CHURCH HISTORY by EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA Translated by Arthur Cushman McGiffert
Book 10, Part 2, Chapter 4, Paragraph 36 through Chapter 5.
This our new and excellent Zerubbabel, having heard the word which announced
beforehand that she who had been made a desert on account of God should enjoy
these things, after the bitter captivity and the abomination of desolation,
did not overlook the dead body, but first of all with prayers and
supplications propitiated the Father with the common consent of all of you,
and invoking the only one that giveth life to the dead as his ally and fellow worker,
raised her that was fallen, after purifying and freeing her from her ills.
And he clothed her not with the ancient garment, but with such an one as he had
again learned from the sacred oracles, which say clearly, and the latter glory of
this house shall be greater than the former.
Thus, enclosing a much larger space, he fortified the outer court with a wall
surrounding the whole, which should serve as a most secure bulwark for the entire
edifice.
And he raised and spread out a great and lofty vestibule toward the rays of the
rising sun, and furnished those standing far without the sacred enclosure a full
view of those within, almost turning the eyes of those who were strangers to the
faith to the entrances, so that no one could pass by without being impressed by
the memory of the former desolation and of the present incredible transformation.
His hope was that such an one being impressed by this might be attracted and
be induced to enter by the very sight.
But when one comes within the gates, he does not permit him to enter the
sanctuary immediately, with impure and unwashed feet, but leaving as large a
space as possible between the temple and the outer entrance, he has surrounded and
adorned it with four transverse cloisters, making a quadrangular space with pillars
rising on every side, which he has joined with latticework screens of wood,
rising to a suitable height, and he has left an open space in the middle,
so that the sky can be seen and the free air bright in the rays of the sun.
Here he has placed symbols of sacred purifications, setting up fountains
opposite the temple which furnish an abundance of water, wherewith those who
come within the sanctuary may purify themselves.
This is the first halting place of those who enter, and it furnishes at the same
time a beautiful and splendid scene to everyone, and to those who still need
elementary instruction, a fitting station.
But passing by this spectacle, he has made open entrances to the temple
with many other vestibules within, placing three doors on one side,
likewise facing the rays of the sun.
The one in the middle, adorned with plates of bronze, iron-bound and beautifully
embossed, he has made much higher and broader than the others, as if he were
making them guards for it as for a queen.
In the same way, arranging the number of vestibules for the corridors on each side
of the whole temple, he has made above them various openings into the building,
for the purpose of admitting more light, adorning them with very fine wood carving.
But the royal house he has furnished with more beautiful and splendid materials,
using unstinted liberality in his disbursements.
It seems to me superfluous to describe here in detail the length and breadth of
the building, its splendor and its majesty-surpassing description,
and the brilliant appearance of the work, its lofty pinnacles reaching to the
heavens, and the costly cedars of Lebanon above them, which the divine oracle has
not omitted to mention, saying, The trees of the Lord shall rejoice,
and the cedars of Lebanon which he hath planted.
Why need I now describe the skillful architectural arrangement and the
surpassing beauty of each part, when the testimony of the eye renders
instruction through the ear superfluous?
For when he had thus completed the temple, he provided it with lofty thrones in honor
of those who preside, and in addition with seats arranged in proper order throughout
the whole building, and finally placed in the middle the Holy of Holies,
the altar, and that it might be inaccessible to the multitude,
enclosed it with wooden latticework, accurately wrought with artistic carving,
presenting a wonderful sight to the beholders.
And not even the pavement was neglected by him, for this too he adorned with
beautiful marble of every variety.
Then finally he passed on to the parts without the temple, providing spacious
exedrae and buildings on each side, which were joined to the basilica,
and communicated with the entrances to the interior of the structure.
These were erected by our most peaceful Solomon, the maker of the temple of God,
for those who still needed purification and sprinkling by water and the Holy
Spirit, so that the prophecy quoted above is no longer a word merely, but a fact,
for now it has also come to pass that in truth the latter glory of this house is
greater than the former.
For it was necessary and fitting that as her shepherd and lord had once tasted
death for her, and after his suffering had changed that vile body which he assumed in
her behalf into a splendid and glorious body, leaving the very flesh which had
been delivered from corruption to incorruption, she too should enjoy the
dispensations of the Savior.
For having received from him the promise of much greater things than these,
she desires to share uninterruptedly throughout eternity with the choir of the
angels of light, in the far greater glory of regeneration, in the resurrection of an
incorruptible body, in the palace of God beyond the heavens, with Christ Jesus
himself, the universal benefactor and Savior.
