Book 5, Part 4, of Eusebius' Church History.
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Recording by David Leeson Church History by Eusebius of Caesarea Translated by
Arthur Cushman McGiffert Book 5, Part 4, Chapters 21-28 Chapter 21 How
Apollonius Suffered Martyrdom at Rome About the same time, in the reign of
Commodus, our condition became more favorable, and through the grace of God
the churches throughout the entire world enjoyed peace, and the word of salvation
was leading every soul, from every race of man, to the devout worship of the God of
the universe.
So that now at Rome, many who were highly distinguished for wealth and family turned
with all their household and relatives unto their salvation.
But the demon who hates what is good, being malignant in his nature,
could not endure this, but prepared himself again for conflict, contriving
many devices against us.
And he brought to the judgment seat Apollonius of the city of Rome,
a man renowned among the faithful for learning and philosophy, having stirred up
one of his servants, who was well fitted for such a purpose, to accuse him.
But this wretched man made the charge unseasonably, because by a royal decree it
was unlawful that informers of such things should live, and his legs were broken
immediately, perennius the judge having pronounced this sentence upon him.
But the martyr, highly beloved of God, being earnestly entreated and requested by
the judge to give an account of himself before the senate, made in the presence of
all an eloquent defense of the faith for which he was witnessing.
And as if by decree of the senate he was put to death by decapitation, an ancient
law requiring that those who were brought to the judgment seat and refused to recant
should not be liberated.
Whoever desires to know his arguments before the judge and his answers to the
questions of perennius and his entire defense before the senate, will find them
in the records of the ancient martyrdoms which we have collected.
Chapter 22.
The bishops that were well known at this time.
In the tenth year of the reign of Commodus, Victor succeeded Eleutherus,
the latter having held the episcopate for thirteen years.
In the same year, after Julian had completed his tenth year, Demetrius
received the charge of the parishes at Alexandria.
At this time the above mentioned Serapion, the eighth from the apostles, was still
well known as bishop of the church at Antioch.
Theophilus presided at Caesarea in Palestine, and Narcissus, whom we have
mentioned before, still had charge of the church at Jerusalem.
Bacchulus at the same time was bishop of Corinth in Greece, and Pelicrates of the
parish of Ephesus.
And besides these a multitude of others, as is likely, were then prominent.
But we have given the names of those alone, the soundness of whose faith has
come down to us in writing.
Chapter 23.
The question then agitated concerning the Passover.
A question of no small importance arose at that time.
For the parishes of all Asia, as from an older tradition, held that the fourteenth
day of the moon, on which day the were commanded to sacrifice the lamb,
should be observed as the feast of the Savior's Passover.
It was therefore necessary to end their fast on that day, whatever day of the week
it should happen to be.
But it was not the custom of the churches in the rest of the world to end it at this
time, as they observed the practice which, from apostolic tradition, has prevailed to
the present time, of terminating the fast on no other day than on that of the
resurrection of our Savior.
Synods and assemblies of bishops were held on this account, and all, with one
consent, through mutual correspondence, drew up an ecclesiastical decree that the
mystery of the resurrection of the Lord should be celebrated on no other but the
Lord's day, and that we should observe the close of the Paschal feast on this day
only.
There is still extant a writing of those who were then assembled in Palestine,
over whom Theophilus, Bishop of Caesarea, and Narcissus, Bishop of Jerusalem,
presided.
And there is also another writing extant of those who were assembled at Rome to
consider the same question, which bears the name of Bishop Victor, also of the
bishops in Pontus, over which Palmus, as the oldest, presided, and of the
parishes in Gaul, of which Irenaeus was bishop, and of those in Osrene,
and the cities there, and a personal letter of Bacchulus, Bishop of the Church
at Corinth, and of a great many others, who uttered the same opinion and judgment,
and cast the same vote.
And that which has been given above was their unanimous decision.
Chapter 24 THE DISAGREEMENT IN ASIA But the bishops of Asia, led by Polycrates,
decided to hold to the old custom handed down to them.
He himself, in a letter which he addressed to Victor and the Church of Rome,
set forth in the following words the tradition which had come down to him.
