Sophia Scriptura

Church History 4.23.12

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

Summary: Dionysius (quoted): heretics have altered his letters, so it is no wonder they tamper with the Lord's Scriptures.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:174

ἔτι δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς καὶ περὶ τῶν ἰδίων ἐπιστολῶν ὡς ῥᾳδιουργηθεισῶν ταῦτά φησιν “ἐπιστολὰς γὰρ ἀδελφῶν ἀξιω- ‘σάντων με γράψαι ἔγραψα. καὶ ταύτας οἱ τοῦ δια- ῾ βόλου ἀπόστολοι ζιζανίων γεγέμικαν, ἃ μὲν ἐξαι- ‘ροῦντες, ἃ δὲ προστιθέντες. οἷς τὸ οὐαὶ κεῖται. οὐ θαυμαστὸν ἄρα εἰ καὶ τῶν κυριακῶν ῥᾳδιουργῆσαί ‘τινες ἐπιβέβληνται γραφῶν, ὁπότε καὶ ταῖς οὐ τοι- ῾αύταις ἐπιβεβουλεύκασι.”

English · Claude translation

The same writer says this too about his own letters, as having been tampered with: “For when brothers asked me to write letters, I wrote them. And these the apostles of the devil have filled with tares, taking away some things and adding others; for whom the woe is reserved. It is no wonder, then, if some have attempted to tamper even with the Scriptures of the Lord, since they have plotted against writings not of such a kind.”

About this passage

Source
Dindorf 4:174 · 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
Extrabiblical texts
  • Dionysius of Corinth, Letter to the Romans (Dionysius of Corinth (letters)) · quotation, high confidence
Topics
Heresy, Scripture and canon

Notes

Translation notes

  • Quotation from Dionysius of Corinth, Letter to the Romans. The tares echo Matt 13:25; the woe probably echoes Rev 22:18–19.

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 4.23.12 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/4/23/12/).

Plain text
Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 4.23.12 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/4/23/12/).

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