Demonstration of the Gospel 3.6.1–3.6.39

Eusebius of Caesarea · Demonstration of the Gospel · ca. 314–324 · Caesarea · 39 passages

Greek text: Dindorf, Eusebii Opera 3 (Greek text: W. Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 3 (Leipzig: Teubner, 1867), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: W. J. Ferrar, The Proof of the Gospel (1920).

preface 3, chapter 6

3.6.1Dindorf 3:188–189

Καὶ δὴ τούσδε πρῶτον ἀπάντων ἐρωτητέον τίνα φαῖεν πρὸς τὰ προωδευμένα; ἆρα γὰρ ἐπινοῆσαι δυνατὸν, ἄνδρα διδάσκαλον σεμνῆς καὶ παναρέτου πολιτείας, ὑγιῶν τε καὶ ἀληθῶν δογμάτων, οἵων προδιήλθομεν, γόητα τὸν τρόπον γεγονέναι,. εἰ δὲ δὴ μαγγανευτής τις ἦν καὶ φαρμακεὺς, ἀπατεών τε καὶ γόης, πῶς ἂν τοιαύτης διδασκαλίας πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσι κατέστη αἴτιος, οἵας αὐτοῖς ὁρῶμεν ὀφθαλμοῖς καὶ ἀκοαῖς εἰς δεῦρο παραλαμβάνομεν; ποῖος δὲ καὶ αἱρήσεται τὰ ἀσύνακτα συνάγειν; γόης μὲν γάρ τις ὡς ἀληθῶς ἀνόσιος καὶ μιαρὸς τὸν τρόπον, ἀπειρημένοις καὶ ἀνοσίοις ἐγχειρῶν, πάντα πράττει αἰσχροῦ καὶ ῥυπαροῦ κέρδους χάριν.

Kai dē tousde prōton apantōn erōtēteon tina phaien pros ta proōdeumena? ara gar epinoēsai dynaton, andra didaskalon semnēs kai panaretou politeias, hygiōn te kai alēthōn dogmatōn, hoiōn prodiēlthomen, goēta ton tropon gegonenai,. ei de dē manganeutēs tis ēn kai pharmakeus, apateōn te kai goēs, pōs an toiautēs didaskalias pasi tois ethnesi katestē aitios, hoias autois horōmen ophthalmois kai akoais eis deuro paralambanomen? poios de kai hairēsetai ta asynakta synagein? goēs men gar tis hōs alēthōs anosios kai miaros ton tropon, apeirēmenois kai anosiois encheirōn, panta prattei aischrou kai rhyparou kerdous charin.

First of all we must ask these what they would say to what has gone before. Is it possible to conceive that a man who was a teacher of a venerable and all-virtuous way of life, and of sound and true doctrines, such as we have described, was a sorcerer in character? And if he was a trickster and sorcerer, deceiver and charlatan, how would he have become the cause of such teaching for all the nations, as we see with our eyes and receive with our ears to this day? And who would choose to join things that cannot be joined? For a sorcerer, truly unholy and foul in character, attempting forbidden and unholy things, does everything for shameful and sordid gain.

Notes and citation

Summary: A teacher of such virtue cannot have been a sorcerer, since sorcerers act for base gain.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.1 (Dindorf 3:188–189; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf (Teubner, 1867); made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with W. J. Ferrar, The Proof of the Gospel (1920).

3.6.2Dindorf 3:189

μή τι οὖν καὶ ὁ σωτὴρ καὶ κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς, ὁ Χριστὸς τοῦ θεοῦ, τοιοῖσδέ τισιν ἔνοχος ἦν; πόθεν, ἢ πῶς, ὁ τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ μαθηταῖς, ὡς πρὸς αὐτῶν μεμαρτύρηται, εἰρηκὼς ‘μὴ κτήσησθε χρυσὸν μηδʼ ἄργυρον εἰς τὰς ζώνας ὑμῶν, μὴ πήραν εἰς ὁδὸν, μηδʼ ὑποδήματα;” δʼ ἂν ἐπείθοντο λέγοντι καὶ ἐν ἀπομνημονεύμασιν ἐγγράφοις ταῦτα παραδιδόναι ἠξίουν, εἰ χρηματιζόμενον τὸν διδάσκαλον ἑώρων καὶ τἀναντία οἷς ἑτέρους ἐδίδασκε μετιόντα;

mē ti oun kai ho sōtēr kai kyrios hēmōn Iēsous, ho Christos tou theou, toioisde tisin enochos ēn? pothen, ē pōs, ho tois heautou mathētais, hōs pros autōn memartyrētai, eirēkōs ‘mē ktēsēsthe chryson mēdʼ argyron eis tas zōnas hymōn, mē pēran eis hodon, mēdʼ hypodēmata?” dʼ an epeithonto legonti kai en apomnēmoneumasin engraphois tauta paradidonai ēxioun, ei chrēmatizomenon ton didaskalon heōrōn kai tanantia hois heterous edidaske metionta?

Was our Savior and Lord Jesus, the Christ of God, then guilty of any such things? How, or in what way, when he said to his own disciples, as they testify, “Acquire neither gold nor silver in your belts, nor a bag for the road, nor sandals”? [How] would they have obeyed him when he said this, and thought fit to hand it down in written memoirs, if they had seen their teacher making money and doing the opposite of what he taught others?

Matt 10:9–10 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Jesus taught poverty; his disciples would not have obeyed or recorded it had he sought money.

Matt 10:9–10. “How” is supplied; the digital text begins with a bare δʼ.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.2 (Dindorf 3:189; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.3Dindorf 3:189

πάλαι δʼ ἂν καταγελάσαντες αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν λόγων καταπτύσαντες ἀνεχώρησαν τῆς μαθητείας εἰκότως, εἰ αὐτοῖς μὲν τοιαῦτα σεμνῶς νομοθετοῦντα ἑώρων, αὐτὸν δὲ τὸν νομοθέτην κατʼ οὐδένα τρόπον ἑπόμενον τοῖς οἰκείοις λόγοις.

palai dʼ an katagelasantes autou kai tōn logōn kataptysantes anechōrēsan tēs mathēteias eikotōs, ei autois men toiauta semnōs nomothetounta heōrōn, auton de ton nomothetēn katʼ oudena tropon hepomenon tois oikeiois logois.

They would long ago have laughed at him, spat on his words, and rightly left his discipleship, if they had seen him solemnly legislating such things for them while the lawgiver himself in no way followed his own words.

Notes and citation

Summary: The disciples would have left a hypocritical teacher.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.3 (Dindorf 3:189; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.4Dindorf 3:189

πάλιν ὁ μὲν γόης καὶ ὡς ἀληθῶς πλάνος τοῖς ἀπειρημένοις καὶ τοῖς ἀνοσίοις ἑαυτὸν ἐπιδίδωσιν ἀνοσίων καὶ ἀθεμίτων ἡδονῶν ἕνεκεν θήρας, ὥστε ἤδη διὰ τὰς μαγγανείας γύναιά τινα καταβάλλειν καὶ ὑποσύρειν τῇ αὐτοῦ κακίᾳ· ὁ δὲ σωτὴρ καὶ κύριος ἡμῶν οὐδʼ ἔστιν εἰπεῖν ὅπως ἀνέστραπται περὶ σωφροσύνην, ὁπότε πάλιν οἶ μαθηταὶ μαρτυροῦσι παραινεῖν μηδʼ ἐμβλέπειν γυναικὶ μετʼ ἐπιθυμίας ἀκολάστου, φήσαντα ἐρρέθη τοῖς ἀρχαίοις, οὐ μοιχεύσεις· ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι πᾶς ὁ ἐμβλέπων γυναῖκα πρὸς τὸ ἐπιθυμῆσαι αὐτὴν ἤδη ἐμοίχευσεν αὐτὴν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὑτοῦ.”

palin ho men goēs kai hōs alēthōs planos tois apeirēmenois kai tois anosiois heauton epididōsin anosiōn kai athemitōn hēdonōn heneken thēras, hōste ēdē dia tas manganeias gynaia tina kataballein kai hyposyrein tę̄ autou kakią; ho de sōtēr kai kyrios hēmōn oudʼ estin eipein hopōs anestraptai peri sōphrosynēn, hopote palin oi mathētai martyrousi parainein mēdʼ emblepein gynaiki metʼ epithymias akolastou, phēsanta errethē tois archaiois, ou moicheuseis; egō de legō hymin hoti pas ho emblepōn gynaika pros to epithymēsai autēn ēdē emoicheusen autēn en tę̄ kardią hautou.”

Again, the sorcerer and true deceiver gives himself to forbidden and unholy things in pursuit of unholy and unlawful pleasures, so as by his tricks to overcome certain women and drag them into his wickedness. But of our Savior and Lord one cannot even say how highly he regarded self-control, since again his disciples testify that he urged not even looking at a woman with licentious desire, saying: “It was said to the ancients, You shall not commit adultery; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman to desire her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

Matt 5:27–28 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Unlike sorcerers who seduce women, Jesus forbade even lustful looking.

Matt 5:27–28.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.4 (Dindorf 3:189; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.5Dindorf 3:189–190

καί ποτε ἀναγκαίως ἐπὶ ὠφελείᾳ καὶ σωτηρίᾳ πολλῶν Σαμαρείτιδι γυναικὶ διαλεγόμενον αὐτὸν τεθεαμένοι ἐθαύμαζον, ὅτι μετὰ γυναικὸς ἐλάλει, καὶ ἄλλοτε πρότερον. συνίστη δὲ ἄρα ὁ λόγος τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν τὸ ἐμβριθὲς καὶ αὐστηρὸν τοῦ τρόπου· σωφροσύνης δὲ αὐτοῦ μέγα δεῖγμα ἦν κἀκείνη ἡ διδασκαλία, διʼ ἧς ἁγνεύειν ἐξ αὐτοῦ τοῦ τῆς διανοίας βάθους τὰς ἐμπαθεῖς ὀρέξεις ἀποτέμνοντας ἐδίδασκε λέγων “εἰσὶν εὐνοῦχοι οἵτινες ἐγεννήθησαν οὕτως, καὶ εἰσὶν εὐνοῦχοι οἵτινες εὐνουχίσθησαν ὑπὸ ἀνθρώπων, καὶ εἰσὶν εὐνοῦχοι οἵτινες εὐνούχισαν ἐαυ- τοὺς διὰ τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν.

kai pote anankaiōs epi ōpheleią kai sōtērią pollōn Samareitidi gynaiki dialegomenon auton tetheamenoi ethaumazon, hoti meta gynaikos elalei, kai allote proteron. synistē de ara ho logos tou sōtēros hēmōn to embrithes kai austēron tou tropou; sōphrosynēs de autou mega deigma ēn kakeinē hē didaskalia, diʼ hēs hagneuein ex autou tou tēs dianoias bathous tas empatheis orexeis apotemnontas edidaske legōn “eisin eunouchoi hoitines egennēthēsan houtōs, kai eisin eunouchoi hoitines eunouchisthēsan hypo anthrōpōn, kai eisin eunouchoi hoitines eunouchisan eau- tous dia tēn basileian tōn ouranōn.

