Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series • VOLUME 1
Eusebius — Church History, Constantine & Oration
SECTION 201
[2082] ho kakon te polei taute m?ntis kai poietes. The last word is rendered "poet" by most translators, and the rendering is quite possible
[2082] ho kakon te polei taute m?ntis kai poietes. The last word is rendered "poet" by most translators, and the rendering is quite possible; but it is difficult to understand why Dionysius should speak of this person's being a poet, which could have no possible connection with the matter in hand. It seems better to take poietes…
970 wordsSECTION 202Chapter XLII.--Others of whom Dionysius gives an Account.
Chapter XLII.--Others of whom Dionysius gives an Account. 1. "Many others, in cities and villages, were torn asunder by the heathen, of whom I will mention one as an illustration. Ischyrion [2098] was employed as a steward by one of the rulers. His employer commanded him to sacrifice, and on his refusal insulted him, and as he …
882 wordsSECTION 203Chapter XLIII.--Novatus, [2105] his Manner of Life and his Heresy.
Chapter XLIII.--Novatus, [2105] his Manner of Life and his Heresy. 1. After this, Novatus, a presbyter of the church at Rome, being lifted up with arrogance against these persons, as if there was no longer for them a hope of salvation, not even if they should do all things pertaining to a genuine and pure conversion, became lea…
2,346 wordsSECTION 204[2106] katharoi, "pure."
[2106] katharoi, "pure." [2107] This council is undoubtedly identical with the one mentioned in Cyprian's epistle to Antonianus (Ep. 51, §6; al. 55). It was held, according to Cyprian, soon after the Carthaginian synod, in which the treatment of the lapsi was first discussed, and accepted the decisions of that council. The Cart…
2,338 wordsSECTION 205[2122] The limitation of the deacons to seven in number was due to the fact that the appointment of the Seven by the apostles (Acts vi.) was
[2122] The limitation of the deacons to seven in number was due to the fact that the appointment of the Seven by the apostles (Acts vi.) was commonly looked upon as the institution of the office of the diaconate. But upon this matter, see above, Bk. II. chap. 1, note 2a. The practice of limiting the number of the deacons to seve…
1,717 wordsSECTION 206Chapter XLIV.--Dionysius' Account of Serapion.
Chapter XLIV.--Dionysius' Account of Serapion. 1. To this same Fabius, who seemed to lean somewhat toward this schism, [2135] Dionysius of Alexandria also wrote an epistle. [2136] He writes in this many other things concerning repentance, and relates the conflicts of those who had lately suffered martyrdom at Alexandria. After …
1,019 wordsSECTION 207Chapter XLVI.--Other Epistles of Dionysius.
Chapter XLVI.--Other Epistles of Dionysius. 1. He wrote also an epistle to the brethren in Egypt on Repentance. [2143] In this he sets forth what seemed proper to him in regard to those who had fallen, and he describes the classes of transgressions. 2. There is extant also a private letter on Repentance, which he wrote to Cono…
1,878 wordsSECTION 208Book VII.
Book VII. Introduction. In this seventh book of the Church History, the great bishop of Alexandria, Dionysius, [2160] shall again assist us by his own words; relating the several affairs of his time in the epistles which he has left. I will begin with them. [2160] On Dionysius, see especially Bk. VI. chap. 40, note 1. Chapte…
1,726 wordsSECTION 209Chapter III.--Cyprian, and the Bishops with him, first taught that it was necessary to purify by Baptism those converted from Heresy.
Chapter III.--Cyprian, and the Bishops with him, first taught that it was necessary to purify by Baptism those converted from Heresy. First of all, Cyprian, pastor of the parish of Carthage, [2170] maintained that they should not be received except they had been purified from their error by baptism. But Stephen considering it u…
1,543 wordsSECTION 210Chapter VI.--The Heresy of Sabellius.
Chapter VI.--The Heresy of Sabellius. He refers also in the same letter to the heretical teachings of Sabellius, [2183] which were in his time becoming prominent, and says: "For concerning the doctrine now agitated in Ptolemais of Pentapolis,--which is impious and marked by great blasphemy against the Almighty God, the Father,…
2,122 wordsSECTION 211Chapter VIII.--The Heterodoxy of Novatus.
