “I went to Aemilianus, and I did not go alone. My fellow presbyter Maximus went with me, and the deacons Faustus, Eusebius and Chaeremon. One of the brothers who was visiting from Rome also went in with us. Aemilianus did not begin by telling me, ‘Do not hold assemblies.’ That would have been pointless for him, since he was going straight to the last point by way of the first. His concern was not that others should stop meeting, but that we ourselves should not be Christians. He ordered me to give that up, thinking that if I changed, the others would follow me.

HE 7. 11.5-6  “My answer was fitting, and not long: ‘One must obey God rather than men.’ I declared plainly that I worship the God who alone is, and no other, and that I would never change or stop being a Christian. At that he ordered us to go away to a village near the desert called Cephro. But hear the very words spoken on both sides, as they were recorded. When Dionysius, Faustus, Maximus, Marcellus and Chaeremon were brought in, Aemilianus, who was governing, said: ‘I have already spoken to you, without any written record, about the kindness our lords have shown you.
   [Translator’s note] Dionysius quotes Acts 5:29, “One must obey God rather than men.”
   [Scripture] Acts 5:29

HE 7. 11.7-8  ‘They have given you the chance to save yourselves, if you are willing to turn to what is natural, to worship the gods who preserve their empire, and to forget those who are contrary to nature. What do you say to this? I do not expect you to be ungrateful for their kindness, since they are urging you toward something better.’ Dionysius answered: ‘Not everyone worships all the gods. Each group worships those whom they believe in. We worship and revere the one God, the Maker of all things, who put the empire into the hands of the most God-beloved emperors Valerian and Gallienus. We pray to him constantly for their empire, that it may stand unshaken.’

HE 7. 11.9-10  Aemilianus, who was governing, said to them: ‘But who prevents you from worshiping him as well, if he is a god, along with the gods who are gods by nature? You were ordered to worship gods, and gods whom everyone knows.’ Dionysius answered: ‘We worship no other.’ Aemilianus said to them: ‘I see that you are both ungrateful and insensible to the gentleness of our emperors. For that reason you will not stay in this city. You will be sent to the region of Libya, to a place called Cephro. I have chosen this place by order of our emperors. It will not be allowed, either to you or to anyone else, to hold meetings or to enter the so-called cemeteries.

HE 7. 11.11-12  If anyone is found not to have gone to the place I have ordered, or is caught in any meeting, he will bring danger on himself. The proper punishment will not be lacking. Go, then, where you have been ordered.’ He pressed me to leave even though I was sick, and did not give me even one day’s delay. What time, then, did I still have to hold a meeting or not hold one?” Then, after some other things, he says: “But we did not give up the visible assembly with the Lord either. I gathered the believers in the city with greater zeal, as though I were with them, ‘absent in body, but present in spirit,’ so to speak. And in Cephro a large church came to live with us in exile, some of the brothers following from the city, and others joining us from Egypt.
   [Translator’s note] “Absent in body, but present in spirit” echoes 1 Corinthians 5:3.
   [Scripture] Colossians 2:5; 1 Corinthians 5:3

HE 7. 11.13-14  And there God opened a door for the word to us. At first we were persecuted and stoned, but later not a few of the Gentiles abandoned their idols and turned to God. They had never received the word before, and it was then, through us, that it was first sown among them. It was as if God had brought us to them for this purpose, and then, when we had finished this service, he took us away again. Aemilianus wanted to move us to rougher places, more “Libyan” as he thought. He ordered the believers from everywhere to flow together to the Mareotic district, and he assigned villages to each group throughout the countryside. But he ordered us to be placed more by the road, so that we would be seized first. Clearly he was arranging and preparing things so that whenever he wished to make arrests, he would have everyone easy to catch.
   [Translator’s note] “Door for the word” echoes Colossians 4:3. “More Libyan” means wilder and more remote.
   [Scripture] 1 Corinthians 16:9; Colossians 4:3

HE 7. 11.15-16  When I was ordered to go to Cephro, I did not know where the place was. I had hardly even heard its name before. Even so, I set out cheerfully and without anxiety. But when I was told that I was to move my camp to the district of Colluthion, those who were present know how I took it. Here I will accuse myself. At first I was vexed and very angry. These places were better known and more familiar to us, but people said the area was empty of brothers and serious men, and that it was exposed to the disturbances of travelers and the raids of robbers.

HE 7. 11.17-18  But I was comforted when the brothers reminded me that it was nearer the city. Cephro had brought us a great deal of contact with the brothers from Egypt, so that we could hold wider gatherings there. In the new place, the city being closer, we would more often enjoy the sight of those who are truly beloved, closest and dearest to us. They would come and rest, and as in suburbs farther out, there would be meetings by groups. And so it turned out. Then, after other matters, Eusebius says that Dionysius writes again about what happened to him: “Germanus prides himself on his many confessions. He has many things to say that happened to himself. But how many sentences, confiscations, proscriptions, seizures of property, surrenders of rank, disregard for worldly glory, contempt for the praises of governors and councillors, and patient endurance of the threats of opponents, of outcries, dangers, persecutions, wandering, distress and every kind of tribulation can he count in our case? I suffered such things under Decius and Sabinus, and I am suffering them even now under Aemilianus.

HE 7. 11.19-20  “But where does Germanus appear in all this? What account is there of him? I am giving up this great foolishness into which I fall because of Germanus. For that reason I also leave the telling of each event to the brothers who know about it.” The same writer, in his letter to Domitius and Didymus, again mentions the events of the persecution, in these words: “Our own people are many and unknown to you, so it is needless to list them by name. But know that men and women, young and old, girls and elderly women, soldiers and private citizens, every race and every age, have won the contest and received their crowns. Some won through scourging and fire, others through the sword.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek of the first question about Germanus (“ποῦ δὲ Γερμανὸς νη;”) appears to be corrupt, so its exact wording is uncertain.

HE 7. 11.21-22  “For some of them, even a very long time did not prove enough to show them acceptable to the Lord. It seems the same is true of me, for the time up to now has not been enough. So he who says, ‘In an acceptable time I heard you, and in a day of salvation I helped you,’ has put me off until the time he knows is right. You have asked about our situation and want to be told how we are getting on. You have surely heard how we were led away as prisoners by a centurion and officers, with their soldiers and attendants. That was myself, Gaius, Faustus, Peter and Paul. Then some of the people of Mareotis came upon us, as we were unwilling and were not even following, and they dragged us off by force.
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is the Greek form of Isaiah 49:8, which Paul also uses in 2 Corinthians 6:2.
   [Scripture] 2 Corinthians 6:2

HE 7. 11.23-24  “But now I, Gaius and Peter, left alone and cut off from the other brothers, are shut up in a desert, parched place in Libya, three days’ journey from Paraetonium.” A little further on he says: “In the city the presbyters Maximus, Dioscorus, Demetrius and Lucius have gone into hiding and visit the brothers unseen. (The more conspicuous ones in the world, Faustinus and Aquila, are wandering about in Egypt.) The deacons who were left after those who died in the sickness are Faustus, Eusebius and Chaeremon. God prepared Eusebius from the beginning to carry out earnestly the services for the confessors who were in the prisons. He also does the work, not without danger, of preparing the bodies of the perfected and blessed martyrs for burial.”

HE 7. 11.25-26  For to this day the governor does not let up. Some of those brought before him he puts to death, as I said, with cruelty. Others he tears apart with tortures, and others he wastes away in prisons and chains. He orders that no one go near them, and he searches to see whether anyone appears. Even so, God gives rest to those under pressure through the eagerness and persistence of the brothers.” So much for Dionysius. It should be known that Eusebius, whom he called a deacon, was a little later made bishop of the church of Laodicea in Syria. Maximus, whom he then called a presbyter, took over the ministry of the brothers in Alexandria after Dionysius. Faustus, who distinguished himself with them in that confession, was kept safe until our own persecution. Then, extremely old and full of days, he was beheaded in martyrdom in our own time and so finished his course. Such were the things that happened to Dionysius at that time.


CHAPTER 12

HE 7. 12.1  During the persecution under Valerian just described, three men at Caesarea in Palestine shone in their confession of Christ and were adorned with divine martyrdom, becoming food for wild beasts. One was called Priscus, another Malchus, and the third was named Alexander. They say these men lived in the countryside. At first they reproached themselves as careless and indifferent. The time was handing out prizes to those eager for the heavenly longing, and they were neglecting to snatch the crown of martyrdom for themselves. So they resolved to go to Caesarea, went together before the judge, and met the end described above. They also report that in the same persecution and the same city a woman went through the same contest. The account has it that she belonged to the heresy of Marcion.


CHAPTER 13

HE 7. 13.1  But Valerian did not remain long in slavery among the barbarians. His son became sole ruler and governed more sensibly. At once he ended the persecution against us by public proclamations. By a written reply he ordered the leaders of the word to carry out their customary duties in freedom. It reads as follows: “The Emperor Caesar Publius Licinius Gallienus, Pius, Felix, Augustus, to Dionysius, Pinnas, Demetrius, and the other bishops. I have ordered the benefit of my gift to be carried out through the whole world, so that people may withdraw from the places of worship. For this reason you also may use the copy of my reply, so that no one may trouble you. What you can lawfully do has already been granted by me for a long time. Therefore Aurelius Quirinius, who is in charge of this most important matter, will keep to this ordinance given by me.” I have set this out translated from the Latin language, to make it clearer. Another ordinance of the same emperor is also preserved, which he made to other bishops, allowing them to recover the sites of the so-called cemeteries.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek says “Aurelius Kyrenios” (the older English has “Cyrenius”). The wording of the decree is obscure in Greek, and the clause about people withdrawing from the places of worship is hard to interpret.


CHAPTER 14

HE 7. 14.1  At this time Xystus still led the church of Rome. Demetrianus led the church of Antioch after Fabius. Firmilian led Caesarea in Cappadocia. Besides these, Gregory and his brother Athenodorus, pupils of Origen, led the churches of Pontus. At Caesarea in Palestine, Theoctistus died and Domnus took over the bishopric. He lived only a short time, and Theotecnus, our contemporary, was appointed his successor. He too belonged to Origen’s school. At Jerusalem, when Mazabanes died, Hymenaeus took the throne. He too was distinguished through very many years in our own time.


CHAPTER 15

HE 7. 15.1-2  In these times, when the churches had peace everywhere, Marinus at Caesarea in Palestine was beheaded for his witness to Christ. He was one of those honored with rank in the army, a man of distinction in birth and wealth. The reason was this. Among the Romans the vine-staff is a mark of honor, and those who receive it are said to become centurions. A post was vacant, and Marinus’s place in the order of rank called him to it. He was already about to take the honor when another man came forward before the tribunal. He accused Marinus, saying that under the ancient laws Marinus could not share in Roman rank, since he was a Christian and did not sacrifice to the emperors. The office, he said, fell to himself.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek word klēma means a vine-branch or vine-staff, the badge of a Roman centurion’s office.

HE 7. 15.3-4  The judge, whose name was Achaeus, was stirred by this and first asked Marinus what his convictions were. When he saw that Marinus kept confessing that he was a Christian, he gave him three hours to think it over. After Marinus left the court, Theoctecnus, the bishop there, approached him, drew him aside in conversation, took him by the hand, and led him into the church. Standing with him inside, right at the sanctuary, he pulled back Marinus’s cloak a little and showed him the sword hanging at his side. At the same time he brought the Scripture of the divine Gospels and set it before him, telling him to choose whichever of the two he wished. Without hesitating, Marinus stretched out his right hand and took the divine Scripture. “Hold on, then,” Theotecnus said to him, “hold on to God. May you obtain what you have chosen, strengthened by him, and go in peace.”
   [Translator’s note] The Greek names the bishop Theoteknos (Latinized Theotecnus), bishop of Caesarea, the same man as in 7.14.1. The Greek says he stood Marinus inside “at the sanctuary itself” (hagiasma).

HE 7. 15.5  As soon as Marinus returned from there, a herald was shouting and calling him to the court, for the set time had now run out. He stood before the tribunal and showed an even greater eagerness in his faith. Then he was led away immediately, just as he was, and was brought to his end by execution.


CHAPTER 16

HE 7. 16.1  Astyrius is also remembered there for his boldness, which was pleasing to God. He was a Roman senator, a favorite of the emperors, and known to everyone for his noble birth and wealth. He was present when the martyr was put to death. He put his shoulder under the body and lifted it onto a bright and costly robe. He carried it away, wrapped it very richly, and gave it a fitting burial. The friends of this man who have lived on to our own time tell many other stories about him,


CHAPTER 17

HE 7. 17.1  including this remarkable one. They say that at Caesarea Philippi, which the Phoenicians call Paneas, there are springs shown at the foot of the mountain called Panion, and that the Jordan pours out from them. On a certain feast day, they say, a sacrificial victim was thrown into these springs, and by the power of a demon it vanished in a marvelous way. What happened was a famous wonder to those who were present. Astyrius was once there at these proceedings. When he saw the crowds amazed at the sight, he pitied them for their delusion. Then he looked up to heaven and begged the God over all, through Christ, to expose the demon who was deceiving the people and to put an end to their being led astray. They say that when he prayed this, the sacrificed animal suddenly floated up on the surface of the springs. In this way the wonder left them, and no marvel ever happened at that place again.


CHAPTER 18

HE 7. 18.1-2  Since I have come to mention this city, I think I should not pass over an account that deserves to be remembered by those who come after us. They said that the woman with the flow of blood, whom we know from the holy Gospels to have been delivered from her sickness by our Savior, came from this place. They said her house is shown in the city, and that marvelous memorials of the Savior’s kindness to her still remain. For at the gates of her house, on a high stone, stands a bronze figure of a woman kneeling with her hands stretched out in front of her, like someone pleading. Facing it is another figure of the same material, a man standing upright, decently wrapped in a double cloak and stretching out his hand to the woman. At his feet, on the base itself, a strange kind of plant grows. It climbs up to the hem of the bronze cloak and is a remedy for every kind of disease.

HE 7. 18.3-4  They said this statue bore the likeness of Jesus. It has survived even to our own day, so that we saw it ourselves when we stayed in the city. It is not at all surprising that Gentiles who were long ago helped by our Savior did these things. We have also learned that likenesses of his apostles Paul and Peter, and of Christ himself, are preserved in painted pictures. This is natural, since the ancients were accustomed, in the Gentile manner and without much caution, to honor in this way those whom they regarded as saviors.
   [Translator’s note] “Saviors” here is the ordinary Greek word for a deliverer or benefactor, not a claim about Christ. Eusebius is explaining that the Gentile custom was to honor benefactors with images.


CHAPTER 19

HE 7. 19.1  The throne of James is also there. He was the first to receive the bishopric of the church of Jerusalem from the Savior himself and the apostles, and the divine writings record that he was called the brother of Christ. The brothers there who have cared for it in succession have kept it safe to this day. They show everyone plainly how much reverence, because of their love for God, both the people of old and the people of our own day have kept and still keep for holy men. So much for this.


CHAPTER 20

HE 7. 20.1  Besides the letters already mentioned, Dionysius at this time also composed the Festal Letters that are still in circulation. In these he gives somewhat festive and celebratory discourses on the feast of the Passover. He addressed one to Flavius, and another to Domitius and Didymus. In this second one he also sets out a rule based on an eight-year cycle, arguing that the Passover feast should not be kept at any time other than after the spring equinox. Besides these he wrote another letter to his fellow presbyters in Alexandria, and also various letters to others. He wrote all these while the persecution was still going on.
   [Translator’s note] “Canon of eight years” means a table for calculating the date of Easter over an eight-year cycle. The older translation’s “epistle” is rendered “letter” throughout.