And once, when they saw him speaking of necessity with a Samaritan woman for the benefit and salvation of many, they marveled that he was talking with a woman, and at another time before. The account of our Savior shows the gravity and austerity of his character; and a great proof of his self-control was that teaching too by which he taught people to be pure, cutting off passionate desires from the very depth of the mind, saying: “There are eunuchs who were born so, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.”

John 4:27 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 19:12 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Jesus’ austere conduct and his teaching on eunuchs for the kingdom show his chastity.

John 4:27; Matt 19:12. Eusebius takes the saying as teaching inward purity, “cutting off passionate desires”; translated as written.

Topics: Ethics, Marriage

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.5 (Dindorf 3:189–190; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.6Dindorf 3:190

πάλιν ὁ μὲν γόης καὶ ἀληθῶς λαοπλάνος πάντα ἐγχειρεῖ καὶ πράττει δοξοκοπῶν τὰ πολλὰ καὶ φαντασιοκοπῶν, καὶ πλέον τι παρὰ τοὺς πολλοὺς εἰδέναι καὶ ἔχειν μεγαλαυχούμενος· ὁ δὲ σωτὴρ καὶ κύριος ἡμῶν, ὅτι μὴ δοξομανὴς καὶ ἀλαζὼν καὶ φαντασιοκόπος ἦν, ἀφʼ ὧν ἰώμενος παρῄνει μηδενὶ φράζειν μηδὲ εἰς πολλοὺς αὐτὸν ἐκφαίνειν, γένοιτʼ ἂν ἔκδηλος ἀπό τε τοῦ τὰς ἐν ὄρεσι διατριβὰς καὶ τὰς ἀναχωρήσεις διώκειν καὶ φεύγειν τὰς κατὰ πόλεις τῶν πολλῶν ἐπιβλαβεῖς ὁμιλίας.

palin ho men goēs kai alēthōs laoplanos panta encheirei kai prattei doxokopōn ta polla kai phantasiokopōn, kai pleon ti para tous pollous eidenai kai echein megalauchoumenos; ho de sōtēr kai kyrios hēmōn, hoti mē doxomanēs kai alazōn kai phantasiokopos ēn, aphʼ hōn iōmenos parę̄nei mēdeni phrazein mēde eis pollous auton ekphainein, genoitʼ an ekdēlos apo te tou tas en oresi diatribas kai tas anachōrēseis diōkein kai pheugein tas kata poleis tōn pollōn epiblabeis homilias.

Again, the sorcerer and true deceiver of the people attempts and does everything to court reputation and to make a show, boasting that he knows and has more than the many. But that our Savior and Lord was not mad for glory, boastful, or showy would be evident from the fact that when he healed he urged them to tell no one nor to make him known to many, and from his pursuing stays on mountains and retreats and fleeing the harmful company of the many in the cities.

Mark 1:44 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 5:16 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Jesus shunned fame, told the healed to keep silent, and withdrew to lonely places.

Mark 1:44; Luke 5:16.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (stray mark in the digital text): ἀ·ληθῶς → ἀληθῶς.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.6 (Dindorf 3:190; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.7Dindorf 3:190

εἰ μήτε τοιγαροῦν δόξης μήτε χρημάτων μήτε ἡδονῆς ἕνεκεν ἐπιβέβλητο τῇ διδασκαλίᾳ, τίς ἔτι χώρα περιλείπεται ὑπονοίας τοῦ πλάνον αὐτὸν καὶ γόητα νομίζειν; σκέψαι δὲ καὶ ταῦτα πάλιν· γόης, ὅταν ἑτέροις τὰ τῆς κακίας μεταδιδῶ, ὁποίους ἄνδρας κατασκευάζει· ἆρʼ οὐχὶ γόητας καὶ πλάνους καὶ φαρμακέας αὐτῷ κατὰ πάντα παραπλησίους; τίς οὖν ἤδη πώποτε τὸ πᾶν Χριστιανῶν γένος ἐκ τῆς ἐκείνου διδασκαλίας γοητεῦον ἢ φαρμακεῦον κατείληφεν;

ei mēte toigaroun doxēs mēte chrēmatōn mēte hēdonēs heneken epibeblēto tę̄ didaskalią, tis eti chōra perileipetai hyponoias tou planon auton kai goēta nomizein? skepsai de kai tauta palin; goēs, hotan heterois ta tēs kakias metadidō, hopoious andras kataskeuazei; arʼ ouchi goētas kai planous kai pharmakeas autǭ kata panta paraplēsious? tis oun ēdē pōpote to pan Christianōn genos ek tēs ekeinou didaskalias goēteuon ē pharmakeuon kateilēphen?

If, then, he undertook his teaching neither for glory nor for money nor for pleasure, what room is left for the suspicion that he was a deceiver and sorcerer? And consider this again: a sorcerer, when he imparts his wickedness to others, what kind of men does he make? Are they not sorcerers, deceivers, and poisoners like himself in everything? Who, then, has ever found the whole race of Christians practicing sorcery or poisoning from his teaching?

Notes and citation

Summary: Jesus sought neither glory, money, nor pleasure, and his followers practice no sorcery.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.7 (Dindorf 3:190; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.8Dindorf 3:190–191

ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἔστιν εἰπεῖν, ἔμπαλιν δὲ λόγους φιλοσόφους μετιὸν, ὡς ἀποδέδεικται. ὁ δὴ οὖν ἑτέροις σεμνοῦ καὶ σώφρονος βίου εὐσεβείας τε τῆς ἀνωτάτω παραίτιος γεγενημένος τίς ἂν ἐνδίκως νομι- σθείη ἢ φιλοσόφων ὁ πρώτιστος καὶ εὐσεβῶν ἀνδρῶν διδάσκαλος; καὶ γὰρ ἂν εἴη βελτίων δή που πᾶς ὁ διδάσκων τῶν μαθητευομένων ’ φιλόσοφος ἄρα καὶ ἀληθῶς εὐσεβὴς, πολλοῦ δεῖ πλάνος καὶ γόης, ὁμο- λογοῖτ ἂν ὁ σωτὴρ καὶ κύριος ἡμῶν.

allʼ ouk estin eipein, empalin de logous philosophous metion, hōs apodedeiktai. ho dē oun heterois semnou kai sōphronos biou eusebeias te tēs anōtatō paraitios gegenēmenos tis an endikōs nomi- stheiē ē philosophōn ho prōtistos kai eusebōn andrōn didaskalos? kai gar an eiē beltiōn dē pou pas ho didaskōn tōn mathēteuomenōn ’ philosophos ara kai alēthōs eusebēs, pollou dei planos kai goēs, homo- logoit an ho sōtēr kai kyrios hēmōn.

That cannot be said; on the contrary, they pursue philosophical words, as has been shown. The one, then, who has become the cause for others of a venerable and self-controlled life and of the highest piety, who could justly be considered anything but the first of philosophers and the teacher of pious men? For every teacher is surely better than those he teaches; so our Savior and Lord would be acknowledged a philosopher and truly pious, far from a deceiver and sorcerer.

Notes and citation

Summary: Since his followers live philosophically, Jesus must be the foremost philosopher.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.8 (Dindorf 3:190–191; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.9Dindorf 3:191

εἰ δὴ οὖν τοιόσδε τις ἦν, πῶς ἂν ἄλλως ἐπεχείρει ταῖς θαυμα- τουργίαις ἢ θείᾳ καὶ ἀπορρήτῳ δυνάμει καὶ τῇ ἀνω- τατῶ περὶ τοῦ τῶν ὅλων θεοῦ εὐσεβείᾳ ^ ὃν οἶα πα- τέρα τιμῶν καὶ σέβων τὰ μάλιστα ἀποδείκνυται ἐκ τῶν περὶ αὐτοῦ λόγων; ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον δὲ ἄρα οἴ τε ἀρχῆθεν αὐτῷ προσεσχηκότες μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ οἱ μετὰ ταῦτα τῆς ἐκείνων διατριβῆς διάδοχοι, πορρωτάτω καθεστήκεσαν φαύλης καὶ πονηρὰς ὑπονοίας, ὡς μηδὲ τοῖς νοσηλευομένοις ἐπʼ ἴτʼ ῥʼ ἐπʼ ἑ ἱν, ^ οἷα πολλοὶ πολλὰ δρᾶν ἐπιχειροῦσιν ^ ἢ πετάλων ἐπιγραφαῖς καὶ περιάμμασι χρῆσθαι ^ ἢ τοῖς κατεπᾴδειν ἐπαγγελλο- μένοις προσέχειν τὸν νοῦν, ἢ ῥιζῶν καὶ βοτανῶν θυ- μιάμασι καί τισιν ἄλλοις τοιουτοτρόποις ἀκέσεις τῶν παθῶν ἑαυτοῖς πορίζειν.

ei dē oun toiosde tis ēn, pōs an allōs epecheirei tais thauma- tourgiais ē theią kai aporrētǭ dynamei kai tę̄ anō- tatō peri tou tōn holōn theou eusebeią ^ hon oia pa- tera timōn kai sebōn ta malista apodeiknytai ek tōn peri autou logōn? epi tosouton de ara oi te archēthen autǭ proseschēkotes mathētai autou kai hoi meta tauta tēs ekeinōn diatribēs diadochoi, porrōtatō kathestēkesan phaulēs kai ponēras hyponoias, hōs mēde tois nosēleuomenois epʼ itʼ rhʼ epʼ he hin, ^ hoia polloi polla dran epicheirousin ^ ē petalōn epigraphais kai periammasi chrēsthai ^ ē tois katepądein epangello- menois prosechein ton noun, ē rhizōn kai botanōn thy- miamasi kai tisin allois toioutotropois akeseis tōn pathōn heautois porizein.

If, then, he was such, how else would he have undertaken his miracles but by a divine and secret power and the highest piety toward the God of all, whom he is shown, from his words about him, to have honored and revered above all as Father? And so far did his disciples who followed him from the beginning, and their successors afterward, stand from base and wicked suspicion, that they do not even, for the sick, [use incantations,] as many try to do many things, or use inscriptions on metal leaves and amulets, or attend to those who profess to charm with spells, or provide themselves with remedies for their afflictions by fumigations of roots and herbs and other such means.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Notes and citation

Summary: Jesus worked by divine power and reverence for the Father; his followers reject amulets, spells, and magic cures.