We observe the exact day, neither adding nor taking away, for in Asia also great
lights have fallen asleep, which shall rise again on the day of the Lord's
coming, when he shall come with glory from heaven, and shall seek out all the saints.
Among these are Philip, one of the twelve apostles, who fell asleep in Hierapolis,
and his two aged virgin daughters, and another daughter, who lived in the
Holy Spirit and now rests at Ephesus, and moreover John, who was both a witness
and a teacher, who reclined upon the bosom of the Lord, and being a priest,
wore the sacerdotal plate.
He fell asleep at Ephesus.
And Polycarp in Smyrna, who was a bishop and martyr, and Thrasius, bishop and
martyr from Eumenia, who fell asleep in Smyrna.
Why need I mention the bishop and martyr Sagaris, who fell asleep in Laodicea,
or the blessed Papirius, or Melito, the eunuch who lived altogether in the
Holy Spirit, and who lies in Sardis, awaiting the episcopate from heaven,
when he shall rise from the dead?
All these observed the fourteenth day of the Passover according to the Gospel,
deviating in no respect but following the rule of faith.
And I also, Polycrates, the least of you all, do according to the tradition of my
relatives, some of whom I have closely followed.
For seven of my relatives were bishops, and I am the eighth.
And my relatives always observed the day when the people put away the leaven.
I, therefore, brethren, who have lived sixty-five years in the Lord, and have met
with brethren throughout the world, and have gone through every holy
scripture, am not affrighted by terrifying words.
For those greater than I have said, We ought to obey God rather than man.
He then writes of all the bishops who were present with him, and thought as he did.
His words are as follows.
I could mention the bishops who were present, whom I summoned at your desire,
whose names, should I write them, would constitute a great multitude.
And they, beholding my littleness, gave their consent to the letter,
knowing that I did not bear my gray hairs in vain, but had always governed my life
by the Lord Jesus.
Thereupon Victor, who presided over the church at Rome, immediately attempted to
cut off from the common unity the parishes of all Asia, with the churches that agreed
with them, as heterodox.
And he wrote letters and declared all the brethren there wholly excommunicate.
But this did not please all the bishops.
And they besought him to consider the things of peace, and of neighborly unity
and love.
Words of theirs are extant, sharply rebuking Victor.
Among them was Irenaeus, who, sending letters in the name of the brethren in
Gaul over whom he presided, maintained that the mystery of the resurrection of
the Lord should be observed only on the Lord's day.
He fittingly admonishes Victor that he should not cut off whole churches of God
which observe the tradition of an ancient custom.
And after many other words, he proceeds as follows.
For the controversy is not only concerning the day, but also concerning the very
manner of fast.
For some think that they should fast one day, others two, yet others more.
Some, moreover, count their day as consisting of forty hours day and night.
And this variety in its observance has not originated in our time, but long before in
that of our ancestors.
It is likely that they did not hold to strict accuracy, and thus formed a custom
for their posterity according to their own simplicity and peculiar mode.
Yet all of these lived nonetheless in peace, and we also live in peace with one
another, and the disagreement in regard to the fast confirms the agreement in the
faith.
He adds to this the following account, which I may properly insert.
Among these were the presbyters before Soter, who presided over the church which
thou now rulest.
We mean Anicetus, and Pius, and Hyginus, and Telesphorus, and Zistus.
They neither observed it themselves, nor did they permit those after them to do
so.
And yet though not observing it, they were nonetheless at peace with those
who came to them from the parishes in which it was observed, although this
observance was more opposed to those who did not observe it.
But none were ever cast out on account of this form, but the presbyters before thee
who did not observe it, sent the Eucharist to those of other parishes who observed
it.
And when the blessed Polycarp was at Rome in the time of Anicetus, and they
disagreed a little about certain other things, they immediately made peace with
one another, not caring to quarrel over this matter.
For neither could Anicetus persuade Polycarp not to observe what he had always
observed with John the disciple of our Lord, and the other apostles with whom he
had associated, neither could Polycarp persuade Anicetus to observe it,
as he said that he ought to follow the customs of the presbyters that had
preceded him.
