Church History 3.25.6 · Sophia Scriptura

Summary: The list distinguishes acknowledged, disputed, and heretical writings such as the Gospels of Peter, Thomas, and Matthias and various apocryphal Acts.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:116–117

ἀναγκαίως δὲ καὶ τούτων ὅμως τὸν κατάλογον πεποιήμεθα, διακρίναντες τάς τε κατὰ τὴν ἐκκλησιαστικὴν παράδοσιν ἀληθεῖς καὶ ἀπλάστους καὶ ἀνωμολογημένας γραφὰς, καὶ τὰς ἄλλας παρὰ ταύτας, οὐκ ἐνδιαθήκους μὲν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀντιλεγομένας, ὅμως δὲ παρὰ πλείστοις τῶν ἐκκλησιαστικῶν γινωσκομένας, ἵνʼ εἰδέναι ἔχοιμεν αὐτάς τε ταύτας καὶ τὰς ὀνόματι τῶν ἀποστόλων πρὸς τῶν αἱρετικῶν προφερομένας, ἤτοι ὡς Πέτρου καὶ Θωμᾶ καὶ Ματθία ἢ καί τινων παρὰ τούτους ἄλλων εὐαγγέλια περιεχούσας, ἢ ὡς Ἀνδρέου καὶ Ἰω- άννου καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἀποστόλων πράξεις, ὧν οὐδὲν οὐδαμῶς ἐν συγγράμματι τῶν κατὰ τὰς διαδοχὰς ἐκκλησιαστικῶν τις ἀνὴρ εἰς μνήμην ἀγαγεῖν ἠξίωσεν.

English · Claude translation

We have nevertheless necessarily made a list of these too, distinguishing the writings that according to church tradition are true, genuine, and acknowledged, from the others besides these, which are not canonical but disputed, yet known to most churchmen; so that we may be able to know both these and those put forward by the heretics under the name of the apostles, containing Gospels of Peter, Thomas, Matthias, or some others besides them, or Acts of Andrew, John, and the other apostles, none of which any churchman in the succession has ever thought worthy of mention in his writings.

About this passage

Source

Dindorf 4:116–117 · 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)

Extrabiblical texts

Gos. Pet. (Gospel of Peter) · allusion, high confidence
Gos. Thom. (Gospel of Thomas) · allusion, high confidence
Trad. Matt. (Traditions of Matthias) · allusion, low confidence

Topics

Scripture and canon, Heresy

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 3.25.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/3/25/6/).

Plain text

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 3.25.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/3/25/6/).