Preparation for the Gospel 13.3.1–13.6.12

Eusebius of Caesarea · Preparation for the Gospel · ca. 313–324 · Caesarea · 64 passages

Greek text: Dindorf, Eusebii Opera 1 (Greek text: W. Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 1–2 (Leipzig: Teubner, 1867), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: E. H. Gifford, Eusebii Pamphili Evangelicae Praeparationis libri XV (Oxford, 1903), vol. 3 (English).

Preparation 13, chapter 3

13.3.1Dindorf 2:164–165

“Ἐν τοῖς μείζοσιν, ἦν δʼ ἐγὼ, μύθοις ὀψόμεθα καὶ τοὺς ἐλάττους. δεῖ γὰρ δὴ τὸν αὐτὸν τύπον εἶναι καὶ ταὐτὸν δύνασθαι τούς τε μείζους καὶ τοὺς ἐλάττους. ἢ οὐκ οἴει; ἔγωγε, ἔφη· ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἐννοῶ οὐδὲ τοὺς μείζους τίνας λέγεις. Οὓς Ἡσίοδός τε, εἶπον, καὶ Ὅμηρος ἡμῖν ἐλεγέτην καὶ οἶ ἄλλοι ποιηταί. οὗτοι γάρ που μύθους ψευδεῖς τοῖς ἀνθρώποις συντιθέντες ἔλεγόν τε καὶ λέγουσι.

“En tois meizosin, ēn dʼ egō, mythois opsometha kai tous elattous. dei gar dē ton auton typon einai kai tauton dynasthai tous te meizous kai tous elattous. ē ouk oiei? egōge, ephē; allʼ ouk ennoō oude tous meizous tinas legeis. Hous Hēsiodos te, eipon, kai Homēros hēmin elegetēn kai oi alloi poiētai. houtoi gar pou mythous pseudeis tois anthrōpois syntithentes elegon te kai legousi.

“In the greater myths, I said, we shall see the lesser too. For the greater and the lesser must be of the same stamp and have the same effect. Do you not think so? I do, he said; but I do not see what you mean by the greater either. Those, I said, that Hesiod and Homer told us, and the other poets. For they, I suppose, composed false myths for mankind, and told them, and still tell them.

Notes and citation

Summary: Socrates begins his critique of the poets’ myths about the gods.

Plato, Republic 2.377d.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; stray bracket in the digital text): μύθοις] ὀψόμεθα → μύθοις ὀψόμεθα; ἴφη → ἔφη.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 377d (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.1 (Dindorf 2:164–165; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.

13.3.2Dindorf 2:165

Ποίους δὴ, ἦ δʼ ὃς, καὶ τί αὐτῶν μεμφόμενος λέγεις; Ὅπερ, ἦν δʼ ἐγὼ, χρὴ πρῶτόν τε καὶ μάλιστα μέμφεσθαι, ἄλλως τε καὶ ἐάν τις μὴ καλῶς ψεύδηται. Τί τοῦτο; Ὅταν εἰκάζῃ τις κακῶς οὐσίαν τῷ λόγῳ περὶ θεῶν τε καὶ ἡρώων, οἶοί εἰσιν, ὥσπερ γραφεὺς μηδὲν ἐοικότα γράφων οἷς ἂν ὅμοια βουληθῇ γράψαι. Καὶ γὰρ, ἔφη, ὀρθῶς ἔχει τὰ τοιαῦτα μέμφεσθαι. ἀλλὰ πῶς δὴ λέγομεν καὶ ποῖα;

Poious dē, ē dʼ hos, kai ti autōn memphomenos legeis? Hoper, ēn dʼ egō, chrē prōton te kai malista memphesthai, allōs te kai ean tis mē kalōs pseudētai. Ti touto? Hotan eikazę̄ tis kakōs ousian tǭ logǭ peri theōn te kai hērōōn, oioi eisin, hōsper grapheus mēden eoikota graphōn hois an homoia boulēthę̄ grapsai. Kai gar, ephē, orthōs echei ta toiauta memphesthai. alla pōs dē legomen kai poia?

What kind, he said, and what fault do you find in them? The fault, I said, that ought to be blamed first and most of all, especially if the lie is not a good one. What is that? When someone represents badly in words what the gods and heroes are like, as a painter does whose picture is not at all like the things he wished to paint. Yes, he said, it is right to blame such things. But how do we mean, and what sort?

Notes and citation

Summary: The chief fault of the poets is portraying the gods falsely.

Plato, Republic 2.377d–e.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 377d–e (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.2 (Dindorf 2:165; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.3Dindorf 2:165

Πρῶτον μὲν δὴ, ἦν δʼ ἐγὼ, τὸ μέγιστον καὶ περὶ τῶν μεγίστων ψεῦδος ὁ εἰπὼν οὐ καλῶς ἐψεύσατο, ὡς Οὐρανός τε εἰργάσατο ἅ φησι δρᾶσαι αὐτὸν Ἡσίοδος, ὅ τε αὖ Κρόνος ὡς ἐτιμωρήσατο αὐτόν. τὰ δὲ δὴ Κρόνου ἔργα καὶ πάθη ὑπὸ τοῦ υἱέος, οὐδʼ ἂν εἰ ἦν ἀληθῆ, ᾤμην δεῖν ῥᾳδίως οὕτω λέγεσθαι πρὸς ἄφρονάς τε καὶ νέους, ἀλλὰ μάλιστα μὲν σιγᾶσθαι, εἰ δʼ ἀνάγκη τις ἦν λέγειν, διʼ ἀπορρήτων ἀκούειν ὡς ὀλιγίστους, θυσαμένους οὐ χοῖρον, ἀλλά τι μέγα καὶ ἄπορον θῦμα, ὅπως ὡς ἐλαχίστοις συνέβη ἀκοῦσαι.

Prōton men dē, ēn dʼ egō, to megiston kai peri tōn megistōn pseudos ho eipōn ou kalōs epseusato, hōs Ouranos te eirgasato ha phēsi drasai auton Hēsiodos, ho te au Kronos hōs etimōrēsato auton. ta de dē Kronou erga kai pathē hypo tou huieos, oudʼ an ei ēn alēthē, ǭmēn dein rhądiōs houtō legesthai pros aphronas te kai neous, alla malista men sigasthai, ei dʼ anankē tis ēn legein, diʼ aporrētōn akouein hōs oligistous, thysamenous ou choiron, alla ti mega kai aporon thyma, hopōs hōs elachistois synebē akousai.

First, I said, he who told the greatest lie about the greatest things did not lie well: that Heaven did what Hesiod says he did, and how Cronus in turn took vengeance on him. As for the deeds of Cronus and what he suffered at the hands of his son, even if they were true I should not think they ought to be told so lightly to the foolish and the young, but rather passed over in silence; or, if there were some necessity to tell them, that as few as possible should hear them in secret, after sacrificing not a pig but some great and hard-to-obtain victim, so that very few might happen to hear them.

Notes and citation

Summary: The tales of Heaven and Cronus should not be told to the young.

Plato, Republic 2.377e–378a; Hesiod, Theogony 154–210, 453–506.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (stray bracket in the digital text): ψεῦδος ὁ] εἰπὼν → ψεῦδος ὁ εἰπὼν.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 377e–378a (Plato (works); quotation); Hesiod, Theog. 154–210 (Hesiod, Theogony; allusion)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.3 (Dindorf 2:165; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.4Dindorf 2:165

Καὶ γὰρ, ἦ δʼ ὃς, οὑτοί τοί γε οἶ λόγοι χαλεποί Καὶ οὐ λεκτέοι γε, ἔφην, ὧ Ἀδείμαντε, ἐν τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ πόλει. οὐδὲ λεκτέον νέῳ ἀκούοντι ὡς ἀδικῶν τὰ ἔσχατα οὐδὲν ἂν θαυμαστὸν ποιοῖ, οὐδʼ αὖ ἀδικοῦντα πατέρα κολάζων παντὶ τρόπῳ, ἀλλὰ δρῴη ἂν ὅπερ θεῶν οἱ πρῶτοί τε καὶ μέγιστοι. Οὐ μὰ τὸν Δία, ἦ δʼ ὃς, οὐδὲ αὐτῷ μοι δοκεῖ ἐπιτήδεια εἶναι λέγειν.

Kai gar, ē dʼ hos, houtoi toi ge oi logoi chalepoi Kai ou lekteoi ge, ephēn, hō Adeimante, en tę̄ hēmeterą polei. oude lekteon neǭ akouonti hōs adikōn ta eschata ouden an thaumaston poioi, oudʼ au adikounta patera kolazōn panti tropǭ, alla drǭē an hoper theōn hoi prōtoi te kai megistoi. Ou ma ton Dia, ē dʼ hos, oude autǭ moi dokei epitēdeia einai legein.

Yes, he said, these stories are indeed hard. And they are not to be told, Adeimantus, I said, in our city. Nor must a young man be told that in committing the worst crimes he would be doing nothing remarkable, nor again in punishing a father who wrongs him in every way, but would only be doing what the first and greatest of the gods did. No, by Zeus, he said, I do not think them fit to be told either.

Notes and citation

Summary: Such stories would excuse crime among the young.

Plato, Republic 2.378b.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; words run together in the digital text): r] δʼ ὃς → ἦ δʼ ὃς; οὐδεαὐτῷ → οὐδὲ αὐτῷ.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 378b (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.4 (Dindorf 2:165; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.5Dindorf 2:165–166

Οὐδέ γε, ἦν δʼ ἐγὼ, τὸ παράπαν ὡς θεοὶ θεοῖς πολεμοῦσί τε καὶ ἐπιβουλεύουσι καὶ μάχονται· οὔτε γὰρ ἀληθῆ· εἴ γε δεῖ ἡμῖν τοὺς μέλλοντας τὴν πόλιν φυλάσσειν αἴσχιστον νομίζεῖν τὸ ῥᾳδίως ἀλλήλοις ἀπεχθάνεσθαι. πολλοῦ δεῖ γιγαντομαχίας τε μυθολογητέον αὐτοῖς καὶ ποικιλτέον καὶ ἄλλας ἔχθρας πολλὰς καὶ παντοδαπὰς θεῶν τε καὶ ἡρώων πρὸς συγγενεῖς τε καὶ οἰκείους αὐτῶν, ἀλλʼ εἴ πως μέλλοιμεν πείσειν ὡς οὐδεὶς πώποτε πολίτης ἕτερος ἑτέρῳ ἀπήχθετο οὐδʼ ἐστὶ τοῦτο ὅσιον, τοιαῦτα μᾶλλον λεκτέα πρὸς τὰ παιδία εὐθὺς, καὶ γέρουσι καὶ γραυσὶ καὶ πρεσβυτέροις γιγνομένοις, καὶ τοὺς ποιητὰς ἐγγὺς τούτων ἀναγκαστέον λογοποιεῖν.

Oude ge, ēn dʼ egō, to parapan hōs theoi theois polemousi te kai epibouleuousi kai machontai; oute gar alēthē; ei ge dei hēmin tous mellontas tēn polin phylassein aischiston nomizein to rhądiōs allēlois apechthanesthai. pollou dei gigantomachias te mythologēteon autois kai poikilteon kai allas echthras pollas kai pantodapas theōn te kai hērōōn pros syngeneis te kai oikeious autōn, allʼ ei pōs melloimen peisein hōs oudeis pōpote politēs heteros heterǭ apēchtheto oudʼ esti touto hosion, toiauta mallon lektea pros ta paidia euthys, kai gerousi kai grausi kai presbyterois gignomenois, kai tous poiētas engys toutōn anankasteon logopoiein.

Nor at all, I said, that gods make war on gods and plot against them and fight them, for it is not even true; if, that is, those who are to guard our city must think it most shameful to quarrel lightly with one another. Far less must we tell them tales of the battles of the giants, or embroider them, or the many other enmities of all kinds of gods and heroes toward their kin and family. But if we are somehow to persuade them that no citizen ever hated another and that this is unholy, such things rather must be told to the children from the start, and by old men and old women and those growing older; and the poets must be compelled to compose close to these.

Notes and citation

Summary: Tales of wars among the gods must not be told; the poets must teach harmony.

Plato, Republic 2.378b–d.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (line-end hyphen left in the digital text): νομί- ζεῖν → νομίζεῖν.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 378b–d (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.5 (Dindorf 2:165–166; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.6Dindorf 2:166

Ἥρας δὲ δεσμοὺς ὑπὸ υἱέος καὶ Ἡφαίστου ῥίψεις ὑπὸ πατρὸς, μέλλοντος τῇ μητρὶ ἀμύνειν τυπτομένῃ, καὶ θεομαχίας ὅσας Ὅμηρος πεποίηκεν, οὐ παραδεκτέον εἰς τὴν πόλιν, οὔτʼ ἐν ὑπονοίαις πεποιημένας οὔτε ἄνευ ὑπονοιῶν.

Hēras de desmous hypo huieos kai Hēphaistou rhipseis hypo patros, mellontos tę̄ mētri amynein typtomenę̄, kai theomachias hosas Homēros pepoiēken, ou paradekteon eis tēn polin, outʼ en hyponoiais pepoiēmenas oute aneu hyponoiōn.

But Hera’s binding by her son, and Hephaestus’ being hurled out by his father when he was going to defend his mother as she was beaten, and all the battles of the gods that Homer has composed, must not be admitted into the city, whether they are composed with hidden meanings or without hidden meanings.

Notes and citation

Summary: Homer’s battles of the gods are excluded, allegorized or not.

