Sophia Scriptura

Church History 2.1.12

Eusebius of Caesarea · Church History · ca. 300–325 · Caesarea · Read in context

Summary: Simon's heretical followers still creep into the church like a disease, though many have been exposed and expelled, as Simon was by Peter.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:47

ὃ καὶ θαυμάζειν ἄξιον εἰς δεῦρο γινόμενον πρὸς τῶν ἔτι καὶ νῦν τὴν ἀπʼ ἐκείνου μιαρωτάτην μετιόντων αἵρεσιν, οἱ τῇ τοῦ σφῶν προπάτορος μεθόδῳ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν λοιμώδους καὶ ψωραλέας νόσου δίκην ὑποδυόμενοι τὰ μέγιστα λυμαίνονται τοὺς οἶς ἐναπομάξασθαι οἷοί τε ἂν εἶεν τὸν ἐν αὐτοῖς ἀποκεκρυμμένον δυσαλθῆ καὶ χαλεπὸν ἰόν. ἤδη γέ τοι πλείους τούτων ἀπεώσθησαν, ὁποῖοί τινες ἦσαν τὴν μοχθηρίαν ἁλόντες, ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ ὁ Σίμων αὐτὸς πρὸς τοῦ Πέτρου καταφωραθεὶς ὃς ἣν τὴν προσήκουσαν ἔτισε τιμωρίαν.

English · Claude translation

And it is worth wondering that this still happens to this day among those who even now follow the most abominable heresy derived from him, who, by the method of their forefather, slipping into the church like a pestilent and scabby disease, do the greatest harm to those on whom they are able to wipe off the incurable and grievous poison hidden in them. Many of these, however, have already been driven out, when they were caught in their wickedness, as Simon himself, detected by Peter, paid the appropriate penalty.

About this passage

Source
Dindorf 4:47 · Wilhelm Dindorf, ed., Eusebii Caesariensis Opera, vol. 4: Historiae ecclesiasticae libri I–X (Leipzig: Teubner, 1871) · Greek text: W. Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Leipzig: Teubner, 1871), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in Dindorf, Eusebii Opera 4. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.
Translation
Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
Compare
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 1 (1890) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made)
Scripture
Topics
Heresy

Notes

Translation notes

  • Allusion to Acts 8:18–24.

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 2.1.12 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/2/1/12/).

Plain text
Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 2.1.12 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/2/1/12/).

Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)

Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text

Report an error in this passage