CHAPTER 21

HE 7. 21.1-2  Peace was just about to come when he returned to Alexandria. But sedition and war broke out there again, and he could not oversee all the brothers in the city, who were divided between the two sides of the conflict. So at the feast of the Passover he again spoke to them by letter, like a man living abroad, though he was in Alexandria itself. Later he wrote another festal letter to Hierax, a bishop of the Egyptian churches, and in it he mentions the civil strife of the Alexandrians in his time. He says: “Why should I wonder that it is hard for me to speak even by letter with those who live farther away, when even to talk with myself and take counsel with my own soul has become impossible?

HE 7. 21.3-4  “I need to send letters to my own heart, to the brothers who share my dwelling and my soul, citizens of the same church. Yet how to send them seems impossible. It would be easier for someone to cross not only beyond the border but even from east to west than to travel from Alexandria to Alexandria itself. The road through the very middle of the city is more untrodden and impassable than that vast trackless desert which Israel crossed in two generations. And our calm, waveless harbors have become an image of the sea which was split and walled up for them and which they crossed on horseback, and in whose roadway the Egyptians were drowned. For often, from the killings carried out in them, the harbors have looked like a Red Sea.
   [Scripture] Exodus 14:22

HE 7. 21.5-6  “The river that flows past the city has sometimes appeared drier than the waterless desert, more parched than the one Israel was crossing when they became so thirsty that they cried out against Moses. Then drink flowed for them out of the sheer rock from him who alone does wonders. At other times it has overflowed so much that it flooded the whole surrounding country, the roads and the fields, and threatened to bring back the rush of water that came in the time of Noah. And it always runs down defiled with blood, murders and drownings, as it was for Pharaoh under Moses, when it turned into blood and began to stink.
   [Scripture] Exodus 17:6; Exodus 7:20-21

HE 7. 21.7-8  “What other water could there be to cleanse the water that cleanses everything? How could the vast ocean, which men cannot cross, if it were poured in, wash away this bitter sea? Or how could the great river that flows out of Eden, if it channeled the four heads into which it divides into the single one of the Geon, wash away this filth? Or when will the air, clouded by evil vapors from every side, ever become clear? For such are the vapors from the land, the winds from the sea, the breezes from the rivers and the mists rising from the harbors, that the dews are the foul fluids of corpses rotting in all the elements beneath us.
   [Scripture] Genesis 2:10-14

HE 7. 21.9  “And then people are amazed and puzzled where the constant plagues come from, where the terrible diseases come from, where all kinds of deaths come from, why such varied and great destruction of men. They ask why this very great city no longer holds as many inhabitants as it once did, from small children up to those of the greatest age, including those it used to call hardy old men. In those days, men from forty to seventy years old were so much more numerous that their number cannot now be made up, even though those from fourteen to eighty have been added to the list for the public grain allowance. And those who look youngest have become, as it were, the same age as the oldest of former times.

HE 7. 21.10  “Yet they see the human race on earth always shrinking and being used up, and they do not tremble, though its complete disappearance is growing and advancing.”


CHAPTER 22

HE 7. 22.1-2  After this a plague broke out in the middle of the war, and as the feast drew near, Dionysius again addressed the brothers by letter, pointing out the sufferings of the calamity in these words: “To other people the present might not seem a time for a festival. Indeed, neither this time nor any other is a festival time for them. That is true not only of sorrowful times, but even of times they might think most joyful. Now everything is mourning, everyone is grieving, and wailing echoes through the city every day because of the multitude of the dead and the dying.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek participle (dialabousēs) means the plague “broke out in the midst of” or “intervened in” the war, not merely that it came after it.

HE 7. 22.3-4  “As it is written of the firstborn of the Egyptians, so now there has been a great cry. For there is no house in which someone is not dead. And I wish that were all! For many terrible things happened even before this. First they drove us out. Though we were persecuted and put to death by everyone, even then we kept the feast. Every place of our affliction became a festival ground for us: field, desert, ship, inn, prison. But the perfected martyrs kept the most radiant feast of all, feasting in heaven.
   [Scripture] Exodus 12:30

HE 7. 22.5-6  “After this came war and famine. We went through these together with the pagans. But we alone endured the injuries they did to us, and we also shared in the effects of what they did to one another and suffered. And again we rejoiced in the peace of Christ, which he gave to us alone. Then both we and they had a very brief breathing space, and this disease fell upon us. To them it was more fearful than any fear and more grievous than any calamity. As one of their own writers said, it was the one thing that proved stronger than everyone’s hope. For us it was not like that. It was a training and a test, no less than the other troubles. For it did not hold back even from us, but it struck the pagans in great numbers.
   [Translator’s note] “Pagans” translates ethnē, “nations” or “Gentiles”, here meaning non-Christians. The verb rendered “shared in the effects” (paraupolausantes) normally means “to enjoy besides” or “to profit from”, used here with irony.

HE 7. 22.7  Further on he adds: “Most of our brothers, through their overflowing love and brotherly affection, did not spare themselves. They held on to one another and visited the sick without taking precautions. They served them constantly and cared for them in Christ, and they departed this life with them most gladly. They were filled with the suffering of others, drew the sickness upon themselves from their neighbors, and took on their pains willingly. Many who nursed others and restored them to health died themselves, having transferred the others’ death to themselves. In this way they made real, in deed, the common saying that always seems to be mere politeness: they departed as the ‘offscouring’ of the others.
   [Translator’s note] “Offscouring” translates the Greek *peripsēma*, the same word Paul uses in 1 Corinthians 4:13. Dionysius calls it a common saying, and it was used as a humble, self-deprecating expression.
   [Scripture] 1 Corinthians 4:13

HE 7. 22.8-9  “In this way the best of our brothers departed from life. Some were presbyters and deacons, and some were people from the congregation who were highly praised. This kind of death, which came through great devotion and strong faith, seemed to fall nothing short of martyrdom. They would take the bodies of the saints in open hands and into their laps. They closed their eyes and mouths, carried them on their shoulders and laid them out, clung to them and embraced them, and made them ready with washings and wrappings. Soon afterward they received the same treatment themselves, since the survivors were always following those who had gone before.

HE 7. 22.10-11  “The pagans did exactly the opposite. They pushed away those who began to fall sick and ran from their dearest friends. They threw them into the roads half dead and tossed out the dead unburied like refuse. They were trying to avoid the spread of death and any sharing in it, but with all their schemes they could not easily escape it.” After this letter, when peace had come to those in the city, he again wrote a festal letter to the brothers in Egypt, and after it he composed various others. One of his letters is also in circulation On the Sabbath, and another On Exercise.

HE 7. 22.12  In a letter to Hermammon and the brothers in Egypt, he went through many other things about the wickedness of Decius and those after him, and he mentions the peace under Gallienus.


CHAPTER 23

HE 7. 23.1-2  But nothing is like hearing his own words on these matters, which run something like this: “That man betrayed one of the emperors before him and attacked the other. He was quickly wiped out, root and branch, with his whole family. But Gallienus was proclaimed and acknowledged by all as an old emperor and a new one at once, since he was first and was still there after those others. For it is as was said to the prophet Isaiah: ‘Behold, the things from the beginning have come, and new things will now arise.’ A cloud may slip under the rays of the sun and for a little while cover it with shadow, appearing in its place. Then the cloud passes by or dissolves, and the sun that had risen before shines out again. In the same way Macrianus put himself forward and drew close to the reigning power of Gallienus. Now he is no more, since he never really was, while the other is just as he was before.
   [Translator’s note] “That man” is Macrianus, who is named later in the passage. The Isaiah quotation resembles Isaiah 42:9 in the Greek Old Testament, though the wording differs slightly.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 42:9

HE 7. 23.3-4  It is as though the empire has shed its old age and been cleansed of its former wickedness. Now it blooms with fuller strength, is seen and heard of farther away, and reaches everywhere.” Next he marks the time at which he was writing this, in these words: “Again it occurs to me to look at the days of the imperial years. I see that the most ungodly men, though once famous, have soon become nameless. But the holier and more God-loving emperor has passed the seventh year and is now completing the ninth, in which we shall keep the feast.”


CHAPTER 24

HE 7. 24.1-3  Besides all this, he also took pains to write two books On the Promises. The occasion was Nepos, a bishop of the Egyptian churches. Nepos taught that the promises made to the saints in the divine Scriptures should be fulfilled in a more Jewish way. He supposed that there would be a thousand years of bodily luxury on this earth. Thinking he could support his own opinion from the Revelation of John, he wrote a work on the subject and titled it Refutation of the Allegorists. Dionysius argues against him in his books On the Promises. In the first he sets out his own view of the doctrine. In the second he deals with the Revelation of John. There, mentioning Nepos near the beginning, he writes about him as follows:

HE 7. 24.4  “Now they bring forward a certain work of Nepos, on which they rely heavily, as though it proved beyond dispute that Christ’s kingdom will be on earth. In many other respects I accept and love Nepos: for his faith, his hard work, his devotion to the study of the Scriptures, and his abundant psalmody, in which many of the brethren are cheered even to this day. I hold the man in great respect, all the more because he has already fallen asleep. But the truth is dear to us and must be honored above all. We should praise and agree freely when something is said rightly, but we should examine and correct anything that does not appear to be soundly written.”

HE 7. 24.5  “If he were present and arguing his view by word of mouth alone, unwritten discussion would be enough. By question and answer we could persuade and reconcile those who disagree. But a written work has been published which some think very convincing. Some teachers regard the Law and the Prophets as nothing, neglect to follow the Gospels, and make light of the apostles’ letters. Meanwhile they promise that the teaching of this book is some great hidden mystery. They will not let our simpler brothers hold any lofty or grand thoughts about the glorious and truly divine appearing of our Lord, or about our resurrection from the dead, or our being gathered to him and made like him. Instead they persuade them to hope for small and mortal things in the kingdom of God, things like those we have now. Since this is so, we must also speak with our brother Nepos as if he were present.”

HE 7. 24.6-7  After other remarks he continues: “I went to the district of Arsinoë, where, as you know, this teaching had long been widespread. It had caused schisms and the falling away of whole churches. I called together the presbyters and teachers of the brothers in the villages, with any brothers who wished to attend, and urged them to examine the matter publicly. They brought me this book as though it were an unbeatable weapon and fortress. I sat with them for three days in a row, from dawn to evening, and tried to correct what was written in it.”

HE 7. 24.8  “There I greatly admired the steadiness, the love of truth, the quickness to follow an argument, and the good sense of the brothers. We made our questions, our objections, and our agreements in an orderly way and with fairness. We refused to cling stubbornly, at any cost, to opinions we had once held, even if they did not seem right. We did not shy away from objections, but as far as we could, we tried to stand on the matters before us and make them firm. Nor were we ashamed, if reason demanded it, to change our minds and agree. Rather, with a clear conscience, without pretense, and with hearts open before God, we accepted what was established by the proofs and teachings of the holy Scriptures.”

HE 7. 24.9  “In the end, the originator and leader of this teaching, a man called Coracion, in the hearing of all the brothers present, admitted to us and solemnly declared that he would no longer hold to it. He would not argue it, mention it, or teach it, since he had been thoroughly refuted by those who opposed him. And the other brothers who were present rejoiced at the conference, and at the gentleness and harmony shown toward everyone.”


CHAPTER 25

HE 7. 25.1-2  Then, going on to the Apocalypse of John, Dionysius says this: “Some of those before us rejected the book and tried to overthrow it completely. They went through it chapter by chapter, declared it unintelligible and illogical, and said its title is false. They claim it is not John’s. They say it is not even a revelation, because it is wrapped in a thick, heavy veil of ignorance. They say that none of the apostles, and indeed none of the saints or anyone in the church, wrote it. Instead, they say, Cerinthus, who founded the heresy named after him, the Cerinthian, wanted a name people would trust for his own invention, so he attached it to the book.

HE 7. 25.3-4  “For this, they say, was the teaching of Cerinthus: that Christ’s kingdom would be on earth. He was a lover of the body and thoroughly fleshly, so he dreamed that the kingdom would consist of what he himself craved: the filling of the belly and of what lies below the belly, that is, food, drink and marriage. And to make these things sound more respectable, he added feasts, sacrifices and the slaughter of animals. But I would never dare to reject the book, since many of the brothers value it highly. I take it to be beyond my own understanding, and I suppose there is a hidden and more wonderful meaning in each part. For even if I do not understand it, I suspect that a deeper meaning lies in the words.

HE 7. 25.5-6  I do not measure and judge these things by my own reasoning. I give more place to faith, and I consider them too high for me to grasp. I do not reject what I have not understood; I am rather amazed that I did not see it.” After this, Dionysius examined the whole text of the Apocalypse and showed that it cannot be understood in its obvious sense. Then he goes on: “When the prophet has finished, one might say, the whole prophecy, he pronounces blessed those who keep it, and himself as well. For he says, ‘Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book, and I, John, am the one who sees and hears these things.’
   [Scripture] Revelation 22:7; Revelation 22:8

HE 7. 25.7-8  “So I will not argue against his being called John, or against this writing being John’s. I agree that it is the work of some holy man, inspired by God. But I could not easily agree that he is the apostle, the son of Zebedee and brother of James, to whom belong the Gospel titled According to John and the catholic epistle. I judge from the character of each, from the style of the language, and from the way the book is carried out, that he is not the same man. For the evangelist nowhere writes his own name into the text or proclaims himself, either in the Gospel or in the epistle.

HE 7. 25.9-10  Going on, Dionysius says again: “John never speaks of himself, nor of another, in this way. But the writer of the Apocalypse puts himself forward right at the start: ‘The revelation of Jesus Christ, which he gave to show his servants quickly. And he made it known by sending it through his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to his testimony, to all that he saw.’ Then he also writes a letter: ‘John, to the seven churches in Asia: grace and peace to you.’ The evangelist, by contrast, did not put his name even at the head of the catholic epistle. He began plainly with the very mystery of the divine revelation: ‘What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our own eyes.’ It was for such a revelation that the Lord blessed Peter, saying, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal it to you, but my Father in heaven.’
   [Translator’s note] The words of the Lord to Peter are quoted from the Gospel; compare Matthew 16:17.
   [Scripture] Revelation 1:1-2; Revelation 1:4; 1 John 1:1; Matthew 16:17

HE 7. 25.11  “Not even in the second and third letters that are attributed to John, though they are very short, is the name John put at the head. There the writer is called ‘the elder,’ without a name. But the author of the Apocalypse did not think it enough to name himself once and then tell the rest. He takes it up again: ‘I, John, your brother and partner in the suffering and kingdom and endurance of Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.’ And near the end he says: ‘Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book, and I, John, am the one who sees and hears these things.’”
   [Scripture] Revelation 1:9; Revelation 22:7; Revelation 22:8; 2 John 1:1; 3 John 1:1

HE 7. 25.12-13  So we must believe John when he says that he is the one who wrote these things. But which John he is, is unclear. He did not say that he was the disciple loved by the Lord, as the Gospel says in many places. He did not say he was the one who leaned back on the Lord’s breast, or the brother of James, or the one who saw and heard the Lord for himself. If he had wanted to identify himself clearly, he would have used one of these descriptions. He uses none of them. He calls himself our brother and fellow-sharer, a witness of Jesus, and blessed because he saw and heard the revelations.