Chapter VIII.--The Heterodoxy of Novatus. "For with good reason do we feel hatred toward Novatian, [2198] who has sundered the Church and drawn some of the brethren into impiety and blasphemy, and has introduced impious teaching concerning God, and has calumniated our most compassionate Lord Jesus Christ as unmerciful. And besi…
1,001 wordsSECTION 212Chapter IX.--The Ungodly Baptism of the Heretics.
Chapter IX.--The Ungodly Baptism of the Heretics. 1. His fifth epistle [2202] was written to Xystus, [2203] bishop of Rome. In this, after saying much against the heretics, he relates a certain occurrence of his time as follows: "For truly, brother, I am in need of counsel, and I ask thy judgment concerning a certain matter whi…
909 wordsSECTION 213Chapter X.--Valerian and the Persecution under him.
Chapter X.--Valerian and the Persecution under him. 1. Gallus and the other rulers, [2210] having held the government less than two years, were overthrown, and Valerian, with his son Gallienus, received the empire. The circumstances which Dionysius relates of him we may learn from his epistle to Hermammon, [2211] in which he gi…
1,922 wordsSECTION 214Chapter XI.--The Events which happened at this Time to Dionysius and those in Egypt.
Chapter XI.--The Events which happened at this Time to Dionysius and those in Egypt. 1. But as regards the persecution which prevailed so fiercely in his reign, and the sufferings which Dionysius with others endured on account of piety toward the God of the universe, his own words shall show, which he wrote in answer to Germanu…
2,224 wordsSECTION 215[2238] This Marcellus, the only one not mentioned in §3, above, is an otherwise unknown person.
[2238] This Marcellus, the only one not mentioned in §3, above, is an otherwise unknown person. [2239] ton para phusin. That the ton refers to "gods" (viz. the gods of the Christians, Æmilianus thinking of them as plural) seems clear, both on account of the theous just preceding, and also in view of the fact that in §9 we have …
1,142 wordsSECTION 216Chapter XII.--The Martyrs in Cæsarea in Palestine.
Chapter XII.--The Martyrs in Cæsarea in Palestine. During the above-mentioned persecution under Valerian, three men in Cæsarea in Palestine, being conspicuous in their confession of Christ, were adorned with divine martyrdom, becoming food for wild beasts. One of them was called Priscus, another Malchus, and the name of the thi…
1,080 wordsSECTION 217Chapter XIV.--The Bishops that flourished at that Time.
Chapter XIV.--The Bishops that flourished at that Time. At that time Xystus [2277] was still presiding over the church of Rome, and Demetrianus, [2278] successor of Fabius, [2279] over the church of Antioch, and Firmilianus [2280] over that of Cæsarea in Cappadocia; and besides these, Gregory [2281] and his brother Athenodorus,…
1,087 wordsSECTION 218Chapter XVI.--Story in Regard to Astyrius.
Chapter XVI.--Story in Regard to Astyrius. Astyrius [2292] also is commemorated on account of his pious boldness in connection with this affair. He was a Roman of senatorial rank, and in favor with the emperors, and well known to all on account of his noble birth and wealth. Being present at the martyr's death, he took his body…
1,158 wordsSECTION 219Chapter XIX.--The Episcopal Chair of James.
Chapter XIX.--The Episcopal Chair of James. The chair of James, who first received the episcopate of the church at Jerusalem from the Saviour himself [2300] and the apostles, and who, as the divine records show, [2301] was called a brother of Christ, has been preserved until now, [2302] the brethren who have followed him in suc…
1,131 wordsSECTION 220Chapter XXI.--The Occurrences at Alexandria.
Chapter XXI.--The Occurrences at Alexandria. 1. Peace had but just been restored when he returned to Alexandria; [2310] but as sedition and war broke out again, rendering it impossible for him to oversee all the brethren, separated in different places by the insurrection, at the feast of the passover, as if he were still an exi…
765 wordsSECTION 221Chapter XXII.--The Pestilence which came upon them.