Plato, Republic 2.378d; compare Homer, Iliad 1.586–594; 20–21.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 378d (Plato (works); quotation); Homer, Il. 1.586–594 (Homer, Iliad; allusion)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.6 (Dindorf 2:166; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.7Dindorf 2:166

ὁ γὰρ νέος οὐχ οἷός τε κρίνειν ὅ τι τε ὑπόνοια καὶ ὅ τι μὴ, ἀλλʼ ἃ ἂν τηλικοῦτος ὢν λάβῃ ἐν ταῖς δόξαις, δυσέκνιπτά τε καὶ ἀμετάστατα φιλεῖ γίγνεσθαι. ὧν δὴ ἴσως ἕνεκα περὶ παντὸς ποιητέον, ἃ πρῶτα ἀκούουσιν, ὅτι κάλλιστα μεμυθολογημένα πρὸς ἀρετὴν ἀκούειν.

ho gar neos ouch hoios te krinein ho ti te hyponoia kai ho ti mē, allʼ ha an tēlikoutos ōn labę̄ en tais doxais, dyseknipta te kai ametastata philei gignesthai. hōn dē isōs heneka peri pantos poiēteon, ha prōta akouousin, hoti kallista memythologēmena pros aretēn akouein.

For the young person cannot judge what is a hidden meaning and what is not; whatever he takes into his opinions at that age tends to become indelible and unchangeable. For which reason, perhaps, we should take the greatest care that the first things they hear should be stories composed as finely as possible for the sake of virtue.”

Notes and citation

Summary: The young cannot discern allegory, so their first stories must teach virtue.

Plato, Republic 2.378d–e.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 378d–e (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.7 (Dindorf 2:166; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.8Dindorf 2:166

Ἔχει γὰρ, ἔφη, λόγον· ἀλλʼ εἴ τις αὖ καὶ ταῦτα ἐρωτῴη ἡμᾶς ἅττα ἐστὶ καὶ τίνες οἶ μῦθοι, τίνας ἂν φαῖμεν; καὶ ἐγὼ εἶπον, ὦ Ἀδείμαντε, οὐκ ἐσμὲν ποιηταὶ ἐγώ τε καὶ σὺ ἐν τῷ παρόντι, ἀλλʼ οἰκισταὶ πόλεως. οἰκισταῖς δὲ τοὺς μὲν τύπους προσήκει εἰδέναι ἐν οἷς δεῖ μυθολογεῖν τοὺς ποιητὰς, παρʼ οὓς ἐὰν ποιῶσιν οὐκ ἐπιτρεπτέον, οὐ μὴν αὐτοῖς γε ποιητέον μύθους.

Echei gar, ephē, logon; allʼ ei tis au kai tauta erōtǭē hēmas hatta esti kai tines oi mythoi, tinas an phaimen? kai egō eipon, ō Adeimante, ouk esmen poiētai egō te kai sy en tǭ paronti, allʼ oikistai poleōs. oikistais de tous men typous prosēkei eidenai en hois dei mythologein tous poiētas, parʼ hous ean poiōsin ouk epitrepteon, ou mēn autois ge poiēteon mythous.

“Yes, he said, that is reasonable. But if someone were to ask us what these are and what the stories are, what should we say? And I said: Adeimantus, you and I are not poets at present but founders of a city. Founders ought to know the patterns on which the poets must compose their myths, and from which they must not be allowed to depart when they compose; but they need not compose myths themselves.

Notes and citation

Summary: The founders of the city set the patterns for the poets.

Plato, Republic 2.378e–379a. Eusebius continues the quotation.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 378e–379a (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.8 (Dindorf 2:166; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.9Dindorf 2:166

Ὀρθῶς, ἔφη· ἀλλʼ αὐτὸ δὴ τοῦτο οἷ τύποι περὶ θεολογίας τίνες ἂν εἶεν; Τοιοίδε πού τινες, ἦν δʼ ἐγὼ, οἷος τυγχάνει ὢν ὁ θεὸς, ἀεὶ δή που ἀποδοτέον, ἐάν τέ τις αὐτὸν ἐν ἔπεσι ποιῇ ἐάν τε ἐν μέλεσιν ἐάν τε ἐν τραγῳδίᾳ. Δεῖ γάρ. Οὐκοῦν ἀγαθὸς ὁ θεὸς τῷ ὄντι τε καὶ λεκτέον οὕτω.

Orthōs, ephē; allʼ auto dē touto hoi typoi peri theologias tines an eien? Toioide pou tines, ēn dʼ egō, hoios tynchanei ōn ho theos, aei dē pou apodoteon, ean te tis auton en epesi poię̄ ean te en melesin ean te en tragǭdią. Dei gar. Oukoun agathos ho theos tǭ onti te kai lekteon houtō.

Right, he said. But just this: what would the patterns for speaking about the gods be? Something like this, I said: God must always be represented as he really is, whether one composes about him in epic, in lyric, or in tragedy. He must. Is not God truly good, and must he not be spoken of as such?

Notes and citation

Summary: The first pattern: God must be represented as he is, that is, good.

Plato, Republic 2.379a–b. The Greek word translated “speaking about the gods” is theologia.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 379a–b (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.9 (Dindorf 2:166; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.10Dindorf 2:166–167

Τί μήν; Ἀλλὰ μὴν οὐδέν γε τῶν ἀγαθῶν βλαβερόν. ἦ γάρ; Οὔ μοι δοκεῖ. Ἄρʼ οὖν τὸ μὴ βλαβερὸν βλάπτει; Οὐδαμῶς. Ὃ δὲ μὴ βλάπτει, κακόν τι ποιεῖ; Οὐδὲ τοῦτο. ὁ δέ γε μηδὲν κακὸν ποιεῖ, οὐδʼ ἄν τινος εἴη κακοῦ αἴτιον. Πῶς γάρ; Τί δέ; ὠφέλιμον τὸ ἀγαθόν; Ναί. Αἴτιον ἄρα εὐπραγίας; Ναί.

Ti mēn? Alla mēn ouden ge tōn agathōn blaberon. ē gar? Ou moi dokei. Arʼ oun to mē blaberon blaptei? Oudamōs. Ho de mē blaptei, kakon ti poiei? Oude touto. ho de ge mēden kakon poiei, oudʼ an tinos eiē kakou aition. Pōs gar? Ti de? ōphelimon to agathon? Nai. Aition ara eupragias? Nai.

Of course. But surely nothing good is harmful, is it? I think not. Does what is not harmful do harm? Not at all. And does what does no harm do any evil? No, nor that. And what does no evil would not be the cause of any evil? How could it? Again, is the good beneficial? Yes. Then it is the cause of well-being? Yes.

Notes and citation

Summary: The good cannot harm and so cannot cause evil.

Plato, Republic 2.379b.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 379b (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.10 (Dindorf 2:166–167; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.11Dindorf 2:167

Οὐκ ἄρα πάντων γε αἴτιον τὸ ἀγαθὸν, ἀλλὰ τῶν μὲν εὖ ἐχόντων αἴτιον, τῶν δὲ κακῶν ἀναίτιον. Παντελῶς γε, ἔφη. Οὐδʼ ἄρα, ἦν δʼ ἐγὼ, ὁ θεὸς, ἐπειδὴ ἀγαθὸς, πάντων ἂν εἴη αἴτιος, ὡς οἶ πολλοὶ λέγουσιν, ἀλλʼ ὀλίγων τοῖς ἀνθρώποις αἴτιος, πολλῶν δὲ ἀναίτιος· πολὺ γὰρ ἐλάττω τὰ ἀγαθὰ τῶν κακῶν ἡμῖν. καὶ τῶν μὲν ἀγαθῶν οὐδὲν ἄλλο αἰτιατέον, τῶν δὲ κακῶν ἄλλα ἄττα δεῖ ζητεῖν τὰ αἴτια, ἀλλʼ οὐ τὸν θεόν.

Ouk ara pantōn ge aition to agathon, alla tōn men eu echontōn aition, tōn de kakōn anaition. Pantelōs ge, ephē. Oudʼ ara, ēn dʼ egō, ho theos, epeidē agathos, pantōn an eiē aitios, hōs oi polloi legousin, allʼ oligōn tois anthrōpois aitios, pollōn de anaitios; poly gar elattō ta agatha tōn kakōn hēmin. kai tōn men agathōn ouden allo aitiateon, tōn de kakōn alla atta dei zētein ta aitia, allʼ ou ton theon.

Then the good is not the cause of all things, but of things that are well it is the cause, and of evils it is not the cause. Entirely so, he said. Then neither, I said, would God, since he is good, be the cause of all things, as the many say; he is the cause of few things for men, and not the cause of many; for our good things are far fewer than our evils. And of the good things no one else must be held the cause; but of the evils we must seek some other causes, and not God.

Notes and citation

Summary: God, being good, is not the cause of evils.

Plato, Republic 2.379b–c.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; words run together in the digital text): αἴτιοντὸ → αἴτιον τὸ; ἀνθρώοις → ἀνθρώποις.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 379b–c (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.11 (Dindorf 2:167; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-11). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.12Dindorf 2:167

Ἀληθέστατα, ἔφη, δοκεῖς μοι λέγειν. Οὐκ ἄρα, ἦν δʼ ἐγὼ, ἀποδεκτέον οὔτε Ομήρου οὔτε ἄλλου ποιητοῦ ταύτην τὴν ἁμαρτίαν περὶ τοὺς θεοὺς ἀνοήτως ἁμαρτάνοντος, καὶ λέγοντος ὡς δοιοὶ πίθοι κατακείαται ἐν Δῖός οὔδει κηρῶν ἔμπλειοι, ὁ μὲν ἐσθλῶν, αὐτὰρ ὁ δειλῶν·

Alēthestata, ephē, dokeis moi legein. Ouk ara, ēn dʼ egō, apodekteon oute Omērou oute allou poiētou tautēn tēn hamartian peri tous theous anoētōs hamartanontos, kai legontos hōs doioi pithoi katakeiatai en Dios oudei kērōn empleioi, ho men esthlōn, autar ho deilōn;

You seem to me to speak most truly, he said. Then we must not accept, I said, from Homer or any other poet, this foolish error about the gods, when he says that “two jars stand on the floor of Zeus, full of fates, the one of good, the other of evil;”

Notes and citation

Summary: Homer’s two jars of Zeus are rejected.

Plato, Republic 2.379c–d, quoting Homer, Iliad 24.527–528 (in a form differing slightly from our Homer).

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 379c–d (Plato (works); quotation); Homer, Il. 24.527–528 (Homer, Iliad; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.12 (Dindorf 2:167; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-12). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.13Dindorf 2:167

καὶ ᾧ μὲν ἂν μίξας ὁ Ζεὺς ἀμφοτέρων δῷ, ἄλλοτε μέν γε κακῷ ὅ γε κύρεται, ἄλλοτε δʼ ἐσθλῷ. ᾧ δʼ ἂν μὴ, ἀλλʼ ἄκρατα τὰ ἕτερα, τὸν δὲ κακὴ βούβρωστις ἐπὶ χθόνα δῖαν ἐλαύνει·

kai hǭ men an mixas ho Zeus amphoterōn dǭ, allote men ge kakǭ ho ge kyretai, allote dʼ esthlǭ. hǭ dʼ an mē, allʼ akrata ta hetera, ton de kakē boubrōstis epi chthona dian elaunei;

“and to whom Zeus gives a mixture of both, he meets now with evil, now with good;” but to whom he gives not so, but the one kind unmixed, “him evil hunger drives over the divine earth;”

Notes and citation

Summary: Further lines of Homer on Zeus’ gifts are rejected.

Plato, Republic 2.379d, quoting Homer, Iliad 24.530–532 (freely).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (page subdivision letter leaked into the digital text): ἐλαύνει· c → ἐλαύνει·.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 379d (Plato (works); quotation); Homer, Il. 24.530–532 (Homer, Iliad; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.13 (Dindorf 2:167; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-13). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.14Dindorf 2:167–168

οὐδʼ ὡς ταμίας ὁ Ζεὺς ἡμῖν ἀγαθῶν τε κακῶν τε τέτυκται. τὴν δὲ τῶν ὅρκων καὶ σπονδῶν σύγχυσιν, ἣν ὁ Πάνδαρος συνέχεεν, ἐάν τις φῇ διʼ Ἀθηνᾶς τε καὶ Δῖός γεγονέναι, οὐκ ἐπαινεσόμεθα· οὐδὲ θεῶν ἔριν τε καὶ κρίσιν διὰ Θέμιδός τε καὶ Δῖός· οὐδʼ αὖ, ὡς Αίσχύλος λέγει, ἐατέον ἀκούειν τοὺς νέους, ὅτι θεὸς μὲν αἰτίαν φύει βροτοῖς, ὅταν κακῶσαι δῶμα παμπήδην θέλῃ.

oudʼ hōs tamias ho Zeus hēmin agathōn te kakōn te tetyktai. tēn de tōn horkōn kai spondōn synchysin, hēn ho Pandaros synecheen, ean tis phę̄ diʼ Athēnas te kai Dios gegonenai, ouk epainesometha; oude theōn erin te kai krisin dia Themidos te kai Dios; oudʼ au, hōs Aischylos legei, eateon akouein tous neous, hoti theos men aitian phyei brotois, hotan kakōsai dōma pampēdēn thelę̄.

nor that Zeus “is made the steward for us of good and evil alike.” And as for the breaking of the oaths and truce, which Pandarus brought about, if anyone says it came about through Athena and Zeus, we shall not approve; nor the strife and judgment of the gods through Themis and Zeus; nor again must we let the young hear, as Aeschylus says, that “God plants a cause in mortals when he wishes to destroy a house utterly.”

Notes and citation

Summary: Poets who make the gods causes of evil are rejected, including Aeschylus.