HE 7. 25.14-15  I think there were many people with the same name as John the apostle. Out of love for him, and because they admired and wanted to imitate him, and wished to be loved by the Lord as he was, they took the same name. In the same way, the name Paul, and Peter too, is often given to the children of believers. In the Acts of the Apostles there is another John, called Mark, whom Barnabas and Paul took along with them. Of him the text says again, “And they also had John as their assistant.” I would not say that he is the one who wrote this book. It is not recorded that he went with them into Asia. What it says is that Paul and his company set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia, and that John left them and returned to Jerusalem.
   [Scripture] Acts 13:5; Acts 13:13

HE 7. 25.16-18  I think the author was some other John among those who lived in Asia, since they say there are two tombs in Ephesus, and each is said to be John’s. From the thoughts, the words, and the way they are put together, it is reasonable to suppose that this man is different from the apostle. The Gospel and the Epistle agree with each other, and they begin in a similar way. The one says, “In the beginning was the Word”; the other, “That which was from the beginning.” The one says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, glory as of an only-begotten from a father.” The other says the same thing with slight changes: “That which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked at, and our hands touched, concerning the Word of life, and the life was made visible.”
   [Scripture] John 1:1; John 1:14; 1 John 1:1

HE 7. 25.19-20  He sounds these notes at the start because he is arguing, as he makes clear in what follows, against those who claim that the Lord did not come in the flesh. That is why he carefully adds: “And we have seen and we bear witness, and we report to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made visible to us. What we have seen and heard we report to you also.” He holds to this and does not depart from his aims. He works through everything under the same main points and terms, and we have briefly recalled some of them.
   [Scripture] 1 John 1:2-3

HE 7. 25.21  Anyone who reads attentively will find in both writings much about life and light, and about turning away from darkness. He will find truth, grace and joy again and again, along with the flesh and blood of the Lord, the judgment, the forgiveness of sins, God’s love toward us, and the commandment that we love one another. He will find that we must keep all the commandments, and he will find the exposure of the world, the devil and the antichrist. There is the promise of the Holy Spirit, the adoption by God, and the faith demanded of us throughout, and the Father and the Son appear everywhere. In short, by marking these features all the way through, one can see that the Gospel and the Epistle have one and the same character.

HE 7. 25.22-24  The Apocalypse is quite different from these and foreign to them. It does not touch them or come near them, and it has hardly a single syllable in common with them. The Epistle (I leave the Gospel aside) contains no mention or thought of the Apocalypse, and the Apocalypse contains none of the Epistle. Paul, by contrast, in his letters hinted at his own revelations, though he did not write them down separately. Further, we can also judge from the wording how the style of the Gospel and the Epistle differs from that of the Apocalypse.
   [Translator’s note] Compare 2 Corinthians 12:1-4, where Paul speaks of “visions and revelations of the Lord” that he does not set out in full.
   [Scripture] 2 Corinthians 12:1-4

HE 7. 25.25-26  The Gospel and the Epistle are written not only without mistakes in Greek, but with real eloquence in their wording, their reasoning, and the arrangement of their style. They are very far from containing any foreign-sounding word, any grammatical blunder, or any common, uneducated expression. The author, it seems, had both kinds of speech, since the Lord had given him both the gift of knowledge and the gift of expression. I will not deny that the author of the other book saw a revelation and received knowledge and prophecy. But I see that his dialect and language are not accurate Greek. He uses foreign-sounding idioms, and in places even makes grammatical blunders.

HE 7. 25.27  There is no need to list these here. I did not say this to mock him, so let no one think so. I said it only to set right the difference between the writings.


CHAPTER 26

HE 7. 26.1-2  Besides these, many other letters of Dionysius survive. They include those against Sabellius, addressed to Ammon, bishop of the church at Berenice, and one to Telesphorus, one to Euphranor, and another to Ammon and Euporus. On the same subject he also composed four other writings, which he addressed to Dionysius of Rome. We also have more letters of his than these, and some lengthy discourses written in the form of letters. Among them are the books On Nature, addressed to his child Timothy, and one On Temptations, which he also dedicated to Euphranor.
   [Translator’s note] Berenice (Greek Bernikē) is the city in Cyrenaica (Libya), now Benghazi.

HE 7. 26.3  In addition, writing to Basilides, bishop of the churches in the Pentapolis, he says that he had written an explanation of the beginning of Ecclesiastes. He also left us various other letters to this same man. That is all about Dionysius. Now that I have finished this account of these men, let me go on and set down for later readers what our own generation was like.


CHAPTER 27

HE 7. 27.1-2  After Xystus had led the church of Rome for eleven years, Dionysius, who had the same name as the Dionysius of Alexandria, succeeded him. About this time Demetrianus of Antioch died, and Paul of Samosata took over the bishopric. Paul held low and groveling views about Christ, contrary to the teaching of the Church, claiming that Christ was by nature an ordinary man. Dionysius of Alexandria was urged to come to the council, but he pleaded old age and bodily weakness and put off coming. He explained in a letter what he thought about the question under discussion. The other pastors of the churches gathered from one place and another, all hurrying to Antioch, as against a destroyer of Christ’s flock.


CHAPTER 28

HE 7. 28.1  The most distinguished of these were Firmilian, bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia; the brothers Gregory and Athenodorus, pastors of the churches in Pontus; Helenus of the church in Tarsus; and Nicomas of Iconium. There were also Hymenaeus of the church of Jerusalem, Theotecnus of the neighboring church of Caesarea, and Maximus, who led the brothers in Bostra with distinction. One could name countless others, together with presbyters and deacons, who were gathered in that city at the time for the same reason. But these were the most outstanding.

HE 7. 28.2-3  So they met together often and at various times, and at every session there were discussions and debates. Paul of Samosata’s party kept trying to cover up and hide his false teaching, while the others eagerly worked to expose it and bring his heresy and his blasphemy against Christ into the open. During this time Dionysius died, in the twelfth year of the reign of Gallienus, having held the bishopric of Alexandria for seventeen years. Maximus succeeded him.

HE 7. 28.4  Gallienus ruled for a full fifteen years and was followed by Claudius. After two years Claudius handed the rule over to Aurelian.


CHAPTER 29

HE 7. 29.1-2  In Aurelian’s reign a final council was held, made up of a very large number of bishops. The leader of the heresy at Antioch was exposed, and all clearly condemned him for false teaching. He was cast out of the catholic church under heaven. It was Malchion above all who exposed him as he tried to hide his errors. Malchion was a learned and wise man, head of the Greek school of rhetoric at Antioch. Because of the genuine strength of his faith in Christ, he had also been made a presbyter of the church there. He held a debate with Paul while stenographers recorded it, and we know that this record is still in circulation. Malchion alone among them was able to expose this deceitful man, who concealed his real thoughts.
   [Translator’s note] “Catholic” here means “universal,” the whole church throughout the world. The Greek phrase for Malchion’s school, “Hellēnikōn paideutēriōn,” means “Greek schools of learning.”


CHAPTER 30

HE 7. 30.1  The pastors who had gathered together drafted one letter by common agreement. It was addressed to Dionysius, bishop of Rome, and Maximus of Alexandria, and they sent it out to all the provinces. In it they made their own zeal plain to everyone. They also described Paul’s twisted false teaching, the refutations and questions they had put to him, and the whole life and conduct of the man. For the record, it is good to go through some of their words here.

HE 7. 30.2  “To Dionysius and Maximus, and to all our fellow ministers throughout the world, bishops, presbyters and deacons, and to the whole catholic church under heaven: Helenus, Hymenaeus, Theophilus, Theotecnus, Maximus, Proclus, Nicomas, Aelianus, Paul, Bolanus, Protogenes, Hierax, Eutychius, Theodorus, Malchion and Lucius, and all the rest of us who live in the neighboring cities and nations, bishops, presbyters and deacons, and the churches of God, to our beloved brothers in the Lord, greetings.”

HE 7. 30.3-4  A little later they add these words: “We wrote, and at the same time urged, many of the bishops from far away to come and heal this deadly teaching. Among them were Dionysius of Alexandria and Firmilian of Cappadocia, those blessed men. Dionysius did write to Antioch, but he did not think the leader of the error worthy even of a greeting. He did not write to him personally but to the whole community, and we have attached a copy. Firmilian came twice and condemned Paul’s innovations. We who were present know this and bear witness to it, and many others are aware of it too. But Paul promised to change, and Firmilian believed him. He hoped the matter would be set right without any reproach falling on the Word, so he put off further action. He was deceived by a man who denies his own God and has not kept the faith he himself once held.”

HE 7. 30.5-6  “Now Firmilian was about to cross over to Antioch again, and he had come as far as Tarsus, since he had learned by experience the God-denying wickedness of Paul. But while we were gathered together, sending for him and waiting until he came, he ended his life.” After other matters, they again describe the man’s life and the way he conducted himself, in these words: “He has departed from the rule of faith and gone over to counterfeit and spurious teachings. Since he is now outside, there is no need for us to judge his actions.

HE 7. 30.7-8  “There is no need to judge, for example, how he was once poor and destitute. He received no wealth from his fathers and gained none from any trade or occupation. Yet now he has reached extraordinary riches through lawless acts and temple-robbing, and through what he demands and shakes out of the brothers. He cheats those who have been wronged and promises to help them for a fee, but lies even to these. He profits in vain from the readiness of people in trouble to pay to be rid of those who torment them. He regards godliness as a means of making money. “Nor is there need to judge how proud he is and how puffed up, putting on worldly honors. He prefers to be called a ‘ducenarius’ rather than a bishop. He struts through the marketplaces, reading and dictating letters as he walks in public, with a bodyguard around him. Many go in front of him and many follow, so that the faith is envied and hated because of his pomposity and the arrogance of his heart.
   [Scripture] 1 Timothy 6:5

HE 7. 30.9  “Nor is there need to judge the showmanship he stages in the church assemblies. He schemes to win glory and make an impression, and so to stun the souls of simpler people. He has built himself a platform and a high throne, which is not what a disciple of Christ would do. He also has a ‘secretum,’ as the rulers of the world do, and he calls it by that name. He slaps his thigh with his hand and stamps on the platform with his feet. Some do not praise him, wave their linen cloths as in the theaters, shout, and jump up as his partisans do, the men and women around him who listen in such a disorderly way. But others listen quietly and in good order, as in the house of God. He rebukes and insults these. He also rudely and drunkenly abuses in public the expositors of the Word who have departed this life, and he boasts grandly about himself, not like a bishop but like a sophist and a charlatan.

HE 7. 30.10-11  He stopped the psalms addressed to our Lord Jesus Christ, saying they were recent, the writings of recent men. And on the great day of the Passover he has women sing psalms to himself in the middle of the church, which anyone would shudder to hear. He also lets the bishops and presbyters of the neighboring country districts and cities, who flatter him, say similar things in their sermons to the people. For he refuses to confess that the Son of God came down from heaven. (To anticipate something that will be written later: this is not a bare assertion. It is shown in many places in the records we sent you, and not least where he says that Jesus Christ is “from below.”) Meanwhile those who sing to him and praise him among the people say that their impious teacher has come down from heaven as an angel. He does not stop them. The arrogant man is even present while they say it.

HE 7. 30.12-13  Then there are the women he keeps in his household, whom the people of Antioch call “women brought in with him.” He has them, and so do the presbyters and deacons around him. Paul knows about the sins of these men and has exposed them, yet he hides this and their other incurable sins. He does it to keep them in his debt, so that out of fear for themselves they will not dare to accuse him for the wrongs he does in word and deed. He has even made them rich, and for that he is loved and admired by those who covet such things. But why should we write about this? We know, beloved, that the bishop and all the clergy must be an example of every good work to the people. We also know how many have fallen, and how many have come under suspicion, through bringing women into their houses. So even if someone granted that he does nothing indecent, he still ought to guard against the suspicion that arises from such a practice. Otherwise he may cause someone to stumble, or even encourage others to imitate him.

HE 7. 30.14-16  For how could he rebuke or warn another man not to go too far in keeping company with a woman, but to be on guard lest he slip, as it is written? He has already sent one woman away, but he has two with him, in their prime and good-looking, and he takes them along wherever he goes. And he does this while living in luxury and overindulgence. Because of this, everyone groans and laments in private. Yet they are so afraid of his tyranny and power that they dare not accuse him. As we said before, one could call the man to account for these things if he held the catholic faith and were numbered with us. But he has mocked the mystery of the faith, and he parades about in the abominable heresy of Artemas. (Why should we not name his father, however reluctantly?) So we think there is no need to demand an explanation of these matters from him.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek verb ἐξορχησάμενος literally means “danced away” or “danced off,” that is, treated with mocking contempt. The clause about naming his father is textually difficult, so the sense given is only a probable one.

HE 7. 30.17  Then, at the end of the letter, they add this: “We were therefore compelled to excommunicate him, since he set himself against God and would not yield. In his place we appointed another bishop for the catholic church, by God’s providence, as we are persuaded. He is Domnus, son of the blessed Demetrianus, who formerly presided over the same community with distinction. Domnus is adorned with all the good qualities that befit a bishop. We have informed you so that you may write to him and receive letters of communion from him. Let Paul write to Artemas, and let those who think as Artemas does be in communion with him.”

HE 7. 30.18-19  So Paul was removed from the office of bishop, and from the orthodox faith along with it, and Domnus, as has been said, took over the ministry of the church at Antioch. But Paul absolutely refused to give up the church’s house. The Emperor Aurelian was petitioned, and he gave a most fitting decision about what should be done. He ordered the house to be given to those with whom the bishops of this teaching in Italy and the city of Rome should correspond. In this way the man we have been speaking of was driven out of the church by the worldly power, in utter disgrace.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek says the house was to go to those “to whom the bishops of the doctrine in Italy and the city of Rome should write.” In practice this means those who were in communion with those bishops.

HE 7. 30.20-21  That was how Aurelian treated us at that time. But as his reign went on, he changed his mind about us. Certain advisers moved him to stir up a persecution against us, and everyone was talking about it. He was just about to sign the decrees against us when divine justice overtook him. It almost loosed him by the elbows from his undertaking. It showed everyone plainly that the rulers of this world can never find it easy to act against the churches of Christ. This can happen only if the defending hand allows it, by a divine and heavenly judgment, for discipline and turning back to God, at the times that hand approves.

HE 7. 30.22-23  Aurelian ruled for six years and was succeeded by Probus. Probus held power for about the same length of time. Carus followed him, together with his sons Carinus and Numerianus. These in turn lasted less than three full years, and then the government passed to Diocletian and those adopted as colleagues after him. Under them the persecution of our own time took place, and the tearing down of the churches. A little before this, Dionysius, bishop of Rome, completed nine years of service and was succeeded by Felix.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek says the rule passed to Diocletian and “those adopted after him,” meaning his co-rulers. It says only that Dionysius completed nine years of ministry before Felix succeeded him.


CHAPTER 31

HE 7. 31.1  At this time Mani, mad in his mind, appeared. His name was given to the demon-possessed heresy. He was arming himself with a twisted way of reasoning, because the demon, none other than Satan, the enemy of God, had put the man forward to ruin many people. He was a barbarian in his way of life, in speech and in manner, and by nature demonic and frenzied. His actions matched this, and he tried to pose as Christ. At one time he proclaimed himself the Paraclete and the Holy Spirit himself, puffed up with his madness. At another time, like Christ, he chose twelve disciples to share his new teaching.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek has a wordplay: Μανεὶς τὰς φρένας (“mad in mind,” from μαίνομαι) sounds like the name Mani. The pun is reinforced by μανιώδης and μανία later in the passage. The Greek also says “at one time... at another” (τοτὲ μὲν... τοτὲ δέ).

HE 7. 31.2  He stitched together false and godless doctrines, gathered from countless godless teachers long since extinct. Like a deadly poison, he wiped them off from Persia onto our part of the world. From him the impious name of the Manichaeans is still common among many people. Such was the origin of this falsely named “knowledge,” which sprang up at the times I have described.
   [Translator’s note] “Falsely named knowledge” echoes the phrase in 1 Timothy 6:20.
   [Scripture] 1 Timothy 6:20


CHAPTER 32

HE 7. 32.1-2  In their time Eutychianus succeeded the man who had presided over the church of the Romans. Eutychianus lasted less than ten full months and then left the office to Gaius, who lived in our own day. Gaius presided for about fifteen years, and Marcellinus became his successor. The persecution overtook Marcellinus as well. In the same period Timaeus led the church at Antioch after Domnus, and Cyril, who lived in our day, succeeded Timaeus. In Cyril’s time we came to know Dorotheus, who was honored with the office of presbyter at Antioch and was a learned man among those of that time. He loved what is beautiful in divine things, and he also took pains with the Hebrew language, so that he read the Hebrew Scriptures with understanding.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek text as given names no predecessor of Eutychianus and no number of years. The older English supplies “Felix, having presided five years.” That is the likely sense, but the supplied words are not in this Greek.