But for the present, she that was formerly widowed and desolate is clothed by the
grace of God with these flowers, and is become truly like a lily,
as the prophecy says, and having received the bridal garment and the crown of
beauty, she is taught by Isaiah to dance, and to present her thank-offerings unto
God the King in reverent words.
Let us hear her saying, My soul shall rejoice in the Lord, for he hath clothed
me with a garment of salvation and with a robe of gladness.
He hath bedecked me like a bridegroom with a garland, and he hath adorned me like a
bride with jewels, and like the earth which bringeth forth her bud, and like a
garden which causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth, thus the Lord
God hath caused righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.
In these words she exalts, and in similar words the heavenly bridegroom,
the word Jesus Christ himself, answers her.
Hear the Lord saying, Fear not because thou hast been put to shame, neither be
thou confounded because thou hast been rebuked, for thou shalt forget the former
shame, and the reproach of thy widowhood shalt thou remember no more.
Not as a woman deserted and faint-hearted hath the Lord called thee, nor as a woman
hated from her youth, saith thy God.
For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercy will I have mercy
upon thee.
In a little wrath I hid my face from thee, but with everlasting mercy will I have
mercy upon thee, saith the Lord that hath redeemed thee.
Awake, awake, thou who hast drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury!
For thou hast drunk the cup of ruin, the vessel of my wrath, and hast drained
it, and there was none to console thee of all thy sons whom thou didst bring forth,
and there was none to take thee by the hand.
Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of ruin, the vessel of my fury,
and thou shalt no longer drink it, and I will put it into the hands of them
that have treated thee unjustly and have humbled thee.
Awake, awake, put on thy strength, put on thy glory, shake off the dust and
arise, sit thee down, loose the bands of thy neck, lift up thine eyes round about,
and behold thy children gathered together, behold they are gathered together and are
come to thee.
As I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt clothe thee with them all as with an
ornament, and gird thyself with them as with the ornaments of a bride.
For thy waste and corrupted and ruined places shall now be too narrow by reason
of those that inhabit thee, and they that swallow thee up shall be far from thee.
For thy sons whom thou hast lost shall say in thine ears, The place is too narrow for
me, give place to me that I may dwell.
Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these?
I am childless and a widow.
And who hath brought up these for me?
I was left alone, and these, where were they for me?
These are the things which Isaiah foretold, and which were anciently
recorded concerning us in sacred books, and it was necessary that we should
sometime learn their truthfulness by their fulfillment.
For when the bridegroom, the Word, addressed such language to his own bride,
the sacred and holy church, this bridesman, when she was desolate and lying
like a corpse, bereft of hope in the eyes of men, in accordance with the united
prayers of all of you, as was proper, stretched out your hands and aroused and
raised her up at the command of God, the universal King, and at the
manifestation of the power of Jesus Christ, and having raised her,
he established her as he had learned from the description given in the sacred
oracles.
This is, indeed, a very great wonder, passing all admiration, especially to
those who attend only to the outward appearance, but more wonderful than
wonders are the archetypes and their mental prototypes and divine models,
I mean the reproductions of the inspired and rational building in our souls.
This the divine Son Himself created after His own image, imparting to it everywhere
and in all respects the likeness of God, an incorruptible nature, incorporeal,
rational, free from all earthly matter, a being endowed with its own intelligence,
and when He had once called her forth from non-existence into existence, He made her
a holy spouse, an all-sacred temple for Himself and for the Father.
This also He clearly declares and confesses in the following words,
I will dwell in them and will walk in them, and I will be their God,
and they shall be My people.
Such is the perfect and purified soul, so made from the beginning as to bear the
image of the celestial Word.
But when by the envy and zeal of the malignant demon she became, of her own
voluntary choice, sensual and a lover of evil, the deity left her, and as if bereft
of a protector, she became an easy prey and readily accessible to those who had
long envied her, and being assailed by the batteries and machines of her invisible
enemies and spiritual foes, she suffered a terrible fall, so that not one stone of
virtue remained upon another in her, but she lay completely dead upon the
ground, entirely divested of her natural ideas of God.
But as she, who had been made in the image of God, thus lay prostrate, it was not
that wild boar from the forest which we see that despoiled her, but a certain
destroying demon and spiritual wild beasts who deceived her with their passions,
as with the fiery darts of their own wickedness, and burned the truly divine
sanctuary of God with fire, and profaned to the ground the tabernacle of His name,
then burying the miserable one with heaps of earth, they destroyed every hope of
deliverance.