Plato, Republic 2.379e–380a. Zeus as steward: compare Homer, Iliad 4.84; 19.224; Pandarus: Iliad 4; the strife of the gods: Iliad 20.4; Aeschylus, Niobe (fragment).

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 379e–380a (Plato (works); quotation); Homer, Il. 4.84 (Homer, Iliad; quotation); Aeschylus, Niobe (fragment) (Aeschylus (plays and fragments); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.14 (Dindorf 2:167–168; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-14). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.15Dindorf 2:168

ἀλλʼ ἐάν τις ποιῇ ἐν οἶς ταῦτα τὰ ἰαμβεῖα ἔνεστι, τὰ τῆς Νιόβης πάθη ἤ τὰ Πελοπιδῶν ἤ τὰ Τρωϊκὰ ἤ τι ἄλλο τῶν τοιούτων, ἤ οὐ θεοῦ ἔργα ἐατέον αὐτὰ λέγειν, ἤ εἰ θεοῦ, ἐξευρετέον αὐτοῖς σχεδὸν ὅν νῦν ἡμεῖς λόγον ζητοῦμεν, καὶ λεκτέον ὡς ὁ μὲν θεὸς δίκαιά τε καὶ ἀγαθὰ εἰργάζετο, οἱ δὲ ὠνίναντο κολαζόμενοι. ὡς δʼ ἄθλιοι μὲν οἱ δίκην διδόντες, ἦν δὲ ὁ δρῶν ταῦτα θεὸς, οὐκ ἐκτέον λέγειν τὸν ποιητήν.

allʼ ean tis poię̄ en ois tauta ta iambeia enesti, ta tēs Niobēs pathē ē ta Pelopidōn ē ta Trōïka ē ti allo tōn toioutōn, ē ou theou erga eateon auta legein, ē ei theou, exeureteon autois schedon hon nyn hēmeis logon zētoumen, kai lekteon hōs ho men theos dikaia te kai agatha eirgazeto, hoi de ōninanto kolazomenoi. hōs dʼ athlioi men hoi dikēn didontes, ēn de ho drōn tauta theos, ouk ekteon legein ton poiētēn.

But if anyone composes a work containing these iambics, the sufferings of Niobe, or of the descendants of Pelops, or the Trojan tale, or anything else of this kind, we must either not allow him to say they are the deeds of God, or if of God, he must find for them something like the account we are now seeking, and must say that God did what was just and good, and that they were benefited by being punished. But that those who pay the penalty are miserable, and that the one who did this was God, the poet must not be allowed to say.

Notes and citation

Summary: If misfortunes are ascribed to God, they must be presented as just and beneficial punishment.

Plato, Republic 2.380a–b.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 380a–b (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.15 (Dindorf 2:168; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-15). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.16Dindorf 2:168

ἀλλʼ εἰ μὲν ὅτι ἐδεήθησαν κολάσεως λέγοιεν ὡς ἄθλιοι οἱ κακοὶ, διδόντες δὲ δίκην ὠφελοῦντο ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ, ἐατέον.

allʼ ei men hoti edeēthēsan kolaseōs legoien hōs athlioi hoi kakoi, didontes de dikēn ōphelounto hypo tou theou, eateon.

But if they should say that the wicked were miserable because they needed punishment, and that in paying the penalty they were benefited by God, that must be allowed.

Notes and citation

Summary: Punishment from God may be described as beneficial.

Plato, Republic 2.380b.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 380b (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.16 (Dindorf 2:168; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-16). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.17Dindorf 2:168

κακῶν δὲ αἴτιον φάναι θεόν τινι γίγνεσθαι ἀγαθὸν ὄντα, διαμαχητέον παντὶ τρόπῳ, μήτε τινὰ ταῦτα λέγειν ἐν τῇ ἑαυτοῦ πόλει, εἰ μέλλει εὐνομήσεσθαι, μήτε τινὰ ἀκούειν, μήτε νεώτερον μήτε πρεσβύτερον, μήτε ἐν μέτρῳ μήτʼ ἄνευ μέτρου μυθολογοῦντα, ὡς οὔτε ὅσια ἄν λεγόμενα, εἰ λέγοιτο, οὔτε ξύμφορα ἡμῖν οὔτε ξύμφωνα αὐτὰ αὑτοῖς.

kakōn de aition phanai theon tini gignesthai agathon onta, diamachēteon panti tropǭ, mēte tina tauta legein en tę̄ heautou polei, ei mellei eunomēsesthai, mēte tina akouein, mēte neōteron mēte presbyteron, mēte en metrǭ mētʼ aneu metrou mythologounta, hōs oute hosia an legomena, ei legoito, oute xymphora hēmin oute xymphōna auta hautois.

But that God, being good, becomes the cause of evils to anyone, we must contend against in every way, that no one should say this in his own city, if it is to be well governed, and that no one, younger or older, should hear it, whether told in verse or without verse; since such things, if said, would be neither holy, nor profitable to us, nor consistent with themselves.

Notes and citation

Summary: The claim that God causes evil must be resisted in every way.

Plato, Republic 2.380b–c.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 380b–c (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.17 (Dindorf 2:168; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-17). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.18Dindorf 2:168

Ξύμψηφός σοι εἰμὶ, ἔφη, τούτου τοῦ νόμου, κάμοὶ ἀρέσκει. Οὖτος μὲν τοίνυν, ἦν δʼ ἐγὼ, εἶς ἄν εἴη τῶν περὶ θεοῦ νόμων τε καὶ τύπων, ἐν οἶς δεήσει τούς τε λέγοντας λέγειν καὶ τοὺς ποιοῦντας ποιεῖν μὴ πάντων αἴτιον τὸν θεὸν, ἀλλὰ τῶν ἀγαθῶν. Καὶ μάλα, ἔφη, ἀπόχρη.

Xympsēphos soi eimi, ephē, toutou tou nomou, kamoi areskei. Outos men toinyn, ēn dʼ egō, eis an eiē tōn peri theou nomōn te kai typōn, en ois deēsei tous te legontas legein kai tous poiountas poiein mē pantōn aition ton theon, alla tōn agathōn. Kai mala, ephē, apochrē.

I vote with you for this law, he said, and it pleases me. This, then, I said, would be one of the laws and patterns concerning God, by which speakers must speak and poets compose: that God is not the cause of all things, but of the good. And it is quite sufficient, he said.

Notes and citation

Summary: First law: God is the cause only of good.

Plato, Republic 2.380c.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 380c (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.18 (Dindorf 2:168; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-18). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.19Dindorf 2:168

Τί δὲ δὴ ὁ δεύτερος ὅδε; ἆρα γόητα τὸν θεὸν οἴει εἶναι, καὶ οἶον ἐξ ἐπιβουλῆς φαντάζεσθαι ἄλλοτε ἐν ἄλλαις ἰδεαις, τοτὲ μὲν αὐτὸν γιγνόμενον καὶ ἀλλάττοντα τὸ αὑτοῦ εἶδος εἰς πολλὰς μορφὰς, τοτὲ δὲ ἡμᾶς ἀπατῶντα καὶ ποιοῦντα περὶ αὑτοῦ τοιαῦτα δοκεῖν, ἤ ἁπλοῦν τε εἶναι, καὶ πάντων ἥκιστα τῆς αὑτοῦ ἰδέας ἐκβαίνειν; Οὐκ ἔχω, ἔφη, νῦν γε οὕτως εἰπεῖν.

Ti de dē ho deuteros hode? ara goēta ton theon oiei einai, kai oion ex epiboulēs phantazesthai allote en allais ideais, tote men auton gignomenon kai allattonta to hautou eidos eis pollas morphas, tote de hēmas apatōnta kai poiounta peri hautou toiauta dokein, ē haploun te einai, kai pantōn hēkista tēs hautou ideas ekbainein? Ouk echō, ephē, nyn ge houtōs eipein.

And what of this second one? Do you think God is a sorcerer, who appears by design now in one form and now in another, at one time himself changing and altering his own shape into many forms, at another deceiving us and making us think such things of him? Or is he simple, and least of all things departs from his own form? I cannot say offhand, he said.

Notes and citation

Summary: Second question: does God change his form or deceive?

Plato, Republic 2.380d.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (stray letter in the digital text): πκαὶ οἶον → καὶ οἶον; πἐκβαίνειν → ἐκβαίνειν.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 380d (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.19 (Dindorf 2:168; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-19). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.20Dindorf 2:168–169

Τί δὲ τόδε; οὐκ ἀνάγκη, εἴπερ τι ἐξίσταιτο τῆς αὑτοῦ ἰδέας, ἢ αὐτὸ ὑφʼ αὑτοῦ μεθίστασθαι, ἢ ὑπʼ ἄλλου; Ἀνάγκη. Οὐκοῦν ὑπὸ μὲν ἄλλου τὰ ἄριστα ἔχοντα ἥκιστα ἀλλοιοῦταί τε καὶ κινεῖται, οἶον σῶμα ὑπὸ σιτίων τε καὶ ποτῶν καὶ πόνων, καὶ πᾶν φυτὸν ὑπὸ εἰλήσεων τε καὶ ἀνέμων καὶ τῶν τοιούτων παθημάτων, οὐ τὸ ὑγιέστατόν τε καὶ χαριέστατον ἥκιστα ἀλλοιοῦται; Πῶς δʼ οὔ;

Ti de tode? ouk anankē, eiper ti existaito tēs hautou ideas, ē auto hyphʼ hautou methistasthai, ē hypʼ allou? Anankē. Oukoun hypo men allou ta arista echonta hēkista alloioutai te kai kineitai, oion sōma hypo sitiōn te kai potōn kai ponōn, kai pan phyton hypo eilēseōn te kai anemōn kai tōn toioutōn pathēmatōn, ou to hygiestaton te kai chariestaton hēkista alloioutai? Pōs dʼ ou?

What of this? If anything departs from its own form, must it not be changed either by itself or by something else? It must. Are not things that are in the best condition least altered and moved by something else, as a body by food and drink and toil, and every plant by the heat of the sun and winds and such affections? Is not the healthiest and strongest least altered? Of course.

Notes and citation

Summary: What is best is least changed by external causes.

Plato, Republic 2.380d–e.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; words run together in the digital text): ὑγιέσταστόν → ὑγιέστατόν; ἥκισταἀλλοιοῦται → ἥκιστα ἀλλοιοῦται.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 380d–e (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.20 (Dindorf 2:168–169; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-20). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.21Dindorf 2:169

Ψυχὴν δὲ οὐ τὴν ἀνδρειοτάτην καὶ φρονιμωτάτην ἥκιστʼ ἄν τι πάθος ἔξωθεν ταράξειέτε φρονιμωτάτην Ναί. Καὶ μήν που καὶ τά γε ξύνθετα πάντα σκεύη τε καὶ οἰκοδομήματα καὶ ἀμφιέσματα, κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν λόγον, τὰ εὖ εἰργασμένα καὶ εὖ ἔχοντα ὑπὸ χρόνου τε καὶ τῶν ἄλλων παθημάτων ἥκιστα ἀλλοιοῦται. Ἒστι ταῦτα.

Psychēn de ou tēn andreiotatēn kai phronimōtatēn hēkistʼ an ti pathos exōthen taraxeiete phronimōtatēn Nai. Kai mēn pou kai ta ge xyntheta panta skeuē te kai oikodomēmata kai amphiesmata, kata ton auton logon, ta eu eirgasmena kai eu echonta hypo chronou te kai tōn allōn pathēmatōn hēkista alloioutai. Esti tauta.

And would not any affection from outside least disturb the soul that is bravest and wisest? Yes. And surely, on the same principle, all composite things, utensils and buildings and garments, those that are well made and in good condition are least altered by time and other affections. That is so.

Notes and citation

Summary: The best soul and the best-made things are least altered.

Plato, Republic 2.381a. The digital text repeats “wisest” after “disturb”, apparently a slip; Plato’s text adds “and alter”. Translated by sense.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 381a (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.21 (Dindorf 2:169; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-21). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.22Dindorf 2:169

Πᾶνʼ δὴ τὸ καλῶς ἔχον ἢ φύσει ἢ τέχνῃ ἢ ἀμφοτέροις ἐλαχίστην μεταβολὴν ὑπʼ ἄλλου ἐνδέχεται. Ἔοικεν. Ἀλλὰ μὴν ὁ θεός γε καὶ τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ πάντη ἄριστα ἔχει. Πῶς δʼ οὔ; Ταύτῃ μὲν δὴ ἥκιστʼ ἂν πολλὰς μορφὰς ἴσχοι ὁ θεός. Ἥκιστα δῆτα. Ἀλλʼ ἆρα αὐτὸς αὑτὸν μεταβάλλοι ἂν καὶ ἀλλοιοῖ; Δηλονότι, ἔφη, εἴπερ ἀλλοιοῦται.

Panʼ dē to kalōs echon ē physei ē technę̄ ē amphoterois elachistēn metabolēn hypʼ allou endechetai. Eoiken. Alla mēn ho theos ge kai ta tou theou pantē arista echei. Pōs dʼ ou? Tautę̄ men dē hēkistʼ an pollas morphas ischoi ho theos. Hēkista dēta. Allʼ ara autos hauton metaballoi an kai alloioi? Dēlonoti, ephē, eiper alloioutai.

Then everything that is in good condition, by nature or by art or by both, admits least of change from something else. So it seems. But God and what belongs to God are in every way in the best condition. Of course. In this way, then, God would least of all have many forms. Least of all, indeed. But would he change and alter himself? Clearly, he said, if he is altered at all.

Notes and citation

Summary: God, being in the best condition, is not changed by others.