HE 7. 32.3-5  He was one of the most well-bred of men and had some share in the usual Greek schooling. He was also a eunuch by nature, born that way from birth. Because of this the emperor took him into his household as a kind of marvel and honored him with the management of the purple dye works at Tyre. We heard him explain the Scriptures in church, and he did so competently. After Cyril, Tyrannus received the oversight of the church at Antioch. In his time the assault on the churches was at its height. At Laodicea, after Socrates, Eusebius led the church. He came from the city of Alexandria. The reason for his move was the affair of Paul. He had come into Syria because of it, and those there who were zealous for the things of God kept him from returning home. Among our contemporaries he was a lovely example of godliness, as is easy to see from the words of Dionysius quoted above.

HE 7. 32.6-7  Anatolius was appointed to succeed him. They say it was one good man following another. He too was Alexandrian by birth. In learning, in Greek education and in philosophy he carried off the prize among the most highly regarded men of our time. He had reached the highest level in arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and the rest of dialectic, as well as natural science and the study of rhetoric. For these reasons, the report goes, the citizens there thought him worthy to set up a school in the succession of Aristotle. They record countless other fine deeds of his during the siege of the Bruchion at Alexandria. Those in authority granted him special privileges, and everyone held him in honor. I will mention only one event, as an example.
   [Translator’s note] The Bruchion (Greek Prouchion, also spelled Pyrucheion) was the palace quarter of Alexandria.

HE 7. 32.8  They say that the wheat had run out for the people under siege, so that famine had become more unbearable to them than the enemy outside. Anatolius, who was present, arranged something like the following. One part of the city was allied with the Roman army and so was not under siege. Eusebius was still there at that time, before his move to Syria, and was in the part that was not besieged. He had great fame and a well-known name, which had reached even the Roman general. Anatolius sent word to him and informed him about those who were dying of hunger during the siege.

HE 7. 32.9  When Eusebius learned this, he asked the Roman commander, as the greatest of favors, to grant safety to those who came over to the Romans from the besieged side. He obtained his request and made it known to Anatolius. Anatolius received the promise at once and called together the council of the Alexandrians. At first he urged them all to offer the Romans a hand of friendship. But when he saw that this proposal enraged them, he said, “I do not think you will object to this: I advise that we let out through the gates the people who are surplus and of no use to us at all, the old women, the little children, and the old men, to go wherever they wish. Why should we keep them here for nothing, when they are almost certain to die? Why should we waste away with hunger those who are disabled and crippled in body, when we ought to feed only the men and the young men, and ration the grain we must have for those fit to guard the city?”
   [Translator’s note] The Greek word boulē means a council. Here it is the council of the Alexandrians, and the Roman commander (strategos) is not named.

HE 7. 32.10-11  With reasoning like this he persuaded the council. He was the first to stand and put forward the motion: everyone not fit for military service, whether men or women, was to be released from the city. If they stayed and lingered uselessly in the city, he said, they had no hope of being saved, since hunger would destroy them. When all the rest agreed to this plan, he saved nearly all the besieged. He took care that those of the church should get away first, and then people of every age from the rest of the city. He did this not only for those named in the decree. Under cover of it, countless others slipped out secretly dressed in women’s clothing, and by his care they left through the gates at night and made for the Roman army. There Eusebius received them all. They had been badly worn down by the long siege, and he restored them, like a father and a physician, with every kind of forethought and care.

HE 7. 32.12-13  The church at Laodicea was thought worthy of two such pastors, one after the other. By God’s providence they moved there from the city of Alexandria after the war I have described. Anatolius took pains over a great many writings, but only so many have reached us as to let us see both his eloquence and his wide learning. In these he sets out especially his views on the Passover, and so it is necessary for me to quote from them here.

HE 7. 32.14-15  “Now the first year has the new moon of the first month, which is the beginning of the whole nineteen-year cycle, on the twenty-sixth of Phamenoth by the Egyptian reckoning. By the Macedonian months it falls on the twenty-second of Dystrus, and as the Romans would say, on the eleventh day before the Kalends of April. On this twenty-sixth of Phamenoth the sun is found not only to have entered the first segment but already to be passing through its fourth day in it. People are accustomed to call this segment the first twelfth-part, the equinoctial sign, the beginning of months, the head of the cycle, and the starting point of the planets’ course. The segment before it they call the last of the months, the twelfth segment, the final twelfth-part, and the end of the planets’ circuit. For this reason we say that those who place the first month in that earlier segment, and take the fourteenth day of the Passover by it, make no small or ordinary mistake.”

HE 7. 32.16  “This teaching is not our own. It was known to the Jews long ago, before Christ, and they kept it with special care. One can learn this from what Philo, Josephus, and Musaeus say. It is not only these, but also men still more ancient: both Agathobuli, who were called ‘the Teachers,’ and the famous Aristobulus. He was counted among the seventy who translated the holy and divine Scriptures of the Hebrews for Ptolemy Philadelphus and his father, and he addressed to the same kings his books explaining the law of Moses.”

HE 7. 32.17-18  These writers deal with the questions raised in Exodus. They say that everyone alike must sacrifice the passover offerings after the spring equinox, in the middle of the first month. This happens, they say, while the sun is passing through the first segment of the solar circle, which some of them have called the zodiac. Aristobulus adds that for the feast of the passover it is necessary that not only the sun but also the moon pass through an equinoctial segment. There are two equinoctial segments, the spring one and the autumn one, and they lie directly opposite each other. The day of the passover is set for the fourteenth of the month, after evening falls. At that time the moon stands in the opposite position, directly across from the sun, as can be seen at the full moon. So the sun will be in the spring equinoctial segment, and the moon will of necessity be in the autumn one.

HE 7. 32.19  I know that these writers say many other things. Some of them are persuasive, and others proceed by what they call the Lord’s proofs. By these they try to show that the feast of the passover and of unleavened bread must always be kept after the equinox. But I will not press for this sort of proof from people for whom the veil over the law of Moses has been taken away. With unveiled face we now always see, as in a mirror, Christ and the teachings and sufferings of Christ. As for the first month of the Hebrews falling around the equinox, the teachings in the book of Enoch also support this.
   [Scripture] 2 Corinthians 3:13-18

HE 7. 32.20-21  The same Anatolius also left behind an introduction to arithmetic in ten whole books, and other proofs of his learning and wide experience in divine matters. Theotecnus, bishop of Caesarea in Palestine, was the first to lay hands on him for the office of bishop, since he intended to provide a successor for his own church after his death. For a short time the two of them presided over the same church. But the council about Paul summoned Anatolius to Antioch. As he passed through the city of Laodicea, Eusebius had died, and the brothers there held him back.

HE 7. 32.22-23  After Anatolius died, Stephen became the last bishop of that church before the persecution. Many admired him for his philosophical learning and his other Greek education. But he was not equally committed to the divine faith, as the coming of the persecution showed. It proved him to be a dissembler, cowardly and unmanly, rather than a true philosopher. Yet the church was not going to be ruined by this. God himself, the Saviour of all, set its affairs right by promptly making Theodotus bishop of that church. In his actual deeds Theodotus proved true both to his proper name and to the office of overseer. He took first place in the medical knowledge that heals bodies. As a healer of souls there was no one like him, for his kindness, sincerity, sympathy and eagerness to help those who came to him. He was also well practiced in the study of divine things. Such a man was he.

HE 7. 32.24-25  In Caesarea in Palestine, Agapius succeeded Theotecnus, who had served as bishop with great zeal. We know that Agapius also labored much, showed the most genuine care in leading the people, and looked after the poor, above all, with a generous hand. In his time we came to know Pamphilus, a man of great distinction and a true philosopher in the way he lived. He had been honored with the rank of presbyter in that church. To explain what sort of man he was, and where he came from, would take a work of no small scope. But we have set out in a separate work about him all the details of his life, the school he founded, his struggles in the various confessions during the persecution, and the crown of martyrdom with which he was finally crowned.

HE 7. 32.26-27  Pamphilus was the most admirable man of that region. Among the very rare men of our own time we have known Pierius, one of the presbyters of Alexandria, and Meletius, bishop of the churches in Pontus. Pierius was tested by a life of complete poverty and by his learning in philosophy. He was remarkably skilled in studying and explaining divine things, and in speaking before the assembled church. Meletius was called “the honey of Attica” by men of learning. He was the sort of man one might describe as the most complete in every kind of learning. His excellence in rhetoric could hardly be admired enough, though one might say that this came to him naturally. As for his wide experience and learning in other matters, who could surpass him?

HE 7. 32.28-29  Anyone who tested him, even once, in any branch of learning would have called him the most skilled and the most learned of men. The virtues of his life matched his learning. During the time of the persecution we knew that he was in hiding in the regions of Palestine, moving from place to place for seven whole years. In the church of Jerusalem, after Hymenaeus, the bishop mentioned a little earlier, Zambdas took over the ministry. He fell asleep not long afterward, and Hermon, the last bishop before the persecution of our own day, succeeded to the apostolic throne, which is still preserved there to this day.

HE 7. 32.30-31  In Alexandria, Maximus was bishop for eighteen years after the death of Dionysius, and Theonas succeeded him. In Theonas’s time Achillas became well known in Alexandria. He had been made a presbyter at the same time as Pierius, and he was entrusted with the school of the sacred faith. He showed a work of philosophy as rare as any, and a truly genuine way of life according to the gospel. After Theonas had served nineteen years, Peter succeeded to the bishopric of Alexandria. He too was outstanding throughout twelve whole years. For less than three of those years, before the persecution, he led the church. For the rest of his life he held himself to a stricter discipline and cared, quite openly, for the common good of the churches. For this reason, in the ninth year of the persecution, he was beheaded and was adorned with the crown of martyrdom.

HE 7. 32.32  Here I have set out the subject of the successions, covering three hundred and five years from the birth of our Saviour to the destruction of the places of prayer. Next, let me leave a written record, so that those who come after us may know the contests of our own time, in which men fought bravely for true godliness, how many they were and how great.


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BOOK 8
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GREETING

HE 8. Gr.  Preface. I have set out the succession of the apostles in seven whole books. In this eighth book I think it necessary to hand down, for the knowledge of those who come after us, an account of our own times, which are worthy of no ordinary record. From here my account begins.


CHAPTER 1

HE 8. 1.1-2  The Events Which Preceded the Persecution in Our Times. Before the persecution of our own day, the message of reverence for the God of all, announced to the world through Christ, was honored among all people, Greeks and barbarians alike, with such glory and such freedom of speech that it is too great for us to describe as it deserves. As evidence we might take the favor the rulers showed to our people. They even entrusted the governing of provinces to them, and because of the great friendship they felt toward their teaching, they spared them the distress of having to sacrifice.

HE 8. 1.3-4  Why speak of those in the imperial households and of the highest rulers of all? They allowed their own people, their wives, children and servants, to speak openly in front of them in word and in life about the divine message. They almost let them boast of the boldness of their faith. They held such believers in special esteem, more than their fellow servants. One such man was the well-known Dorotheus, the most loyal and trusted of all to them, and for that reason honored above those who held the most prized offices and governorships. With him was the famous Gorgonius, and all who in the same way were counted worthy of the same honor because of the word of God.

HE 8. 1.5-6  One could also see the leaders of each church welcomed with approval by all procurators and governors. How could anyone describe those gatherings of tens of thousands, the crowds that assembled in every city, and the notable throngs in the houses of prayer? Because of these, the believers were no longer content with the old buildings, and in every city they raised wide churches from the foundations. As the years went by, these things grew larger every day. No envy held them back, and no evil demon could cast a spell on them or hinder them by human plots, as long as the divine and heavenly hand covered and guarded its own people as worthy of it.

HE 8. 1.7  But as our affairs changed, through too much freedom, into slackness and sloth, people grew jealous of one another and abused one another. We almost waged war on each other with whatever weapons came to hand, with spears made of words. Leaders broke out against leaders, and congregations rose in factions against congregations. Unspeakable hypocrisy and pretense advanced to the furthest point of wickedness. Then the divine judgment, as it loves to do, spared us. While the assemblies were still meeting, it gently and moderately began its visitation, and the persecution began with the brothers in the armies.

HE 8. 1.8  But we had lost all feeling. We were not eager to make God kind and favorable toward us. Like some godless people, we thought our affairs were neglected and unwatched, and we piled one wickedness on another. Those who were thought to be our shepherds set aside the rule of true religion and burned with rivalries against one another. They only increased their quarrels, threats, jealousy, enmity and hatred, and eagerly claimed their ambition for power as if it were a tyranny. Then indeed, just as the word of Jeremiah says: “The Lord in his anger covered the daughter of Zion with darkness, and cast down the glory of Israel from heaven to earth, and did not remember his footstool in the day of his anger. The Lord also drowned all the beautiful things of Israel, and tore down all his fences,”
   [Scripture] Lamentations 2:1-2

HE 8. 1.9  and as was foretold in the Psalms: “He overturned the covenant of his servant, and profaned his sanctuary to the ground,” through the tearing down of the churches. “He tore down all his fences and made his strongholds cowardice. All who passed by plundered the multitudes of the people, and he became a reproach to his neighbors. For he raised up the right hand of his enemies, and turned back the help of his sword, and did not support him in the war. He put an end to his cleansing and threw his throne down to the ground. He shortened the days of his time, and poured shame over him besides.”
   [Translator’s note] The words “through the tearing down of the churches” are Eusebius’s own comment worked into the quotation, which is from Psalm 88 (89 in English Bibles), verses 39-45. His wording differs slightly from the usual Septuagint text, for example in the verb forms. It is translated here as he gives it.


CHAPTER 2

HE 8. 2.1-2  All this was fulfilled in our own time. We saw with our own eyes the houses of prayer torn down from top to bottom, to their very foundations. We saw the inspired and sacred Scriptures handed over to the fire in the middle of the public squares. We saw the shepherds of the churches hiding shamefully here and there, some of them captured in disgrace and mocked by their enemies. It was then that, according to the prophetic word, “contempt was poured out on rulers, and he made them wander in a trackless waste where there was no road.” But it is not for us to describe the grim misfortunes that came upon them in the end. Nor is it fitting for us to record their quarrels with one another and their improper conduct before the persecution. So we have decided to report nothing more about them than what serves to justify the divine judgment.
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is from Psalm 106:40 (107:40 in English Bibles).

HE 8. 2.3-4  So we have not been led to mention those who were tested by the persecution and failed. Nor will we mention those who were wrecked completely as far as their salvation was concerned, and who by their own choice were thrown into the depths of the flood. We will add to this general history only the things that may be of benefit first to ourselves, and then to those who come after us. Let us go on, then, to describe briefly the sacred contests of the martyrs of the Word of God. This was the nineteenth year of the reign of Diocletian, in the month Dystrus, which the Romans call March. As the feast of the Saviour’s passion drew near, imperial edicts were posted everywhere. They ordered that the churches be leveled to the ground and the Scriptures destroyed by fire. They declared that those who held positions of honor would lose their rank, and that those in slavery, if they persisted in their Christian purpose, would be deprived of freedom.
   [Translator’s note] Dystrus was a month of the Macedonian calendar used in the East; Eusebius gives its Roman equivalent himself.

HE 8. 2.5  That was the first writing against us. Not long afterward other letters arrived. They ordered that the heads of the churches in every place should first be thrown into chains, and afterward be forced by every means to sacrifice.


CHAPTER 3

HE 8. 3.1-2  Then indeed, many leaders of the churches eagerly struggled through terrible tortures and gave a record of great contests. But countless others, their souls numbed beforehand by cowardice, were readily weakened at the first attack. Each of the rest went through various kinds of torture. One had his body beaten with whips. Another was punished with racking and with scrapings that could not be endured, and some of these came to an unhappy end of life. Others went through the contest in other ways. One man was pushed forward by force by others, who brought him to the utterly defiling and unholy sacrifices, and he was let go as though he had sacrificed, even though he had not. Another had not come near at all and had touched nothing unclean, but others said he had sacrificed, and he went away in silence, bearing the false accusation. Another was picked up half dead and thrown aside as if he were already a corpse.

