Church History 6.15.1 · Sophia Scriptura

Summary: Overwhelmed by students, Origen gave the beginners to Heraclas and kept the advanced.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:259

Ὁ δʼ ὡς ἑαυτὸν ἑώρα μὴ ἐπαρκοῦντα τῇ τῶν θείων βαθυτέρᾳ σχολῇ, τῇ τε ἐξετάσει καὶ ἑρμηνείαι τῶν ἱερῶν γραμμάτων, καὶ προσέτι τῇ τῶν προσιόντων κατηχήσει, μηδʼ ἀναπνεῦσαι συγχωρούντων αὐτῷ, ἑτέρων ἐφʼ ἑτέροις ἐξ ἕω καὶ μέχρις ἐσπέρας ἐπὶ τὸ παρʼ αὐτῷ διδασκαλεῖον φοιτώντων, διανείμας τὰ πλήθη, τὸν Ἡρακλᾶν τῶν γνωρίμων προκρίνας, ἔν τε τοῖς θείοις σπουδαῖον καὶ ἄλλως ὄντα λογιώτατον ἄνδρα καὶ φιλοσοφίας οὐκ ἄμοιρον, κοινωνὸν καθίστη τῆς κατηχήσεως, τῷ μὲν τὴν πρώτην τῶν ἄρτι στοιχειουμενων εἰσαγωγὴν ἐπιτρέψας, αὐτῷ δὲ τὴν τῶν ἐν ἕξει φυλάξας ἀκρόασιν.

English · Claude translation

When he saw that he was not equal to the deeper study of divine things, the examination and interpretation of the sacred writings, and also to the catechesis of those who came to him, since they did not allow him even to breathe, one after another coming to his school from morning till evening, he divided the multitude. Choosing Heraclas from among his pupils, a man zealous in divine things, very learned besides, and not without a share of philosophy, he made him his partner in catechesis, entrusting to him the first introduction of beginners and keeping for himself the instruction of the advanced.

About this passage

Source

Dindorf 4:259 · 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)

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 6.15.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/6/15/1/).

Plain text

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 6.15.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/6/15/1/).