But that divinely bright and saving word, her protector, after she had suffered the
merited punishment for her sins, again restored her, securing the favor of
the all-merciful Father.
Having won over first the souls of the highest rulers, he purified, through the
agency of those most divinely favored princes, the whole earth from all the
impious destroyers, and from the terrible and God-hating tyrants themselves.
Then bringing out into the light those who were his friends, who had long before been
consecrated to him for life, but in the midst, as it were, of a storm of evils,
had been concealed under his shelter, he honored them worthily with the great
gifts of the Spirit.
And again by means of them he cleared out and cleaned with spades and mattocks,
the admonitory words of doctrine, the souls which a little while before had
been covered with filth and burdened with every kind of matter and rubbish of
impious ordinances.
And when he had made the ground of all your minds clean and clear, he finally
committed it to this all-wise and God-beloved ruler, who, being endowed with
judgment and prudence, as well as with other gifts, and being able to examine and
discriminate accurately the minds of those committed to his charge, from the first
day, so to speak, down to the present, has not ceased to build.
Now he has supplied the brilliant gold, again the refined and unalloyed silver,
and the precious and costly stones in all of you, so that again is fulfilled for you
in facts a sacred and mystic prophecy, which says, Behold, I make thy stone a
carbuncle, and thy foundations of sapphire, and thy battlements of jasper,
and thy gates of crystals, and thy wall of chosen stones.
And all thy sons shall be taught of God, and thy children shall enjoy complete
peace, and in righteousness shalt thou be built.
Building therefore in righteousness, he divided the whole people according to
their strength.
With some he fortified only the outer enclosure, walling it up with unfeigned
faith.
Such were the great mass of the people who were incapable of bearing a greater
structure.
Others he permitted to enter the building, commanding them to stand at the door and
act as guides for those who should come in.
These may be not unfitly compared to the vestibules of the temple.
Others he supported by the first pillars which are placed without about the
quadrangular hall, initiating them into the first elements of the letter of the
four Gospels.
Still others he joined together about the basilica on both sides.
These are the catechumens who are still advancing and progressing, and are not far
separated from the inmost view of divine things granted to the faithful.
Taking from among these the pure souls that have been cleansed like gold by
divine washing, he then supports them by pillars, much better than those without,
made from the inner and mystic teachings of the scripture, and illumines them by
windows.
Adorning the whole temple with great vestibule of the glory of the one
universal King and only God, and placing on either side of the authority of the
Father Christ and the Holy Spirit as second lights, he exhibits abundantly and
gloriously throughout the entire building the clearness and splendor of the truth of
the rest in all its details.
And having selected from every quarter the living and moving and well-prepared stones
of the souls, he constructs out of them all the great and royal house,
splendid and full of light both within and without, for not only soul and
understanding, but their body also is made glorious by the blooming ornament of
purity and modesty.
And in this temple there are also thrones, and a great number of seats and benches,
in all those souls in which sit the Holy Spirit's gifts, such as were anciently
seen by the sacred apostles and those who were with them, when there appeared unto
them tongues parting asunder, like as of fire, and sat upon each one of them.
But in the leader of all it is reasonable to suppose that Christ himself dwells in
his fullness, and in those that occupy the second rank after him, in proportion as
each is able to contain the power of Christ and of the Holy Spirit.
And the souls of some of these, namely, who are committed to each of them
for instruction and care, may be seats for angels.
But the great and august and unique altar, what else could this be than the pure holy
of holies of the soul of the common priest of all?
Standing at the right of it, Jesus himself, the great high priest of the
universe, the only begotten of God, receives with bright eye and extended hand
the sweet incense from all, and the bloodless and immaterial sacrifices
offered in their prayers, and bears them to the heavenly Father and God of the
universe.
And he himself first worships him, and alone gives to the Father the
reverence which is his due, beseeching him also to continue always kind and
propitious to us all.
Such is the great temple which the great creator of the universe, the Word,
has built throughout the entire world, making it an intellectual image upon earth
of those things which lie above the vault of heaven, so that throughout the whole
creation, including rational beings on earth, his Father might be honored and
adored.
But the region above the heavens, with the models of earthly things which
are there, and the so-called Jerusalem above, and the heavenly mount of Zion,
and the supramundane city of the living God, in which innumerable choirs of angels
and the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven,
praise their maker and the supreme ruler of the universe with hymns of praise
unutterable and incomprehensible to us, who that is mortal is able worthily to
celebrate this?