HE 8. 3.3-4  Another was lying on the ground and was dragged a long way by his feet, and was counted among those who had sacrificed. One man cried out and declared in a loud voice that he refused the sacrifice. Another shouted that he was a Christian, glorying in the confession of the saving name. Another insisted that he had not sacrificed and never would. Even so, these men were struck on the mouth and silenced by a large body of soldiers drawn up for that purpose. They were beaten on the face and cheeks and forced away. So important did the enemies of true religion think it, by any means at all, to seem to have gained their end. But this did not work against the holy martyrs. What account of ours could be enough to describe them accurately?


CHAPTER 4

HE 8. 4.1-2  One could tell of countless people who showed wonderful zeal for devotion to the God of all. This was true not only from the time the persecution against everyone broke out, but long before, while peace was still being arranged. For the one who held the power was only now stirring, as if from a deep sleep. After the time of Decius and Valerian he had been moving against the churches secretly and out of sight. He did not launch war on us all at once, but at first tested only those serving in the armies, since he thought the rest would be easily caught if he first overcame these. So one could see very many soldiers gladly welcoming civilian life, so that they would not deny their devotion to the Creator of all.

HE 8. 4.3-4  When the commanding officer, whoever he was, first began the persecution of the armies, he sorted the men in the camps by tribe and purged the lists. He gave them a choice: obey and keep the rank they held, or lose it if they resisted the order. Very many soldiers of Christ’s kingdom did not hesitate. They preferred confessing him to the glory and prosperity they undeniably had. Rarely, here and there, one or two of them exchanged not only the loss of their rank but even death for their devout stand. At that stage the man carrying out the plan was still acting with some restraint, and ventured to go as far as bloodshed in only a few cases. It seems the great number of believers frightened him and made him shrink from launching war on everyone at once.

HE 8. 4.5  But when he went on to attack more openly, no words can tell how many martyrs of God, and of what kind, could be seen by those living in all the cities and countries.


CHAPTER 5

HE 8. 5.1  For example, a man of no little note, indeed among the most distinguished by the world’s standards of rank, was moved by zeal for God and rushed forward with burning faith as soon as the written decree against the churches was posted in Nicomedia. He took it down where it was displayed publicly, and tore it to pieces as unholy and utterly impious. Two emperors were then in that same city: the senior of all, and the one who held the fourth rank of power after him. This man was the first of those there to distinguish himself in this way. He suffered what one would expect for such a bold act, and kept his calm and freedom from distress right to his last breath.


CHAPTER 6

HE 8. 6.1  Of all those ever praised as wonderful and famed for courage, whether among Greeks or among foreigners, this time produced martyrs who were truly godly and outstanding: Dorotheus and the imperial servants with him. They had been given the highest honor by their masters, and were treated no less than true children. Yet they counted the reproaches and hardships suffered for devotion to God, and the many new kinds of death devised for them, as true riches, greater than the glory and luxury of this life. We will recall how one of them ended his life, and leave readers to judge from that what happened to the others.

HE 8. 6.2-3  In the city mentioned above, one of them was brought into the open before the rulers we have named. He was ordered to sacrifice, and when he refused, he was commanded to be stripped, hoisted into the air, and scourged over his whole body until he gave in and did what was commanded, even against his will. But he was not shaken by these sufferings. His bones were already showing, so they mixed vinegar with salt and poured it over the torn parts of his body. When he overcame these pains too, a grill and fire were dragged out into the middle. What was left of his body was consumed by the fire like meat prepared for eating. They did not put him on all at once, so that he would not be released quickly, but a little at a time. Those who laid him on the fire were not allowed to stop until, after all this, he agreed to what was commanded.

HE 8. 6.4-5  But he held firmly to his purpose and gave up his life victorious in the midst of the tortures. Such was the martyrdom of one of the imperial servants, and it was truly worthy of his name, for he was called Peter. The sufferings of the rest were no less severe, but to keep within proper length I will pass them over. I will record only that Dorotheus and Gorgonius, with many others of the imperial household, after many kinds of struggles ended their lives by the noose and carried off the prizes of a God-given victory.

HE 8. 6.6  At this time Anthimus, who was then the head of the church in Nicomedia, was beheaded for his witness to Christ. A great crowd of martyrs was added to him. A fire had broken out in the palace at Nicomedia in those very days, I do not know how. A report spread, on a false suspicion, that our people had started it. At the emperor’s command, the God-fearing people of that place were put to death in whole households and in heaps. Some were killed with the sword, and others were made perfect through fire. The story goes that men and women leaped onto the fire with an indescribable eagerness. The executioners also tied up another large group, put them on boats, and threw them into the depths of the sea.

HE 8. 6.7-8  As for the imperial servants, after their death they had been given proper burial in the earth. But their supposed masters thought they must dig them up again and throw them into the sea. They feared that if the bodies were left in tombs, some people would worship them, regarding them as gods, as the rulers imagined. Such were the events at Nicomedia at the beginning of the persecution. Not long afterward, some people in the region called Melitene, and others in Syria, tried to seize the throne. An imperial order then went out that the heads of the churches everywhere were to be thrown into prisons and chains.
   [Translator’s note] The older English says the rebels tried to “usurp the government.” The Greek says they “attempted to rise up against the empire (basileia).”

HE 8. 6.9-10  What followed was a sight beyond all description. Countless numbers were shut up in every place. The prisons everywhere, long before built for murderers and grave robbers, were then filled with bishops, presbyters, deacons, readers and exorcists, so that no room was left there for those condemned for crimes. Then other letters followed the first. They ordered that those shut up should be allowed to go free if they sacrificed, but that those who held out should be torn apart with countless tortures. Who could count the multitude of martyrs in each province, especially in Africa, among the people of Mauretania, in the Thebaid, and in Egypt? From Egypt, some went on to other cities and provinces and became famous through their martyrdoms.
   [Translator’s note] “Readers” and “exorcists” were minor church offices at that time.


CHAPTER 7

HE 8. 7.1  We know of those among them who shone in Palestine, and we know of those at Tyre in Phoenicia. Who saw them and was not amazed? There were the countless scourgings and the resistance of these truly extraordinary athletes of godliness under them. Right after the scourging came the contest with blood-thirsty wild beasts. There were attacks by leopards, various kinds of bears, wild boars, and bulls scorched with fire and hot iron. And there was the wonderful endurance of these noble men against each of the beasts.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek “those of them” (tous ex autōn) points back to the Egyptians at the end of 8.6.10, so it means those Egyptians who shone in Palestine and at Tyre. The older English “those who were conspicuous” loses this link.

HE 8. 7.2  We ourselves were present when these things happened. We saw the divine power of our Savior Jesus Christ himself, to whom they bore witness, present with the martyrs and plainly shown to them. For a long time the man-eating beasts did not dare to touch or come near the bodies of those loved by God. They rushed instead at the others, who were stirring them up from outside. The holy athletes alone stood naked and waved their hands to draw the beasts toward themselves, since they were ordered to do this. Yet the beasts did not touch them at all. At times they charged at them, but they were driven back as though by some more divine power, and went back again.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek verb historēsamen (“we learned by inquiry, observed, recorded”) is ambiguous, but with “we ourselves were present” (parēmen) just before it, Eusebius claims to have been an eyewitness.

HE 8. 7.3-4  This went on for a long time and caused the onlookers no small wonder. Because the first beast accomplished nothing, a second and a third were let loose on one and the same martyr. One could only be astounded at the fearless endurance of those holy men, and at the steady, unshaken resistance found in such young bodies. You could see a youth not yet twenty years old, standing without any bonds, with his hands stretched out in the form of a cross. His mind was fearless and calm, and he prayed at great length and without hurry to God. He did not move at all, nor step aside from the place where he stood, though bears and leopards, breathing out rage and death, almost touched his very flesh. Yet somehow, by a divine and inexpressible power, their mouths were all but shut, and they ran back again. This was the kind of man he was.

HE 8. 7.5  Again you could see others, five in all, thrown before a maddened bull. The bull tossed the other men who approached from outside into the air with his horns and tore them apart, leaving them to be carried off half dead. But when he charged in anger and menace at the holy martyrs alone, he could not even come near them. He pawed the ground with his feet and butted this way and that with his horns, and he breathed out rage and menace because of the goading of the red-hot irons. Yet he was dragged back by sacred providence. Since he did no harm to them at all, other beasts were then let loose on them.

HE 8. 7.6  In the end, after these terrible and varied attacks, they were all killed with the sword. Instead of earth and tombs, they were handed over to the waves of the sea.


CHAPTER 8

HE 8. 8.1  Such was the contest of those Egyptians at Tyre who displayed their struggles for true religion. But one should also admire those who bore witness in their own land. There countless men, together with women and children, despised this short life for the sake of our Saviour’s teaching and endured various kinds of death. Some, after being scraped and racked and cruelly flogged, and put through countless other varied tortures too dreadful to hear of, were handed over to fire. Some were swallowed up in the sea. Others boldly offered their heads to those who cut them off. Some died under torture, and others were destroyed by starvation. Others again were crucified, some in the usual way for criminals, and others even more cruelly, nailed upside down with the head downward. These were kept alive until they died of hunger on the very cross.


CHAPTER 9

HE 8. 9.1-2  Beyond all description were the outrages and pains that the martyrs in the Thebaid endured. They were scraped over the whole body with potsherds instead of claws until they died. Women were tied by one foot and hauled up head downward by some machines, hanging high in the air. Their bodies were completely naked and uncovered, and they presented to all who watched a most shameful, savage and inhuman sight. Others died tied to trees and stumps. Using machines, the persecutors pulled the strongest branches together, fastened one of the martyrs’ legs to each, and then let the branches spring back to their natural position. In this way they devised the sudden tearing apart of the limbs of those on whom they tried it.
   [Translator’s note] Greek “ostraka” can mean either potsherds (broken pottery) or shells (such as oyster shells); both renderings are possible, and the context does not decide between them.

HE 8. 9.3-4  All this went on not for a few days or a short time, but over a long span of whole years. Sometimes more than ten were killed, sometimes over twenty. At other times not fewer than thirty, then nearly sixty, and again at other times a hundred men were put to death in a single day, together with small children and women, condemned to various and changing punishments. We ourselves were on the spot and saw large numbers killed together in a single day. Some suffered beheading, others punishment by fire, until the murderous sword grew blunt and, losing its edge, broke, and the executioners themselves grew weary and had to take turns with one another.

HE 8. 9.5  At that time we also saw the most wonderful eagerness, and the truly divine power and zeal, of those who believed in the Christ of God. As soon as sentence was passed on the first group, others leaped forward from every side to the judge’s tribunal, declaring themselves Christians. They took no thought of the terrors or of the many kinds of torture. They spoke boldly and without fear of their devotion to the God of the universe. They received the final sentence of death with joy, laughter and gladness, so that they sang psalms, hymns and thanksgivings to the God of the universe until their very last breath.

HE 8. 9.6-7  These were wonderful, but those were even more wonderful who stood out for wealth, noble birth and reputation, and for eloquence and philosophy, and yet put everything second to true godliness and to faith in our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. One such man was Philoromus. He had been entrusted with no ordinary office in the imperial administration at Alexandria. With the dignity of his Roman rank he used to sit in judgment every day, with a bodyguard of soldiers around him. Another was Phileas, bishop of the church of Thmuis, a man who stood out for his public service and civic offices in his homeland, and for his learning in philosophy.
   [Translator’s note] Thmuis was a city in the Nile Delta of Egypt.

HE 8. 9.8  A great many relatives and other friends begged these two men, and so did officials of high rank, and even the judge himself urged them to take pity on themselves and spare their wives and children. But none of this led them to choose love of life, or to disregard our Savior’s ordinances about confessing and denying him. With a brave and philosophical resolve, or rather with godly and God-loving souls, they stood firm against all the judge’s threats and insults. Both of them were beheaded.


CHAPTER 10

HE 8. 10.1-2  Since we said that Phileas was highly regarded for his learning outside the faith, let him be his own witness. In the following words he shows who he was, and he also reports the martyrdoms that took place at Alexandria more accurately than we could. He writes: “The blessed martyrs who were with us had before them all the examples, patterns and noble marks set down in the divine and holy Scriptures. They did not hesitate. They fixed the eye of the soul purely on the God who is over all, and, with death for the sake of godliness in mind, they held fast to their calling. For they had found that our Lord Jesus Christ became man for our sake, to cut off all sin and to lay up for us provisions for our entry into eternal life. For he did not consider it something to be grasped to be equal with God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave. Found in human form, he humbled himself even to death, death on a cross.
   [Translator’s note] Phileas here quotes Philippians 2:6–8.
   [Scripture] Philippians 2:6-8

HE 8. 10.3-4  “So, eager for the greater gifts, these Christ-bearing martyrs endured every hardship and every kind of ingenious torture. Some endured them not just once but a second time. Their guards eagerly threatened them, not only in words but in deeds, yet they did not give way in their resolve, because perfect love casts out fear. What words could be enough to list their courage and bravery under each torture? Anyone who wanted to abuse them was given free license. Some beat them with clubs, others with rods, others with whips, others with leather straps, and others with ropes.
   [Translator’s note] “Christ-bearing” (Christophoroi) is Phileas’s own word for the martyrs. “Greater gifts” echoes 1 Corinthians 12:31, and “perfect love casts out fear” echoes 1 John 4:18.
   [Scripture] 1 John 4:18

HE 8. 10.5  “The spectacle of these tortures was varied, and there was great cruelty in it. Some had their hands tied behind them and were hung from a wooden beam, and every limb was stretched by machines. Then, at the command of the judge, the torturers tore at their whole bodies with iron claws. They did not scrape only the sides, as they did with murderers, but also the belly, the legs and the cheeks. Others were hung up from the portico by one hand, and the strain on their joints and limbs was more terrible than any pain. Others were bound facing the pillars, not standing on their feet, but with the weight of their bodies drawing the bonds tight.”

HE 8. 10.6-7  And they endured this not only while the governor was questioning them or had time for them, but for almost the whole day. When he moved on to others, he left his own officers behind to keep watch over the first group, in case any of them, overcome by the tortures, seemed to give way. He ordered these men to press on without mercy, going at their bonds as well, and afterward, when the prisoners were at their last gasp, to throw them on the ground and drag them away. For, he said, they were to have no concern at all for us, but to think and act as if we no longer existed. This was a second torment our enemies devised in addition to the blows.

HE 8. 10.8  Some, even after the tortures, lay on the stocks with both feet stretched through the fourth hole. They were forced to lie on their backs on the wood, because the wounds from the blows were fresh over their whole bodies and they could not hold themselves up. Others were thrown on the ground and lay there, worn down by the combined assault of the tortures. To those who watched, the sight was more terrible than the act of torture itself. They bore on their bodies the marks of the many different devices of torment.

HE 8. 10.9-10  While this went on, some died under the tortures and put their adversary to shame by their endurance. Others were shut up in prison half dead, and a few days later they were brought to completion, overcome by their pains. The rest recovered with treatment, and with time and the long stay in prison they grew bolder. So when the order came and they were given a choice, they did not hesitate. They could touch the accursed sacrifice and be left alone, receiving from the persecutors that cursed freedom. Or they could refuse to sacrifice and take the penalty of death. They went gladly to their deaths. For they knew what the sacred Scriptures had laid down for us. It says, “The one who sacrifices to other gods shall be utterly destroyed,” and, “You shall have no other gods besides me.”
   [Scripture] Exodus 22:20; Exodus 20:3

HE 8. 10.11-12  Such were the words of this martyr, truly a philosopher and a lover of God together. Before the final sentence, while he was still a prisoner, he sent them to the brothers in his own diocese. He was explaining his situation to them, and at the same time urging them to hold on tightly to godliness in Christ even after him, since he was about to be brought to completion. But why should I say more, or keep setting out fresh contests of God-honoring martyrs all over the world, one after another? This is especially so for those who were no longer dealt with under ordinary law but were besieged as in war.