But though matters were in this shape, they communed together, and Anicetus
conceded the administration of the Eucharist in the church to Polycarp,
manifestly as a mark of respect.
And they parted from each other in peace, both those who observed and those who did
not, maintaining the peace of the whole church.
Thus Irenaeus, who truly was well named, became a peacemaker in this matter,
exhorting and negotiating in this way in behalf of the peace of the churches.
And he conferred by letter about this mooted question, not only with Victor,
but also with most of the other rulers of the churches.
Chapter 25.
How All Came to an Agreement Respecting the Passover.
Those in Palestine whom we have recently mentioned, Narcissus and Theophilus,
and with them Cassius, bishop of the church of Tyre, and Clarus of the church
of Ptolemaeus, and those who met with them, having stated many things respecting
the tradition concerning the Passover which had come to them in succession from
the apostles, at the close of their writing add these words, Endeavor to send
copies of our letter to every church, that we may not furnish occasion to those
who easily deceive their souls.
We show you indeed that also in Alexandria they keep it on the same day that we do.
For letters are carried from us to them and from them to us, so that in the same
manner and at the same time we keep the sacred day.
Chapter 26.
The Elegant Works of Irenaeus which have come down to us.
Besides the works and letters of Irenaeus which we have mentioned, a certain book of
his, On Knowledge, written against the Greeks, very concise and remarkably
forcible, is extant, and another which he dedicated to a brother Marcian,
in demonstration of the apostolic preaching, and a volume concerning various
dissertations, in which he mentions the epistle to the Hebrews and the so-called
wisdom of Solomon, making quotations from them.
These are the works of Irenaeus which have come to our knowledge.
Commodus having ended his reign after 13 years, Severus became emperor in less than
six months after his death, Pertinax having reigned during the intervening
time.
Chapter 27.
The Works of Others that Flourished at that Time.
Numerous memorials of the faithful zeal of the ancient ecclesiastical men of that
time are still preserved by many.
Of these, we would note particularly the writings of Heraclitus, on the apostle,
and those of Maximus, on the question so much discussed among heretics,
the origin of evil, and on the creation of matter.
Also those of Candidas, on the hexameron, and of Appion, on the same subject,
likewise of Sextus, on the resurrection, and another treatise of Arabianus,
and writings of a multitude of others, in regard to whom, because we have no
data, it is impossible to state in our work when they lived, or to give any
account of their history.
And works of many others have come down to us whose names we are unable to give,
orthodox and ecclesiastical, as their interpretations of the divine scriptures
show, but unknown to us, because their names are not stated in their writings.
Chapter 28.
Those who first advanced the heresy of Artemon, their manner of life,
and how they dared to corrupt the sacred scriptures.
In a laborious work by one of these writers against the heresy of Artemon,
which Paul of Samosata attempted to revive again in our day, there is an account
appropriate to the history which we are now examining.
For he criticizes, as a late innovation, the above-mentioned heresy which teaches
that the Savior was a mere man, because they were attempting to magnify it
as ancient.
Having given in his work many other arguments in their blasphemous falsehood,
he adds the following words.
For they say that all the early teachers and the apostles received and taught what
they now declare, and that the truth of the gospel was preserved until the times
of Victor, who was the thirteenth bishop of Rome from Peter, but that from his
successor, Zepharinus, the truth had been corrupted.
And what they say might be plausible, if, first of all, the divine scriptures
did not contradict them.
And there are writings of certain brethren older than the times of Victor,
which they wrote in behalf of the truth against the heathen, and against the
heresies which existed in their day.
I refer to Justin, and Miltiades, and Tatian, and Clement, and many others,
in all of whose works Christ is spoken of as God.
For who does not know the works of Irenaeus, and of Melito, and of others
which teach that Christ is God and man?
And how many psalms and hymns, written by the faithful brethren from the
beginning, celebrate Christ the Word of God, speaking of Him as divine?
How then, since the opinion held by the church has been preached for so many
years, can its preaching have been delayed, as they affirm, until the times
of Victor?
