same indecision shows itself in the celebrated letter, written between 10G3 and 106G, in which Eusebius de- clines to act as arbiter at a theological disputation which Berengar desired to hold with the priest Gaik frid Martini, and defines his dogmatical position. The letter (which is regarded by Lessing as the ablest the- ological essay of the lltli centuiy) deprecates new dogmatic explanations concerning the Eucharist, and declares that we ought not to appeal to the fathers, but to adhere to Scripture, and abide bj' the simple words that the bread and wine are the true body and blood of Christ as a duty of pious faith. The letter may be found in INIenardus (^Aufjusthd c. Jidiuni opens imper- fecii I. 2 priores), with arljitrarj' alterations in De Ko3'e {Vita, h(eres. et poenit. Berengar.), and Boulaj- {Hist. Univers. Paris). Two other letters of Eusebius are given b)' Sudendorf {Bereng. Turon. 1850). Eusebius died at Angers Aug. 27, 1081. — Herzog, Rcal-Encykl. iv, 228 ; Lessing, Wtrke (edit. Lachmann), vol. viii ; Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Gener. xvi, 778 ; Neander, Church History (Torrey), iii, 576; Keander, Hist, of Dogmas (Byland), ii, 462. (A. J. S.)
Eusebius of C.ESAREA,the "father of Church his- tory," Avas born about 270. The place of his birth is not certainly known, but it is supposed to have been Cffisarea in Palestine. Coming to Antioch towards the end of the 3d century, he there studied the Scrip- tures under Dorotheus (Eusebius, //. E. vii, 32). On his return to Cresarea he was ordained by Agapius, then bishop of that place. Here he became intimate with Pamphilus, a learned presliyter, who was head of a divinity school at Cffisarea, and who had gathered manj' books illustrative of Scripture and theology, es- pecially the writings of Origen. This friendship was lifelong, and from it Eusel)ius took the name Ei'trf/iioe (o 0(Ao(.) rov Tlaj^KplXov, Eusebius Pamphili. It was probably under Pamphilus that Eusebius imliibed his fondness for the writings of Origen. During the per- secution by Dioclesian, Pamphilus was imprisoned, and finally died a martyr (A. D. 309). Eusebius taught in the school of Pamphilus for years, but during the per- secution he went to Tj're and to Egypt, where he him- self was imprisoned as a confessor, and where he wit- nessed the sufierings of the faithful described in his Church History (bk. viii, c. 7, 9). Epiphanius {Hcer. Ixviii, 7) tells us that Eusebius was charged at the Sj'nod of Tyre (A.D. 335, where he sided against Ath- anasius), by Potamon, bishop of Heraclea, with hav- ing shown cowardice during the persecution in Egypt, and even with having oft'ered incense to idols. But the charge doubtless arose from party feeling, as it is not likely that he could, with such a. character, have been made bishop in that age. In 313 or 315 he was chosen bishop of CiEsarea, which see he administered with eminent success for twenty-five years.
The part taken by Eusebius in the Arian contro- versj' has been the subject of much dispute. AVhen Arius was deposed bj' Alexander, he enlisted numer- ous bishops in his behalf. es]ieciaily Eusebius of Nico- niedia, namesake and friend of Eusebius of C.TSarea; and the latter wrote to Alexander, bishop of Alexan- dria (two letters, of which fragments are extant), aim- ing, not to settle the doctrinal dispute, but rather to show that the views of Arius were misrepresented. He sought to reconcile the contending parties, and this conciliatory, if not compromising temper, characterized Eusebius through life. See Anics; Athanasius. The part taken by Eusebius in the Council of Kica?a (Nice, A.I). 325) is described b}' Valesius (Introd. to his edit, of Eusebius) as follows: "In this greatest and most celebrated council, I>usebiiis ^^as far from an nniui])or- tant person ; for he both had the first seat on the right hand, and in the name of the trhole synod addressed the emperor Constantine, Avho sat on a golden chair, between the two rows of the opposite parties. This is affirmed by Eusebius himself (/^/l' of Constanlitie), and b}- Sozomen (Eccks. Ilist.). Afterwards, when there
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was a considerable contest amongst the bishops rela- tive to a creed or form of faith, Eusebius proposed a formula at once simple and ortliodox, which received the general commendation both of the bishops and of the emperor himself. Something, notwithstanding, seeming to be wanting in the creed, to confute the im- piety of the new opinion, the fathers of the Nicene Council determined that these words, ' Very God of
VERY God ; BEGOTTEN, NOT MADE ; BEING OF ONE
SUBSTANCE WITH THE Fathek,' should be added. They also annexed anathemas against those who should assert that the Son of God was made of things not existing, and that there was a time when he was not. At first, indeed, Eusebius refused to admit the term ui-ioovaiot:, but when the import of that word was explained to him by the other bishops he consented, and, as he himself relates in his letter to his diocese at Csesarea, subscribed to the creed (Socrates, //. E. i, 8). Some affirm that it was the necessity of circumstances, or the fear of the emperor, and not the conviction of his own mind, that induced Eusebius to subscribe to the Nicene Council. Of some present at the synod this might be l)elieved, but we cannot think it of Eusebius, bishop of Ca3sarea. After the Nicene Council, too, Eu- sebius always condemned those who asserted that the Son of God was made of things not existing. Atha- nasius likewise affirms the same concerning him, and, though he frequently mentions that Eusebius sub- scribed to the Nicene Council, nowhere intimates that he did it inslncerel3\ Had Eusebius subscribed to that council, not according to his own mind, but fraudulent- ly and in pretence, why did he afterwards send the let- ter we have mentioned to his diocese at Cajsarea, and therein ingenuously profess that he had embraced the faith which had been published in the Nicene Coun- cil .'" (For details, see Socrates, Hist. Eccl. i, 8, 9.)