WEBVTT

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CHURCH HISTORY by EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA
translated by ARTHUR CUSHMAN MCGUIRE.

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CHAPTER XXIV.

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NEPOS AND HIS SKISM.

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Besides all these, the two books on the
promises were prepared by him.

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The occasion of these was Nepos,
a bishop in Egypt, who taught that the

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promises to the holy men in the divine
scriptures should be understood in a more

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Jewish manner, and that there would be a
certain millennium of bodily luxury upon

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this earth.

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As he thought that he could establish his
private opinion by the revelation of John,

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he wrote a book on this subject,
entitled Refutation of Allegorists.

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Dionysius opposes this in his books on the
promises.

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In the first he gives his own opinion of
the dogma, and in the second he treats of

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the revelation of John, and mentioning
Nepos at the beginning writes of him in

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this manner.

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But since they bring forward a certain
work of Nepos, on which they rely

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confidently, as if it proved beyond
dispute that there will be a reign of

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Christ upon earth, I confess that in many
other respects I approve and love Nepos,

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for his faith and industry and diligence
in the scriptures, and for his extensive

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psalmody, with which many of the brethren
are still delighted, and I hold him in the

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more reverence because he has gone to rest
before us.

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But the truth should be loved and honored
most of all.

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And while we should praise and approve
ungrudgingly what is said or write,

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we ought to examine and correct what does
not seem to have been written soundly.

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Were he present to state his opinion
orally, mere unwritten discussion,

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persuading and reconciling those who are
opposed by question and answer,

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would be sufficient.

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But as some think his work very plausible,
and as certain teachers regard the law and

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prophets as of no consequence,
and do not follow the gospels,

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and treat lightly the apostolic epistles,
while they make promises as to the

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teaching of this work as if it were some
great hidden mystery, and do not permit

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our simpler brethren to have any sublime
and lofty thoughts concerning the glorious

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and truly divine appearing of our Lord,
and our resurrection from the dead,

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and our being gathered together unto him,
and made like him, but on the contrary

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lead them to hope for small and mortal
things in the kingdom of God, and for such

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things as exist now, since this is the
case, it is necessary that we should

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dispute with our brother Nepos as if he
were present.

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Farther on he says, When I was in the
district of Arsinoe, where, as you know,

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this doctrine has prevailed for a long
time, so that schisms and apostasies of

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entire churches have resulted,
I called together the presbyters and

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teachers of the brethren in the villages,
such brethren as wished being also

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present, and I exhorted them to make a
public examination of this question.

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Accordingly, when they brought me this
book, as if it were a weapon and fortress

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impregnable, sitting with them from
morning till evening for three successive

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days, I endeavored to correct what was
written in it.

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And I rejoiced over the constancy,
sincerity, docility, and intelligence of

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the brethren, as we considered in order
and with moderation the questions and the

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difficulties and the points of agreement.

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And we abstained from defending in every
manner and contentiously the opinions

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which we had once held, unless they
appeared to be correct.

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Nor did we evade objections, but we
endeavored as far as possible to hold to

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and confirm the things which lay before
us, and if the reason given satisfied us,

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we were not ashamed to change our opinions
and agree with others.

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But on the contrary, conscientiously and
sincerely, and with hearts laid open

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before God, we accepted whatever was
established by the proofs and teachings of

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the Holy Scriptures.

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And finally the author and mover of this
teaching, who was called Coration,

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in the hearing of all the brethren that
were present, acknowledged and testified

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to us that he would no longer hold this
opinion, nor discuss it, nor mention nor

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teach it, as he was fully convinced by the
arguments against it.

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And some of the other brethren expressed
their gratification at the conference and

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at the spirit of conciliation and harmony
which all had manifested.

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Chapter 25 THE APOCALYPSE OF JOHN
Afterward he speaks in this manner of the

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Apocalypse of John.

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Some before us have set aside and rejected
the book altogether, criticizing it

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chapter by chapter, and pronouncing it
without sense or argument, and maintaining

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that the title is fraudulent.

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For they say that it is not the work of
John, nor is it a revelation, because it

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is covered thickly and densely by a veil
of obscurity.

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And they affirm that none of the apostles,
and none of the saints, nor anyone in the

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church is its author, but that Serentis,
who founded the sect which was called

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after him the Serenthian, desiring
reputable authority for his fiction,

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prefixed the name.

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For the doctrine which he taught was this,
that the kingdom of Christ will be an

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earthly one, and as he was himself devoted
to the pleasures of the body and

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altogether sensual in his nature,
he dreamed that the kingdom would consist

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in those things which he desired,
namely, in the delights of the belly and

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of sexual passion, that is to say,
in eating and drinking and marrying,

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and in festivals and sacrifices and the
slaying of victims, under the guise of

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which he thought he could indulge his
appetites with a better grace.

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But I could not venture to reject the
book, as many brethren hold it in high

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esteem.

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But I suppose that it is beyond my
comprehension, and that there is a certain

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concealed and more wonderful meaning in
every part.

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For if I do not understand, I suspect that
a deeper sense lies beneath the words.