And how is it that they are not ashamed to speak thus falsely of Victor, knowing well
that he cut off from communion Theodotus the cobbler, the leader and father of this
God-denying apostasy, and the first to declare that Christ is mere man?
For if Victor agreed with their opinions, as their slander affirms, how came he to
cast out Theodotus, the inventor of this heresy?
So much in regard to Victor.
His bishopric lasted ten years, and Zephorinus was appointed his successor
about the ninth year of the reign of Severus.
The author of the above-mentioned book, concerning the founder of this heresy,
narrates another event which occurred in the time of Zephorinus, using these words.
I will remind many of the brethren of a fact which took place in our time,
which, had it happened in Sodom, might, I think, have proved a warning to
them.
There was a certain confessor, Natalius, not long ago, but in our own
day.
This man was deceived at one time by Asclepiodotus, and another Theodotus,
a money changer.
Both of them were disciples of Theodotus, the cobbler, who, as I have said,
was the first person excommunicated by Victor, bishop at that time, on account of
this sentiment, or rather senselessness.
Natalius was persuaded by them to allow himself to be chosen bishop of this heresy
with a salary, to be paid by them, of 150 denarii a month.
When he had thus connected himself with them, he was warned oftentimes by the Lord
through visions, for the compassionate God and our Lord Jesus Christ was not willing
that a witness of his own sufferings, being cast out of the church, should
perish.
But as he paid little regard to the visions, because he was ensnared by the
first position among them and by that shameful covetousness which destroys a
great many, he was scourged by holy angels and punished severely through the entire
night.
Thereupon, having risen in the morning, he put on sackcloth and covered himself
with ashes, and with great haste and tears he fell down before Zephyrinus,
the bishop, rolling at the feet not only of the clergy but also of the laity.
And he moved with his tears the compassionate church of the merciful
Christ.
And though he used much supplication and showed the welts of the stripes which he
had received, yet scarcely was he taken back into communion.
We will add from the same writer some other extracts concerning them,
which run as follows.
They have treated the divine scriptures recklessly and without fear.
They have set aside the rule of ancient faith, and Christ they have not known.
They do not endeavor to learn what the divine scriptures declare, but strive
laboriously after any form of syllogism which may be devised to sustain their
impiety.
And if anyone brings before them a passage of divine scripture, they see whether a
conjunctive or disjunctive form of syllogism can be made from it.
And as being of the earth and speaking of the earth, and as ignorant of him who
cometh from above, they forsake the holy writings of God to devote themselves to
geometry.
Euclid is laboriously measured by some of them, and Aristotle and Theophrastus are
admired, and Galen perhaps by some is even worshiped.
But that those who use the arts of unbelievers for their heretical opinions
and adulterate the simple faith of the divine scriptures by the craft of the
godless are far from the faith.
What need is there to say?
Therefore they have laid their hands boldly upon the divine scriptures,
alleging that they have corrected them.
But I am not speaking falsely of them in this manner, whoever wishes may learn.
For if anyone will collect their respective copies and compare them one
with another, he will find that they differ greatly.
Those of Asclepius, for example, do not agree with those of Theodotus,
and many of these can be obtained because their disciples have assiduously written
the corrections, as they call them, that is the corruptions of each of them.
Again, those of Hermophilus do not agree with these, and those of Apollonides are
not consistent with themselves.
For you can compare those prepared by them at an earlier date with those which they
corrupted later, and you will find them widely different.
But how daring this offense is, it is not likely that they themselves are
ignorant.
For either they do not believe that the divine scriptures were spoken by the Holy
Spirit, and thus are unbelievers, or else they think themselves wiser than
the Holy Spirit, and in that case what else are they than demoniacs?
For they cannot deny the commission of the crime, since the copies have been written
by their own hands.
For they did not receive such scriptures from their instructors, nor can they
produce any copies from which they were transcribed.
But some of them have not thought it worthwhile to corrupt them, but simply
deny the law and the prophets, and thus through their lawless and impious
teaching under pretense of grace, have sunk to the lowest depths of
perdition.
Let this suffice for these things.
End of Book 5, Part 4