Plato, Republic 2.381a–b.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (words run together in the digital text): μεταβολὴνὑπʼ → μεταβολὴν ὑπʼ.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 381a–b (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.22 (Dindorf 2:169; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-22). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.23Dindorf 2:169

Πότερον οὖν ἐπὶ τὸ βέλτιόν τε καὶ κάλλιον μεταβάλλει ἑαυτὸν, ἢ ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον καὶ αἴσχιον αὑτοῦ; Ἀνάγκη, ἔφη, ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον ἑαυτοῦ, εἴπερ ἀλλοιοῦται· οὐ γάρ που ἐνδεᾶ γε φήσομεν τὸν θεὸν κάλλους ἢ ἀρετῆς εἶναι. Ὀρθότατα, ἦν δʼ ἐγὼ, λέγεις. καὶ οὕτως ἔχοντος δοκεῖ ἄν τίς σοι, ὦ Ἀδείμαντε, ἑκὼν αὑτὸν χείρω ποιεῖν ὁπῃοῦν ἢ θεῶν ἢ ἀνθρώπων;

Poteron oun epi to beltion te kai kallion metaballei heauton, ē epi to cheiron kai aischion hautou? Anankē, ephē, epi to cheiron heautou, eiper alloioutai; ou gar pou endea ge phēsomen ton theon kallous ē aretēs einai. Orthotata, ēn dʼ egō, legeis. kai houtōs echontos dokei an tis soi, ō Adeimante, hekōn hauton cheirō poiein hopę̄oun ē theōn ē anthrōpōn?

Then does he change himself for the better and fairer, or for the worse and uglier than himself? Necessarily for the worse, he said, if he is altered; for we shall surely not say that God is lacking in beauty or virtue. Very right, I said. And this being so, do you think, Adeimantus, that anyone, whether of gods or men, would willingly make himself worse in any way?

Notes and citation

Summary: God could only change for the worse, which no one would choose.

Plato, Republic 2.381b–c.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 381b–c (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.23 (Dindorf 2:169; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-23). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.24Dindorf 2:169–170

Ἀδύνατον, ἔφη. Ἀδύνατον ἄρα, ἔφην, καὶ θεὸν ἐθέλειν αὑτὸν ἀλλοιοῦν, ἀλλʼ, ὡς ἔοικε, κάλλιστος καὶ ἄριστος ὢν εἰς τὸ δυνατὸν ἕκαστος αὐτῶν μένει ἀεὶ ἁπλῶς ἐν τῇ αὑτοῦ μορφῇ. Πᾶσα, ἔφη, ἀνάγκη ἔμοιγε δοκεῖ. Μηδεὶς ἄρα, ἦν δʼ ἐγὼ, ὦ ἄριστε, λεγέτω ἡμῖν τῶν ποιητῶν ὡς θεοὶ ξείνοισιν ἐοικότες ἀλλοδαποῖσιν, παντοῖοι τελέθοντες, ἐπιστρωφῶσι πόληας.

Adynaton, ephē. Adynaton ara, ephēn, kai theon ethelein hauton alloioun, allʼ, hōs eoike, kallistos kai aristos ōn eis to dynaton hekastos autōn menei aei haplōs en tę̄ hautou morphę̄. Pasa, ephē, anankē emoige dokei. Mēdeis ara, ēn dʼ egō, ō ariste, legetō hēmin tōn poiētōn hōs theoi xeinoisin eoikotes allodapoisin, pantoioi telethontes, epistrōphōsi polēas.

Impossible, he said. Then it is impossible, I said, that a god should wish to alter himself; but, as it seems, each of them, being as fair and good as possible, remains for ever simply in his own form. That seems to me entirely necessary, he said. Then let none of the poets, my good friend, I said, tell us that “gods, in the likeness of strangers from other lands, taking all kinds of shapes, go about the cities;”

Notes and citation

Summary: God remains forever in his own form; Homer’s disguised gods are rejected.

Plato, Republic 2.381c–d, quoting Homer, Odyssey 17.485–486.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 381c–d (Plato (works); quotation); Homer, Od. 17.485–486 (Homer, Odyssey; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.24 (Dindorf 2:169–170; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-24). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.25Dindorf 2:170

μηδὲ Πρωτέως τε καὶ Θέτιδος καταψευδέσθω μηδεὶς, μηδʼ ἐν τραγῳδίαις μηδʼ έν τοῖς ἄλλοις ποιἤμασιν εἰσαγέτω Ἥραν ἠλλοιωμένην, ὡς ἱέρειαν ἀγείρουσαν Ἰνάχου Ἀργείου ποταμοῦ παισὶν βιοδώροις.

mēde Prōteōs te kai Thetidos katapseudesthō mēdeis, mēdʼ en tragǭdiais mēdʼ en tois allois poiēmasin eisagetō Hēran ēlloiōmenēn, hōs hiereian ageirousan Inachou Argeiou potamou paisin biodōrois.

nor let anyone tell lies about Proteus and Thetis, nor bring in Hera, in tragedies or in other poems, transformed, as a priestess begging “for the life-giving children of Inachus, the Argive river.”

Notes and citation

Summary: Tales of shape-changing gods in tragedy are rejected.

Plato, Republic 2.381d; the verse is from Aeschylus, Xantriae (a fragment known only from Plato).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (line-end hyphen left in the digital text): ποι- ἤμασιν → ποιἤμασιν.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 381d (Plato (works); quotation); Aeschylus, Xantriae (fragment) (Aeschylus (plays and fragments); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.25 (Dindorf 2:170; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-25). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.26Dindorf 2:170

καὶ ἄλλα τοιαῦτα πολλὰ μὴ ἡμῖν ψευδέσθωσαν. μηδʼ αὖ ὑπὸ τούτων ἀναπειθόμεναι αἶ μητέρες τὰ παιδία ἐκδειματούντων, λέγουσαι τοὺς μύθους κακῶς, ὡς ἄρα θεοί τινες περιέρχονται νύκτωρ πολλοῖς ξένοις καὶ παντοδαποῖς ἰνδαλλόμενοι, ἵνα μὴ ἅμα μὲν εἰς θεοὺς βλασφημῶσιν, ἅμα δὲ τοὺς παῖδας ἀπεργάζωνται δειλοτέρους. Μὴ γὰρ, ἔφη.

kai alla toiauta polla mē hēmin pseudesthōsan. mēdʼ au hypo toutōn anapeithomenai ai mēteres ta paidia ekdeimatountōn, legousai tous mythous kakōs, hōs ara theoi tines perierchontai nyktōr pollois xenois kai pantodapois indallomenoi, hina mē hama men eis theous blasphēmōsin, hama de tous paidas apergazōntai deiloterous. Mē gar, ephē.

And let them not tell us many other such lies. Nor again let mothers, persuaded by them, terrify their children by telling the tales badly, that certain gods go about by night in the likeness of many strangers of all kinds, so that they may not both blaspheme against the gods and at the same time make their children more cowardly. No, indeed, he said.

Notes and citation

Summary: Mothers must not frighten children with tales of gods roaming in disguise.

Plato, Republic 2.381e.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (words run together in the digital text): θεοίτινες → θεοί τινες.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 381e (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.26 (Dindorf 2:170; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-26). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.27Dindorf 2:170

Ἀλλʼ ἆρα, ἦν δʼ ἐγὼ, αὐτοὶ μὲν οἶ θεοί εἰσιν οἷοι μὴ μεταβάλλειν, ἡμᾶς δὲ ποιοῦσι δοκεῖν σφᾶς παντοδαποὺς φαίνεσθαι ἐξαπατῶντες καὶ γοητεύοντες; Ἴσως, ἔφη. Τί δέ; ἦν δʼ ἐγώ· ψεύδεσθαι ὁ θεὸς ἐθέλοι ἂν ἢ λόγῳ ἢ ἔργῳ φαντάσματα προτείνων; Οὐκ οἶδα, ἦ δʼ ὅς.

Allʼ ara, ēn dʼ egō, autoi men oi theoi eisin hoioi mē metaballein, hēmas de poiousi dokein sphas pantodapous phainesthai exapatōntes kai goēteuontes? Isōs, ephē. Ti de? ēn dʼ egō; pseudesthai ho theos etheloi an ē logǭ ē ergǭ phantasmata proteinōn? Ouk oida, ē dʼ hos.

But perhaps, I said, the gods themselves are such as not to change, but make us think that they appear in all sorts of forms, deceiving and bewitching us? Perhaps, he said. What then? I said. Would God be willing to lie, in word or deed, by presenting a phantom? I do not know, he said.

Notes and citation

Summary: Could God deceive by false appearances?

Plato, Republic 2.381e–382a.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip): ματαβάλλειν → μεταβάλλειν.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 381e–382a (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.27 (Dindorf 2:170; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-27). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.28Dindorf 2:170

Οὐκ οἶσθα, ἦν δʼ ἐγὼ, ὅτι τό γε ὡς ἀληθῶς ψεῦδος, εἰ οἷόν τε τοῦτʼ εἰπεῖν, πάντες θεοί τε καὶ ἄνθρωποι μισοῦσι; Πῶς, ἔφη, λέγεις; Οἶσθά που, ἦν δʼ ἐγὼ, ὅτι τῷ κυριωτάτῳ ἑαυτῶν ψεύδεσθαι καὶ περὶ τὰ κυριώτατα οὐδεὶς ἑκὼν ἐθέλει, ἀλλὰ πάντων μάλιστα φοβεῖται ἐκεῖ αὐτὸ κεκτῆσθαι. Οὐδὲ νῦν πω, ἦ δʼ ὃς, μανθάνω.

Ouk oistha, ēn dʼ egō, hoti to ge hōs alēthōs pseudos, ei hoion te toutʼ eipein, pantes theoi te kai anthrōpoi misousi? Pōs, ephē, legeis? Oistha pou, ēn dʼ egō, hoti tǭ kyriōtatǭ heautōn pseudesthai kai peri ta kyriōtata oudeis hekōn ethelei, alla pantōn malista phobeitai ekei auto kektēsthai. Oude nyn pō, ē dʼ hos, manthanō.

Do you not know, I said, that the true lie, if one may so call it, is hated by all gods and men? How do you mean? he said. You know, I suppose, I said, that no one is willing to be deceived in the most sovereign part of himself and about the most sovereign things, but fears above all to have falsehood there. Even now I do not understand, he said.

Notes and citation

Summary: All gods and men hate the “true lie” in the soul.

Plato, Republic 2.382a.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (line number leaked into the digital text): Οὐκ οἶσθα 5 ἦν → Οὐκ οἶσθα, ἦν.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 382a (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.28 (Dindorf 2:170; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-28). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.29Dindorf 2:170

Οἴει γάρ τί με, ἔφην, σεμνὸν λέγειν· ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὅτι τῇ ψυχῇ περὶ τὰ ὄντα ψεύδεσθαί τε καὶ ἐψεῦσθαι καὶ ἀμαθῆ εἶναι καὶ ἐνταῦθα ἔχειν τε καὶ κεκτῆσθαι τὸ ψεῦδος πάντες ἥκιστʼ ἂν δέξαιντο καὶ μισοῦσι μάλιστα αὐτὸ ἐν τῷ τοιούτῳ.

Oiei gar ti me, ephēn, semnon legein; egō de legō hoti tę̄ psychę̄ peri ta onta pseudesthai te kai epseusthai kai amathē einai kai entautha echein te kai kektēsthai to pseudos pantes hēkistʼ an dexainto kai misousi malista auto en tǭ toioutǭ.

For you think I am saying something grand, I said. But I mean that to be deceived and to have been deceived in the soul about the things that are, and to be ignorant, and to have and hold falsehood there, is what all would least accept, and they hate it most of all in such a place.

Notes and citation

Summary: Ignorance in the soul about reality is the falsehood men hate most.

Plato, Republic 2.382b.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 382b (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.29 (Dindorf 2:170; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-29). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.30Dindorf 2:170–171

Πολύ γʼ, ἔφη. Ἀλλὰ μὴν ὀρθότατά γʼ ἂν, ὃ νῦν δὴ ἔλεγον, τοῦτο ὡς ἀληθῶς ψεῦδος καλοῖτο, ἡ ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ τοῦ ἐψευσμένου ἄγνοια, ἐπεὶ τό γε ἐν τοῖς λόγοις μίμημά τι τοῦ ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ ἐστι παθήματος καὶ ὕστερον γεγονὸς εἴδωλον, οὐ πάνυ ἄκρατον ψεῦδος. ἢ οὐχ οὕτω; Πάνυ μὲν οὑν.

Poly gʼ, ephē. Alla mēn orthotata gʼ an, ho nyn dē elegon, touto hōs alēthōs pseudos kaloito, hē en tę̄ psychę̄ tou epseusmenou agnoia, epei to ge en tois logois mimēma ti tou en tę̄ psychę̄ esti pathēmatos kai hysteron gegonos eidōlon, ou pany akraton pseudos. ē ouch houtō? Pany men houn.

Very much so, he said. But surely, as I said just now, this would most rightly be called the true lie: the ignorance in the soul of one deceived; for the lie in words is a kind of imitation of the affection in the soul, an image that comes after, not a wholly unmixed lie. Is it not so? Quite so.

Notes and citation

Summary: The lie in words is only an image of the true lie, ignorance in the soul.