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I do not measure and judge them by my own
reason, but leaving the more to faith,

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I regard them as too high for me to grasp,
and I do not reject what I cannot

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comprehend, but rather wonder because I do
not understand it.

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After this, he examines the entire book of
Revelation, and having proved that it is

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impossible to understand it according to
the literal sense, proceeds as follows.

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Having finished all the prophecy,
so to speak, the prophet pronounces those

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blessed who shall observe it, and also
himself.

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For he says, Blessed is he that keepeth
the words of the prophecy of this book,

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and I John, who saw and heard these
things.

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Therefore that he was called John,
and that this book is the work of one

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John, I do not deny.

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And I agree also that it is the work of a
holy and inspired man.

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But I cannot readily admit that he was the
apostle, the son of Zebedee, the brother

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of James, by whom the gospel of John and
the Catholic epistle were written.

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For I judge from the character of both,
and the forms of expression, and the

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entire execution of the book, that it is
not his.

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For the evangelist nowhere gives his name,
or proclaims himself, either in the gospel

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or epistle.

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Farther on he adds, But John never speaks
as if referring to himself, or as if

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referring to another person.

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But the author of the Apocalypse
introduces himself at the very beginning,

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the revelation of Jesus Christ,
which he gave him to show unto his

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servants quickly, and he sent and
signified it by his angel unto his servant

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John, who bare witness of the word of God,
and of his testimony, even of all things

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that he saw.

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Then he writes also an epistle,
John to the seven churches which are in

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Asia, grace be with you, and peace.

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But the evangelist did not prefix his name
even to the Catholic epistle, but without

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introduction he begins with the mystery of
the divine revelation itself, that which

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was from the beginning, which we have
heard, which we have seen with our eyes.

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For because of such a revelation the Lord
also blessed Peter, saying, Blessed art

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thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood
hath not revealed it unto thee,

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but my heavenly Father.

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But neither in the reputed second or third
epistle of John, though they are very

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short, does the name John appear,
but there is written the anonymous phrase,

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The Elder.

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But this author did not consider it
sufficient to give his name once and to

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proceed with his work, but he takes it up
again, I, John, who also am your brother

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and companion in tribulation, and in the
kingdom and in the patience of Jesus

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Christ, was in the isle that is called
Patmos for the word of God and the

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testimony of Jesus.

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And toward the close he speaks thus,
Blessed is he that keepeth the words of

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the prophecy of this book, and I,
John, who saw and heard these things.

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But that he who wrote these things was
called John must be believed as he says

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it, but who he was does not appear,
for he did not say, as often in the

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gospel, that he was the beloved disciple
of the Lord, or the one who lay on his

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breast, or the brother of James,
or the eyewitness and hearer of the Lord.

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For he would have spoken of these things
if he had wished to show himself plainly,

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but he says none of them, but speaks of
himself as our brother and companion,

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and a witness of Jesus, and blessed
because he has seen and heard the

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revelations.

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But I am of the opinion that there were
many with the same name as the apostle

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John, who on account of their love for
him, and because they admired and emulated

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him, and desired to be loved by the Lord
as he was, took to themselves the same

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surname as many of the children of the
faithful are called Paul or Peter.

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For example, there is also another John,
surnamed Mark, mentioned in the Acts of

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the Apostles, whom Barnabas and Paul took
with them, of whom also it is said,

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and they had also John as their attendant.

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But that it is he who wrote this I would
not say, for it is not written that he

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went with them into Asia, but now when
Paul and his company set sail from Paphos,

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they came to Perga in Pamphylia,
and John, departing from them,

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returned to Jerusalem.

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But I think that he was some other one of
those in Asia, as they say that there are

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two monuments in Ephesus, each bearing the
name of John.

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And from the ideas, and from the words and
their arrangement, it may be reasonably

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conjectured that this one is different
from that one.

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For the gospel and epistle agree with each
other and begin in the same manner.

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The one says, In the beginning was the
word, and the other, that which was from

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the beginning.

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The one, And the word was made flesh and
dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory,

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the glory as of the only begotten of the
Father.

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The other says the same things,
slightly altered, Which we have heard,

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which we have seen with our eyes,
which we have looked upon, and our hands

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have handled of the word of life,
and the life was manifested.

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For he introduces these things at the
beginning, maintaining them, as is evident

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from what follows, in opposition to those
who said that the Lord had not come in the

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flesh.

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Wherefore also he carefully adds,
And we have seen and bear witness,

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and declare unto you the eternal life
which was with the Father and was

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manifested unto us.

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That which we have seen and heard declare
we unto you also.

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He holds to this and does not digress from
his subject, but discusses everything

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under the same heads and names,
some of which we will briefly mention.

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Anyone who examines carefully will find
the phrases, the life, the light,

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turning from darkness, frequently
occurring in both, also continually,

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truth, grace, joy, the flesh and blood of
the Lord, the judgment, the forgiveness of

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sins, the love of God toward us,
the commandment that we love one another,

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that we should keep all the commandments,
the conviction of the world of the devil

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of Antichrist, the promise of the Holy
Spirit, the adoption of God, the faith

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continually required of us, the Father and
the Son, occur everywhere.