The words ἐπʼ ἴτʼ ῥʼ ἐπʼ ἑ ἱν are corrupt in the digital text; “use incantations” is supplied by sense and is uncertain.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (syllables repeated across a line break in the digital text): πορρω- πορρωτάτω → πορρωτάτω.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.9 (Dindorf 3:191; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.10Dindorf 3:191

ταῦτα γοῦν πάντα τῆς Χριστοῦ διδασκαλίας ἐξελήλαται ^ οὐδʼ ἔστιν πώποτε Χριστιανὸν περιάμματι χρώμενον θεάσασθαι, οὐδʼ ἐπιλαλιαῖς, ἢ πετάλων τινῶν περιέργων ἐπιγραφαῖς, οὐδʼ ἄλλοις, ὧν τὴν χρῆσιν ἀδιάφορον οἱ πολλοὶ νε- νομίκασι.

tauta goun panta tēs Christou didaskalias exelēlatai ^ oudʼ estin pōpote Christianon periammati chrōmenon theasasthai, oudʼ epilaliais, ē petalōn tinōn periergōn epigraphais, oudʼ allois, hōn tēn chrēsin adiaphoron hoi polloi ne- nomikasi.

All these things, at any rate, have been driven out of Christ’s teaching; nor can one ever see a Christian using an amulet, or charms, or inscriptions on curious metal leaves, or other things whose use the many have considered indifferent.

Notes and citation

Summary: Christians do not use amulets or charms.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.10 (Dindorf 3:191; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.11Dindorf 3:191

τίς οὑν αἱρεῖ λόγος τοὺς τοιοῦδε διδα- σκάλου γόητος καὶ πλάνου μαθητὰς γεγονέναι νομίζειν; καὶ μὴν παντὸς ἐπαγγελλομένου τι μέγας ἔλεγχος ἡ τῶν φοιτητῶν συνουσία.

tis houn hairei logos tous toioude dida- skalou goētos kai planou mathētas gegonenai nomizein? kai mēn pantos epangellomenou ti megas elenchos hē tōn phoitētōn synousia.

What reason, then, compels us to think that they were disciples of such a sorcerer and deceiver as teacher? Indeed, for anyone who professes something, the company of his pupils is a great proof.

Notes and citation

Summary: A teacher is judged by his pupils.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (syllables repeated across a line break in the digital text; words joined and letter misread in the digital text): τοιοῦδεδιδα- σγ̣άλου → τοιοῦδε διδα- σκάλου; νομί- νομίζειν → νομίζειν.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.11 (Dindorf 3:191; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-11). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.12Dindorf 3:191–192

ἄνδρες γοῦν ἔντεχνοι καὶ ἐπιστήμονες πάντως που τὸν αἴτιον αὐτοῖς τῆς ἐπιστήμης πολὺ κρείττονα σφῶν αὐτῶν ἀποφαίνου- σιν, ὥσπερ οὖν ἰατρικοὶ μὲν τῆς τοῦ διδασκάλου περὶ τὸ μάθημα κατορθώσεως εἶεν ἂν μάρτυρες, γεωμε- τρικοὶ δὲ τὸν ἄρχοντα τίνα ἄλλον ἢ γεωμέτρην ἐπιγράψονται καὶ ἀριθμητικοὶ τὸν ἀριθμητικόν; κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ δὲ καὶ γόητος ἀνδρὸς μέγιστοι ἂν εἶεν μάρτυρες οἱ φοιτηταὶ, τὰ ὅμοιά που τῷ διδασκάλῳ καὶ αὐτοὶ μετιόντες.

andres goun entechnoi kai epistēmones pantōs pou ton aition autois tēs epistēmēs poly kreittona sphōn autōn apophainou- sin, hōsper oun iatrikoi men tēs tou didaskalou peri to mathēma katorthōseōs eien an martyres, geōme- trikoi de ton archonta tina allon ē geōmetrēn epigrapsontai kai arithmētikoi ton arithmētikon? kata ta auta de kai goētos andros megistoi an eien martyres hoi phoitētai, ta homoia pou tǭ didaskalǭ kai autoi metiontes.

Skilled and knowledgeable men, at any rate, surely show the one who caused their knowledge to be far superior to themselves; so medical men would be witnesses to their teacher’s success in the subject; and whom else would geometers inscribe as their master but a geometer, and arithmeticians an arithmetician? In the same way the pupils of a sorcerer would be the greatest witnesses to him, practicing things like their teacher.

Notes and citation

Summary: As pupils reflect their teacher’s art, a sorcerer’s pupils would be sorcerers.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR ο for ω): σφόν αὐτῶν → σφῶν αὐτῶν.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.12 (Dindorf 3:191–192; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-12). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.13Dindorf 3:192

ἀλλὰ οὐδείς πω τοσούτων ἐτῶν γόης πέφανται τοῦ Ἰησοῦ μαθητὴς, καίτοι διὰ βασάνων πείρας τῶν κατὰ χρόνους ἡγεμόνων τε καὶ βασιλέων ἀκριβῆ τῶν καθʼ ἡμᾶς πραγμάτων τὴν ἐξέτασιν πεποιημένων.

alla oudeis pō tosoutōn etōn goēs pephantai tou Iēsou mathētēs, kaitoi dia basanōn peiras tōn kata chronous hēgemonōn te kai basileōn akribē tōn kathʼ hēmas pragmatōn tēn exetasin pepoiēmenōn.

But in so many years no disciple of Jesus has ever appeared as a sorcerer, although the governors and kings of each age have made an exact examination of our affairs through the test of tortures.

Notes and citation

Summary: No Christian has been found a sorcerer, even under torture.

Topics: Persecution

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.13 (Dindorf 3:192; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-13). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.14Dindorf 3:192

οὕτως δὲ ἄρα οὐδεὶς ἣν γόης, ὡς ἐλεύθερον ἀφεῖσθαι καὶ παντὸς ἐκτὸς κινδύνου τὸν αὐτὸ μόνον τὸ θῦσαι πρὸς αὐτῶν βεβιασμένον. εἰ δὲ οὐδεὶς πώποτε τῶν καθʼ ἡμᾶς οὔτε τῶν παλαιῶν ἐκείνων τοῦ Ἰησοῦ μαθητῶν γοητείας ἥλω, οὐδὲ ὁ διδάσκαλος ἦν ἄρα τοιοῦτος. ἵνα δὲ μὴ ἐξ ἀγράφων ὁ λόγος ἡμῖν ὁδεύοι, δέχου τὰς ἀποδείξεις καὶ ἀπὸ ἱστορίας ἐγγράφου.

houtōs de ara oudeis hēn goēs, hōs eleutheron apheisthai kai pantos ektos kindynou ton auto monon to thysai pros autōn bebiasmenon. ei de oudeis pōpote tōn kathʼ hēmas oute tōn palaiōn ekeinōn tou Iēsou mathētōn goēteias hēlō, oude ho didaskalos ēn ara toioutos. hina de mē ex agraphōn ho logos hēmin hodeuoi, dechou tas apodeixeis kai apo historias engraphou.

So far was anyone from being a sorcerer that the one compelled by them merely to sacrifice was let go free and out of all danger. And if none of our own time, nor of those ancient disciples of Jesus, was ever convicted of sorcery, neither was the teacher such. And so that our argument may not proceed from unwritten sources, receive the proofs from written history too.

Notes and citation

Summary: Christians were released once they sacrificed, proving no charge of sorcery existed.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR ε for ι): ἔνα δὲ μὴ ἐξ ἀγράφων → ἵνα δὲ μὴ ἐξ ἀγράφων.

Topics: Persecution

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.14 (Dindorf 3:192; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-14). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.15Dindorf 3:192

οἱ δὴ πρῶτοι τοῦ Ἰησοῦ μαθηταὶ ἐν τῇ βίβλῳ τῶν ἰδίων Πραξέων ἱστοροῦνται τοὺς ἐξ ἐθνῶν τῇ διδασκαλίᾳ αὐτῶν προσιόντας** ὥστε πολλοὺς τῶν πρότερον περὶ γοητείαν διαβεβλημένων εἰς τοσοῦτον μεταβαλεῖν τὸν ἑαυτῶν τρόπον ὡς εἰς μέσον ἀγαγεῖν τολμῆσαι τὰς ἀπηγορευμένας βίβλους, καὶ ταύτας ἐνώπιον πάντων πυρὶ παραδοῦναι.

hoi dē prōtoi tou Iēsou mathētai en tę̄ biblǭ tōn idiōn Praxeōn historountai tous ex ethnōn tę̄ didaskalią autōn prosiontas** hōste pollous tōn proteron peri goēteian diabeblēmenōn eis tosouton metabalein ton heautōn tropon hōs eis meson agagein tolmēsai tas apēgoreumenas biblous, kai tautas enōpion pantōn pyri paradounai.

The first disciples of Jesus, in the book of their own Acts, are recorded [to have so changed] those who came to their teaching from the nations that many who had formerly been accused of sorcery changed their character so much as to dare to bring into the open their forbidden books and hand them over to the fire before all.

Acts 19:18–19 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Acts records that former sorcerers burned their magic books.

Acts 19:18–19. A verb has dropped out of the digital text (marked **); “to have so changed” is supplied.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (two words joined in the digital text): διδασκαλίᾳαὐτῶν → διδασκαλίᾳ αὐτῶν.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.15 (Dindorf 3:192; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-15). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.16Dindorf 3:192

ἐπάκουσον δὲ ὅπως ἡ γραφὴ περιέχει ἱκανοὶ δὲ τῶν τὰ περίεργα πραξάντων συνεισενέγκαντες τὰς βίβλους κατέκαιον ἐνώπιον πάντων, καὶ συνεψήφισαν τὰς τιμὰς αὐτῶν, καὶ εὗρον ἀργυρίου μυριάδας πέντε.”

epakouson de hopōs hē graphē periechei hikanoi de tōn ta perierga praxantōn syneisenenkantes tas biblous katekaion enōpion pantōn, kai synepsēphisan tas timas autōn, kai heuron argyriou myriadas pente.”

Hear how the scripture has it: “And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them before all; and they counted up their value and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.”

Acts 19:19 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Acts 19:19 on the burning of magic books.

Acts 19:19.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.16 (Dindorf 3:192; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-16). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.17Dindorf 3:192–193

Τοιοῦτοι δή τινες οἱ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν μαθη- ταὶ τοσαύτην δύναμιν προφέροντες λόγων ἐν ταῖς πρὸς τοὺς ἀκροωμένους ὁμιλίαις, ὡς καθικνεῖσθαι τοῦ βάθους τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτῶν, καθάπτεσθαί τε καὶ τιτρώσκειν τὸ ἑκάστου συνειδὸς, ὡς μηκέτι στέγειν ἀποκρύπτοντας, εἰς φανερὸν δὲ ἄγειν τὰ ἀπόρρητα, ἐλέγχους τε αὐτοὺς ἑαυτῶν καὶ τῆς προτέρας αὐτῶν μοχθηρίας ἀπεργάζεσθαι.

Toioutoi dē tines hoi tou sōtēros hēmōn mathē- tai tosautēn dynamin propherontes logōn en tais pros tous akroōmenous homiliais, hōs kathikneisthai tou bathous tēs psychēs autōn, kathaptesthai te kai titrōskein to hekastou syneidos, hōs mēketi stegein apokryptontas, eis phaneron de agein ta aporrēta, elenchous te autous heautōn kai tēs proteras autōn mochthērias apergazesthai.