CHAPTER 11

HE 8. 11.1-2  Heading: Those in Phrygia. Already, in fact, in Phrygia, soldiers surrounded a whole little town of Christians, every one of them. They set it on fire and burned them up, with their infants and women, as they called on the God who is over all. This happened because all the people living in the city, the curator himself and the chief magistrate along with all the officials and the whole populace, confessed themselves Christians and would not obey in the least those who ordered them to worship idols. Another man, Adauctus, held Roman rank. He came from a distinguished Italian family and had passed through every honor given by the emperors. He had blamelessly carried out the general administration of the offices they call “magistrate” and “catholicus.” Besides all this he was outstanding in deeds of godliness and in confessing the Christ of God. He was adorned with the crown of martyrdom and endured the contest for godliness while still carrying out the duties of the catholicus.
   [Translator’s note] The “catholicus” was the imperial finance officer. The Greek names the town’s top officials as the “curator” (logistes) and the “strategos,” here a chief magistrate. The Greek says the townspeople called on “the God over all.”


CHAPTER 12

HE 8. 12.1  Heading: Many Others, Both Men and Women, Who Suffered in Various Ways. Why should I now mention the rest by name, or count the multitude of men, or paint a picture of the many kinds of torture suffered by Christ’s wonderful martyrs? Sometimes they were killed with axes, as happened to those in Arabia. Sometimes their legs were broken, as happened to those in Cappadocia. Sometimes they were hung up by the feet, head downward, with a slow fire burning beneath them, and were choked by the smoke from the burning wood. That was inflicted on those in Mesopotamia. Sometimes noses, ears and hands were cut off, and the other limbs and parts of the body were cut up like butchered meat, as happened in Alexandria.

HE 8. 12.2  Why should I revive the memory of those in Antioch? They were roasted on grids of fire, not to kill them but to prolong the punishment. Others quicker put their right hand into the fire than touch the accursed sacrifice. Some of them, shrinking from the ordeal, threw themselves down from high rooftops before they could be caught and fall into the hands of their plotters. They counted death a prize snatched away from the wickedness of the ungodly.

HE 8. 12.3  There was a certain holy woman, admirable in the virtue of her soul, though a woman in body. She was the most celebrated woman in Antioch for wealth, family and reputation. She had brought up her two unmarried daughters in the teachings of the faith. They were in the full bloom of youth and outstanding in beauty. Great envy was stirred up against them, and their pursuers searched everywhere for them while they were in hiding. Then the pursuers learned that the girls were living abroad, and they carefully arranged to summon them to Antioch. So they were caught in the soldiers’ nets. When the mother saw that she and her daughters were helpless, she set before them in words the terrible things that men would do to them. Worst and most unbearable of all was the threat of sexual violation. She urged herself and the girls not to endure even the faintest hearing of it. To surrender their souls to the slavery of demons, she said, was worse than every kind of death and any ruin. She proposed one release from all of these things: flight to the Lord.
   [Translator’s note] “Unmarried” translates parthenoi, “virgins.” The Greek says the daughters were living “in a foreign land” (ep’ allodapes). “Flight to the Lord” means taking refuge in the Lord through death.

HE 8. 12.4-5  The mother and daughters agreed together. They arranged their clothing neatly around their bodies. When they were in the middle of the road, they asked the guards to step aside for a moment. Then they threw themselves into a river that flowed beside them. So these women destroyed themselves. In the same city of Antioch there was another pair of unmarried girls, true sisters in every way and devoted to God. They were of distinguished family and splendid in their way of life. They were young, beautiful in body, dignified in soul, pious in conduct and admirable in their earnestness. The servants of the demons ordered them to be thrown into the sea, as though the earth could not bear to carry such people. So it was with these.

HE 8. 12.6-7  In Pontus others suffered things dreadful to hear. Sharp reeds were driven under the fingernails and into the fingertips of both hands. Others had molten lead, boiling and red-hot, poured over their backs. Others were roasted in the most vital parts of the body. Still others endured shameful, pitiless torments in their private parts and inner organs, too foul even to describe. These “noble” and “law-abiding” judges devised such things eagerly, to show off their cleverness as if it were some excellence of wisdom. They kept competing with one another, each trying to outdo the others with newly invented tortures, as if they were contending for prizes in a contest.
   [Translator’s note] “Noble and law-abiding” is sarcasm on Eusebius’ part.

HE 8. 12.8-9  The end of these calamities came when the persecutors were at last worn out by the sheer excess of their evil. They were tired of killing and had had their fill, even a surfeit, of shedding blood. So they turned to what they thought of as kindness and humanity, so that they now seemed to be devising nothing more terrible against us. They said it was not right to pollute the cities with the blood of their own people. Nor, they said, should the supreme government of the rulers, which was gracious and mild toward all, be slandered for extreme cruelty. Rather, the kindness of the humane imperial authority should be extended to everyone, and we should no longer be punished with death. For the rulers’ humanity, they said, had set aside this penalty against us.

HE 8. 12.10  At that point it was ordered that our eyes be gouged out and one of our legs be crippled. For this was “humane” in their eyes, and the lightest of the punishments against us. Because of this “kindness” of the impious, it was no longer possible to give the number of those who suffered beyond all description. The right eyes of some were first cut out with a sword, and after the cutting they were seared with fire. The left feet of others were disabled by burning the tendons at the joint with hot irons. After this they were condemned to the government copper mines in the province, not so much to work as to be ill-treated and worn down. Besides all this, others fell into other struggles that cannot even be listed, for their courageous deeds surpass all description.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek says the left feet were disabled “at the joints” (kata ton ankylon), probably the ankle or the bend of the leg. “Tendons” is an interpretive addition.

HE 8. 12.11  In these struggles Christ’s magnificent martyrs shone out over the whole world. They rightly amazed those everywhere who watched their courage. Through themselves they gave clear proofs of the truly divine and inexpressible power of our Saviour. To mention each one by name would take long, and indeed would be impossible.


CHAPTER 13

HE 8. 13.1-3  Among the church leaders who bore witness by death in the well-known cities, let the first to be proclaimed on the monuments of the godly, as a martyr of Christ’s kingdom, be Anthimus, bishop of the city of Nicomedia, who was beheaded. Among the martyrs of Antioch was Lucian, a presbyter of the church there, excellent in his whole life. At Nicomedia, with the emperor present, he first proclaimed the heavenly kingdom of Christ in words, by way of a defense, and then in deeds as well. Among the martyrs of Phoenicia, the most distinguished would be the shepherds of Christ’s rational flock, who were in every way beloved of God: Tyrannion, bishop of the church at Tyre; Zenobius, a presbyter of the church at Sidon; and Silvanus, bishop of the churches around Emesa.

HE 8. 13.4-5  Silvanus, with others, was made food for wild beasts at Emesa itself, and was taken up into the choirs of the martyrs. Two of the Antioch martyrs glorified the word of God by enduring death. One, the bishop, was handed over to the depths of the sea. The other was Zenobius, an excellent physician, who bravely died under the tortures applied to his sides. Among the martyrs of Palestine, Silvanus, bishop of the churches around Gaza, was beheaded with others, thirty-nine in all, at the copper mines of Phaeno. There too the Egyptian bishops Peleus and Nilus, with others, endured death by fire.

HE 8. 13.6-7  Among these we should also remember Pamphilus, a presbyter, the great glory of the church at Caesarea and the most admirable man of our time. I recorded his brave deeds at the proper place. Among those who finished their course with distinction at Alexandria and throughout Egypt and the Thebaid, Peter should be written down first. He was bishop of Alexandria itself, and a truly divine gift to teachers of godliness in Christ. With him were the presbyters Faustus, Dius and Ammonius, perfect martyrs of Christ, and Phileas, Hesychius, Pachymius and Theodorus, bishops of churches in Egypt. There were also countless other distinguished people, remembered by the churches in their own countries and places. It is not for me to put on record the contests of those who struggled for the true worship of God throughout the whole world, or to relate in exact detail everything that happened to them. That would belong to those who saw the events with their own eyes. But the ones I witnessed myself I will make known, in another writing, to those who come after us.

HE 8. 13.8-9  In the present account, however, I will add to what has been said the recantation of what our persecutors had done to us, along with the events that happened from the beginning of the persecution, which will be very useful to those who read them. Before the war against us, the government of the Romans enjoyed a great abundance of good things and good seasons, in the times when the rulers were friendly and peaceable toward us. What words could be enough to describe it? In those days the chief rulers of the whole empire completed ten and twenty years of their reign. They spent their time in festivals and public gatherings, in the most brilliant feasting and merrymaking, in perfect and settled peace.

HE 8. 13.10-11  Their power grew without hindrance and increased greatly day by day. Then all at once they abandoned their peaceful attitude toward us and stirred up a war with no truce. This movement was not yet two years old when a new development in the whole government overturned everything. A serious illness fell upon the senior ruler, and it affected his mind so that he lost his senses. Together with the one honored with second place after him, he withdrew to the life of an ordinary private citizen. This was hardly done when the whole empire was split in two, something never before recorded as having happened.

HE 8. 13.12-13  Not long after this, the emperor Constantius died. He had conducted his whole life with great gentleness and goodwill toward his subjects, and with warm friendliness toward the divine Word. He died by the common law of nature and left his legitimate son Constantine as emperor and Augustus in his place. Constantius was the first of these rulers to be proclaimed among the gods by them, and after his death he received every honor owed to an emperor. He was the kindest and gentlest of emperors. Alone among the rulers of our time he spent his entire reign in a way worthy of his office, and in every other respect he showed himself most gracious and generous to all. He took no part at all in the war against us. He kept the God-fearing people under his rule unharmed and unmolested. He did not tear down the church buildings, and he devised nothing else new against us. He reached an honorable and thrice-blessed end to his life. He alone died during his own reign in peace and honor, with a legitimate son to succeed him, one who was in every respect most prudent and devout.

HE 8. 13.14-15  His son Constantine began his rule at once. He was proclaimed full emperor and Augustus by the armies, and long before that by God himself, the King of all. He set himself to follow his father’s devotion toward our teaching. That was Constantine. After this, Licinius was declared emperor and Augustus by the common vote of the ruling emperors. This troubled Maximinus badly. Until then he was the only one still holding the title Caesar. Being thoroughly tyrannical, he snatched the rank for himself and became Augustus, made so by himself alone. Meanwhile the man I mentioned as having taken up power again after he had laid it down was caught plotting Constantine’s death, and he died a most shameful death. He was the first to have his honorary inscriptions, his statues, and everything of the sort set up in his honor torn down, as belonging to an unholy and utterly godless man.


CHAPTER 14

HE 8. 14.1-2  His son Maxentius set up the tyranny at Rome. At the beginning he pretended to share our faith, to please and flatter the Roman people. So he ordered his subjects to ease off the persecution of Christians. He put on a show of piety so that he might seem more gracious and much milder than those before him. But he did not turn out in his deeds to be the man people hoped for. He plunged into every kind of wickedness and left no act of filth or lust undone. He committed adultery and every sort of defilement. He took lawful wives away from their husbands, abused them, and then sent them back to the husbands in disgrace. He did not do this to obscure or unknown people. He did it most of all to those who held the first rank in the Roman senate, and he behaved outrageously toward the most distinguished of them.

HE 8. 14.3-4  All the peoples and officials cowered before him, famous and unknown alike, and they were worn down by his terrible tyranny. Even when they kept quiet and bore the bitter slavery, there was still no escape from the tyrant’s murderous cruelty. On one occasion, over some small pretext, he handed the people over to be slaughtered by the bodyguards around him. Countless crowds of the Roman people were killed in the middle of the city. They were killed by the spears and armor, not of Scythians or foreigners, but of their own countrymen. As for the senators, it is not even possible to count how many he murdered to get at their property. Tens of thousands were put to death, each time on some newly invented charge.

HE 8. 14.5-6  The crowning point of the tyrant’s evils drove him to sorcery. In his magical schemes he sometimes ripped open pregnant women, and sometimes searched the entrails of newborn babies. He slaughtered lions as well, and he performed certain unspeakable rites to call up demons and to ward off the war. All his hope was that victory would be secured for him by these means. It is impossible to say what he did while tyrant at Rome to enslave his subjects. Things reached such a point that even the necessary food ran extremely short. People of our time remember no such scarcity at Rome at any other time.

HE 8. 14.7-8  But Maximinus, the tyrant in the East, had secretly made a friendship with the tyrant at Rome, as with a brother in wickedness. He took care to keep this hidden for a very long time. Later he was found out and paid the penalty he deserved. It was astonishing how he, too, was akin to him in wickedness, or rather how he carried off first prize and the victor’s crown for the evil character of the tyrant at Rome. The leading sorcerers and magicians were honored by him with the very highest rank. He was extremely timid and very superstitious, and he thought a great deal of the error of idols and demons. Without omens and oracles he could not dare to move, so to speak, even as far as a fingernail.

HE 8. 14.9  Because of this superstition he took up the persecution against us more fiercely and more constantly than those before him. He ordered temples to be built in every city, and the sacred precincts that had fallen down over the years to be rebuilt in haste. He appointed priests of the idols in every place and city. Over these, in each province, he set a high priest. This was a man from public life who had most conspicuously distinguished himself in every kind of public service, and he was given a troop of soldiers and a bodyguard. He also freely gave governorships and the greatest privileges to all sorcerers, as though they were devout men and friends of the gods.

HE 8. 14.10-11  Starting from these measures, he harassed and crushed not just one city or region but all the provinces under his rule. He did it by collecting gold, silver and untold sums of money, by very heavy charges, and by one fine after another. He took from the wealthy the property they had inherited from their ancestors, and gave great riches and heaps of money to the flatterers around him. He went so far in drunken violence and drinking that he went mad and lost his senses in his drinking bouts. When drunk, he gave orders that he regretted the next day when sober. He left no one able to outdo him in carousing and debauchery, and made himself a teacher of wickedness to those around him, both rulers and ruled. He pushed the army to go soft through every kind of luxury and indulgence. He also urged governors and commanders to move against their subjects with plunder and greed, almost ruling as tyrants alongside him.

HE 8. 14.12-13  Why should I recall the man’s lustful and shameful acts, or count up the crowd of women he committed adultery with? He could not pass through a city without corrupting women and carrying off virgins. In this he succeeded against everyone except the Christians alone. They despised death and counted his great tyranny as nothing. The men endured fire and sword, nailings, wild beasts and the depths of the sea. They endured the cutting off of limbs, brandings, the stabbing and gouging out of eyes, and the mutilation of the whole body. Besides these they endured hunger, mines and chains. In all of this they showed endurance for the sake of their godliness, rather than exchange the reverence due to God for idols.
   [Translator’s note] Greek προσηλώσεις literally means “nailings” (fastenings with nails), which may include crucifixion but does not name it.

HE 8. 14.14-15  The women, no less than the men, were made manly by the teaching of the divine Word. Some endured the same contests as the men and won equal prizes of virtue. Others were dragged off to be violated, and they gave up their souls to death sooner than their bodies to defilement. One Christian woman of Alexandria was among those the tyrant tried to violate. She was the most distinguished and brilliant of them, and she alone overcame the lustful and unrestrained soul of Maximinus by her very courageous resolve. She was renowned for wealth, family and education, but she put all of these second to chastity. He pressed her with many entreaties, and yet could not bring himself to kill her, though she was ready to die, because his desire overpowered his anger. Instead he punished her with exile and took away all her property.