Plato, Republic 2.382b–c.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 382b–c (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.30 (Dindorf 2:170–171; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-30). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.31Dindorf 2:171

Τὸ μὲν δὴ τῷ ὄντι ψεῦδος οὐ μόνον ὑπὸ θεῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑπὸ ἀνθρώπων μισεῖται. Δοκεῖ μοι. Τί δὲ δή; τὸ ἐν τοῖς λόγοις ψεῦδος πότε καὶ ἐν τῷ χρήσιμον, ὥστε μὴ ἄξιον εἶναι μίσους; ἆρʼ οὐ πρός τε τοὺς πολεμίους καὶ τῶν καλουμένων φίλων, ὅταν διὰ μανίαν ἤ τινα ἄνοιαν κακόν τι ἐπιχειρῶσι πράττειν, τότε ἀποτροπῆς ἕνεκα ὡς φάρμακον χρήσιμον γίγνεται;

To men dē tǭ onti pseudos ou monon hypo theōn, alla kai hypo anthrōpōn miseitai. Dokei moi. Ti de dē? to en tois logois pseudos pote kai en tǭ chrēsimon, hōste mē axion einai misous? arʼ ou pros te tous polemious kai tōn kaloumenōn philōn, hotan dia manian ē tina anoian kakon ti epicheirōsi prattein, tote apotropēs heneka hōs pharmakon chrēsimon gignetai?

The real lie, then, is hated not only by gods but also by men. I think so. What of the lie in words? When and to whom is it useful, so as not to deserve hatred? Is it not useful against enemies, and with those we call friends, when through madness or some folly they try to do something evil, then as a medicine to turn them from it?

Notes and citation

Summary: A lie in words can be useful as medicine against enemies or deranged friends.

Plato, Republic 2.382c.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 382c (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.31 (Dindorf 2:171; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-31). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.32Dindorf 2:171

καὶ ἐν αἷς νῦν δὴ ἐλέγομεν ταῖς μυθολογίαις, διὰ τὸ μὴ εἰδέναι ὅπη τἀληθὲς ἔχει περὶ τῶν παλαιῶν, ἀφομοιοῦντες τῷ ἀληθεῖ τὸ ψεῦδος ὅτι μάλιστα, οὕτω χρήσιμον ποιοῦμεν; Καὶ μάλα, ἦ δʼ ὃς, οὕτως ἔχει. Κατὰ τί δὴ οὖν τούτων τῷ θεῷ τὸ ψεῦδος χρήσιμον; πότερον διὰ τὸ μὴ εἰδέναι τὰ παλαιὰ ἀφομοιῶν ἂν ψεύδοιτο; Γελοῖον μέντἂν εἴη, ἔφη.

kai en hais nyn dē elegomen tais mythologiais, dia to mē eidenai hopē talēthes echei peri tōn palaiōn, aphomoiountes tǭ alēthei to pseudos hoti malista, houtō chrēsimon poioumen? Kai mala, ē dʼ hos, houtōs echei. Kata ti dē oun toutōn tǭ theǭ to pseudos chrēsimon? poteron dia to mē eidenai ta palaia aphomoiōn an pseudoito? Geloion mentan eiē, ephē.

And in the myths we were speaking of just now, because we do not know the truth about ancient things, we make the falsehood as much like the truth as possible, and so make it useful? Indeed, he said, it is so. In which of these ways, then, is falsehood useful to God? Would he lie through not knowing ancient things, making them seem likely? That would be absurd, he said.

Notes and citation

Summary: None of the uses of falsehood applies to God, who knows ancient things.

Plato, Republic 2.382c–d.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip): μ ΄λα → μάλα.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 382c–d (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.32 (Dindorf 2:171; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-32). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.33Dindorf 2:171

Ποιητὴς μὲν ἄρα ἐν θεῷ ψευδὴς οὐκ ἔνι; Οὔ μοι δοκεῖ. Ἀλλὰ δεδιὼς τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ἂν ψεύδοιτο; Πολλοῦ γε δεῖ. Ἀλλὰ διʼ οἰκείων ἄνοιαν, ἢ μανίαν; Ἀλλʼ οὐδεὶς, ἔφη, τῶν ἀνοήτων καὶ μαινομένων θεοφιλής. Οὐκ ἄρα ἐστὶν οὗ ἕνεκα ἂν θεὸς ψεύδοιτο; Οὐκ ἔστι. Πάντη ἄρα ἀψευδὲς τὸ δαιμόνιόν τε καὶ τὸ θεῖον. Παντάπάσι μὲν οὖν, ἔφη.

Poiētēs men ara en theǭ pseudēs ouk eni? Ou moi dokei. Alla dediōs tous echthrous an pseudoito? Pollou ge dei. Alla diʼ oikeiōn anoian, ē manian? Allʼ oudeis, ephē, tōn anoētōn kai mainomenōn theophilēs. Ouk ara estin hou heneka an theos pseudoito? Ouk esti. Pantē ara apseudes to daimonion te kai to theion. Pantapasi men oun, ephē.

Then there is no lying poet in God? I think not. But would he lie for fear of his enemies? Far from it. Or because of the folly or madness of his friends? But no one who is foolish or mad, he said, is dear to the gods. Then there is no reason why God should lie? There is none. Then the daimonic and the divine are in every way free from falsehood. Altogether, he said.

Notes and citation

Summary: God has no reason to lie and is wholly free of falsehood.

Plato, Republic 2.382d–e.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (line-end hyphen left in the digital text): Παντά- πάσι → Παντάπάσι.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 382d–e (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.33 (Dindorf 2:171; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-33). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.34Dindorf 2:171–172

Κομιδῆ ἄρα ὁ θεὸς ἀπλοῦν καὶ ἀληθὲς ἔν τʼ ἔργῳ καὶ λόγῳ, καὶ οὔτε αὐτὸς μεθέσταται, οὔτε ἄλλους ἐξαπατᾷ, οὔτε κατὰ φαντασίας, οὔτε κατὰ σημείων πομπὰς, οὔθʼ ὕπαρ οὔτʼ ὄναρ. Οὕτως, ἔφη, ἔμοιγε καὶ αὐτῷ φαίνεται σοῦ λέγοντος. Συγχωρεῖς ἄρα, ἔφην, τοῦτον δεύτερον τύπον εἶναι ἐν ᾧ δεῖ περὶ θεῶν καἰ λέγειν καὶ ποιεῖν, ὡς μήτε αὐτοὺς γόητας ὄντας τῷ μεταβάλλειν ἑαυτοὺς μήθʼ ἡμᾶς ψεύδεσι παράγειν ἐν λόγῳ ἢ ἔν ἔργω; Συγχωρῶ.

Komidē ara ho theos aploun kai alēthes en tʼ ergǭ kai logǭ, kai oute autos methestatai, oute allous exapatą, oute kata phantasias, oute kata sēmeiōn pompas, outhʼ hypar outʼ onar. Houtōs, ephē, emoige kai autǭ phainetai sou legontos. Synchōreis ara, ephēn, touton deuteron typon einai en hǭ dei peri theōn kai legein kai poiein, hōs mēte autous goētas ontas tǭ metaballein heautous mēthʼ hēmas pseudesi paragein en logǭ ē en ergō? Synchōrō.

Then God is altogether simple and true in deed and word, and neither changes himself nor deceives others, whether by appearances or by the sending of signs, whether waking or dreaming. So it seems to me too, he said, as you speak. You agree, then, I said, that this is the second pattern by which we must speak and compose about the gods: that they are not sorcerers who change themselves, nor lead us astray by falsehoods in word or deed? I agree.

Notes and citation

Summary: Second law: God is simple and true and neither changes nor deceives.

Plato, Republic 2.382e–383a. Plato’s text adds “or by words” (κατὰ λόγους), which Eusebius has in his paraphrase at 13.3.46; it is lacking here.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 382e–383a (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.34 (Dindorf 2:171–172; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-34). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.35Dindorf 2:172

Πολλὰ ἄρα Ὁμήρου ἐπαινοῦντες ἄλλα τοῦτο οὐκ ἐπαινεσόμεθα, τὴν τοῦ ἐνυπνίου πομπὴν ὑπὸ Διὸς τῷ Ἀγαμέμνονι· οὐδʼ Αἰσχύλου, ὅταν φῇ ἡ Θέτις, τὸν Ἀπόλλω ἐν τοῖς αὐτῆς γάμοις ᾄδοντα ἐνδατεῖσθαι τὰς ἑὰς εὐπαιδίας, νόσων τʼ απείρους καὶ μακραίωνος τύχας Παιὼν ἐπευφήμησεν, εὐθυμῶν ἐμέ. κἀγὼ τὸ Φοίβου θεῖον ἀψευδὲς στόμα ἤλπιζον εἶναι, μαντικῇ βρύον τέχνῃ. ὁ δʼ αὐτὸς ὑμνῶν, αὐτὸς ἐν θοίνῃ παρὼν, αὐτὸς τάδʼ εἰπὼν, αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ κτανὼν τὸν παῖδα τὸν ἐμόν.

Polla ara Homērou epainountes alla touto ouk epainesometha, tēn tou enypniou pompēn hypo Dios tǭ Agamemnoni; oudʼ Aischylou, hotan phę̄ hē Thetis, ton Apollō en tois autēs gamois ądonta endateisthai tas heas eupaidias, nosōn tʼ apeirous kai makraiōnos tychas Paiōn epeuphēmēsen, euthymōn eme. kagō to Phoibou theion apseudes stoma ēlpizon einai, mantikę̄ bryon technę̄. ho dʼ autos hymnōn, autos en thoinę̄ parōn, autos tadʼ eipōn, autos estin ho ktanōn ton paida ton emon.

Then, though we praise much in Homer, this we shall not praise: the sending of the dream by Zeus to Agamemnon; nor Aeschylus, when Thetis says that Apollo, singing at her wedding, dwelt on her happy motherhood: “free from sickness, and fortunes of long life, he hailed with a paean, cheering me. And I hoped that Phoebus’ divine mouth was free of falsehood, teeming with the prophetic art. But he himself who sang, himself present at the feast, himself who said these things, he it is who slew my son.”

Notes and citation

Summary: Homer’s lying dream and Aeschylus’ lying Apollo are rejected.

Plato, Republic 2.383a–b; Homer, Iliad 2.1–34; Aeschylus, an unidentified play (fragment). The text here is shorter than Plato’s at the start of the quotation (a line seems to have dropped out); translated as it stands.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; line number leaked into the digital text): ἐπανινοῦντες → ἐπαινοῦντες; ἐπαινεςόμεθα → ἐπαινεσόμεθα; Θέτις, 5 τὸν → Θέτις, τὸν; ἤλιπζον → ἤλπιζον.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 383a–b (Plato (works); quotation); Homer, Il. 2.1–34 (Homer, Iliad; allusion); Aeschylus, fragment (Aeschylus (plays and fragments); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.35 (Dindorf 2:172; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-35). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.36Dindorf 2:172

ὅταν τις τοιαῦτα λέγῃ περὶ θεῶν, χαλεπανοῦμέν τε καὶ χορὸν οὐ δώσομεν, οὐδὲ τοὺς διδασκάλους ἐάσομεν ἐπὶ παιδείᾳ χρῆσθαι τῶν νέων, εἰ μέλλουσιν ἡμῖν οἱ φύλακες θεοσεβεῖς τε καὶ θεῖοι γίγνεσθαι, καθʼ ὅσον ἀνθρώπῳ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον οἷόν τε. Παντάπασιν, ἔφη, ἔγωγε τοὺς τύπους τούτους συγχωρῶ, καὶ ὡς νόμοις ἂν αὐτοῖς χρῴμην.”

hotan tis toiauta legę̄ peri theōn, chalepanoumen te kai choron ou dōsomen, oude tous didaskalous easomen epi paideią chrēsthai tōn neōn, ei mellousin hēmin hoi phylakes theosebeis te kai theioi gignesthai, kathʼ hoson anthrōpǭ epi pleiston hoion te. Pantapasin, ephē, egōge tous typous toutous synchōrō, kai hōs nomois an autois chrǭmēn.”

When anyone says such things about the gods, we shall be angry and refuse him a chorus, nor shall we allow teachers to use them for the education of the young, if our guardians are to be god-fearing and godlike, so far as is possible for a human being. I entirely agree with these patterns, he said, and would use them as laws.”

Notes and citation

Summary: Poets who speak so of the gods are excluded from education.

Plato, Republic 2.383c.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip): χαλεπανομέν → χαλεπανοῦμέν.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 383c (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.36 (Dindorf 2:172; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-36). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.37Dindorf 2:172

Ταῦτα μὲν ὁ Πλάτων. εὕροις δʼ ἂν τὴν Ἑβραίων γραφὴν οὐδαμῶς μὲν μύθους αἰσχροὺς περὶ Τοῦ τῶν ὅλων θεοῦ, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ περὶ τῶν ἀμφʼ αὐτὸν θείων ἀγγέλων, οὐδέ γε περὶ τῶν θεοφιλῶν ἀνδρῶν ὁμοίως ταῖς Ἑλληνικαῖς θεολογίαις περιέχουσαν, τὸν δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ Πλάτωνος ἐκτεθέντα τύπον, ὅτι τε ἀγαθὸς ὢν ὁ θεὸς τυγχάνει, καὶ τὰ πρὸς αὐτοῦ γεγονότα πάντα τοιαῦτα.

Tauta men ho Platōn. heurois dʼ an tēn Hebraiōn graphēn oudamōs men mythous aischrous peri Tou tōn holōn theou, allʼ oude peri tōn amphʼ auton theiōn angelōn, oude ge peri tōn theophilōn andrōn homoiōs tais Hellēnikais theologiais periechousan, ton de hypo tou Platōnos ektethenta typon, hoti te agathos ōn ho theos tynchanei, kai ta pros autou gegonota panta toiauta.

So much for Plato. But you would find that the Scripture of the Hebrews contains no shameful myths at all about the God of the universe, nor even about the divine angels around him, nor indeed about the men dear to God, as the Greek theologies do; rather it contains the pattern set out by Plato, that God is good and that all things made by him are of the same kind.

