Church History 7.24.5

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

Summary: Because Nepos's book leads simple believers to hope only for earthly pleasures, Dionysius must answer it in writing.

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Greek text · Dindorf 4:323–324

καὶ πρὸς μὲν παρόντα καὶ ψιλῷ λόγῳ δογματίζοντα αὐτάρκης ἦν ἂν ἡ ἄγραφος ὁμιλία, διʼ ἐρωτήσεως καὶ ἀποκρίσεως πείθουσα καὶ συμβιβά- ζουσα τοὺς ἀντιδιατιθεμένους· γραφῆς δὲ ἐκκειμένης, ὡς δοκεῖ τισὶ, πιθανωτάτης, καί τινων διδασκάλων τὸν μὲν νόμον καὶ τοὺς προφήτας τὸ μηδὲν “ἡγουμένων, καὶ τὸ τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις ἕπεσθαι παρέντων, καὶ τὰς τῶν ἀποστόλων ἐπιστολὰς ἐκφαυλισάντων, τὴν δὲ τοῦ συγγράμματος τούτου διδασκαλίαν “ὡς μέγα δή τι καὶ κεκρυμμένον μυστήριον κατεπαγ- “γελλομένων, καὶ τοὺς ἁπλουστέρους ἀδελφοὺς ἡμῶν “οὐδὲν ἐώντων ὑψηλὸν καὶ μεγαλεῖον φρονεῖν οὔτε “περὶ τῆς ἐνδόξου καὶ ἀληθῶς ἐνθέου τοῦ κυρίου “ἡμῶν ἐπιφανείας, οὔτε τῆς ἡμετέρας ἐκ νεκρῶν “ἀναστάσεως καὶ τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐπισυναγωγῆς καὶ “ὁμοιώσεως, ἀλλὰ μικρὰ καὶ θνητὰ καὶ οἷα τὰ νῦν ἐλπί- “ζεῖν ἀναπειθόντων ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ, ἀναγκαῖο “καὶ ἡμᾶς ὡς πρὸς παρόντα τὸν ἀδελφὸν ἡμῶν δια- “λεχθῆναι Νέπωτα.”

English · Claude translation

If he were present and setting forth his opinions by word only, unwritten discussion would have sufficed, persuading and reconciling the opponents by question and answer. But since a writing has been published, very persuasive as it seems to some, and some teachers regard the law and the prophets as nothing, neglect to follow the Gospels, and belittle the letters of the apostles, while proclaiming the teaching of this treatise as some great and hidden mystery, and do not allow our simpler brothers to think anything lofty and great either about the glorious and truly divine appearing of our Lord, or about our resurrection from the dead and our gathering together to him and our being made like him, but persuade them to hope in the kingdom of God for small and mortal things like those of the present — it is necessary for us too to discuss with our brother Nepos as though he were present.”

About this passage

Source

Dindorf 4:323–324 · 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

2 Thess 2:1 · echo, medium confidence
1 John 3:2 · echo, medium confidence

Extrabiblical texts

Dionysius of Alexandria (Dionysius of Alexandria (letters and fragments)) · quotation, high confidence

Topics

Eschatology, Scripture and canon

Notes

Translation notes

Quotation from Dionysius of Alexandria; cf. 2 Thess 2:1 and 1 John 3:2.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (missing letter in the digital text): τοῦ κυρίο “ἡμῶν → τοῦ κυρίου “ἡμῶν.

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 7.24.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/7/24/5/).

Plain text

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 7.24.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/7/24/5/).

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