Sophia Scriptura

Church History 4.13.3

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

Summary: The ordinance (quoted): persecution only strengthens Christians, who prefer death to obeying.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:150–151

οὓς εἰς ταραχὴν ἐμβάλλετε, βεβαιοῦντες τὴν γνώμην αὐτῶν ἥνπερ “ ἔχουσιν, ὡς ἀθέων κατηγοροῦντες. εἴη δʼ ἂν ἐκείνοις ῾ αἱρετὸν τὸ δοκεῖν κατηγορουμένοις τεθνάναι μᾶλ- ῾λον ἢ ζῆν ὑπὲρ τοῦ οἰκείου θεοῦ. ὅθεν καὶ νικῶσι, “προϊέμενοι τὰς ἑαυτῶν ψυχὰς, ἤπερ πειθόμενοι οἷς “ἀξιοῦτε πράττειν αὐτούς.

English · Claude translation

You throw them into disturbance, confirming them in the opinion they hold, by accusing them of being atheists. For it would be preferable for them, when accused, to seem to die for their own God rather than to live. Hence they are victorious, giving up their lives rather than obeying what you demand that they do.

About this passage

Source
Dindorf 4:150–151 · 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)
Topics
Persecution, Martyrdom

Notes

Translation notes

  • Quotation from the Rescript to the Council of Asia.

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 4.13.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/4/13/3/).

Plain text
Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 4.13.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/4/13/3/).

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