Chapter XXII.--The Pestilence which came upon them. 1. After these events a pestilential disease followed the war, and at the approach of the feast he wrote again to the brethren, describing the sufferings consequent upon this calamity. [2317] 2. "To other men [2318] the present might not seem to be a suitable time for a festi…
1,118 wordsSECTION 222Chapter XXIII.--The Reign of Gallienus.
Chapter XXIII.--The Reign of Gallienus. 1. But there is nothing like hearing his own words, which are as follows: "Then he, [2326] having betrayed one of the emperors that preceded him, and made war on the other, [2327] perished with his whole family speedily and utterly. But Gallienus was proclaimed and universally acknowledg…
704 wordsSECTION 223Chapter XXIV.--Nepos and his Schism. [2332]
Chapter XXIV.--Nepos and his Schism. [2332] 1. Besides all these the two books on the Promises [2333] were prepared by him. The occasion of these was Nepos, a bishop in Egypt, who taught that the promises to the holy men in the Divine Scriptures should be understood in a more Jewish manner, and that there would be a certain mil…
1,551 wordsSECTION 224Chapter XXV.--The Apocalypse of John. [2340]
Chapter XXV.--The Apocalypse of John. [2340] 1. Afterward he speaks in this manner of the Apocalypse of John. "Some before us have set aside and rejected the book altogether, criticising it chapter by chapter, and pronouncing it without sense or argument, and maintaining that the title is fraudulent. 2. For they say that it i…
2,179 wordsSECTION 225Chapter XXVI.--The Epistles of Dionysius.
Chapter XXVI.--The Epistles of Dionysius. 1. Besides these, many other epistles of Dionysius are extant, as those against Sabellius, [2366] addressed to Ammon, [2367] bishop of the church of Bernice, and one to Telesphorus, [2368] and one to Euphranor, and again another to Ammon and Euporus. He wrote also four other books on th…
985 wordsSECTION 226Chapter XXVII.--Paul of Samosata, and the Heresy introduced by him at Antioch.
Chapter XXVII.--Paul of Samosata, and the Heresy introduced by him at Antioch. 1. After Xystus had presided over the church of Rome for eleven years, [2375] Dionysius, [2376] namesake of him of Alexandria, succeeded him. About the same time Demetrianus [2377] died in Antioch, and Paul of Samosata [2378] received that episcopate…
1,169 wordsSECTION 227Chapter XXVIII.--The Illustrious Bishops of that Time.
Chapter XXVIII.--The Illustrious Bishops of that Time. 1. Of these, the most eminent were Firmilianus, [2381] bishop of Cæsarea in Cappadocia; the brothers Gregory [2382] and Athenodorus, pastors of the churches in Pontus; Helenus [2383] of the parish of Tarsus, and Nicomas [2384] of Iconium; moreover, Hymenæus, [2385] of the c…
1,154 wordsSECTION 228Chapter XXX.--The Epistle of the Bishops against Paul.
Chapter XXX.--The Epistle of the Bishops against Paul. 1. The pastors who had assembled about this matter, prepared by common consent an epistle addressed to Dionysius, [2397] bishop of Rome, and Maximus [2398] of Alexandria, and sent it to all the provinces. In this they make manifest to all their own zeal and the perverse err…
2,210 wordsSECTION 229[2411] 1 Tim. vi. 5.
[2411] 1 Tim. vi. 5. [2412] Paul was the "Procurator Ducenarius" of Zenobia, the queen of Palmyra, an official so-called because his salary was 200 sestertia. "The Ducenarius was an imperial procurator, so-called from his salary of 200 sesteria, or 1600 pounds a year. Some critics suppose that the bishop of Antioch had actually…
2,059 wordsSECTION 230Chapter XXXI.--The Perversive Heresy of the Manicheans which began at this Time.
Chapter XXXI.--The Perversive Heresy of the Manicheans which began at this Time. 1. At this time, the madman, [2433] named from his demoniacal heresy, armed himself in the perversion of his reason, as the devil, Satan, who himself fights against God, put him forward to the destruction of many. He was a barbarian in life, both i…
729 wordsSECTION 231Chapter XXXII.--The Distinguished Ecclesiastics [2436] of our Day, and which of them survived until the Destruction of the Churches.