Such were our Savior’s disciples, bringing such power of words to their discourses to their hearers as to reach the depth of their soul, to take hold of and wound each one’s conscience, so that they no longer kept things hidden but brought their secrets into the open and became accusers of themselves and of their former wickedness.

Notes and citation

Summary: The apostles’ preaching moved hearers to confess their secret sins.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.17 (Dindorf 3:192–193; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-17). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.18Dindorf 3:193

τοιοῦτοι δὲ καὶ οἶ πρὸς αὐτῶν μαθητευόμενοι καθαροὶ καὶ γνήσιοι τὰς διαθέσεις, ὡς μηδὲν ὕπουλον ἐν αὐτοῖς λανθάνειν, ἐνσεμνύνεσθαι δὲ καὶ παρρησιάζεσθαι ἐπὶ τῇ τῶν κρειττόνων ἀπὸ τῶν χειρόνων μεταβολῇ.

toioutoi de kai oi pros autōn mathēteuomenoi katharoi kai gnēsioi tas diatheseis, hōs mēden hypoulon en autois lanthanein, ensemnynesthai de kai parrēsiazesthai epi tę̄ tōn kreittonōn apo tōn cheironōn metabolę̄.

And such too were those taught by them, pure and sincere in disposition, so that nothing treacherous lay hidden in them, but they took pride and spoke boldly about their change from worse to better.

Notes and citation

Summary: Their converts were sincere and open about their conversion.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.18 (Dindorf 3:193; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-18). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.19Dindorf 3:193

οἱ δὴ οὖν πυρὶ παραδόντες τὰς μαγικὰς βίβλους καὶ παντελῆ φθορὰν αὐτῶν ψηφισάμενοι πῶς οὐκ ἂν εἶεν πρόδηλοι τοῖς πᾶσιν ὅτι μηδεμίαν ἔχοιεν τοῦ λοιποῦ περὶ γοητείαν σπουδὴν, καθαροὶ δὲ ἐξ ἐκείνου πάσης τῆς περὶ τούτου ὑπονοίας ἐτύγχανον; ὅτε τοίνυν οἶ μαθηταὶ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν πεφήνασι γεγονότες τοιοῦτοι, πῶς οὐ πολὺ πρότερον ὁ διδάσκαλος;

hoi dē oun pyri paradontes tas magikas biblous kai pantelē phthoran autōn psēphisamenoi pōs ouk an eien prodēloi tois pasin hoti mēdemian echoien tou loipou peri goēteian spoudēn, katharoi de ex ekeinou pasēs tēs peri toutou hyponoias etynchanon? hote toinyn oi mathētai tou sōtēros hēmōn pephēnasi gegonotes toioutoi, pōs ou poly proteron ho didaskalos?

Those, then, who handed over their magic books to the fire and voted their complete destruction, how would they not be plain to all as having no further interest in sorcery, and as free from then on of all suspicion of it? Since, then, our Savior’s disciples have appeared to have been such, how much more their teacher?

Notes and citation

Summary: Converts who burned magic books cannot be suspected of sorcery, much less their teacher.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.19 (Dindorf 3:193; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-19). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.20Dindorf 3:193

εἰ δὲ ὅλως ἀπὸ τῶν γνωρίμων τὸν προστάτην ὁποῖός τις ἦν βούλει διαγιγνώσκειν, ἔχεις τοῦ Ἰησοῦ τῶν λόγων μαθητὰς εἰσέτι νῦν μυρίους, ὧν πλεῖστα μὲν ἀνδρῶν τυγχάνει πλήθη παραταξαμένων μὲν πρὸς τὰς φυσικὰς τοῦ σώματος ἡδονὰς, ἄτρωτον δὲ καὶ τὴν διάνοιαν παντὸς αἰσχροῦ πάθους φυλαξάντων, οἱ καὶ τὸν πάντα βίον ἐν ἐγκρατείᾳ καταγηράσαντες τῆς ἐκ τῶν λόγων αὐτοῦ τροφῆς λαμπρὰ τεκμήρια παρεστήσαντο.

ei de holōs apo tōn gnōrimōn ton prostatēn hopoios tis ēn boulei diagignōskein, echeis tou Iēsou tōn logōn mathētas eiseti nyn myrious, hōn pleista men andrōn tynchanei plēthē parataxamenōn men pros tas physikas tou sōmatos hēdonas, atrōton de kai tēn dianoian pantos aischrou pathous phylaxantōn, hoi kai ton panta bion en enkrateią katagērasantes tēs ek tōn logōn autou trophēs lampra tekmēria parestēsanto.

And if you wish to judge from his followers altogether what sort of man their leader was, you have still now countless disciples of Jesus’ words, among whom are very great multitudes of men who have fought against the natural pleasures of the body and kept their mind unwounded by every shameful passion, who, growing old their whole life in continence, have presented brilliant proofs of the nourishment they received from his words.

Notes and citation

Summary: Countless disciples who live lifelong continence testify to Jesus’ teaching.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.20 (Dindorf 3:193; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-20). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.21Dindorf 3:193–194

οὐ μόνον δὲ ἄνδρες παρὰ αὐτῷ τοῦτον φιλοσοφοῦσι τὸν τρόπον, ἀλλὰ καὶ γυναικῶν οὐδʼ ἔστιν εἰπεῖν ὅσαι μυριάδες καθʼ ὅλης τῆς οἰκουμένης, οἷά τινες ἱέρειαι τοῦ τῶν ὅλων θεοῦ, τὴν ἀνωτάτω σοφίαν ἀσπασάμεναι, οὐρανίου τε σοφίας ἔρωτι ληφθεῖσαι, τῶν μὲν σαρκὸς ἐκγόνων ἠλόγησαν, ψυχῆς δὲ πᾶσαν ἐπιμέλειαν πεποιηκυῖαι ὅλας αὑτὰς αὐτῷ σώματι καὶ ψυχῇ τῷ παμβασιλεῖ καὶ θεῷ τῶν ὅλων ἀνατεθείκασιν, ἁγνείαν παντελῆ καὶ παρθενίαν ἀσκήσασαι.

ou monon de andres para autǭ touton philosophousi ton tropon, alla kai gynaikōn oudʼ estin eipein hosai myriades kathʼ holēs tēs oikoumenēs, hoia tines hiereiai tou tōn holōn theou, tēn anōtatō sophian aspasamenai, ouraniou te sophias erōti lēphtheisai, tōn men sarkos ekgonōn ēlogēsan, psychēs de pasan epimeleian pepoiēkuiai holas hautas autǭ sōmati kai psychę̄ tǭ pambasilei kai theǭ tōn holōn anatetheikasin, hagneian pantelē kai parthenian askēsasai.

And not only men follow this philosophy with him, but one cannot say how many tens of thousands of women throughout the whole world, like priestesses of the God of all, have embraced the highest wisdom and, seized by love of heavenly wisdom, have disregarded offspring of the flesh, and, devoting all their care to the soul, have consecrated themselves wholly, body and soul, to the King and God of all, practicing complete purity and virginity.

Notes and citation

Summary: Countless women worldwide live consecrated virginity for God.

Topics: Ethics, Marriage

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.21 (Dindorf 3:193–194; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-21). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.22Dindorf 3:194

ἕνα μὲν οὖν μηλόβοτον καταλιπόντα τὴν ἑαυτοῦ χώραν προφάσει φιλοσοφίας ἄγουσιν ὧδε κἀ- κεῖσε περιφέροντες Ἑλλήνων παῖδες· Δημόκριτος αὐτοῖς οὗτος ἢν. καὶ Κράτης εἷς παρʼ αὐτοῖς θαυμάζεται, ὅτι δὴ τὴν οὐσίαν καταλιπὼν τοῖς πολίταις αὐτὸς ἑαυτὸν Κράτης Κράτητα ἠλευθέρου κομπάζων.

hena men oun mēloboton kataliponta tēn heautou chōran prophasei philosophias agousin hōde ka- keise peripherontes Hellēnōn paides; Dēmokritos autois houtos ēn. kai Kratēs heis parʼ autois thaumazetai, hoti dē tēn ousian katalipōn tois politais autos heauton Kratēs Kratēta ēleutherou kompazōn.

The children of the Greeks carry about, here and there, one man who left his own country to be grazed by sheep on the pretext of philosophy: this was their Democritus. And one Crates is admired among them, because he left his property to his fellow citizens and boasted, “Crates sets Crates free.”

Notes and citation

Summary: The Greeks praise isolated examples like Democritus and Crates.

The stories of Democritus leaving his land as sheep pasture and of Crates the Cynic giving away his property (“Crates sets Crates free”) are told in Diogenes Laertius 9.36, 6.87 and elsewhere; no controlled-list entry for Crates or Diogenes Laertius.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR ε for ἑ): ἔνα μὲν οὖν μηλόβοτον → ἕνα μὲν οὖν μηλόβοτον.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.22 (Dindorf 3:194; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-22). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.23Dindorf 3:194

οἱ δὲ τῶν Ἰησοῦ λόγων ζηλωταὶ μυρίοι τὸν ἀριθμὸν, ἀλλʼ οὐχ εἷς οὐδὲ δύο, τὰς κτήσεις ἀπεμπολήσαντες πένησι καὶ ἐνδεέσι μεταδεδώκασιν, ὧν καὶ αὐτοὶ τυγχάνομεν μάρτυρες συγγενόμενοι τοιούτοις, καὶ αὐτοῖς ἔργοις, ἀλλʼ οὐ λόγοις μόνοις τῆς τοῦ Ἰησοῦ μαθητείας συνιδόντες τὰ κατορθώματα.

hoi de tōn Iēsou logōn zēlōtai myrioi ton arithmon, allʼ ouch heis oude dyo, tas ktēseis apempolēsantes penēsi kai endeesi metadedōkasin, hōn kai autoi tynchanomen martyres syngenomenoi toioutois, kai autois ergois, allʼ ou logois monois tēs tou Iēsou mathēteias synidontes ta katorthōmata.

But the zealous followers of the words of Jesus, numbering tens of thousands and not one or two, have sold their possessions and shared them with the poor and needy. We ourselves are witnesses of this, having been in the company of such people and having seen with our own eyes the achievements of the discipleship of Jesus in deeds themselves, and not in words only.

Matt 19:21 (echo, medium confidence) · Acts 2:45 (echo, low confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Countless followers of Jesus, not just one or two, have sold their goods for the poor, as Eusebius has seen himself.

