Sophia Scriptura

Church History 6.19.17

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

Summary: The bishops answered Demetrius's protest that laymen never preached before bishops.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:265

ὃ καὶ αὐτὸ γένοιτʼ ἂν ἔκδηλον ἀφʼ ὧν περὶ τούτου Δημητρίῳ γράφοντες Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Ἱεροσολύμων ἐπίσκοπος καὶ Θεόκτιστος ὁ Καισαρείας ὧδέ πως ἀπολογοῦνται “προσέθηκε δὲ “τοῖς γράμμασιν ὅτι τοῦτο οὐδέποτε ἠκούσθη οὐδὲ ῾νῦν γεγένηται, τὸ παρόντων ἐπισκόπων λαικοὺς “ὁμιλεῖν, οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπως προφανῶς οὐκ ἀληθῆ λέγων. “

English · Claude translation

This is evident from what Alexander, bishop of Jerusalem, and Theoctistus of Caesarea wrote to Demetrius on the matter, defending themselves somewhat thus: “He added in his letter that such a thing has never been heard of nor has now happened, that laymen should preach in the presence of bishops — in which, I do not know how, he says what is plainly not true.

About this passage

Source
Dindorf 4:265 · 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
Church office

Notes

Translation notes

  • Quotation from the letter of Alexander of Jerusalem and Theoctistus of Caesarea to Demetrius (to 6.19.18).

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 6.19.17 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/6/19/17/).

Plain text
Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 6.19.17 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/6/19/17/).

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