For I hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of men
those things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
Since we, men, children, and women, small and great, are already in part
partakers of these things, let us not cease altogether, with one spirit and one
soul, to confess and praise the author of such great benefits to us, who forgiveth
all our iniquities, who healeth all our diseases, who redeemeth our life from
destruction, who crowneth us with mercy and compassion, who satisfieth our desires
with good things.
For he hath not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our
iniquities.
For as far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our iniquities from
us.
Like as a father pitieth his own children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.
Rekindling these thoughts in our memories, both now and during all time to come,
and contemplating in our mind night and day, in every hour and with every breath,
so to speak, the author and ruler of the present festival, and of this bright and
most splendid day, let us love and adore him with every power of the soul.
And now rising, let us beseech him with loud voice to shelter and preserve us to
the end in his fold, granting his unbroken and unshaken peace forever, in Christ
Jesus our Savior, through whom be the glory unto him forever and ever.
Amen.
Chapter 5.
Copies of Imperial Laws Let us finally subjoin the translations from the Roman
tongue of the imperial decrees of Constantine and Licinius.
Copy of Imperial Decrees Translated from the Roman Tongue Perceiving long ago that
religious liberty ought not to be denied, but that it ought to be granted to the
judgment and desire of each individual to perform his religious duties according to
his own choice, we had given orders that every man, Christians as well as others,
should preserve the faith of his own sect and religion.
But since in that rescript, in which such liberty was granted them, many and various
conditions seemed clearly added, some of them it may be, after a little
retired from such observance.
When I, Constantine Augustus, and I, Licinius Augustus, came under favorable
auspices to Milan, and took under consideration everything which pertained
to the common wheel and prosperity, we resolved among other things,
or rather first of all, to make such decrees as seemed in many respects for the
benefit of every one, namely, such as should preserve reverence and piety toward
the Deity.
We resolved, that is, to grant both to the Christians and to all men freedom to
follow the religion which they choose, that whatever heavenly divinity exists may
be propitious to us and to all that live under our government.
We have, therefore, determined, with sound and upright purpose,
that liberty is to be denied to no one to choose and to follow the religious
observances of the Christians, but that to each one freedom is to be
given to devote his mind to that religion which he may think adapted to himself,
in order that the Deity may exhibit to us in all things his accustomed care and
favor.
It was fitting that we should write that this is our pleasure, that those
conditions being entirely left out which were contained in our former letter
concerning the Christians, which was sent to your devotedness, everything that
seemed very severe and foreign to our mildness may be annulled, and that now
everyone who has the same desire to observe the religion of the Christians may
do so without molestation.
We have resolved to communicate this most fully to thy care, in order that thou
mayest know that we have granted to these same Christians freedom and full liberty
to observe their own religion.
Since this has been granted freely by us to them, thy devotedness perceives that
liberty is granted to others also who may wish to follow their own religious
observances, it being clearly in accordance with the tranquility of our
times, that each one should have the liberty of choosing and worshipping
whatever Deity he pleases.
This has been done by us in order that we might not seem in any way to discriminate
against any rank or religion.
And we decree still further in regard to the Christians that their places,
in which they were formerly accustomed to assemble, and concerning which in the
former letter sent to thy devotedness a different command was given, if it appear
that any have bought them either from our treasury or from any other person,
shall be restored to the said Christians, without demanding money or any other
equivalent, with no delay or hesitation.
If any happen to have received the said places as a gift, they shall restore them
as quickly as possible to these same Christians, with the understanding that if
those who have bought these places, or those who have received them as a gift,
demand anything from our bounty, they may go to the judge of the district,
that provision may be made for them by our clemency.
All these things are to be granted to the society of Christians by your care
immediately and without any delay.
And since the said Christians are known to have possessed not only those places in
which they were accustomed to assemble, but also other places, belonging not to
individuals among them, but to the society as a whole, that is, to the society of
Christians, you will command that all these, in virtue of the law which we have
above stated, be restored, without any hesitation, to these same Christians,
that is, to their society and congregation, the above-mentioned
provision being of course observed, that those who restore them without price,
as we have before said, may expect indemnification from our bounty.
In all these things, for the behoof of the aforesaid society of Christians,
you are to use the utmost diligence, to the end that our command may be
speedily fulfilled, and that in this also, by our clemency, provision may be made for
the common and public tranquility.
For by this means, as we have said before, the divine favor toward us which we have
already experienced in many matters, will continue sure through all time.
And that the terms of this our gracious ordinance may be known to all,
it is expected that this which we have written will be published everywhere by
you and brought to the knowledge of all, in order that this gracious ordinance of
ours may remain unknown to no one.
Copy of another imperial decree which they issued, indicating that the grant was made
to the Catholic Church alone.