Compare Matt 19:21 and Acts 2:45, which the practice described echoes.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.23 (Dindorf 3:194; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-23). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.24Dindorf 3:194

τί χρὴ λέγειν ὁπόσαι μυριάδες καὶ αὐτῶν βαρβάρων, οὐχὶ δὲ μόνον Ἑλλήνων, ἐκ τῶν Ἰησοῦ λόγων πᾶσαν μὲν ὑπερεκκῦψαι πολύθεον πλάνην, τὸν δὲ πατέρα καὶ δημιουργὸν τοῦδε τοῦ παντὸς μόνον εἰδέναι θεὸν ἐμαρτύρησαν; ὃν πάλαι φιλοσόφων εἷς μόνος ὁ Πλάτων εἰδὼς εἰς πάντας ἐκφέρειν ὡμολόγει μὴ τολμᾶν, διαρρήδην φάσκων ‟τὸν μὲν οὖν πατέρα καὶ δημιουργὸν τοῦδε τοῦ παντὸς εὑρεῖν τε ἔργον καὶ εὑρόντα εἰς πάντας ἀδύνατον λέγειν.

ti chrē legein hoposai myriades kai autōn barbarōn, ouchi de monon Hellēnōn, ek tōn Iēsou logōn pasan men hyperekkypsai polytheon planēn, ton de patera kai dēmiourgon toude tou pantos monon eidenai theon emartyrēsan? hon palai philosophōn heis monos ho Platōn eidōs eis pantas ekpherein hōmologei mē tolman, diarrēdēn phaskōn ‟ton men oun patera kai dēmiourgon toude tou pantos heurein te ergon kai heuronta eis pantas adynaton legein.

What need is there to say how many tens of thousands, even of barbarians themselves and not of Greeks only, have through the words of Jesus risen above all the error of many gods and have borne witness that they know as God only the Father and Maker of this universe? Of old, Plato alone among the philosophers knew him, yet confessed that he did not dare to publish this to everyone, saying expressly: “To find the Father and Maker of this universe is a hard task, and having found him, it is impossible to declare him to all.”

Notes and citation

Summary: Through Jesus multitudes, Greek and barbarian, know the one Creator whom Plato said could not be declared to all.

The quotation is Plato, Timaeus 28c.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR accent slip (τοὐ for τοῦ)): τοῦδε τοὐ παντὸς → τοῦδε τοῦ παντὸς.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Tim. 28c (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.24 (Dindorf 3:194; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-24). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.25Dindorf 3:194–195

ἀλλὰ ἐκείνῳ μὲν καὶ ἔργον εὑρεῖν ἐδόκει τὸ πρᾶγμα, καὶ ἦν ὡς ἀληθῶς μέγιστον, ἀδύνατον δὲ ἦν αὐτῷ λέγειν εἰς πάντας, ὅτι μὴ παρῆν αὐτῷ τοσαύτη τις εὐσεβείας δύναμις ὅση τοῖς Ἰησοῦ μαθηταῖς, οἷς διὰ τῆς τοῦ διδασκάλου συνεργίας τὸν πατέρα καὶ δημιουργὸν τῶν ὅλων εὑρεῖν τε καὶ γνῶναι ῥᾴδιον γέγονε, καὶ εὑροῦσιν εἰς πᾶν γένος ἀνθρώπων ἐξενεγκεῖν ἀνακαλύψαι τε καὶ πληρῶσαι καὶ κηρῦξαι τὴν γνῶσιν πᾶσιν, ὥστε ἐκ τῆς αὐτόν ἐκείνων διδασκαλίας εἰσέτι νῦν κατὰ τὸν παρόντα καιρὸν ἐν ὅλοις τοῖς ἐπὶ γῆς ἔθνεσι μυρία πλήθη οὐ μόνον ἀνδρῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ γυναικῶν καὶ παίδων, οἰκετῶν τε καὶ ἀγροίκων, τοσοῦτον τῷ τοῦ Πλάτωνος μὴ πείθεσθαι, ὡς τὸν ποιητὴν καὶ δημιουργὸν τοῦδε τοῦ παντὸς μόνον θεὸν γνωρίζειν καὶ μόνον σέβειν καὶ μόνον διὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ θεολογεῖν. ταῦτʼ ἦν τοῦ νέου καὶ καινοῦ γόητος τὰ κατορθώματα, τοιαῦτα τοῦ νομιζομένου πλάνου τὰ γοητεύματα, καὶ τοιοίδε οἱ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ μαθηταὶ, ἀφʼ ὧν δεῖ τὸν διδάσκαλον ὁποῖός τις ἦν γνωρίζειν.

alla ekeinǭ men kai ergon heurein edokei to pragma, kai ēn hōs alēthōs megiston, adynaton de ēn autǭ legein eis pantas, hoti mē parēn autǭ tosautē tis eusebeias dynamis hosē tois Iēsou mathētais, hois dia tēs tou didaskalou synergias ton patera kai dēmiourgon tōn holōn heurein te kai gnōnai rhądion gegone, kai heurousin eis pan genos anthrōpōn exenenkein anakalypsai te kai plērōsai kai kēryxai tēn gnōsin pasin, hōste ek tēs auton ekeinōn didaskalias eiseti nyn kata ton paronta kairon en holois tois epi gēs ethnesi myria plēthē ou monon andrōn, alla kai gynaikōn kai paidōn, oiketōn te kai agroikōn, tosouton tǭ tou Platōnos mē peithesthai, hōs ton poiētēn kai dēmiourgon toude tou pantos monon theon gnōrizein kai monon sebein kai monon dia tou Christou theologein. tautʼ ēn tou neou kai kainou goētos ta katorthōmata, toiauta tou nomizomenou planou ta goēteumata, kai toioide hoi tou Iēsou mathētai, aphʼ hōn dei ton didaskalon hopoios tis ēn gnōrizein.

To him the matter seemed a hard task to find, and so it truly was, a very great one; and it was impossible for him to declare it to all, because he did not possess such power of piety as the disciples of Jesus had. For them, through the cooperation of their Teacher, it became easy to find and to know the Father and Maker of all things, and, having found him, to carry the knowledge out to every race of mankind, to reveal it, fill the world with it, and proclaim it to all. So, from their teaching, even now at the present time, in all the nations on earth countless multitudes, not only of men but also of women and children, of household slaves and country folk, so far disbelieve Plato as to know the Maker and Creator of this universe as the only God, to worship him alone, and to confess God through Christ alone. These were the achievements of the “new and novel sorcerer”; such were the “sorceries” of the one supposed to be a deceiver; and such were the disciples of Jesus, from whom one must recognize what sort of teacher he was.

Notes and citation

Summary: What Plato thought impossible, Jesus' disciples accomplished, so that multitudes of every class now know and worship the one Creator.

“Of them” (ἐκ τῆς αὐτόν ἐκείνων διδασκαλίας): the digital text has αὐτόν, probably a slip for αὐτῶν; translated by sense. “Sorcerer” and “deceiver” are the opponents’ charges, quoted ironically.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR accent slip; joined words): ἀνακαλύψαι τεκαὶ πληρῶσαι → ἀνακαλύψαι τε καὶ πληρῶσαι; ἀφʼ ὣν δεῖ → ἀφʼ ὧν δεῖ; ὁποῖός τις ἣν γνωρίζειν → ὁποῖός τις ἦν γνωρίζειν.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.25 (Dindorf 3:194–195; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-25). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.26Dindorf 3:195

Φέρε δʼ ἔτι καὶ ταύτῃ τὸν λόγον διερευνησώμεθα. γόητα φὴς αὐτὸν, ὦ οὗτος, ἀλλὰ καὶ φαρμακέα δεινὸν καὶ ἀπατεῶνα καλεῖς. ἀρʼ οὖν πρῶτος αὐτὸς καὶ μόνος εὑρετὴς κατέστη τοῦ πράγματος, ἢ πάντως που κατὰ τὸ ἀκόλουθον εἰς διδασκάλους ἀνα- πέμπειν χρὴ τὰ αἴτια; εἰ μὲν γὰρ μηδενὸς διδάξαντος αὐτὸς πρῶτος καὶ μόνος εὑρετὴς γέγονε τῆς ἐπιχειρήσεως, μηδὲν μηδαμῶς παρʼ ἑτέρων μαθὼν, μηδὲ ἐκ παλαιῶν ἐρανισάμενος, πῶς οὐ θείας φύσεως χρῆν ὁμολογεῖν αὐτὸν, ὃς ἂν ἄνευ βίβλων καὶ λόγων καὶ διδασκάλων αὐτοδίδακτος καὶ αὐτομαθὴς τοιούτων πραγμάτων εὑρετὴς ἀναπέφηνεν; καὶ μὴν οὔτε βαναύσου τέχνης οὔτε λογικῆς ἐπιστήμης, οὐδέ γε τῶν πρώτων στοιχείων τὴν μάθησιν δίχα ποδηγοῦ καὶ διδασκάλου τινὸς ἀναλαβεῖν δυνατὸν, μὴ οὐχὶ τὴν κοινὴν ἐκβεβηκότα φύσιν.

Phere dʼ eti kai tautę̄ ton logon diereunēsōmetha. goēta phēs auton, ō houtos, alla kai pharmakea deinon kai apateōna kaleis. arʼ oun prōtos autos kai monos heuretēs katestē tou pragmatos, ē pantōs pou kata to akolouthon eis didaskalous ana- pempein chrē ta aitia? ei men gar mēdenos didaxantos autos prōtos kai monos heuretēs gegone tēs epicheirēseōs, mēden mēdamōs parʼ heterōn mathōn, mēde ek palaiōn eranisamenos, pōs ou theias physeōs chrēn homologein auton, hos an aneu biblōn kai logōn kai didaskalōn autodidaktos kai automathēs toioutōn pragmatōn heuretēs anapephēnen? kai mēn oute banausou technēs oute logikēs epistēmēs, oude ge tōn prōtōn stoicheiōn tēn mathēsin dicha podēgou kai didaskalou tinos analabein dynaton, mē ouchi tēn koinēn ekbebēkota physin.

Come, let us examine the argument in this way too. You call him a sorcerer, sir, and you name him a clever poisoner and a deceiver. Was he, then, himself the first and only inventor of the practice, or must the cause by all means, as follows logically, be traced back to teachers? If with no one teaching him he became the first and only inventor of the undertaking, learning nothing at all from others and borrowing nothing from the ancients, how must one not confess him to be of a divine nature, since without books, discourses, or teachers, self-taught and self-instructed, he appeared as the discoverer of such things? For it is impossible to take up the learning even of a manual craft or a rational science, or indeed of the first letters of the alphabet, without a guide and teacher, unless one has gone beyond common nature.

