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Church History (Eusebius)
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The Church History (Latin Historia Ecclesiastica or Historia Ecclesiae) of Eusebius of Caesarea was a fourth-century pioneer work giving a chronological account of the development of Christianity from the first century. It was written in Greek, and survives also in Latin, Syriac and Armenian manuscripts.
Eusebius made use of many ecclesiastical monuments and documents, acts of the martyrs, letters, extracts from earlier Christian writings, lists of bishops, and similar sources, often quoting the originals at great length so that his work contains materials not elsewhere preserved.
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The Church History (Latin Historia Ecclesiastica or Historia Ecclesiae) of Eusebius of Caesarea was a fourth-century pioneer work giving a chronological account of the development of Christianity from the first century. It was written in Greek, and survives also in Latin, Syriac and Armenian manuscripts.
Eusebius made use of many ecclesiastical monuments and documents, acts of the martyrs, letters, extracts from earlier Christian writings, lists of bishops, and similar sources, often quoting the originals at great length so that his work contains materials not elsewhere preserved. It is therefore of historical value, though it pretends neither to completeness nor to the observance of due proportion in the treatment of the subject-matter. Nor does it present in a connected and systematic way the history of the early Christian Church. It is to no small extent a vindication of the Christian religion, though the author did not primarily intend it as such. Eusebius has been often accused of intentional falsification of the truth; in judging persons or facts he is not entirely unbiased.
Plan of the work
Eusebius attempted according to his own declaration (I.i.1) to present the history of the Church from the apostles to his own time, with special regard to the following points:
- the successions of bishops in the principal sees;
- the history of Christian teachers;
- the history of heresies;
- the history of the Jews;
- the relations to the heathen;
- the martyrdoms.
He grouped his material according to the reigns of the emperors, presenting it as he found it in his sources. The contents are as follows:
- Book i: detailed introduction on Jesus Christ
- Book ii: The history of the apostolic time to the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus
- Book iii: The following time to Trajan
- Books iv and v: the second century
- Book vi: The time from Septimius Severus to Decius
- Book vii: extends to the outbreak of the persecution under Diocletian
- Book viii: more of this persecution
- Book ix: history to Constantine's victory over Maxentius in the West and over Maximinus in the East
- Book x: The reëstablishment of the churches and the rebellion and conquest of Licinius.
Chronology
In its present form, the work was brought to a conclusion before the death of Crispus (July, 326), and, since book x is dedicated to Paulinus of Tyre who died before 325, at the end of 323, or in 324. This work required the most comprehensive preparatory studies, and it must have occupied him for years. His collection of martyrdoms of the older period may have been one of these preparatory studies.
Attitudes of the author
Eusebius blames the calamities which befell the Jewish nation on the Jews' role in the death of Jesus. This quote has been used to attack both Jews and Christians (see Christianity and anti-Semitism).
This is not simply anti-Semitism, however. Eusebius levels a similar charge against Christians, blaming a spirit of divisiveness for some of the most severe persecutions.
He also launches into a panegyric, which is an elaborate speech giving extravagant praise to a person or thing, in the middle of Book x. He praises the Lord for his provisions and kindness to them for allowing them to rebuild their churches after they have been destroyed.
See also
Other early church histories:
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