Notes and citation

Summary: Hebrew Scripture has no shameful myths and teaches, like Plato, that God and his works are good.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.37 (Dindorf 2:172; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-37). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.38Dindorf 2:172–173

ἐφʼ ἑκάστῳ δʼ οὖν τῶν δημιουργημάτων ὁ θαυμάσιος Μωςῆς ἐπιλέγει “καὶ εἶδεν ὁ θεὸς ὅτι καλόν.” ἐπί τε πᾶσι τὸν περὶ πάντων συγκεφαλαιούμενος λόγον φηςὶ “καὶ εἶδεν ὁ θεὸς πάντα ὅσα ἐποίησε, καὶ ἰδοὺ καλὰ λίαν.” δόγμα δʼ Ἑβραίων ἐστὶ καὶ τὸ μὴ εἶναι τὸν θεὸν κακῶν αἴτιον, εἰ δὴ ὁ θεὸς θάνατον οὐκ ἐποίησεν, οὐδὲ τέρπεται ἐπʼ ἀπωλείᾳ ζώντων· ἔκτισε γὰρ εἰς τὸ εἶναι τὰ πάντα, καὶ σωτήριοι αἱ γενέσεις τοῦ κόσμου· “φθόνῳ δὲ διαβόλου θάνατος εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸν κόσμον.”

ephʼ hekastǭ dʼ oun tōn dēmiourgēmatōn ho thaumasios Mōsēs epilegei “kai eiden ho theos hoti kalon.” epi te pasi ton peri pantōn synkephalaioumenos logon phēsi “kai eiden ho theos panta hosa epoiēse, kai idou kala lian.” dogma dʼ Hebraiōn esti kai to mē einai ton theon kakōn aition, ei dē ho theos thanaton ouk epoiēsen, oude terpetai epʼ apōleią zōntōn; ektise gar eis to einai ta panta, kai sōtērioi hai geneseis tou kosmou; “phthonǭ de diabolou thanatos eisēlthen eis ton kosmon.”

At each of the things he made, the admirable Moses adds, “And God saw that it was good.” And summing up the account of all things, he says, “And God saw all things that he had made, and behold, they were very good.” It is also a doctrine of the Hebrews that God is not the cause of evils, since “God did not make death, nor does he delight in the destruction of the living; for he created all things that they might exist, and the generations of the world are wholesome”; “but through the envy of the devil death entered into the world.”

Gen 1:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 1:31 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Moses calls all God’s works good; Scripture teaches that God is not the cause of evils.

Gen 1:10–25, 31; Wisdom of Solomon 1:13–14; 2:24.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (line-end hyphen left in the digital text): διαβό- λου → διαβόλου.

Extrabiblical texts: Wis 1:13–14 (Wisdom of Solomon [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation); Wis 2:24 (Wisdom of Solomon [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.38 (Dindorf 2:172–173; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-38). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.39Dindorf 2:173

διὸ καὶ παρὰ τῷ προφήτῃ εἰσῆκται λέγων ὁ θεὸς πρὸς τὸν ἐξ οἰκείας προαιρέσεως κακὸν γεγενημένον. “ἐγὼ δὲ ἐφύτευσά σε ἄμπελον καρποφόρον πᾶσαν ἀληθινήν· πῶς ἐστράφης εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω ἡ ἄμπελος ἡ ἀλλοτρία;” εἰ δέ που λέγοιτο κακὰ τοῖς φαύλοις ἐκ θεοῦ συμβαίνειν, ὁμωνύμως ἀκουστέον, ὡς τῶν τιμωριῶν οὕτω κεκλημένων, ἃς ἀγαθὸς ὢν ὁ θεὸς οὐκ ἐπὶ βλάβῃ τῶν τιμωρουμένων, ἐπʼ ὠφελείᾳ δὲ καὶ συμφέροντι λέγεται ἐπάγειν· ὥσπερ ἂν καὶ ἰατρὸς ἐπὶ σωτηρίᾳ τῶν καμνόντων κακὰ νομίζοιτο προσφέρειν τὰς ἀλγεινὰς καὶ πικρὰς θεραπείας.

dio kai para tǭ prophētę̄ eisēktai legōn ho theos pros ton ex oikeias proaireseōs kakon gegenēmenon. “egō de ephyteusa se ampelon karpophoron pasan alēthinēn; pōs estraphēs eis ta opisō hē ampelos hē allotria?” ei de pou legoito kaka tois phaulois ek theou symbainein, homōnymōs akousteon, hōs tōn timōriōn houtō keklēmenōn, has agathos ōn ho theos ouk epi blabę̄ tōn timōroumenōn, epʼ ōpheleią de kai sympheronti legetai epagein; hōsper an kai iatros epi sōtērią tōn kamnontōn kaka nomizoito prospherein tas algeinas kai pikras therapeias.

Therefore in the prophet too God is introduced saying to him who became evil by his own choice: “But I planted you a fruitful vine, wholly true; how have you turned back, you strange vine?” And if anywhere it is said that evils come upon the wicked from God, it must be understood in a different sense, punishments being so called, which God, being good, is said to inflict not to harm those punished but for their benefit and advantage; just as a physician might be thought to apply evils when, for the saving of the sick, he applies painful and bitter remedies.

Jer 2:21 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The vine passage shows evil comes from free choice; God’s punishments are remedies like a physician’s.

Jer 2:21 (Septuagint). Eusebius has “turned back” where the usual Septuagint text has “turned to bitterness.”

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (line-end hyphen left in the digital text): σω- τηρίᾳ → σωτηρίᾳ.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.39 (Dindorf 2:173; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-39). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.40Dindorf 2:173

διὸ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς θείας γραφῆς ἔνθα εἴρηται κακὰ ἀνθρώποις ἐπάγεσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ, τὰ παρὰ τῷ Πλάτωνι λεκτέον, ὡς ὁ μὲν θεὸς δίκαιά τε καὶ ἀγαθὰ εἰργάζετο, καὶ ὅτε τὰ σκυθρωπὰ καὶ ἀνθρώποις κακὰ νενομισμένα τοῖς τούτων ἀξίοις ἐπῆγεν, οἱ δὲ ὤναντο κολαζόμενοι, οὐ μόνον κατὰ τὸν φιλόσοφον, ἀλλὰ καὶ κατὰ τὴν Ἑβραίων γραφὴν λέγουσαν “ὃν γὰρ ἀγαπᾷ κύριος παιδεύει· μαστιγοῖ δὲ πάντα υἱὸν ὃν παραδέχεται.”

dio kai epi tēs theias graphēs entha eirētai kaka anthrōpois epagesthai hypo tou theou, ta para tǭ Platōni lekteon, hōs ho men theos dikaia te kai agatha eirgazeto, kai hote ta skythrōpa kai anthrōpois kaka nenomismena tois toutōn axiois epēgen, hoi de ōnanto kolazomenoi, ou monon kata ton philosophon, alla kai kata tēn Hebraiōn graphēn legousan “hon gar agapą kyrios paideuei; mastigoi de panta huion hon paradechetai.”

So too in the divine Scripture, where evils are said to be brought upon men by God, we must say what Plato says: that God did what was just and good, and when he brought gloomy things, thought evils by men, upon those who deserved them, they were benefited by being punished, not only according to the philosopher but also according to the Scripture of the Hebrews, which says, “For whom the Lord loves he disciplines, and he scourges every son whom he receives.”

Prov 3:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Heb 12:6 (quotation, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Scripture’s “evils from God” are beneficial discipline, as both Plato and Proverbs teach.

Prov 3:12 (Septuagint), quoted also in Heb 12:6; Plato, Republic 2.380b.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (line number leaked into the digital text; words run together in the digital text): οἱ δὲὤναντο → οἱ δὲ ὤναντο; κύριος 25 παιδεύει → κύριος παιδεύει.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 380b (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.40 (Dindorf 2:173; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-40). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.41Dindorf 2:173

ὧς δʼ ἄθλιοι μὲν οἱ δίκην διδόντες, ἦν δʼ ὁ δρῶν ταῦτα ὁ θεὸς, οὐκ ἐατέον λέγειν τὸν ποιητὴν, ἀλλʼ εἰ μὲν ὅτι ἐδεήθησαν κολάσεως λέγοιεν ὡς ἄθλιοι κακοὶ, διδόντες δὲ δίκην ὠφελοῦντο ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ, ἐατέον· κακῶν δὲ αἴτιον φάναι θεόν τινι γίνεσθαι, ἀγαθὸν ὄντα, διαμαχητέον παντὶ τρόπῳ.

hōs dʼ athlioi men hoi dikēn didontes, ēn dʼ ho drōn tauta ho theos, ouk eateon legein ton poiētēn, allʼ ei men hoti edeēthēsan kolaseōs legoien hōs athlioi kakoi, didontes de dikēn ōphelounto hypo tou theou, eateon; kakōn de aition phanai theon tini ginesthai, agathon onta, diamachēteon panti tropǭ.

But that those who pay the penalty are miserable, and that the one who did this was God, the poet must not be allowed to say; but if they should say that the wicked were miserable because they needed punishment, and that in paying the penalty they were benefited by God, that must be allowed; but that God, being good, becomes the cause of evils to anyone, we must contend against in every way.

Notes and citation

Summary: Eusebius repeats Plato’s rule on divine punishment and applies it to Scripture.

Plato, Republic 2.380b, repeated.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 380b (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.41 (Dindorf 2:173; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-41). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.42Dindorf 2:173–174

ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ τοῦ μὴ ἀλλοιοῦσθαι τὸν θεὸν ἡ παρʼ ῾Εβραίὄις προφητεία ὧδέ πη ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ θεοῦ διδάσκει λέγουσα “ διότι ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὑμῶν, καὶ οὐκ ἠλλοίωμαι.” καὶ ἐν ταῖς θεολογίαις δὲ ὁ Δαβὶδ ἀναφωνεῖ λέγων “ πάντες ὡς ἱμάτιον παλαιωθήσονται, καὶ ὡσεὶ περιβόλαιον ἑλίξεις αὐτοὺς, καὶ ἀλλαγήσονται· σὺ δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς εἶ, καὶ τὰ ἔτη σου οὐκ ἐκλείψουσιν.”

alla kai peri tou mē alloiousthai ton theon hē parʼ ῾Ebraiois prophēteia hōde pē ek prosōpou tou theou didaskei legousa “ dioti egō kyrios ho theos hymōn, kai ouk ēlloiōmai.” kai en tais theologiais de ho Dabid anaphōnei legōn “ pantes hōs himation palaiōthēsontai, kai hōsei peribolaion helixeis autous, kai allagēsontai; sy de ho autos ei, kai ta etē sou ouk ekleipsousin.”

Moreover, concerning God’s not being changed, the prophecy among the Hebrews teaches somehow thus, speaking in the person of God: “For I am the Lord your God, and I am not changed.” And in his theologies David cries out, saying: “All will grow old like a garment, and like a cloak you will roll them up, and they will be changed; but you are the same, and your years will not fail.”

Mal 3:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 102:26 (101:27 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 102:27 (101:28 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Malachi and the Psalms teach God’s unchangeableness.

Mal 3:6; Ps 102:26–27 (Septuagint 101:27–28).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; line-end hyphen left in the digital text): ἀλλοι0ῦσθαι → ἀλλοιοῦσθαι; σὺ δέο αὐτὸς → σὺ δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς; Εβραί- ὄις → Εβραίὄις.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.42 (Dindorf 2:173–174; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-42). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.43Dindorf 2:174

εἰ δέ πη τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον εἰσάγουσιν ἐν εἴδει καὶ σχήματι ἀνθρωπείῳ παραφαινόμενον, λεκτέον ὡς οὐ κατὰ τοὺς Ἑλλήνων μύθους ὁμοίως Πρωτεῖ καὶ Θέτιδι καὶ Ἥρᾳ, οὐδʼ ὡς οἶ θεοὶ οἶ περιερχόμενοι νύκτωρ πολλοῖς ζῴοις καὶ παντοδαποῖς ἰνδαλλόμενοι, καὶ τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον ἀνθρώποις πεφηνότα εἰσάγουσιν οἱ Ἑβραίων λόγοι, ἀλλʼ ὡς αὐτὸς ὁ Πλάτων δεῖν ποτέ φησιν ἐπὶ φίλων εὐεργεσίᾳ, ὅταν διὰ μανίαν ἤ τινα ἄνοιαν κακόν τι ἐπιχειρῶσι πράττειν, τότε ἀποτροπῆς ἕνεκα ὡς φάρμακον χρήσιμον γενέσθαι τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ εἰς ἀνθρώπους πάροδον.

ei de pē ton tou theou logon eisagousin en eidei kai schēmati anthrōpeiǭ paraphainomenon, lekteon hōs ou kata tous Hellēnōn mythous homoiōs Prōtei kai Thetidi kai Hērą, oudʼ hōs oi theoi oi perierchomenoi nyktōr pollois zǭois kai pantodapois indallomenoi, kai ton tou theou logon anthrōpois pephēnota eisagousin hoi Hebraiōn logoi, allʼ hōs autos ho Platōn dein pote phēsin epi philōn euergesią, hotan dia manian ē tina anoian kakon ti epicheirōsi prattein, tote apotropēs heneka hōs pharmakon chrēsimon genesthai tēn tou theou eis anthrōpous parodon.

And if anywhere they bring in the Word of God appearing in human form and shape, it must be said that the writings of the Hebrews introduce the Word of God as having appeared to men, not as in the Greek myths, like Proteus and Thetis and Hera, nor like the gods who go about by night in the likeness of many and various creatures, but, as Plato himself says one must at times do for the benefit of friends, “when through madness or some folly they try to do something evil, then for the sake of turning them from it”, God’s coming among men became useful as a medicine.