HE 8. 14.16-17  Countless other women could not even bear to hear a threat of sexual immorality from the governors of their provinces, and they endured every kind of torture, racking and deadly punishment. These women too are to be admired. But the most remarkable of all was the woman in Rome, truly the noblest and most chaste of all the women whom the tyrant Maxentius there tried to abuse as Maximinus did. She learned that the men who served the tyrant in such matters had arrived at her house. She too was a Christian. Her husband, who was prefect of Rome, had allowed them out of fear to take her and lead her away. She asked for a short delay to adorn her body, went into her room, and when she was alone she drove a sword into herself. She died at once and left her body to those who had come to procure her. By these deeds, louder than any voice, she showed to all people, now and in the future, that among Christians virtue is the only possession that cannot be defeated or destroyed.

HE 8. 14.18  So great a flood of wickedness came upon us at one and the same time. It was worked by the two tyrants who divided East and West between them. Who, looking into the cause of so many evils, would hesitate to declare it to be the persecution against us? This is especially so because this great confusion did not stop until the Christians regained their freedom.


CHAPTER 15

HE 8. 15.1-2  All through the ten years of the persecution, they never stopped plotting and making war against one another. The sea could not be sailed. No one could come ashore from anywhere without being put through every kind of abuse. They were stretched on the rack, their sides torn open, and questioned under every sort of torture, in case they had come from the enemy on the other side. In the end they were put to death by crucifixion or by fire. On top of this, shields and breastplates were being prepared, with arrows, spears and other battle equipment, and warships and naval weapons were being gathered everywhere. Everyone expected nothing else than an enemy attack on any day. After this, famine and plague also fell upon them. We will report the necessary facts about these in their proper place.


CHAPTER 16

HE 8. 16.1  Such were the conditions that lasted all through the persecution. By God’s grace it came to a complete end in the tenth year, though it had begun to ease after the eighth. For when the divine and heavenly grace showed its kindly and merciful watch over us, then our rulers also changed their minds in the most surprising way. These were the very men through whom the wars against us had long been carried on. Now they sang a recantation, and with kind proclamations and very gentle decrees they put out the great fire of persecution they had lit.
   [Translator’s note] “Recantation” translates a Greek word for a song that takes back what an earlier song said. Eusebius means a public reversal of policy.

HE 8. 16.2  No human cause brought this about. It was not pity or kindness on the part of the rulers, as someone might suppose. Far from it! From the beginning up to that time they had been thinking up more and harsher measures against us every day, and kept inventing new torments with ever more varied devices. It was the plain visitation of divine providence itself. Providence was being reconciled to its own people, and it went after the author of these evils, angry with him as the leader in all the wickedness of the persecution.

HE 8. 16.3-4  Even if these things had to happen by God’s judgment, yet, as the Word says, “Woe to the one through whom the offense comes.” So a punishment sent by God pursued him. It began with his flesh and went on to reach his soul. A sudden abscess formed in the middle of his private parts. Then came a deep, festering ulcer, and an incurable eating away of his innermost bowels. From these swarmed an indescribable number of worms, and a deadly stench rose from him. His whole body had already, before the illness, turned through overeating into an enormous mass of fat. This now rotted, and it presented an unbearable and horrifying sight to those who came near.
   [Scripture] Matthew 18:7

HE 8. 16.5  Some of the physicians could not endure the overpowering foulness of the stench at all, and they were slaughtered. Others were put to death without pity because the whole mass had swollen and recovery was beyond hope, and they could not help him.


CHAPTER 17

HE 8. 17.1-2  Struggling with so many evils, he became aware of what he had dared to do against the godly. He collected his thoughts and first confessed openly to the God of the universe. Then he called those around him and ordered them to stop the persecution without delay. By law and royal decree he ordered that the Christians should build their churches, hurry to do so, and carry on their usual practices, offering prayers for the emperor. At once the deed followed the word. Royal edicts were posted in the cities, containing the recantation of what had been done against us, in this form:

HE 8. 17.3-5  “The Emperor Caesar Galerius Valerius Maximinus, Unconquered, Augustus, Supreme Pontiff, Greatest Conqueror of the Germans, of the Egyptians, of the Thebans, of the Sarmatians five times, of the Persians twice, of the Carpi six times, of the Armenians, of the Medes, of the Adiabeni; holding tribunician power for the twentieth time, emperor for the nineteenth time, consul for the eighth time, Father of the Fatherland, Proconsul. And the Emperor Caesar Flavius Constantinus, Devout, Fortunate, Unconquered, Augustus, Supreme Pontiff, holding tribunician power for the fifth time, emperor for the fifth time, Consul, Father of the Fatherland, Proconsul. And the Emperor Caesar Valerius Licinianus Licinius, Devout, Fortunate, Unconquered, Augustus, Supreme Pontiff, holding tribunician power for the fourth time, emperor for the third time, Consul, Father of the Fatherland, Proconsul. To the people of their own provinces, greetings.”

HE 8. 17.6-7  Among the other measures we are laying down for the public good and benefit, we had wished earlier to set everything right according to the ancient laws and public order of the Romans. We also wanted to see to it that the Christians, who had abandoned the way of their own ancestors, should return to a good purpose. For somehow such self-seeking had gripped them, and such folly had seized them, that they no longer followed what the ancients had established, which perhaps their own forefathers had first set up. Instead they made laws for themselves according to their own inclination, as each one wished, and kept those laws, and gathered various crowds in various places.

HE 8. 17.8-9  Therefore, when an order of ours followed, requiring them to turn back to what the ancients had established, very many were put in danger, and very many were harassed and suffered every kind of death. Most of them remained in the same madness. We saw that they were neither offering the worship due to the heavenly gods nor paying attention to the God of the Christians. So, looking to our kindness toward humanity and to our constant custom of granting pardon to all people, we thought we should gladly extend our indulgence in this matter also. Let them be Christians again, and let them rebuild the houses where they used to meet, provided they do nothing contrary to public order. In another letter we will tell the judges what they will need to observe.

HE 8. 17.10-11  Accordingly, in return for this indulgence of ours, they ought to pray to their own God for our safety, for the welfare of the state, and for their own. Then public affairs will be kept sound in every way, and they will be able to live free from anxiety in their own homes. This is the text, translated as well as possible from the Roman language into Greek. Now it is time to look at what happened after these things.


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BOOK 9
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CHAPTER 1

HE 9. 1.1  The recantation of the imperial decree quoted above was posted everywhere throughout Asia and the surrounding provinces. When this had been done, Maximinus, the tyrant of the East, was displeased with what was written. He was as impious as any man has ever been, and a bitter enemy of reverence for the God of the universe. Instead of publishing the document, he gave his governors a spoken order to relax the war against us. He could not otherwise oppose the decision of his superiors, so he shut the law away out of sight. He took care that it should not become public in the regions under him, and by an unwritten command he ordered the governors under him to relax the persecution against us. They passed on the order to one another in writing.

HE 9. 1.2-3  Sabinus, who was honored among them with the rank of most eminent prefect, made the emperor’s mind known to the governors of the provinces in a Latin letter. The translation of it runs as follows. “With most ardent and devoted zeal, the divinity of our masters, the most divine emperors, long ago determined to turn the minds of all people to the holy and right way of life. They wished that even those who seemed to follow a custom foreign to the Romans should perform the worship owed to the immortal gods.

HE 9. 1.4-5  “But the stubbornness of some, and their extremely harsh resolve, went so far that they could neither be drawn from their purpose by the just reasoning of the command nor be frightened by the punishment hanging over them. Since many were bringing themselves into danger in this way, the divinity of our masters, the most powerful emperors, judged in keeping with their native nobility of piety that it was foreign to their most divine purpose to throw people into such danger for such a cause. So they ordered me, in my devotion, to write to your Sagacity as follows. If any Christian is found practicing the religion of his own people, you are to keep him free from harassment and danger. You are not to think that anyone should be punished on this pretext, since the experience of so long a time has established that they cannot in any way be persuaded to withdraw from such stubbornness.

HE 9. 1.6-7  “So your diligence should write to the curators, the magistrates, and the district prefects of every city, so that they will know it is not fitting for them to concern themselves any further with this letter.” On this, the governors of the provinces took it that the letter expressed the true intention of those who wrote it. They made the emperor’s will known in writing to the curators, magistrates, and officials in the country districts. But they did not stop at writing. Long before that, they carried out in deeds what they took to be the emperor’s decision. Those they had shut up in prison for confessing God they brought out into the open and set free, and they released those who had been handed over to the mines as punishment. They were deceived into thinking this was truly what the emperor wanted.
   [Translator’s note] “Curators” translates “logistai,” city financial officials (Latin curator rei publicae). “District prefects” renders “praipositoi tou pagou,” from Latin praepositus, an official over the rural district (pagus) of each city.

HE 9. 1.8-9  When this had been done, all at once, like a light shining out of a dark night, one could see in every city churches being gathered, huge assemblies, and the meetings held there as they had been by custom. Every one of the unbelieving nations was greatly astonished at this. They marveled at so strange and complete a change, and they cried out that the God of the Christians was great and the only true God. Some of our people had fought the struggle of the persecutions faithfully and bravely, and they received their boldness again before everyone. But those whose souls had fallen sick in the faith and been battered by the storm eagerly hurried to be healed. They begged the strong and asked them for a hand to save them, and they pleaded with God to have mercy on them.

HE 9. 1.10-11  Then the noble athletes of true religion were freed from their sufferings in the mines and were sent back to their own homes. They went through every city proud and radiant, full of indescribable joy and a boldness that words cannot explain. Great crowds made their journey along the main roads and through the marketplaces, praising God with songs and psalms. And you could have seen those who a little earlier had been driven from their homelands in chains under the harshest punishment, now receiving back their own hearths with cheerful and happy faces. Even those who had earlier raged murderously against us saw this wonder, beyond all hope, and rejoiced with us over what had happened.


CHAPTER 2

HE 9. 2.1  The tyrant could not bear this any longer. He was a hater of all that is good and a plotter against every good thing, and, as we said, he ruled the eastern parts. He did not allow things to go on this way even for six full months. He devised every means of overturning the peace. First, he tried to keep us from meeting in the cemeteries, using some pretext. Then, through some wicked men, he arranged for an embassy to be sent to himself against us. He stirred up the citizens of Antioch to ask, as the greatest favor from him, that no Christian be allowed to live in their city. He had others prompted to ask for the same thing. The ringleader of all this in Antioch itself was Theoteknos, a terrible man, a charlatan and a villain, whose character did not match his name. He appeared to be the city’s curator.
   [Translator’s note] Theoteknos means “child of God” in Greek, hence “did not match his name.” The older version’s “Theotecnus” is the same name.


CHAPTER 3

HE 9. 3.1  This man waged many campaigns against us. He eagerly hunted our people out of their hiding places as though they were unholy thieves. He contrived every kind of slander and accusation against us, and he caused the death of countless people. At last, with tricks and sorcery, he set up an image of Zeus Philios (Zeus the Friendly). He devised unclean rites, ill-omened initiations, and abominable purifications for it. He even displayed his wonder-working to the emperor through the oracles he claimed to deliver. To please the ruler by flattery, he stirred up the demon against the Christians. He said the god had commanded that the Christians be driven beyond the borders of the city and its surrounding countryside, as enemies of the god.
   [Translator’s note] The older version has “Jupiter Philius,” the Roman name for the same god.


CHAPTER 4

HE 9. 4.1-2  Because this man had taken the lead and gained his purpose, all the other officials in the cities under the same government rushed to pass the same decree. The provincial governors saw that this pleased the emperor, and they suggested to their subjects that they do the same. The tyrant welcomed these decrees with great pleasure and approved them by a written reply. So the persecution against us was set ablaze again from the beginning. Priests of the idols were appointed in each city. Over them Maximinus himself appointed high priests, chosen from those who had been most distinguished in public life and were famous in every office they had held. These men were full of zeal for the religion of the gods they served.

HE 9. 4.3  In short, the emperor’s extreme superstition drove everyone under him, rulers and ruled alike, to do everything against us to win his favor. They thought the greatest thanks they could give him for the benefits they expected from him was to thirst for our blood and to invent some new form of cruelty against us.


CHAPTER 5

HE 9. 5.1-2  They forged “Memoranda” of Pilate and of our Savior, full of blasphemy against Christ. With the approval of the higher authority, they sent these throughout the whole territory under his rule, with written orders that they be posted openly for all to see in every place, in country and in city. The schoolteachers were also to give them to the children, in place of their regular lessons, to study and memorize. While this was going on, another military commander, called a “dux” by the Romans, rounded up some women of ill repute from the marketplace in Damascus in Phoenicia. He threatened them with torture and forced them to state in writing that they had once been Christians, that they knew of criminal acts among them, and that in the Lord’s own gatherings they practiced immorality, along with whatever else he wanted them to say to slander our teaching. He had their statements entered in the record and reported them to the emperor. At the emperor’s command, these documents too were published in every place and city.
   [Translator’s note] The “Acts” or “Memoranda” (hypomnēmata) of Pilate were forged documents, presented as official records of Jesus’ trial. Eusebius says the women were forced to give false testimony. The older translation’s “Acts of Pilate and our Saviour” is accurate; the Greek simply says “records.”


CHAPTER 6

HE 9. 6.1  Not long afterward, that commander took his own life and so paid the penalty for his wickedness. But for us, flight and harsh persecution began again. Governors in every province rose against us once more with terrible force. Some who were prominent in the divine Word were arrested and received an unrelenting sentence of death. Three of them, in the city of Emesa in Phoenicia, confessed that they were Christians and were handed over to be eaten by wild beasts. Among them was a bishop named Silvanus, extremely old, who had completed forty full years in his ministry.

HE 9. 6.2-3  At the same time Peter, who had presided with great distinction over the churches in Alexandria, was a truly divine example of a bishop, both for the virtue of his life and for his devotion to the study of the sacred writings. He was suddenly seized for no reason at all, with no warning, and was beheaded abruptly and without explanation, as if by Maximinus’ order. Many other Egyptian bishops suffered the same fate along with him. Lucian also was an excellent man in every respect, disciplined in his way of life and well trained in the sacred studies, a presbyter of the church at Antioch. He was taken to the city of Nicomedia, where the emperor was staying at that time. There he made his defense before the ruler for the teaching he led, was handed over to prison, and was put to death.

HE 9. 6.4  In a short time Maximinus, the hater of what is good, prepared so many such things against us that this persecution seemed far harsher than the earlier one.


CHAPTER 7

HE 9. 7.1  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.”

HE 9. 7.2-4  “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.”

HE 9. 7.5-6  “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.

HE 9. 7.7  “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.

HE 9. 7.8  “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.

HE 9. 7.9-11  “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.

HE 9. 7.12-13  “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.

HE 9. 7.14-15  “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.
   [Scripture] Matthew 24:24

HE 9. 7.16  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

HE 9. 8.1  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.

HE 9. 8.2-3  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.

HE 9. 8.4-5  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.

HE 9. 8.6-7  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.

HE 9. 8.8-9  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.

HE 9. 8.10-11  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.

HE 9. 8.12-14  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.

HE 9. 8.15  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

HE 9. 9.1  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.
   [Translator’s note] “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.

HE 9. 9.2-3  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.

HE 9. 9.4-5  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.
   [Translator’s note] The quotations are from the Song of Moses, Exodus 15:4-5, in the Septuagint wording.
   [Scripture] Exodus 15:4-5

HE 9. 9.6-7  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.”
   [Translator’s note] The two quotations are from Psalm 7:16-17 (LXX) and Exodus 15:10 (LXX).
   [Scripture] Exodus 15:10

HE 9. 9.8  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.”
   [Translator’s note] 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).
   [Scripture] Exodus 15:1-2; Exodus 15:11

HE 9. 9.9-10  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:

HE 9. 9.11-12  “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.

HE 9. 9.13-14  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.

HE 9. 9.15-16  “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.”

HE 9. 9.17-18  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.

HE 9. 9.19  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.

HE 9. 9.20  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.

HE 9. 9.21-22  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.

HE 9. 9.23-24  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.

HE 9. 9.25  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

HE 9. 10.1  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.

HE 9. 10.2-3  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.

HE 9. 10.4  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:

HE 9. 10.5-6  “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.

HE 9. 10.7  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.

HE 9. 10.8  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.