Notes and citation

Summary: If Jesus invented his wonders with no teacher, he must be divine, since no one learns even the alphabet without a teacher.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR accent slip): ἣ πάντως που → ἢ πάντως που.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.26 (Dindorf 3:195; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-26). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.27Dindorf 3:195–196

οὐδεὶς γοῦν τῶν πώποτε αὐτοδίδακτος ἡμῖν γραμματικῆς παρῆλθε διδάσκαλος, οὐδέ γε ῥήτωρ μὴ μεμαθηκὼς, οὐδὲ αὐτοφυὴς ἰατρὸς, οὐδὲ τέκτων, οὐδʼ ἑτέρας δημιουργὸς τέχνης· καίτοι μικρὰ ταῦτα καὶ ἀνθρώπεια· τὸ δὲ φάναι τὸν τῆς ἀνθρώπων εὐσεβείας ἀληθοῦς διδάσκαλον τοιαῦτα τεθαυματουργηκότα καθʼ ὃν ἐπεδήμει τῷ βίῳ χρόνον, καὶ τοιαύτας παραδόξους τερα- τείας πεποιηκότα, ἃς ἀρτίως διεξήλθομεν, ἐκ τοῦ αὐτομάτου τοιοῦτον φῦναι, μήτε παρὰ παλαιῶν ἐρανισάμενον μήτʼ ἐκ νέων διδασκάλων ὠφελημένον τὰ ὅμοια καὶ πρὸ αὐτοῦ πεποιηκότων, τί ἄλλο ἢ μαρτυρούντων ἐστὶ καὶ ὁμολογούντων θεῖον ἀληθῶς χρῆμα γεγονέναι, καὶ πᾶσαν ἀνθρώπου φύσιν ὑπερβεβηκέναι τὸν δηλούμενον;

oudeis goun tōn pōpote autodidaktos hēmin grammatikēs parēlthe didaskalos, oude ge rhētōr mē memathēkōs, oude autophyēs iatros, oude tektōn, oudʼ heteras dēmiourgos technēs; kaitoi mikra tauta kai anthrōpeia; to de phanai ton tēs anthrōpōn eusebeias alēthous didaskalon toiauta tethaumatourgēkota kathʼ hon epedēmei tǭ biǭ chronon, kai toiautas paradoxous tera- teias pepoiēkota, has artiōs diexēlthomen, ek tou automatou toiouton phynai, mēte para palaiōn eranisamenon mētʼ ek neōn didaskalōn ōphelēmenon ta homoia kai pro autou pepoiēkotōn, ti allo ē martyrountōn esti kai homologountōn theion alēthōs chrēma gegonenai, kai pasan anthrōpou physin hyperbebēkenai ton dēloumenon?

At any rate, no one ever came before us as a self-taught teacher of grammar, nor a rhetorician who had not learned, nor a physician by nature, nor a carpenter, nor a craftsman of any other art; and yet these are small and human things. But to say that the teacher of true piety to mankind, who performed such wonders during the time he dwelt in this life and worked such astonishing marvels as we have just recounted, sprang up such as he was of himself, neither borrowing from the ancients nor helped by recent teachers who had done similar things before him, what else is this but the testimony and confession of people who admit that the one in question was truly a divine being and surpassed all human nature?

Notes and citation

Summary: No craft is self-taught; to claim Jesus' wonders were self-taught is to confess him divine.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.27 (Dindorf 3:195–196; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-27). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.28Dindorf 3:196

ἀλλὰ διδασκάλοις αὐτὸν φὴς προσεσχηκέναι πλάνοις, μηδὲ λαθεῖν αὐτὸν τὰ σοφὰ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων καὶ τῶν πάλαι παρʼ αὐτοῖς λεγομένων τὰ ἀπόρρητα, παρʼ ὧν συλλεξάμενον ἄνδρα τοι- οῦτον, οἶον ὁ λόγος παρίστησιν, ἀποδειχθῆναι. τί δῆτα οὖν, ἤ τινες ἄλλοι κρείττους αὐτοῦ πεφήνασι καὶ πρότεροι τῷ χρόνῳ καὶ αὐτοῦ διδάσκαλοι, εἴτʼ ἐπʼ Αἰγύπτου εἴθʼ ὅπη δή;

alla didaskalois auton phēs proseschēkenai planois, mēde lathein auton ta sopha tōn Aigyptiōn kai tōn palai parʼ autois legomenōn ta aporrēta, parʼ hōn syllexamenon andra toi- outon, oion ho logos paristēsin, apodeichthēnai. ti dēta oun, ē tines alloi kreittous autou pephēnasi kai proteroi tǭ chronǭ kai autou didaskaloi, eitʼ epʼ Aigyptou eithʼ hopē dē?

But you say that he attended deceiving teachers, and that the wisdom of the Egyptians and the secret lore of those long reputed among them did not escape him, and that, having gathered from them, he was shown to be such a man as the account presents. What then? Have any others appeared, greater than he, earlier in time, and his teachers, whether in Egypt or anywhere else?

Notes and citation

Summary: Eusebius answers the charge that Jesus learned magic from Egyptian teachers by asking where these greater teachers are.

The charge that Jesus learned magic in Egypt is known from Celsus (in Origen, Cels. 1.28) and Jewish polemic.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR accent slip; stray parenthesis): πλάνοις), → πλάνοις,; παρʼ ὦν συλλεξάμενον → παρʼ ὧν συλλεξάμενον.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.28 (Dindorf 3:196; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-28). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.29Dindorf 3:196

τί οὖν οὐχὶ κἀκείνων πρὸ τῆς τούτου κατηγορίας ἔφθασεν εἰς πάντας ἀνθρώπους ἡ φήμη, ἢ τί μὴ οὐχὶ κἀκείνων εἰσέτι νῦν τὸ κλέος ᾄδεται τῷ ἡμετέρῳ παραπλησίως; τίς δὲ τῶν ἀπʼ αἰῶνος πώποτε γόης, βάρβαρος ἢ Ἕλλην, τοιούτων κατέστη διδάσκαλος φοιτητῶν καὶ τοιού- τῶν νόμων καὶ λόγων αὐθέντης, οἵων ἡ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἐπιδέδεικται δύναμις, ἰάσεις δὲ τοσάσδε καὶ παραδόξους εὐεργεσίας τοιάσδε, οἵας ὁ ἡμέτερος πεποιηκὼς μνημονεύεται, τίς πώποτε διαπραξάμενος ἱστορεῖται;

ti oun ouchi kakeinōn pro tēs toutou katēgorias ephthasen eis pantas anthrōpous hē phēmē, ē ti mē ouchi kakeinōn eiseti nyn to kleos ądetai tǭ hēmeterǭ paraplēsiōs? tis de tōn apʼ aiōnos pōpote goēs, barbaros ē Hellēn, toioutōn katestē didaskalos phoitētōn kai toiou- tōn nomōn kai logōn authentēs, hoiōn hē tou sōtēros hēmōn epidedeiktai dynamis, iaseis de tosasde kai paradoxous euergesias toiasde, hoias ho hēmeteros pepoiēkōs mnēmoneuetai, tis pōpote diapraxamenos historeitai?

Why, then, did not their fame too reach all mankind before the accusation against him, or why is their renown not still sung even now as our Savior’s is? Which sorcerer from the beginning of time, barbarian or Greek, ever became the teacher of such pupils and the author of such laws and doctrines as the power of our Savior has displayed? And who is ever recorded as having performed so many healings and such astonishing benefits as our Savior is remembered to have done?

Notes and citation

Summary: No sorcerer ever had such disciples, laws, or healings as Jesus.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.29 (Dindorf 3:196; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-29). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.30Dindorf 3:196

τίνος δὲ οἱ γνώριμοι καὶ τῶν πραγμάτων αὐτόπται διὰ πυρὸς καὶ σιδήρου δοκιμῆς τὴν ὑπὲρ ὧν ἐμαρτύρησαν ἀλήθειαν ἐπιστώσαντο ὥσπερ οὖν οἱ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν μαθηταὶ, πάσας μὲν αἰκίας ἀνατλάντες, πάσας δὲ βασάνων ἰδέας ὑπομείναντες, καὶ τέλος διὰ τοῦ ἰδίου αἵματος τὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ μαρτυρηθέντα αὑτοῖς πιστωσάμενοι;

tinos de hoi gnōrimoi kai tōn pragmatōn autoptai dia pyros kai sidērou dokimēs tēn hyper hōn emartyrēsan alētheian epistōsanto hōsper oun hoi tou sōtēros hēmōn mathētai, pasas men aikias anatlantes, pasas de basanōn ideas hypomeinantes, kai telos dia tou idiou haimatos ta peri autou martyrēthenta hautois pistōsamenoi?

Whose followers and eyewitnesses of the events confirmed, by the test of fire and sword, the truth of what they testified, as the disciples of our Savior did, who endured every outrage, bore every kind of torture, and finally confirmed with their own blood the things they had testified about him?

Notes and citation

Summary: No other teacher's eyewitnesses sealed their testimony with torture and death as Jesus' disciples did.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR breathing slip): τίνος δὲ οἶ γνώριμοι → τίνος δὲ οἱ γνώριμοι.

Topics: Martyrdom

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.30 (Dindorf 3:196; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-30). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.31Dindorf 3:196–197

ἔτι πρὸς τούτοις ὁ τῷ διʼ ἐναντίας ἡμῖν λόγῳ παριστάμενος λεγέτω τίς τῶν πώποτε γοήτων κἂν εἰς νοῦν ἐβάλλετο νέου ἔθνους ἐπὶ οἰκείῳ ὀνόματι σύστασιν ποιήσασθαι. τὸ δὲ μὴ μόνον ἐννοῆσαι τοῦτο, ἀλλὰ καὶ κατορθῶσαι τὸ βουληθὲν, πῶς οὐ πᾶσαν ἀνθρώπου καλύπτοι ἂν φύσιν; βασιλέων δὲ δόγμασι καὶ παλαιῶν νομοθετῶν φιλοσόφων τε καὶ ποιητῶν καὶ θεολόγων ἐξ ἐναντίας θέσθαι νόμους τοὺς κατʼ εἰδωλολατρίας, καὶ τούτους κρατῦναι, ἀμάχους τε καὶ ἀηττήτους εἰς μακρὸν ἐπιδεῖξαι αἰῶνα, τίς πώποτε γοήτων διανενόηται; ὁ δὲ σωτὴρ καὶ κύριος ἡμῶν οὐκ ἐνενόησε μὲν, οὐ τετόλμηκε δὲ ἐπιχειρῆσαι· ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ ἐπεχείρησε μὲν, οὐ κατώρθωσε δέ.

eti pros toutois ho tǭ diʼ enantias hēmin logǭ paristamenos legetō tis tōn pōpote goētōn kan eis noun eballeto neou ethnous epi oikeiǭ onomati systasin poiēsasthai. to de mē monon ennoēsai touto, alla kai katorthōsai to boulēthen, pōs ou pasan anthrōpou kalyptoi an physin? basileōn de dogmasi kai palaiōn nomothetōn philosophōn te kai poiētōn kai theologōn ex enantias thesthai nomous tous katʼ eidōlolatrias, kai toutous kratynai, amachous te kai aēttētous eis makron epideixai aiōna, tis pōpote goētōn dianenoētai? ho de sōtēr kai kyrios hēmōn ouk enenoēse men, ou tetolmēke de epicheirēsai; allʼ oude epecheirēse men, ou katōrthōse de.

Further, let the one who stands on the side of the argument opposed to us say which sorcerer ever so much as conceived the idea of founding a new nation under his own name. And not only to conceive this but to accomplish what he intended: how would that not surpass all human nature? And to lay down laws against idolatry in opposition to the decrees of kings and of ancient lawgivers, philosophers, poets, and theologians, to make these laws prevail, and to show them unconquerable and undefeated for a long age: what sorcerer ever thought of this? But our Savior and Lord did not conceive it and then fail to dare to attempt it; nor did he attempt it and then fail to achieve it.