Chapter XXXII.--The Distinguished Ecclesiastics [2436] of our Day, and which of them survived until the Destruction of the Churches. 1. At this time, Felix, [2437] having presided over the church of Rome for five years, was succeeded by Eutychianus, [2438] but he in less than ten months left the position to Caius, [2439] who li…
2,259 wordsSECTION 23231. After Theonas had held the office for nineteen years, Peter [2490] received the episcopate in Alexandria, and was very eminent among the
31. After Theonas had held the office for nineteen years, Peter [2490] received the episcopate in Alexandria, and was very eminent among them for twelve entire years. Of these he governed the church less than three years before the persecution, and for the remainder of his life he subjected himself to a more rigid discipline and…
2,204 wordsSECTION 233[2461] dodekatemorion: "twelfth-part."
[2461] dodekatemorion: "twelfth-part." [2462] So far as I am aware, Musæus is known to us only from this reference of Anatolius. [2463] Who the two Agathobuli were we do not know. In the Chron. of Eusebius a philosopher Agathobulus is mentioned under the third year of Hadrian in connection with Plutarch, Sextus, and OEnomaus. …
2,277 wordsSECTION 234[2480] to meli tes 'Attikes, in allusion to Meletius' name.
[2480] to meli tes 'Attikes, in allusion to Meletius' name. [2481] The majority of the mss. and editors read Z?mbdas. A few mss. followed by Laemmer read Zabadas, and a few others with Rufinus, both versions of the Chron. and Nicephorus Z?bdas. We know nothing about this bishop, except what is told us here and in the Chron., wh…
1,260 wordsSECTION 235Book VIII.
Book VIII. Introduction. As we have described in seven books the events from the time of the apostles, [2492] we think it proper in this eighth book to record for the information of posterity a few of the most important occurrences of our own times, which are worthy of permanent record. Our account will begin at this point. […
1,158 wordsSECTION 236Chapter II.--The Destruction of the Churches.
Chapter II.--The Destruction of the Churches. 1. All these things were fulfilled in us, when we saw with our own eyes the houses of prayer thrown down to the very foundations, and the Divine and Sacred Scriptures committed to the flames in the midst of the market-places, and the shepherds of the churches basely hidden here and …
2,633 wordsSECTION 237Chapter III.--The Nature of the Conflicts endured in the Persecution.
Chapter III.--The Nature of the Conflicts endured in the Persecution. 1. Then truly a great many rulers of the churches eagerly endured terrible sufferings, and furnished examples of noble conflicts. But a multitude of others, [2508] benumbed in spirit by fear, were easily weakened at the first onset. Of the rest each one endur…
1,174 wordsSECTION 238Chapter V.--Those in Nicomedia. [2515]
Chapter V.--Those in Nicomedia. [2515] 1. Immediately on the publication of the decree against the churches in Nicomedia, [2516] a certain man, not obscure but very highly honored with distinguished temporal dignities, moved with zeal toward God, and incited with ardent faith, seized the edict as it was posted openly and public…
2,343 wordsSECTION 239[2526] Compare Bk. IV. chap. 15, §41, above, and Lactantius, Div. Inst. V. 11. That in the present case the suspicion that the Christians wo
[2526] Compare Bk. IV. chap. 15, §41, above, and Lactantius, Div. Inst. V. 11. That in the present case the suspicion that the Christians would worship the remains of these so-called martyrs was not founded merely upon knowledge of the conduct of Christians in general in relation to the relics of their martyrs, but upon actual e…
718 wordsSECTION 240Chapter VII.--The Egyptians in Phoenicia.
Chapter VII.--The Egyptians in Phoenicia. 1. Those of them that were conspicuous in Palestine we know, as also those that were at Tyre in Phoenicia. [2534] Who that saw them was not astonished at the numberless stripes, and at the firmness which these truly wonderful athletes of religion exhibited under them? and at their conte…
861 wordsSource & rights
Historical text source: Christian Classics Ethereal Library. The downloaded text itself records Public Domain.