Church History 4.11.2

Summary: Irenaeus (quoted): Cerdo taught that the just God of the law is not the good, unknown Father of Christ; Marcion developed his school.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:147–148

ἔν γε μὴν τῷ πρώτῳ αὐθις περὶ τοῦ Κέρδωνος ταῦτα διέξεισι “ Κέρδων δέ τις ἀπὸ τῶν περὶ τὸν Σίμωνα τὰς ἀφορμὰς λαβὼν, καὶ ἐπιδημήσας εἰς τὴν ῾Ρώμην ἐπὶ “Ὑγίνου ἔνατον κλῆρον τῆς ἐπισκοπικῆς διαδοχῆς “ἀπὸ τῶν ἀποστόλων ἔχοντος, ἐδίδαξε τὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ ‘νόμου καὶ προφητῶν κεκηρυγμένον θεὸν μὴ εἶναι “ πατέρα τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. τὸν μὲν “ γὰρ γνωρίζεσθαι, τὸν δὲ ἀγνῶτα εἶναι, καὶ τὸν μέν “δίκαιον, τὸν δὲ ἀγαθὸν ὑπάρχειν. διαδεξάμενος δὲ “αὐτὸν Μαρκίων ὁ Ποντικὸς ηὔξησε τὸ διδασκαλεῖον, “ἀπηρυθριασμένως βλασφημῶν.’

English · Claude translation

And in the first book he relates this again about Cerdo: “A certain Cerdo, taking his starting point from Simon's followers, and coming to Rome under Hyginus, who held the ninth place in the episcopal succession from the apostles, taught that the God proclaimed by the law and the prophets is not the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the one is known, the other unknown; the one is just, the other good. Marcion of Pontus, succeeding him, expanded his school, blaspheming shamelessly.”

About this passage

Source

Dindorf 4:147–148 · 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

Irenaeus, Irenaeus, Haer. 1.27.1–2 (Irenaeus, Against Heresies) · quotation, high confidence

Topics

Heresy

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 4.11.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/4/11/2/).

Plain text

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 4.11.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/4/11/2/).

Greek text · Dindorf 4:147–148

English · Claude translation

About this passage

Notes

Translation notes

Cite this passage