Notes and citation

Summary: No sorcerer ever founded a new nation under his name or established laws against idolatry that prevailed, as Jesus did.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.31 (Dindorf 3:196–197; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-31). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.32Dindorf 3:197

ἐνὶ δὲ ῥήματι καὶ μιᾷ φωνῇ φήσας πρὸς τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ μαθητὰς “πορευθέντες μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί μου, διδάσκοντες αὐτοὺς τηρεῖν πάντα ὅσα ἐνετειλάμην ὑμῖν, ” ἔργον ἐπῆγε τῷ λόγῳ, αὐτίκα τε ἐμαθητεύετο ἐν ὀλίγῳ πᾶν γένος Ἑλλήνων ὁμοῦ καὶ βαρβάρων, καὶ νόμοι πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσι κατεσπείροντο ἐναντίοι τῇ τῶν παλαιῶν δεισιδαιμονίᾳ, νόμοι δαιμόνων πολέμιοι καὶ πάσης ἐχθροὶ πολυθέου πλάνης, νόμοι Σκυθῶν καὶ Περσῶν καὶ τῶν ἄλλων βαρβάρων σωφρονισταὶ, ἐπιστρεπτικοί τε πάσης ἐκθέσμου καὶ θηριώδους διαίτης, νόμοι τῶν ἐξ αἰῶνος παρʼ αὐτοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἐθῶν ἀνα- τρεπτικοὶ, καινῆς δὲ καὶ ἀληθοῦς εὐσεβείας καταγγελτικοί.

eni de rhēmati kai mią phōnę̄ phēsas pros tous heautou mathētas “poreuthentes mathēteusate panta ta ethnē en tǭ onomati mou, didaskontes autous tērein panta hosa eneteilamēn hymin, ” ergon epēge tǭ logǭ, autika te emathēteueto en oligǭ pan genos Hellēnōn homou kai barbarōn, kai nomoi pasi tois ethnesi katespeironto enantioi tę̄ tōn palaiōn deisidaimonią, nomoi daimonōn polemioi kai pasēs echthroi polytheou planēs, nomoi Skythōn kai Persōn kai tōn allōn barbarōn sōphronistai, epistreptikoi te pasēs ekthesmou kai thēriōdous diaitēs, nomoi tōn ex aiōnos parʼ autois Hellēsin ethōn ana- treptikoi, kainēs de kai alēthous eusebeias katangeltikoi.

With one word and one utterance he said to his disciples, “Go and make disciples of all the nations in my name, teaching them to keep all that I have commanded you,” and he added the deed to the word. At once, in a short time, every race of Greeks and barbarians alike was being made disciples, and laws were sown among all the nations contrary to the superstition of the ancients: laws hostile to demons and enemies of all the error of many gods; laws that brought Scythians, Persians, and other barbarians to self-control and turned them from every lawless and brutish way of life; laws that overturned the customs held from of old among the Greeks themselves and proclaimed a new and true piety.

Matt 28:19–20 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ's single command to make disciples of all nations was fulfilled at once, spreading laws against idolatry and savagery.

The quotation is Matt 28:19–20 in Eusebius’s short form “in my name,” without the triple baptismal formula; he cites it in this form several times before Nicaea. Translated as written.

Topics: Scripture and canon

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.32 (Dindorf 3:197; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-32). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.33Dindorf 3:197–198

τί δῆτα οὖν τοῖς πάλαι γόησι πρὸ τῶν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ χρόνων, ἢ καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα, τοιοῦτον ἢ καὶ παραπλήσιον τετόλμηται, ὡς εἰκότως φάναι αὐτὸν παρʼ ἑτέρων ὠφελῆσθαι τὰ τῆς γοητείας; εἰ δʼ οὐδένα ἄν τις ἔχοι λέγειν αὐτῷ γεγονέναι ὅμοιον, οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἦν αὐτῷ αἴτιος τῆς τοσαύτης ἀρετῆς, ὥρα τοιγαροῦν ὁμολογεῖν ξένην τινὰ καὶ θείαν φύσιν ἐπι- δεδημηκέναι τῷ βίῳ, ᾗ μόνῃ καὶ πρώτῃ τὰ μηδεπώ- ποτε παρʼ ἀνθρώποις μνημονευθέντα κατώρθωται. ἀλλὰ καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ὧδε τέλος ἐχέτω.

ti dēta oun tois palai goēsi pro tōn tou Iēsou chronōn, ē kai meta tauta, toiouton ē kai paraplēsion tetolmētai, hōs eikotōs phanai auton parʼ heterōn ōphelēsthai ta tēs goēteias? ei dʼ oudena an tis echoi legein autǭ gegonenai homoion, oudeis gar ēn autǭ aitios tēs tosautēs aretēs, hōra toigaroun homologein xenēn tina kai theian physin epi- dedēmēkenai tǭ biǭ, hę̄ monę̄ kai prōtę̄ ta mēdepō- pote parʼ anthrōpois mnēmoneuthenta katōrthōtai. alla kai tauta men hōde telos echetō.

What, then, did the sorcerers of old, before the times of Jesus, or indeed after them, ever dare that was like this or even close to it, so that one might reasonably say he was helped by others in the arts of sorcery? But if no one could name anyone who was like him, since no one was the cause of such great virtue in him, it is time, then, to confess that a strange and divine nature visited our life, which alone and first accomplished things never before recorded among men. But let this matter end here.

Notes and citation

Summary: Since no earlier sorcerer did anything similar, Jesus must be a divine nature who did what none had done.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.33 (Dindorf 3:197–198; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-33). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.34Dindorf 3:198

Πάλιν δὲ ἐπὶ τὸν διʼ ἐναντίας ἰτέον, τε εἴ ποτε ὀφθαλμοῖς εἶδεν ἢ ἀκοῇ ἔγνω γόητάς τε καὶ φαρμακέας δίχα σπονδῶν καὶ θυμάτων καὶ δαιμόνων ἐπικλήσεως τε καὶ παρουσίας γοητεύοντας. μή τι οὖν καὶ κατὰ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν, ἢ κατὰ τῶν αὐτοῦ λόγων, ἢ κατὰ τῶν εἰσέτι νῦν ζηλούντων τὸν αὐτοῦ βίον, ἔχει τις τοιαύτην ἐπιφέρειν διαβολήν; οὐχὶ καὶ τυφλῷ δῆλον ὡς πᾶν τοὐναντίον τούτοις ἡμεῖς οἱ τὰ Ἰησοῦ φρονοῦντες ἐπιτηδεύομεν, θᾶττον μὲν θανάτῳ τὴν ψυχὴν ἢ δαίμοσι θυσίαν προέσθαι τολμῶντες, θᾶττον δὲ τῆς ζωῆς ἐξιστάμενοι ἢ τοῖς πονηροῖς δαίμοσι δουλωθῆναι ὑπομένοντες.

Palin de epi ton diʼ enantias iteon, te ei pote ophthalmois eiden ē akoę̄ egnō goētas te kai pharmakeas dicha spondōn kai thymatōn kai daimonōn epiklēseōs te kai parousias goēteuontas. mē ti oun kai kata tou sōtēros hēmōn, ē kata tōn autou logōn, ē kata tōn eiseti nyn zēlountōn ton autou bion, echei tis toiautēn epipherein diabolēn? ouchi kai typhlǭ dēlon hōs pan tounantion toutois hēmeis hoi ta Iēsou phronountes epitēdeuomen, thatton men thanatǭ tēn psychēn ē daimosi thysian proesthai tolmōntes, thatton de tēs zōēs existamenoi ē tois ponērois daimosi doulōthēnai hypomenontes.

Again we must turn to our opponent, and ask whether he has ever seen with his eyes or learned by hearsay of sorcerers and poisoners practicing sorcery without libations, sacrifices, and the invocation and presence of demons. Can anyone, then, bring such a charge against our Savior, or against his words, or against those who even now emulate his life? Is it not plain even to a blind man that we who hold the doctrines of Jesus practice the very opposite of these things, more ready to give up our life in death than to offer sacrifice to demons, and sooner departing from life than consenting to be enslaved to the evil demons?

Notes and citation

Summary: Sorcery needs sacrifices to demons, but Christians would rather die than sacrifice to demons.

The words “ἰτέον, τε εἴ ποτε” are garbled in the digital text (a stray τε); translated by sense.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR breathing slip): ἡμεῖς οἶ τὰ Ἰησοῦ → ἡμεῖς οἱ τὰ Ἰησοῦ.

Topics: Martyrdom

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.34 (Dindorf 3:198; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-34). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.35Dindorf 3:198

τίς δὲ οὐκ οἶδεν ὅπως σὺν αὐτῇ τῇ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ προσηγορίᾳ καὶ σὺν εὐχαῖς καθαρωτάταις πᾶν τὸ δαιμόνων ἔργον ἀπελαύνειν ἡμῖν φίλον ἐστίν; οὗτος ὁ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ λόγος καὶ ἡ παρʼ αὐτοῦ διδασκαλία πολὺ κρείττους τῆς ἀοράτου ταύτης δυνάμεως πάντας ἡμᾶς ἀπειργάσατο, ἐχθρούς τε δαιμόνων καὶ πολεμίους, ἀλλʼ οὐ φίλους οὐδὲ συνήθεις, πολλοῦ δεῖ ὑπηκόους καὶ ὑποχειρίους εἶναι παρεσκεύασεν.

tis de ouk oiden hopōs syn autę̄ tę̄ tou Iēsou prosēgorią kai syn euchais katharōtatais pan to daimonōn ergon apelaunein hēmin philon estin? houtos ho tou Iēsou logos kai hē parʼ autou didaskalia poly kreittous tēs aoratou tautēs dynameōs pantas hēmas apeirgasato, echthrous te daimonōn kai polemious, allʼ ou philous oude synētheis, pollou dei hypēkoous kai hypocheirious einai pareskeuasen.

Who does not know how we love to drive away every work of demons with the very name of Jesus and with the purest prayers? This word of Jesus and the teaching that comes from him have made all of us far stronger than this invisible power, and have prepared us to be enemies and foes of the demons, not their friends or familiars, still less their subjects and underlings.

Notes and citation

Summary: Christians drive out demons by the name of Jesus and prayer, and are their enemies, not their servants.

