Sophia Scriptura

Church History 5.16.20

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

Summary: When refuted, the Montanists appeal to their many martyrs as proof.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:219

καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ τρίτου δὲ σμικρὰς παραθήσομαι λέξεις, διʼ ὧν πρὸς τοὺς αὐχοῦντας, ὡς ἄρα πλείους καὶ αὐτῶν μεμαρτυρηκότες εἶεν, ταῦτά φησιν “ὅταν τοίνυν ἐν “πᾶσι τοῖς εἰρημένοις ἐλεγχθέντες ἀπορήσωσιν, ἐπὶ “τοὺς μάρτυρας πειρῶνται καταφεύγειν, λέγοντες “πολλοὺς ἔχειν μάρτυρας, καὶ τοῦτο εἶναι τεκμήριον “πιστὸν τῆς δυνάμεως τοῦ παρʼ αὐτοῖς λεγομένου “προφητικοῦ πνεύματος. τὸ δʼ ἔστιν ἄρα, ὡς ἔοικε, “παντὸς μᾶλλον οὐκ ἀληθές.

English · Claude translation

From the third book also I shall set out a few words, in which he says this to those who boast that they too have had many martyrs: “When, then, refuted in all that has been said, they are at a loss, they try to take refuge in the martyrs, saying that they have many martyrs and that this is a trustworthy proof of the power of what they call the prophetic spirit among them. But this, it seems, is anything but true.

About this passage

Source
Dindorf 4:219 · 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
  • Anon. Mont. (Anonymous Treatise against the Montanists) · quotation, high confidence
Topics
Heresy, Martyrdom

Notes

Translation notes

  • Quotation from the Anonymous Anti-Montanist (to 5.16.22).

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 5.16.20 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/5/16/20/).

Plain text
Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 5.16.20 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/5/16/20/).

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