Sophia Scriptura

Church History 6.34.1

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

Summary: Report has it that the emperor Philip, a Christian, was made to do public penance before joining the Easter vigil.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:277

Ἔτεσι δὲ ὅλοις ἓξ Γορδιανοῦ τὴν Ῥωμαίων ἡγεμονίαν ἀνύσαντος Φίλιππος ἅμα παιδὶ Φιλίππῳ τὴν ἀρχὴν διαδέχεται. τοῦτον κατέχει λόγος Χριστιανὸν ὄντα ἐν ἡμέρᾳ τῆς ὑστάτης τοῦ πάσχα παννυχίδος τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς ἐκκλησίας εὐχῶν τῷ πλήθει μετασχεῖν ἐθελῆσαι, οὐ πρότερον δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ τηνικάδε προεστῶτος ἐπιτραπῆναι εἰσβαλεῖν ἢ ἐξομολογήσασθαι, καὶ τοῖς ἐν παραπτώμασιν ἐξεταζομένοις μετανοίας τε χώραν ἴσχουσιν ἑαυτὸν καταλέξαι· ἄλλως γὰρ μὴ ἄν ποτε πρὸς αὐτοῦ, μὴ οὐχὶ τοῦτο ποιήσαντα, διὰ πολλὰς τῶν κατʼ αὐτὸν αἰτίας παραδεχθῆναι. καὶ πειθαρχῆσαί γε προθύμως λέγεται, τὸ γνήσιον καὶ εὐλαβὲς τῆς περὶ τὸν θεῖον φόβον διαθέσεως ἔργοις ἐπιδεδειγμένον.

English · Claude translation

When Gordian had completed six full years in the rule of the Romans, Philip succeeded to the government with his son Philip. The report is that, being a Christian, he wished on the day of the last vigil of the Pascha to share in the prayers in the church with the multitude, but was not permitted by the one then presiding to enter until he had confessed and enrolled himself among those reckoned as in sins and occupying the place of penitents; for otherwise, had he not done this, he would never have been received by him, because of the many charges against him. And he is said to have obeyed readily, showing in deeds the genuineness and piety of his disposition toward the fear of God.

About this passage

Source
Dindorf 4:277 · 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
Prayer, Church office

Notes

Translation notes

  • Eusebius presents Philip the Arab's Christianity as a report (“the report is”); it is doubted by many historians.

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 6.34.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/6/34/1/).

Plain text
Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 6.34.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/6/34/1/).

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