Topics: Prayer

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.35 (Dindorf 3:198; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-35). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.36Dindorf 3:198

ὁ δὴ τοιούτους ἡμᾶς προαγαγὼν πῶς ἂν αὐτὸς δοῦλος ἐγεγόνει δαιμόνων; πῶς δʼ ἂν τοῖς πονηροῖς πνεύμασιν ἔθυσεν; ἢ πῶς βοηθοὺς δαίμονας ἐπεκαλέσατο ἐν ταῖς παραδοξοποιίαις, ὁπότε εἰσέτι δεῦρο πᾶς δαίμων καὶ πᾶν ἀκάθαρτον πνεῦμα, ὥς τι τῶν κολαστικῶν καὶ βασανιστικῶν τῆς οἰκείας φύσεως, τοῦ Ἰησοῦ τὸ ὄνομα φρίττει, ὑπεξίσταταί τε καὶ παραχωρεῖ τῇ τῆς προσηγορίας δυνάμει;

ho dē toioutous hēmas proagagōn pōs an autos doulos egegonei daimonōn? pōs dʼ an tois ponērois pneumasin ethysen? ē pōs boēthous daimonas epekalesato en tais paradoxopoiiais, hopote eiseti deuro pas daimōn kai pan akatharton pneuma, hōs ti tōn kolastikōn kai basanistikōn tēs oikeias physeōs, tou Iēsou to onoma phrittei, hypexistatai te kai parachōrei tę̄ tēs prosēgorias dynamei?

How, then, could he who made us such have himself been a slave of demons? How could he have sacrificed to evil spirits? Or how could he have called on demons as helpers in his wonders, when even to this day every demon and every unclean spirit shudders at the name of Jesus as at something that punishes and torments its own nature, and withdraws and gives way before the power of that name?

Notes and citation

Summary: Jesus could not have served demons, since to this day they flee in terror at his name.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR split word): πνεύμασʼ ἱν ἔθυσεν → πνεύμασιν ἔθυσεν.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.36 (Dindorf 3:198; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-36). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.37Dindorf 3:198–199

ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ πάλαι καθʼ ὃν ἐπεδήμει τῷ βίῳ χρόνον, μὴ φέροντες αὐτοῦ τὴν παρουσίαν, ἄλλος ἄλλοθεν ἐβόα ‟ἔα, τί ἡμῖν καὶ σοὶ, Ἰησοῦ, υἱὲ τοῦ θεοῦ; ἦλθες πρὸ καιροῦ βασανίσαι ἡμᾶς;” ἀνὴρ δʼ ὅλως γοητείᾳ προσέχων τὸν νοῦν, καὶ πάντως γέ που ἀπειρημένοις πράγμασιν ἐγχειρῶν, ἆρʼ οὐκ ἂν εἴη δῆλος ἀνόσιος ὢν τὸν τρόπον, καὶ μιαρὸς καὶ αἰσχρὸς καὶ ἄθεος καὶ ἄδικος καὶ ἀσεβής, τοιοῦτος δὲ ὢν πόθεν ἢ πῶς τὰ περὶ εὐσεβείας διδάξειεν ἂν ἑτέρους, ἢ τὰ περὶ σωφροσύνης, ἢ τὰ περὶ θεοῦ γνώσεως, ἢ τὰ περὶ δικαιωτη- ῥίου καὶ κρίσεως τοῦ ἐπὶ πάντων θεοῦ; οὐχὶ τούτων ἁπάντων τὰ ἐναντία πρεσβεύει, ἀκόλουθα τῇ αὐτοῦ μοχθηρίᾳ πράττων, καὶ θεὸν μὲν ἀρνήσεται καὶ θεοῦ πρόνοιαν καὶ θεοῦ κρίσιν, χλευάσει δὲ τοὺς περὶ ἀρετῆς καὶ τοὺς περὶ ψυχῆς ἀθανασίας λόγους;

hōsper oun kai palai kathʼ hon epedēmei tǭ biǭ chronon, mē pherontes autou tēn parousian, allos allothen eboa ‟ea, ti hēmin kai soi, Iēsou, huie tou theou? ēlthes pro kairou basanisai hēmas?” anēr dʼ holōs goēteią prosechōn ton noun, kai pantōs ge pou apeirēmenois pragmasin encheirōn, arʼ ouk an eiē dēlos anosios ōn ton tropon, kai miaros kai aischros kai atheos kai adikos kai asebēs, toioutos de ōn pothen ē pōs ta peri eusebeias didaxeien an heterous, ē ta peri sōphrosynēs, ē ta peri theou gnōseōs, ē ta peri dikaiōtē- rhiou kai kriseōs tou epi pantōn theou? ouchi toutōn hapantōn ta enantia presbeuei, akoloutha tę̄ autou mochthērią prattōn, kai theon men arnēsetai kai theou pronoian kai theou krisin, chleuasei de tous peri aretēs kai tous peri psychēs athanasias logous?

So also long ago, during the time he dwelt in this life, the demons could not bear his presence, and one cried from here and another from there, “Ah, what have we to do with you, Jesus, Son of God? Have you come before the time to torment us?” But a man wholly devoted to sorcery, and surely engaging in forbidden practices, would plainly be unholy in character, defiled, shameful, godless, unjust, and impious. Being such, from where or how would he teach others about piety, or self-control, or the knowledge of God, or the judgment seat and judgment of the God over all? Would he not champion the opposite of all these, acting in keeping with his own wickedness, and deny God, God’s providence, and God’s judgment, and mock the teachings about virtue and the immortality of the soul?

Matt 8:29 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 4:34 (quotation, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Demons feared Jesus, and a sorcerer, being wicked, could never teach piety, self-control, and judgment as Jesus did.

The demons’ cry combines Mark 1:24 / Luke 4:34 (“Ah, what have we to do with you, Jesus”) with Matt 8:29 (“Son of God … before the time to torment us”).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (stray punctuation mark): ἀσεβής., → ἀσεβής,.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.37 (Dindorf 3:198–199; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-37). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.38Dindorf 3:199

εἰ μὲν δὴ τοιαῦτά τινα ἦν ἰδεῖν καὶ περὶ τὸν σωτῆρα καὶ κύριον ἡμῶν, οὐδὲν ἂν ἦν εἰπεῖν· εἰ δʼ ἐφʼ ἑκάστῳ πράγματι καὶ λόγῳ τὸν πάντων δημιουργὸν πατέρα θεὸν ἀνακαλούμενος ἀποδείκνυται, καὶ τοὺς φοιτητὰς τοιούτους εἶναι παρασκευάζων, καὶ εἰ σώφρων αὐτὸς καὶ σωφρόνων λόγων διδάσκαλος, καὶ εἰ ποιητὴς καὶ κῆρυξ δικαιοσύνης καὶ ἀληθείας καὶ φιλανθρωπίας καὶ ἀρετῆς ἀπάσης καὶ θεοσεβείας εἰσηγητὴς τοῦ παμβασιλέως θεοῦ, πῶς οὐχ ἕπεται τούτοις τὸ μηδὲν μὲν ἡγεῖσθαι κατὰ γοητείαν αὐτὸν τῶν παραδόξων πεποιηκέναι, δυνάμει δʼ ἀπορρήτῳ καὶ ὡς ἀληθῶς ἐνθέῳ συνομολογεῖν;

ei men dē toiauta tina ēn idein kai peri ton sōtēra kai kyrion hēmōn, ouden an ēn eipein; ei dʼ ephʼ hekastǭ pragmati kai logǭ ton pantōn dēmiourgon patera theon anakaloumenos apodeiknytai, kai tous phoitētas toioutous einai paraskeuazōn, kai ei sōphrōn autos kai sōphronōn logōn didaskalos, kai ei poiētēs kai kēryx dikaiosynēs kai alētheias kai philanthrōpias kai aretēs apasēs kai theosebeias eisēgētēs tou pambasileōs theou, pōs ouch hepetai toutois to mēden men hēgeisthai kata goēteian auton tōn paradoxōn pepoiēkenai, dynamei dʼ aporrētǭ kai hōs alēthōs entheǭ synomologein?

If, then, anything of this kind could be seen in our Savior and Lord, there would be nothing to say. But if he is shown in every deed and word calling upon God, the Father and Maker of all, and preparing his pupils to be like this; if he was himself self-controlled and a teacher of self-controlled words; and if he was a doer and herald of righteousness, truth, love for mankind, and every virtue, and one who brought in the worship of God the King of all: how does it not follow that we should think he did none of his wonders by sorcery, and confess that he did them by an ineffable and truly divine power?

Notes and citation

Summary: Since Jesus' whole life called on God and taught virtue, his wonders must be by divine power, not sorcery.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.38 (Dindorf 3:199; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-38). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.6.39Dindorf 3:199–200

ἀλλʼ εἰς τοσοῦτον ἐλαύνεις ἀπηνείας ὡς μὴ λογισμοῖς σώφροσι λόγων τε ἀκολουθίᾳ προσέχειν τὸν νοῦν, μηδὲ πείθεσθαι τοῖς εἰκόσι τεκμηρίοις, ὑπονοῶν τάχα που τοὺς λέγοντας ἡμᾶς. ἀλλὰ σύ γε κἂν τῶν σαυτοῦ δαιμόνων, αὐτῶν δὴ τῶν χρησμῳδῶν θεῶν, ἄκουε τῷ σωτῆρι ἡμῶν οὐχ ὥσπερ σὺ γοητείαν, ἀλλʼ εὐσέβειαν καὶ σοφίαν καὶ εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἄνοδον μαρτυρούντων. τίς δʼ ἂν γένοιτό σοι τούτων ἀξιόπιστος ὁμολογία μᾶλλον τῆς τοῦ καθʼ ἡμῶν πολεμίου γραφῆς, ἣν ἐν οἷς ἐπέγραψε “ Περὶ τῆς ἐκ λογίων φιλοσοφίας” ἐν τρίτῳ συγγράμματι τέθειται, ὧδέ πως ἱστορῶν κατὰ λέξιν;

allʼ eis tosouton elauneis apēneias hōs mē logismois sōphrosi logōn te akolouthią prosechein ton noun, mēde peithesthai tois eikosi tekmēriois, hyponoōn tacha pou tous legontas hēmas. alla sy ge kan tōn sautou daimonōn, autōn dē tōn chrēsmǭdōn theōn, akoue tǭ sōtēri hēmōn ouch hōsper sy goēteian, allʼ eusebeian kai sophian kai eis ouranous anodon martyrountōn. tis dʼ an genoito soi toutōn axiopistos homologia mallon tēs tou kathʼ hēmōn polemiou graphēs, hēn en hois epegrapse “ Peri tēs ek logiōn philosophias” en tritǭ syngrammati tetheitai, hōde pōs historōn kata lexin?

But you drive on to such harshness that you pay no attention to sound reasoning and logical argument and are not persuaded by probable evidence, perhaps suspecting us who say these things. Then at least listen to your own demons, the very gods who give oracles, bearing witness to our Savior, not of sorcery as you do, but of piety, wisdom, and ascent into heaven. What confession of theirs could be more trustworthy for you than the writing of our own enemy, which he set down in the third book of the work he entitled On the Philosophy from Oracles, recounting word for word as follows?

Notes and citation

Summary: Eusebius turns to the pagan oracles quoted by Porphyry, the Christians' enemy, as witnesses to Jesus' piety.

The “enemy” is Porphyry (named in 3.7.3); his Philosophy from Oracles survives in fragments.

Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Porphyry, Phil. orac. (Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles (fragments); quotation)

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Dem. ev. 3.6.39 (Dindorf 3:199–200; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-demonstratio/3-6-1/#p-3-6-39). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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