HE 9. 10.9-10  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.

HE 9. 10.11  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.

HE 9. 10.12  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.

HE 9. 10.13-14  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.

HE 9. 10.15-16  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

HE 9. 11.1-2  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.

HE 9. 11.3-4  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.

HE 9. 11.5-6  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.

HE 9. 11.7-8  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.”

HE 9. 11.9  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.


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BOOK 10
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CHAPTER 1

HE 10. 1.1-2  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.
   [Translator’s note] Paulinus was bishop of Tyre, and Eusebius addresses him again in the festal oration in this book (10.4).

HE 10. 1.3-4  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.
   [Translator’s note] “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.

HE 10. 1.5-6  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.
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is from Psalm 46:8-9 (45 in the Greek numbering). The Greek word here is hoplon, “weapon.”

HE 10. 1.7-8  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.
   [Translator’s note] 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.


CHAPTER 2

HE 10. 2.1  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.
   [Translator’s note] Eusebius uses the ordinary Greek word for “temple” (naos) for the church buildings.

HE 10. 2.2  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.
   [Translator’s note] The emperors in view are Constantine and Licinius, whose letters and laws Eusebius goes on to quote. The “Roman language” is Latin.


CHAPTER 3

HE 10. 3.1-2  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.
   [Translator’s note] The “bone to bone” prophecy echoes Ezekiel 37, the vision of the dry bones. Eusebius takes it as foretelling the reunited church.
   [Scripture] Ezekiel 37:7

HE 10. 3.3-4  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

HE 10. 4.1-2  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...”

HE 10. 4.3-5  “...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.’”
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Psalm 44:1

HE 10. 4.6-7  “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.’”
   [Translator’s note] “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).
   [Scripture] Psalm 48:8; 1 Timothy 3:15; Psalm 122:1

HE 10. 4.8  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.
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Psalm 48:1; Daniel 2:21; Luke 1:52-53

HE 10. 4.9  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.”
   [Translator’s note] 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.”

HE 10. 4.10-11  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.

HE 10. 4.12  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.

HE 10. 4.13  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.

HE 10. 4.14  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—

HE 10. 4.15  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.
   [Translator’s note] “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.

HE 10. 4.16  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.
   [Translator’s note] 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.

HE 10. 4.17-18  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?

HE 10. 4.19-20  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.
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is Psalm 33:9 (32:9 LXX). It matches the Septuagint wording almost exactly: “αὐτὸς εἶπεν καὶ ἐγενήθησαν, αὐτὸς ἐνετείλατο καὶ ἐκτίσθησαν.”

HE 10. 4.21  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.
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Ephesians 2:20-22; 1 Peter 2:4-7; Matthew 21:42

HE 10. 4.22-23  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.
   [Translator’s note] “Spokesman” renders hypophētēs, which can also mean interpreter or minister.
   [Scripture] Hebrews 7:3

HE 10. 4.24  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.

HE 10. 4.25  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.
   [Translator’s note] The quotation echoes John 5:19. Bezalel is the craftsman of the tabernacle in Exodus 31:1-5.
   [Scripture] John 5:19; Exodus 31:2-5

HE 10. 4.26  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.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek of the sentence about the site seems damaged in the manuscripts; I have given the sense that fits the context.

HE 10. 4.27-28  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.
   [Translator’s note] “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.
   [Scripture] Psalm 58:6

HE 10. 4.29-30  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.

HE 10. 4.31-32  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.”
   [Scripture] Isaiah 35:1-2; Isaiah 35:3-4; Isaiah 35:6-7

HE 10. 4.33  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.”
   [Scripture] Hebrews 12:6

HE 10. 4.34  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.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 35:6-7

HE 10. 4.35-36  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.”
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 35:4; Haggai 2:9

HE 10. 4.37-38  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.

HE 10. 4.39  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.

HE 10. 4.40-41  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.

HE 10. 4.42-43  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.”
   [Translator’s note] “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.

HE 10. 4.44  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.

HE 10. 4.45  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.

HE 10. 4.46  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.
   [Translator’s note] “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.
   [Scripture] Haggai 2:9

HE 10. 4.47-48  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.”
   [Scripture] Isaiah 61:10-11; Isaiah 35:1

HE 10. 4.49  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.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 54:4-8

HE 10. 4.50  “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.”
   [Scripture] Isaiah 51:17-18; Isaiah 51:22-23

HE 10. 4.51  “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.”
   [Scripture] Isaiah 52:1-2; Isaiah 49:18-21

HE 10. 4.52-53  “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.
   [Scripture] Isaiah 49:20-21

HE 10. 4.54-55  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.
   [Translator’s note] “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.

HE 10. 4.56  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.
   [Translator’s note] The Greek verb at the end (agalmatophorein) means to carry or bear an image, as one carries a statue.
   [Scripture] 2 Corinthians 6:16; Leviticus 26:12

HE 10. 4.57  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.
   [Scripture] Matthew 24:2

HE 10. 4.58  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.
   [Translator’s note] 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).

HE 10. 4.59-60  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.

HE 10. 4.61  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:

HE 10. 4.62-63  “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.
   [Translator’s note] The quotation is from Isaiah 54:11–13 (LXX).
   [Scripture] Isaiah 54:11-14

HE 10. 4.64-65  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.

HE 10. 4.66-67  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.
   [Scripture] Acts 2:3

HE 10. 4.68  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.

HE 10. 4.69-70  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.”
   [Translator’s note] 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.
   [Scripture] 1 Corinthians 2:9

HE 10. 4.71  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.
   [Translator’s note] The passage is built from phrases of Psalm 103 (102 in the Greek Bible).

HE 10. 4.72  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.
   [Scripture] 1 Peter 4:11


CHAPTER 5

HE 10. 5.1-3  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.”
   [Translator’s note] 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.

HE 10. 5.4  “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.”

HE 10. 5.5-6  “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.”
   [Translator’s note] “Your Devotion” translates a formal title of address (Greek “kathosiosis”) for the official receiving the letter.

HE 10. 5.7-8  “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.”

HE 10. 5.9  “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.”

HE 10. 5.10-11  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.
   [Translator’s note] “The body” (sōma) of the Christians means the church as a corporate whole, which could hold property.

HE 10. 5.12-14  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.

HE 10. 5.15-16  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.
   [Translator’s note] The heading is Eusebius’s own and is not part of the emperor’s letter. The Greek says the decree was issued “again” (authis).

HE 10. 5.17-18  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.
   [Translator’s note] 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.

HE 10. 5.19-20  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.

HE 10. 5.21  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.

HE 10. 5.22  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.

HE 10. 5.23  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,

HE 10. 5.24  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

HE 10. 6.1-2  “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.

HE 10. 6.3-4  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.

HE 10. 6.5  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

HE 10. 7.1  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.

HE 10. 7.2  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.”


CHAPTER 8

HE 10. 8.1-2  Such were the gifts that the divine and heavenly grace of our Saviour’s appearing gave us, and such was the abundance of good things that our peace brought to all people. So our own affairs were passing in joy and festival. But envy, which hates what is good, and the demon who loves evil, could not bear the sight of it. Nor were the fates of the tyrants already described enough to bring Licinius to his senses. His rule was prospering. He had been honored with the second place after the great emperor Constantine, and had been given the highest standing through marriage and family ties. Yet he abandoned the imitation of what is good, and set himself to copy the evil ways and wickedness of the godless tyrants. He had seen with his own eyes how their lives ended, but he chose to follow their way of thinking rather than to remain in friendship and goodwill with the better man.

HE 10. 8.3-4  Filled with envy against his benefactor, he launched a godless and terrible war against him. He spared nothing: not the laws of nature, not oaths, not blood relationship, and he gave no thought to treaties. For Constantine, as a thoroughly good emperor, had given him signs of real goodwill. He had not begrudged him kinship, and he had not refused him a splendid marriage with his sister. He had thought him worthy to share in his ancestral noble birth and his long-standing royal blood. He had granted him authority over the whole empire as a brother-in-law and fellow emperor, giving him the freedom to govern and manage a share of the Roman peoples no smaller than his own.

HE 10. 8.5-6  Licinius did the opposite. Every day he devised all sorts of schemes against his superior and thought up every kind of plot, to repay his benefactor with evil. At first he tried to hide his preparations and pretended to be a friend. He attacked with trickery and deceit many times, hoping to gain his goal very easily. But God was Constantine’s friend, his protector and guardian. God brought into the light the plots that were being hatched in secret and in darkness, and exposed them. So great is the power of godliness, that great weapon of virtue, both to ward off enemies and to guard one’s own safety. Protected by it, our emperor, so dear to God, escaped the many tangled plots of that man of ill repute.

HE 10. 8.7-8  When Licinius saw that his secret scheming was not going as he intended, because God was exposing every trick and piece of villainy to the emperor who loved him, he could no longer stay hidden and took up open war. Having decided to fight Constantine face to face, he now rushed to set himself in battle line even against the God of the universe, whom he knew Constantine worshiped. Then he began, gradually and quietly at first, to besiege the God-fearing people under his own rule, who had never done his government any harm at all. He did this because his inborn wickedness had forced him into terrible blindness.

HE 10. 8.9-10  Licinius kept before his eyes neither the memory of those who had persecuted the Christians before him, nor the fate of those whose destroyer and avenger he himself had become because of the impieties they had committed. He turned aside from sound reasoning and, plainly, went out of his mind. He resolved to make war on God himself, as Constantine’s helper, rather than on the man who was being helped. First he drove every Christian out of his household. In doing so the wretched man deprived himself of the prayer these people offer to God on his behalf, which they are taught by their fathers’ tradition to make for everyone. Then he ordered that the soldiers in each city be sorted out and stripped of their rank and honor unless they chose to sacrifice to the demons. Yet even these measures were small compared with the greater ones that followed.

HE 10. 8.11  Why should I go through all the details of what this hater of God did, or tell how this most lawless man devised lawless laws? He made a law that no one should show kindness to those suffering in the prisons by giving them food. No one was to pity those wasting away from hunger in chains. No one was to be good at all, or do any good deed, even though nature itself draws people to feel sympathy for their neighbors. This was an openly shameless and utterly harsh law, one that went beyond all gentle human nature. A penalty was attached to it: those who showed pity were to suffer the same as those who received it. Those who performed acts of kindness were to be shut up in chains and prisons and endure the same punishment as the people they were helping.

HE 10. 8.12  Such were the ordinances of Licinius. Why should I list his innovations about marriages, or his changes in the laws about those who die? In these he dared to set aside the ancient laws of the Romans, which had been well and wisely made, and brought in certain barbarous and savage laws in their place, laws that were truly lawless and criminal. He also dreamed up countless accusations against the subject peoples, all sorts of levies of gold and silver, and new surveys of land. He also demanded a ruinous profit from country people who were no longer living, who had died long before.

HE 10. 8.13-14  Why should I describe the kinds of banishments this hater of mankind devised besides these, against people who had done no wrong? Or the removal of men of noble family and high reputation, whose lawful wives he tore away and handed over to certain vile servants to be shamefully abused? Or how many married women and young virgins he assaulted to satisfy the unrestrained desire of his soul, though he himself was extremely old? Why should I drag these matters out, when the extreme character of his last acts shows his earlier ones to be small and as nothing? For in the end his madness turned against the bishops. He supposed that they, as servants of the God over all, were opposed to what he was doing. Out of fear of the One who was stronger, he did not yet act openly, but again secretly and treacherously. Through the plotting of the governors he put to death the most respected of them. And the manner of their murder was strange, such as had never been heard of before.

HE 10. 8.15-16  What was done around Amaseia and the other cities of Pontus surpassed every extreme of cruelty. There some of the churches of God were again torn down from the top to the ground, and others were shut up, so that none of the usual worshipers could gather and render to God the worship owed him. For Licinius did not suppose that prayers were being made for himself; he judged this by his own bad conscience. He was convinced that we did everything for the emperor beloved of God and that we were pleading with God for him. This was why he rushed to pour out his anger on us.

HE 10. 8.17-18  Then the flattering governors, convinced that they were doing what pleased the impious man, subjected some of the bishops to the usual punishments of criminals. Men who had done no wrong were led off and punished without any excuse, just like murderers. Some now suffered a newer kind of death: their bodies were hacked with the sword into many pieces, and after this savage and most dreadful sight they were thrown into the depths of the sea as food for the fish. So the godly men fled again, and again the fields, the deserts, the woods and the mountains received the servants of Christ. When these measures succeeded in this way for the impious man, he finally resolved to stir up a persecution against everyone.

HE 10. 8.19  He was master of his purpose, and nothing stood in the way of carrying it out, except that God, the champion of the souls that are his own, saw what was coming and acted at once. As in deep darkness and the gloomiest night, he suddenly made a great light shine out, a savior for all. He led his servant Constantine by the hand with a lofty arm to these regions.


CHAPTER 9

HE 10. 9.1-2  So God gave Constantine, from heaven above, a reward worthy of his piety: the trophies of victory over the godless. The guilty Licinius, together with all his counselors and friends, God threw down flat on his face at Constantine’s feet. For when Licinius drove his madness to the extreme, the emperor, the friend of God, concluded that it could no longer be borne. He gathered his sound judgment, tempered the firm character of justice with kindness, and gladly decided to come to the aid of those suffering under the tyrant. He set out to rescue the greater part of the human race by removing a few destroyers.

HE 10. 9.3-4  Earlier Constantine had dealt with Licinius only with kindness, showing mercy to a man who did not deserve sympathy. It did no good. Licinius did not turn from his wickedness but only increased his rage against the nations under his control, and those who were mistreated had no hope of rescue, ground down as they were by a terrible beast. So the helper of the good, who combined a hatred of evil with a love of what is good, came forward with his son Crispus, a most kindly emperor, and held out a saving right hand to all who were perishing. They had God, the King of all, as their guide, and God’s Son, the Savior of all, as their leader and ally. Father and son together spread their forces in a circle around the ranks of those God hated, and they won an easy victory. God made everything in the battle go as they wished.

HE 10. 9.5  Suddenly, and faster than words can tell, those who only yesterday and the day before were breathing out death and threats were no more. They were not remembered even by name. Their inscriptions and honors received the shame they deserved. Licinius suffered the same things he had seen with his own eyes happen to the earlier godless tyrants. He had not accepted instruction, nor was he taught sense by the beatings his neighbors received. He followed the same road of ungodliness as they had, and he was justly sent tumbling over the same cliff.
   [Scripture] Acts 9:1

HE 10. 9.6-7  So Licinius lay fallen in this way. But Constantine, the greatest of victors, outstanding in every virtue of godliness, together with his son Crispus, an emperor most beloved of God and in every way like his father, took back their own East. They made the Roman empire one again, as in the old days, and brought everything under their peace: the whole circle of the world from the rising sun, north and south alike, to the farthest edge of the declining day. All fear of those who had once oppressed them was removed from people, and they held splendid festival days. Everything was full of light. Those who had been downcast looked at one another with smiling faces and bright eyes. They had dances and hymns in cities and in the countryside. First of all they honored God, the King of all, because this is what they had been taught, and then the godly emperor together with his God-beloved sons.

HE 10. 9.8-9  The old evils were forgotten, and so was every kind of ungodliness. People enjoyed the good things of the present and looked forward to those still to come. The victorious emperor’s decrees, full of kindness, spread to every place, and his laws showed generosity and marks of true godliness. So, with every tyranny swept away, the kingdom that rightly belonged to them was kept secure and free from envy for Constantine and his sons alone. They cleansed life of the hatred of God that had marked their predecessors. They were aware of the good things God had arranged for them, and they showed their love of virtue and love of God, their reverence and thankfulness toward the divine, by the deeds they set before the eyes of all people.

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Greek text: Wilhelm Dindorf’s edition (Oxford, 1871), via the First Thousand Years of Greek project (CC BY-SA 4.0). Modern English © SermonIndex, CC BY-SA 4.0. https://sermonindex.net/fathers/eusebius-church-history/