Notes and citation

Summary: The Word’s appearances in human form are not deceptive transformations but a healing medicine.

Plato, Republic 2.381d–e, 382c, applied by Eusebius to the appearances of the Word.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (stray mark in the digital text): Πλάτωνʼ → Πλάτων.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 382c (Plato (works); allusion)

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.43 (Dindorf 2:174; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-43). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.44Dindorf 2:174

ἐπεὶ οὑν τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς ζῴων οὐδὲν ἢν θεοφιλέστερον γένος ἀνθρώπου, συγγενές τε καὶ οἰκεῖον τῷ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγῳ, παρʼ οὗ καὶ λογικὸς τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς φύσιν ἀπείργαστο, εἰκότως, οἷα φίλου ζῴου κηδόμενον, τὸν ἐπουράνιον λόγον ἥκειν ἐπὶ θεραπείᾳ φασὶ παντὸς τοὐ γένους, νόσον καὶ μανίαν ἔκτοπον ὑπομείναντος, ὡς μήτε τὸν πατέρα γινώσκειν θεὸν, μήτε τὴν οἰκείαν τῆς νοερᾶς φύσεως οὐσίαν, μήτʼ αὐ θεοῦ πρόνοιαν, σώτειραν τῶν ὅλων, εἰς ἀλόγου δὲ ζῴου σχεδὸν ὅσον παρατροπὴν ἥκοντος.

epei houn tōn epi gēs zǭōn ouden ēn theophilesteron genos anthrōpou, syngenes te kai oikeion tǭ tou theou logǭ, parʼ hou kai logikos tēn tēs psychēs physin apeirgasto, eikotōs, hoia philou zǭou kēdomenon, ton epouranion logon hēkein epi therapeią phasi pantos tou genous, noson kai manian ektopon hypomeinantos, hōs mēte ton patera ginōskein theon, mēte tēn oikeian tēs noeras physeōs ousian, mētʼ au theou pronoian, sōteiran tōn holōn, eis alogou de zǭou schedon hoson paratropēn hēkontos.

Since, then, of all living things on earth none was a race dearer to God than man, akin and related to the Word of God, from whom he had also received the rational nature of his soul, it was fitting, they say, that the heavenly Word, caring for him as for a dear creature, should come to heal the whole race, which had suffered a strange disease and madness, so as to know neither God the Father, nor the proper being of its own intellectual nature, nor again God’s providence, the savior of the universe, but had come almost to the derangement of an irrational animal.

Notes and citation

Summary: The Word came to heal humankind, which had fallen into a madness that forgot God and itself.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.44 (Dindorf 2:174; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-44). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.45Dindorf 2:174–175

διὸ δὴ τὸν σωτῆρα καὶ ἰατρὸν ἐπιστῆναι λέγουσιν, οὐ μὲν δὴ τῆς οἰκείας ἐκστάντα φύσεως, οὐδέ γε ψευσάμενον τοὺς ὁρῶντας, ἄμφω δὲ ἀληθῆ φυλάξαντα, τό τε ἀφανὲς καὶ τὸ ὁρώμενον. πῆ μὲν γὰρ ἀληθὴς ἄνθρωπος ἑωρᾶτο, πῆ δὲ θεοῦ λόγος ἦν ἀληθὴς, οὐ γοητεύων, οὐδὲ τοὺς θεωμένους ἐξαπατῶν, ἐπειδὴ τὸ θεῖον ἀψευδὲς καλῶς ἔχειν ἐδόκει καὶ Πλάτωνι.

dio dē ton sōtēra kai iatron epistēnai legousin, ou men dē tēs oikeias ekstanta physeōs, oude ge pseusamenon tous horōntas, amphō de alēthē phylaxanta, to te aphanes kai to horōmenon. pē men gar alēthēs anthrōpos heōrato, pē de theou logos ēn alēthēs, ou goēteuōn, oude tous theōmenous exapatōn, epeidē to theion apseudes kalōs echein edokei kai Platōni.

That is why they say the Savior and Physician came, not departing from his own nature, nor deceiving those who saw him, but preserving both truly, the invisible and the visible. For in one respect he was seen as a true man, and in another he was truly the Word of God, not bewitching or deceiving those who beheld him, since Plato too thought it right that the divine should be free from falsehood.

Notes and citation

Summary: The incarnate Word was truly man and truly the Word of God, without deception.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip): ἀρανὲς → ἀφανὲς.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.45 (Dindorf 2:174–175; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-45). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.46Dindorf 2:175

κομιδῇ ἄρα ὁ θεὸς λόγος ἁπλοῦς ὢν καὶ ἀληθὴς ἔν τε ἔργῳ καὶ λόγῳ, οὔτε αὐτὸς μεθίστατο, οὕτε ἄλλους ἐξηπάτα. οὔτε κατὰ φαντασίας, οὔτε κατὰ λόγους, οὔτε κατὰ σημείων πομπὰς, οὔθʼ οὐδʼ ὄναρ. πάντα γὰρ ὅσα τοιαῦτα, οἶα λογικῶν ψυχῶν ἰατρὸς, σωτηρίας ἕνεκα τοῦ παντὸς ἀνθρώπων γένους ἀληθῶς, ἀλλʼ οὐ δοκήσει διʼ οὗ ἀνείληφεν ἀνθρώπου διεπραγματεύσατο, τὴν πρὸς τὸν αὑτοῦ πατέρα φιλίαν τε καὶ ὑποστροφὴν διὰ τῆς κατηγγελμένης ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ θεογνωσίας τε καὶ ἀληθοῦς εὐσεβείας πᾶσιν ἡμῖν δωρούμένος.

komidę̄ ara ho theos logos haplous ōn kai alēthēs en te ergǭ kai logǭ, oute autos methistato, houte allous exēpata. oute kata phantasias, oute kata logous, oute kata sēmeiōn pompas, outhʼ oudʼ onar. panta gar hosa toiauta, oia logikōn psychōn iatros, sōtērias heneka tou pantos anthrōpōn genous alēthōs, allʼ ou dokēsei diʼ hou aneilēphen anthrōpou diepragmateusato, tēn pros ton hautou patera philian te kai hypostrophēn dia tēs katēngelmenēs hypʼ autou theognōsias te kai alēthous eusebeias pasin hēmin dōroumenos.

Truly, then, God the Word, being simple and true in deed and word, neither changed himself nor deceived others, whether by appearances, or by words, or by the sending of signs, or in dreams. For all such things, as physician of rational souls, he carried out for the salvation of the whole human race truly, and not in appearance, through the man whom he had taken up, granting to us all friendship with his own Father and return to him, through the knowledge of God and true godliness proclaimed by him.

Notes and citation

Summary: The Word acted truly, not in mere appearance, through the man he assumed, to reconcile all to the Father.

Adapting Plato, Republic 2.382e. “Not in appearance” (οὐ δοκήσει) excludes a docetic view. Something seems lost before “or in dreams” (Plato has “waking or dreaming”).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (line-end hyphen left in the digital text; stray bracket in the digital text): οὔθʼ] οὐδʼ → οὔθʼ οὐδʼ; δωρού- μένος → δωρούμένος.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 382e (Plato (works); allusion)

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.46 (Dindorf 2:175; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-46). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.3.47Dindorf 2:175

καὶ τὰ μὲν ἡμέτερα τοιαῦτα· τοῖς δὲ ἄλλως λέγουσι χαλεπανοῦμέν τε καὶ χορὸν οὐ δώσομεν, οὐδέ γε τοὺς διδασκάλους ἐάσομεν ἐπὶ παιδείᾳ χρῆσθαι τῶν νέων, εἰ μέλλουσιν ἡμῖν οἶ φύλακες θεοσεβεῖς τε καὶ θεῖοι γίνεσθαι, ὡς καὶ τῷ φιλοσόφῳ ἄριστα ἔχειν ἐδόκει.

kai ta men hēmetera toiauta; tois de allōs legousi chalepanoumen te kai choron ou dōsomen, oude ge tous didaskalous easomen epi paideią chrēsthai tōn neōn, ei mellousin hēmin oi phylakes theosebeis te kai theioi ginesthai, hōs kai tǭ philosophǭ arista echein edokei.

Such, then, is our teaching. But with those who speak otherwise we shall be angry and refuse them a chorus, nor shall we allow teachers to use them for the education of the young, if our guardians are to be god-fearing and godlike, as seemed best to the philosopher too.

Notes and citation

Summary: Eusebius applies Plato’s rule of exclusion to those who teach otherwise.

Plato, Republic 2.383c.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 383c (Plato (works); allusion)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.3.47 (Dindorf 2:175; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-3-47). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Preparation 13, chapter 4

13.4.1Dindorf 2:175

“ Αὐτοὶ γὰρ οἱ ἄνθρωποι τυγχάνουσι νομίζοντες τὸν Δία τῶν θεῶν ἄριστον καὶ δικαιότατον, καὶ τοῦτον ὁμολογοῦσι τὸν αὑτοῦ πατέρα δῆσαι, ὅτι τοὺς υἱεῖς κατέπινεν οὐκ ἐν δίκῃ, καὶ ἐκεῖνόν γε αὖ τὸν αὑτοῦ πατέρα ἐκτεμεῖν διʼ ἕτερα τοιαῦτα· ἐμοὶ δὲ χαλεπαίνουσιν ὅτι τῷ πατρὶ ἐπεξέρχομαι ἀδικοῦντι, καὶ οὕτως αὐτοὶ αὑτοῖς τὰ ἐναντία λέγουσι περί τε τῶν θεῶν καὶ περὶ ἐμοῦ.

“ Autoi gar hoi anthrōpoi tynchanousi nomizontes ton Dia tōn theōn ariston kai dikaiotaton, kai touton homologousi ton hautou patera dēsai, hoti tous huieis katepinen ouk en dikę̄, kai ekeinon ge au ton hautou patera ektemein diʼ hetera toiauta; emoi de chalepainousin hoti tǭ patri epexerchomai adikounti, kai houtōs autoi hautois ta enantia legousi peri te tōn theōn kai peri emou.

“For these very people believe that Zeus is the best and most just of the gods, and they admit that he bound his own father because he unjustly swallowed his sons, and that that father in turn castrated his own father for other such reasons; yet they are angry with me because I proceed against my father for his wrongdoing, and so they contradict themselves both about the gods and about me.

Notes and citation

Summary: Socrates (Euthyphro): people accept the crimes of Zeus and Cronus yet blame Euthyphro.

Plato, Euthyphro 5e–6a. The speaker here is Euthyphro, who is prosecuting his father.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (words run together in the digital text): τῷπατρὶ → τῷ πατρὶ.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Euthyphr. 5e–6a (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.4.1 (Dindorf 2:175; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-4-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.4.2Dindorf 2:175–176

Ἄρα γε, ὦ Εὐθύφρον, τοῦτʼ ἐστὶν οὗ ἕνεκα τὴν γραφὴν φεύγω ὅτι τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐπειδάν τις περὶ τῶν θεῶν λέγῃ, δυσχερῶς πως ἀποδέχομαι διʼ ἃ δὴ, ὡς ἔοικε, φήσει τίς με ἐξαμαρτάνειν. νῦν οὖν εἰ καὶ σοὶ ταῦτα συνδοκεῖ τῷ εὖ εἰδότι περὶ τῶν τοιούτων, ἀνάγκη δὴ, ὡς ἔοικε, καὶ ἡμῖν συγχωρεῖν. τί γὰρ καὶ φήσομεν, οἵ γε [καὶ]αὐτοὶ ὁμολογούμεν περὶ αὐτῶν μηδὲν εἰδέναι; ἀλλά μοι εἰπὲ πρὸς φιλίου, σὺ ὡς ἀληθῶς ἡγῇ ταῦτα οὕτω γεγονέναι; Καὶ ἔτι τούτων θαυμασιώτερα, ὧ Σώκρατες, ἃ οἱ πολλοὶ οὐκ ἴσασι.

Ara ge, ō Euthyphron, toutʼ estin hou heneka tēn graphēn pheugō hoti ta toiauta epeidan tis peri tōn theōn legę̄, dyscherōs pōs apodechomai diʼ ha dē, hōs eoike, phēsei tis me examartanein. nyn oun ei kai soi tauta syndokei tǭ eu eidoti peri tōn toioutōn, anankē dē, hōs eoike, kai hēmin synchōrein. ti gar kai phēsomen, hoi ge [kai]autoi homologoumen peri autōn mēden eidenai? alla moi eipe pros philiou, sy hōs alēthōs hēgę̄ tauta houtō gegonenai? Kai eti toutōn thaumasiōtera, hō Sōkrates, ha hoi polloi ouk isasi.

Is this, then, Euthyphro, the reason why I am being prosecuted, that whenever anyone says such things about the gods I somehow find them hard to accept? For this, it seems, someone will say I do wrong. Now then, if you too, who know such matters well, agree with these things, we too must agree, it seems. For what are we to say, we who admit that we ourselves know nothing about them? But tell me, by the god of friendship, do you truly believe these things happened so? Yes, Socrates, and things still more wonderful than these, which the many do not know.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Notes and citation

Summary: Socrates suggests that his doubts about such myths are why he is prosecuted.

Plato, Euthyphro 6a–b. The editor deletes “also” (καί) before “ourselves.”