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In fact, it is plainly to be seen that one
and the same character marks the gospel

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and the epistle throughout.

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But the Apocalypse is different from these
writings and foreign to them, not touching

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nor in the least bordering upon them,
almost, so to speak, without even a

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syllable in common with them.

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Nay, more, the epistle, for I pass by the
gospel, does not mention nor does it

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contain any intimation of the Apocalypse,
nor does the Apocalypse of the epistle.

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But Paul, in his epistles, gives some
indication of his revelations,

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though he has not written them out by
themselves.

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Moreover, it can also be shown that the
diction of the gospel and epistle differs

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from that of the Apocalypse.

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For they were written not only without
error as regards the Greek language,

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but also with elegance in their
expression, in their reasonings,

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and in their entire structure.

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They are far indeed from betraying any
barbarism or solacism or any vulgarism

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whatever, for the writer had, as it seems,
both the requisites of discourse,

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that is, the gift of knowledge and the
gift of expression, as the Lord has

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bestowed them both upon him.

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I do not deny that the other writer saw a
revelation and received knowledge and

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prophecy.

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I perceive, however, that his dialect and
language are not accurate Greek,

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but that he uses barbarous idioms,
and in some places, solacisms.

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It is unnecessary to point these out here,
for I would not have anyone think that I

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have said these things in a spirit of
ridicule, for I have said what I have only

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with the purpose of showing clearly the
difference between the writings.

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Chapter 26.

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The Epistles of Dionysius.

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Besides these, many other epistles of
Dionysius are extant, as those against

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Sabellius addressed to Ammon, bishop of
the church of Bernice, and one to

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Telesphorus, and one to Euphronor,
and another again to Ammon and Euporus.

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He wrote also four other books on the same
subject, which he addressed to his

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namesake Dionysius in Rome.

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Besides these, many of his epistles are
with us, and large books written in

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epistolary form, as those on nature,
addressed to the young man Timothy,

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and one on temptations, which he also
dedicated to Euphronor.

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Moreover, in a letter to Bacillides,
bishop of the parishes in Pentapolis,

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he says that he had written an exposition
of the beginning of Ecclesiastes,

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and he has left us also various letters
addressed to this same person,

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thus much Dionysius.

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But, our account of these matters being
now completed, permit us to show to

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posterity the character of our own age.

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Chapter 27, Paul of Samosata, and the
heresy introduced by him at Antioch.

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After Zistus had presided over the church
of Rome for eleven years, Dionysius,

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namesake of him of Alexandria,
succeeded him, about the same time

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Demetrianus died in Antioch, and Paul of
Samosata received that episcopate.

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As he held, contrary to the teaching of
the church, low and degraded views of

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Christ, namely that in his nature he was a
common man, Dionysius of Alexandria was

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entreated to come to the synod.

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But being unable to come on account of age
and physical weakness, he gave his opinion

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on the subject under consideration by
letter.

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But all the other pastors of the churches
from all directions made haste to assemble

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at Antioch, as against a despoiler of the
flock of Christ.

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Chapter 28, the illustrious bishops of
that time.

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Of these, the most eminent were
Firmilianus, bishop of Caesarea in

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Cappadocia, the brothers Gregory and
Athenodorus, pastors of the churches in

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Pontus, Helenus of the parish of Tarsus,
and Nicomus of Iconium, moreover Hymenaeus

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of the church of Jerusalem, and Theoteknus
of the neighboring church of Caesarea,

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and besides these Maximus, who presided in
a distinguished manner over the brethren

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in Bostra.

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If any should count them up, he could not
fail to note a great many others,

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besides presbyters and deacons,
who were at that time assembled for the

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same cause in the above-mentioned city.

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But these were the most illustrious.

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When all of these assembled at different
times and frequently to consider these

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matters, the arguments and questions were
discussed at every meeting, the adherents

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of the Samosatian endeavoring to cover and
conceal his heterodoxy, and the others

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striving zealously to lay bare and make
manifest his heresy and blasphemy against

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Christ.

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Meanwhile Dionysius died in the twelfth
year of the reign of Gallienus,

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having held the episcopate of Alexandria
for seventeen years, and Maximus succeeded

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him.

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Gallienus, after a reign of fifteen years,
was succeeded by Claudius, who in two

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years delivered the government to
Aurelian.

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29.

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Paul, having been refuted by Malchion,
a presbyter from the Sophists,

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was excommunicated.

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During his reign a final synod composed of
a great many bishops was held,

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and the leader of heresy in Antioch was
detected, and his false doctrine clearly

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shown before all, and he was
excommunicated from the Catholic Church

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under heaven.

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Malchion especially drew him out of his
hiding place and refuted him.

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He was a man learned in other respects and
principal of the Sophist school of Grecian

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learning in Antioch, yet on account of the
superior nobility of his faith in Christ

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he had been made a presbyter of that
parish.

18:59.820 --> 19:04.580
This man, having conducted a discussion
with him, which was taken down by

19:04.580 --> 19:10.120
stenographers and which we know is still
extant, was alone able to detect the man

19:10.120 --> 19:12.280
who dissembled and deceived the others.

19:13.980 --> 19:16.240
End of Book 7, Part 3.