Greeting to thee, our most esteemed Annulinus, it is the custom of our
benevolence, most esteemed Annulinus, to will that those things which belong of
right to another should not only be left unmolested, but should also be restored.
Wherefore it is our will that when thou receivest this letter, if any such things
belong to the Catholic Church of the Christians, in any city or other place,
but are now held by citizens or by any others, thou shalt cause them to be
restored immediately to the said churches.
For we have already determined that those things which these same churches formerly
possessed shall be restored to them.
Since therefore thy devotedness perceives that this command of ours is most
explicit, do thou make haste to restore to them as quickly as possible everything
which formerly belonged to the said churches, whether gardens or buildings or
whatever they may be, that we may learn that thou hast obeyed this decree of ours
most carefully.
Farewell, our most esteemed and beloved Annulinus.
Copy of an epistle in which the Emperor commands that a synod of bishops be held
at Rome in behalf of the unity and concord of the churches.
Constantine Augustus to Miltiades, Bishop of Rome, and to Marcus.
Since many such communications have been sent to me by Annulinus, the most
illustrious proconsul of Africa, in which it is said that Caecilianus,
Bishop of the City of Carthage, has been accused by some of his colleagues
in Africa in many matters, and since it seems to me a very serious thing that in
those provinces which divine providence has freely entrusted to my devotedness,
and in which there is a great population, the multitude are found following the
baser course and dividing, as it were, into two parties, and the bishops are at
variance, it has seemed good to me that Caecilianus himself, with ten of the
bishops that appear to accuse him, and with ten others whom he may consider
necessary for his defense, should sail to Rome, that there, in the presence of
yourselves and of Reticius and Maternus and Marinus, your colleagues, whom I have
commanded to hasten to Rome for this purpose, he may be heard, as you may
understand to be in accordance with the most holy law.
But, in order that you may be enabled to have most perfect knowledge of all these
things, I have subjoined to my letter copies of the documents sent to me by
Annulinus, and have sent them to your above-mentioned colleagues.
When your firmness has read these, you will consider in what way the
above-mentioned case may be most accurately investigated and justly
decided.
For it does not escape your diligence that I have such reverence for the legitimate
Catholic Church that I do not wish you to leave schism or division in any place.
May the divinity of the great God preserve you, most honored sirs, for many years.
Copy of an Epistle in which the Emperor commands another synod to be held for the
purpose of removing all dissensions among the bishops.
Constantine Augustus to Crestus, Bishop of Syracuse.
When some began wickedly and perversely to disagree among themselves in regard to the
holy worship and celestial power and Catholic doctrine, wishing to put an end
to such disputes among them, I formerly gave command that certain bishops should
be sent from Gaul, and that the opposing parties, who were contending persistently
and incessantly with each other, should be summoned from Africa,
that in their presence and in the presence of the Bishop of Rome, the matter which
appeared to be causing the disturbance might be examined and decided with all
care.
But since, as it happens, some, forgetful both of their own salvation and
of the reverence due to the most holy religion, do not even yet bring
hostilities to an end, and are unwilling to conform to the judgment already passed,
and assert that those who expressed their opinions and decisions were few,
or that they had been too hasty and precipitate in giving judgment,
before all the things which ought to have been accurately investigated had been
examined, on account of all this it has happened that those very ones who ought to
hold brotherly and harmonious relations toward each other, are shamefully,
or rather abominably, divided among themselves, and give occasion for ridicule
to those men whose souls are aliens to this most holy religion.
Wherefore it has seemed necessary to me to provide that this dissension, which ought
to have ceased after the judgment had been already given by their own voluntary
agreement, should now, if possible, be brought to an end by the presence of
many.
Since, therefore, we have commanded a number of bishops from a great many
different places to assemble in the city of Arles, before the calends of August,
we have thought proper to write to thee also that thou shouldst secure from the
most illustrious Latronianus, corrector of Sicily, a public vehicle, and that thou
shouldst take with thee two others of the second rank, whom thou thyself shalt
choose, together with three servants who may serve you on the way, and betake
thyself to the above-mentioned place before the appointed day, that by thy
firmness, and by the wise unanimity and harmony of the others present,
this dispute, which has disgracefully continued until the present time,
in consequence of certain shameful strifes, after all has been heard which
those have to say who are now at variance with one another, and whom we have
likewise commanded to be present, may be settled in accordance with the
proper faith, and that brotherly harmony, though it be but gradually, may be
restored.
May the Almighty God preserve thee in health for many years.
End of Book 10, Part 2