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip): ἀλλ; αμοι εἰπὲ → ἀλλά μοι εἰπὲ; ἡγᾐ → ἡγῇ.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Euthyphr. 6a–b (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.4.2 (Dindorf 2:175–176; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-4-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.4.3Dindorf 2:176

Καὶ πόλεμον ἄρα ἡγῇ [σὺ εἰναι] τῷ ὄντι ἐν τοῖς θεοῖς πρὸς ἀλλήλους, καὶ ἔχθρας γε δεινὰς καὶ μάχας καὶ ἄλλα τοιαῦτα πολλὰ, οἷα λέγεταί τε ὑπὸ τῶν ποιητῶν, καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν ἀγαθῶν γραφέων τά τε ἄλλα ἱερὰ ἡμῖν καταπεποίκιλται καὶ δὴ καὶ τοῖς μεγάλοις Παναθηναίοις ὁ πέπλος μεστὸς τῶν τοιούτων ποικιλμάτων ἀνάγεται εἰς τὴν ἀκρόπολιν. ταῦτα ἀληθῆ εἶναι φῶμεν, ὦ Εὐθύφρον;

Kai polemon ara hēgę̄ [sy einai] tǭ onti en tois theois pros allēlous, kai echthras ge deinas kai machas kai alla toiauta polla, hoia legetai te hypo tōn poiētōn, kai hypo tōn agathōn grapheōn ta te alla hiera hēmin katapepoikiltai kai dē kai tois megalois Panathēnaiois ho peplos mestos tōn toioutōn poikilmatōn anagetai eis tēn akropolin. tauta alēthē einai phōmen, ō Euthyphron?

Then do you believe there really is war among the gods against one another, and terrible enmities and battles and many other such things, such as are told by the poets, and with which our other sacred things are adorned by good painters, and especially the robe that is carried up to the Acropolis at the Great Panathenaea, full of such embroideries? Are we to say these things are true, Euthyphro?

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Notes and citation

Summary: Socrates asks whether the battles of the gods painted and woven at Athens are true.

Plato, Euthyphro 6b–c. The editor deletes “you to be” (σὺ εἶναι).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip): ἀκρότπολιν → ἀκρόπολιν.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Euthyphr. 6b–c (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.4.3 (Dindorf 2:176; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-4-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.4.4Dindorf 2:176

Μὴ μόνα γε, ὦ Σώκρατες, ἀλλʼ ὅπερ ἄρτι εἶπον, καὶ ἄλλα σοι ἐγὼ πολλὰ, ἐάν περ βούλῃ, περὶ τῶν θεῶν διηγήσομαι, ἃ σὺ ἀκούων εὖ οἶδʼ ὅτι ἐκπλαγήσῃ.” Ταῦτα ὁ Πλάτων ἐν τῷ Εὐθύφρονι. διασαφεῖ δὲ τὴν διάνοιαν ὁ Νουμήνιος ἐν τῷ περὶ τῶν παρὰ Πλάτωνι ἀπορρήτων ὧδέ πη λέγων

Mē mona ge, ō Sōkrates, allʼ hoper arti eipon, kai alla soi egō polla, ean per boulę̄, peri tōn theōn diēgēsomai, ha sy akouōn eu oidʼ hoti ekplagēsę̄.” Tauta ho Platōn en tǭ Euthyphroni. diasaphei de tēn dianoian ho Noumēnios en tǭ peri tōn para Platōni aporrētōn hōde pē legōn

Not only these, Socrates; but, as I said just now, I will also tell you, if you like, many other things about the gods which I am sure will astonish you when you hear them.” So Plato in the Euthyphro. And Numenius makes his meaning clear in his work On the Secrets in Plato, speaking somewhat as follows:

Notes and citation

Summary: Euthyphro offers more tales; Eusebius introduces Numenius.

Plato, Euthyphro 6c.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Euthyphr. 6c (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.4.4 (Dindorf 2:176; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-4-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Preparation 13, chapter 5

13.5.1Dindorf 2:176–177

“Εἰ μὲν γράφειν ὑποτεινάμενος ὁ Πλάτων περὶ τῆς θεολογίας τῆς τῶν Ἀθηναίων εἶτα ἐδυσχέραινεν αὐτῇ καὶ κατηγόρει ἐχούσῃ στάσεις μὲν πρὸς ἀλλήλους, τέκνων δὲ τῶν μὲν μίξεις, τῶν δὲ ἐδωδὰς, τῶν δὲ ἀντὶ τούτων πατράσι τιμωρίας ἀδελφῶν τε ἀδελφοῖς ὑμνούσῃ, καὶ ἄλλα τοιαῦτα· εἴπερ ὁ Πλάτων ταυτὰ λαβὼν εἰς τὸ φανερὸν κατηγόρει παρασχεῖν ἄν δοκεῖ μοι τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις αἰτίαν πάλιν κακοῖς γενέσθαι ἀποκτείνασι καὶ αὐτὸν, ὥσπερ τὸν Σωκράτην. ἐπεὶ δὲ ζῆν μὲν οὐκ ἂν προείλετο μᾶλλον ἢ ἀληθεύειν, ἑώρα δὲ ζῆν τε καὶ ἀληθεύειν ἀσφαλῶς δυνησόμενος, ἔθηκεν ἐν μὲν τῷ σχήματι τῶν Ἀθηναίων τὸν Εὐθύφρονα, ὄντα ἄνδρα ἀλαζόνα καὶ κοάλεμον καὶ εἴ τις ἄλλος θεολογεῖ κακῶς, αὐτὸν δὲ τὸν Σωκράτην ἐπʼ αὐτοῦ τε καὶ ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ σχηματισμῷ ἐν ᾧπερ εἰωθότως ἤλεγχεν ἑκάστῳ προσομιλῶν.”

“Ei men graphein hypoteinamenos ho Platōn peri tēs theologias tēs tōn Athēnaiōn eita edyscherainen autę̄ kai katēgorei echousę̄ staseis men pros allēlous, teknōn de tōn men mixeis, tōn de edōdas, tōn de anti toutōn patrasi timōrias adelphōn te adelphois hymnousę̄, kai alla toiauta; eiper ho Platōn tauta labōn eis to phaneron katēgorei paraschein an dokei moi tois Athēnaiois aitian palin kakois genesthai apokteinasi kai auton, hōsper ton Sōkratēn. epei de zēn men ouk an proeileto mallon ē alētheuein, heōra de zēn te kai alētheuein asphalōs dynēsomenos, ethēken en men tǭ schēmati tōn Athēnaiōn ton Euthyphrona, onta andra alazona kai koalemon kai ei tis allos theologei kakōs, auton de ton Sōkratēn epʼ autou te kai en tǭ idiǭ schēmatismǭ en hǭper eiōthotōs ēlenchen hekastǭ prosomilōn.”

“If Plato, having undertaken to write about the theology of the Athenians, had then shown his displeasure with it and accused it of telling of the gods’ factions against one another, and of the unions of some with their children, and of others devouring them, and of others in return punishing their fathers and brothers punishing brothers, and other such things; if Plato had taken these and accused them openly, he would, I think, have given the Athenians occasion to become wicked again and to kill him too, as they did Socrates. But since he would not have chosen to live rather than to tell the truth, and yet saw that he could both live and tell the truth safely, he put Euthyphro in the character of the Athenians, a boastful and stupid man and as bad a theologian as any, and set Socrates himself against him in his own character, in which he was accustomed to refute everyone he talked with.”

Notes and citation

Summary: Numenius: Plato criticized Athenian theology safely by putting it in Euthyphro’s mouth.

Numenius, On the Secrets in Plato (fragment 23 des Places).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; word broken in the digital text): σχηματισμῇ → σχηματισμῷ; προσο μίλων → προσομιλῶν.

Extrabiblical texts: Numenius, fr. 23 (Numenius of Apamea; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.5.1 (Dindorf 2:176–177; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-5-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Preparation 13, chapter 6

13.6.1Dindorf 2:177

“Ὠ φίλε Κρίτων, ἡ προθυμία σου πολλοῦ ἀξία, εἰ μετά τινος ὀρθότητος εἴη· εἰ δὲ μὴ, ὅσῳ μείζων, τοσούτῳ χαλεπωτέρα. σκοπεῖσθαι οὖν χρὴ ἡμᾶς, εἴτε ταῦτα πρακτέον εἴτε μὴ, ὡς ἐγὼ οὐ μόνον νῦν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀεὶ τοιοῦτος οἷος τῶν ἐμῶν μηδενὶ ἄλλῳ πείθεσθαι ἢ τῷ λόγῳ ὃς ἄν μοι λογιζομένῳ βέλτιστος φαίνηται.

“Ō phile Kritōn, hē prothymia sou pollou axia, ei meta tinos orthotētos eiē; ei de mē, hosǭ meizōn, tosoutǭ chalepōtera. skopeisthai oun chrē hēmas, eite tauta prakteon eite mē, hōs egō ou monon nyn, alla kai aei toioutos hoios tōn emōn mēdeni allǭ peithesthai ē tǭ logǭ hos an moi logizomenǭ beltistos phainētai.

“My dear Crito, your eagerness is worth a great deal, if it has some rightness with it; but if not, the greater it is, the harder it is to deal with. We must therefore consider whether we should do this or not; for I am not only now but always the kind of man who obeys nothing else in me but the reasoning that appears best to me when I reflect.

Notes and citation

Summary: Socrates (Crito): he follows only the best reasoning.

Plato, Crito 46b.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Crito 46b (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.6.1 (Dindorf 2:177; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-6-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.6.2Dindorf 2:177

τοὺς δὲ λόγους οὓς ἐν τῷ ἔμπροσθεν ἔλεγον οὐ δύναμαι νῦν ἐκβάλλειν, ἐπειδή μοι ἥδε ἡ τύχη γέγονεν, ἀλλὰ σχεδόν τι ὅμοιοι φαίνονταί μοι, καὶ τοὺς αὐτοὺς πρεσβεύω καὶ τιμῶ οὕσπερ καὶ πρότερον· ὧν ἐὰν μὴ βελτίω ἔχωμεν λέγειν ἐν τῷ παρόντι, εὖ ἴσθι ὅτι οὐ μή σοι συγχωρήσω, οὐδʼ ἂν πλείω τῶν νῦν παρόντων ἡ τῶν πολλῶν δύναμις ὥσπερ παῖδας ἡμᾶς μορμολύττηται, δεσμούς τε καὶ θανάτους ἐπιπέμπουσα καὶ χρημάτων ἀφαιρέσεις.

tous de logous hous en tǭ emprosthen elegon ou dynamai nyn ekballein, epeidē moi hēde hē tychē gegonen, alla schedon ti homoioi phainontai moi, kai tous autous presbeuō kai timō housper kai proteron; hōn ean mē beltiō echōmen legein en tǭ paronti, eu isthi hoti ou mē soi synchōrēsō, oudʼ an pleiō tōn nyn parontōn hē tōn pollōn dynamis hōsper paidas hēmas mormolyttētai, desmous te kai thanatous epipempousa kai chrēmatōn aphaireseis.

The arguments I used before I cannot now throw out because this fortune has come upon me; they seem to me much the same, and I respect and honor the same ones as before. Unless we can say something better at present, be sure that I will not give way to you, not even if the power of the many tries to frighten us like children with more bugbears than now, sending against us chains and deaths and confiscations of property.

Notes and citation

Summary: Socrates will not abandon his principles for fear of the many.

Plato, Crito 46b–c.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (accent slip in the digital text): τῶν πολλόν δύναμις → τῶν πολλῶν δύναμις.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Crito 46b–c (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.6.2 (Dindorf 2:177; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-6-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.6.3Dindorf 2:177

πῶς οὖν ἂν μετριώτατα σκοποίμεθα αὐτά; εἰ πρῶτον μὲν τοῦτον τὸν λόγον ἀναλάβοιμεν, ὃν σὺ λέγεις, τὸν περὶ τῶν δοξῶν, πότερον καλῶς ἐλέγετο ἑκάστοτε ἢ οὒ, ὅτι ταῖς μὲν δεῖ τῶν δοξῶν προσέχειν τὸν νοῦν, ταῖς δὲ οὔ· ἢ πρὶν μέν με δεῖν ἀποθνήσκειν καλῶς ἐλέγετο, νῦν δὲ κατάδηλος ἄρα ἐγένετο ὅτι ἄλλως ἕνεκα λόγου ἐλέγετο, ἦν δὲ παιδιὰ καὶ φλυαρία ὡς ἀληθῶς.

pōs oun an metriōtata skopoimetha auta? ei prōton men touton ton logon analaboimen, hon sy legeis, ton peri tōn doxōn, poteron kalōs elegeto hekastote ē ou, hoti tais men dei tōn doxōn prosechein ton noun, tais de ou; ē prin men me dein apothnēskein kalōs elegeto, nyn de katadēlos ara egeneto hoti allōs heneka logou elegeto, ēn de paidia kai phlyaria hōs alēthōs.

How, then, should we examine these things most reasonably? If first we take up this argument that you put forward about opinions, whether it was rightly said each time or not, that we should pay attention to some opinions and not to others? Or was it rightly said before I had to die, while now it has become plain that it was said merely for the sake of argument, and was really child’s play and nonsense?

Notes and citation

Summary: Socrates asks whether his principle about opinions still holds now that he faces death.

Plato, Crito 46c–d.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (stray stop in the digital text): μετριώτατα. σκοποίμεθα → μετριώτατα σκοποίμεθα.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Crito 46c–d (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.6.3 (Dindorf 2:177; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-6-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.6.4Dindorf 2:177–178

ἐπιθυμῶ δʼ ἔγωγε ἐπισκέψασθαι, ὦ Κρίτων, κοινῇ μετὰ σοῦ, εἴ τί μοι ἀλλοιότερος φανεῖται, ἐπειδὴ ὧδʼ ἔχω, ἢ ὁ αὐτὸς, καὶ ἐάσομεν χαίρειν ἢ πεισόμεθα αὐτῷ. ἐλέγετο δέ πως, ὡς ἐγᾦμαι, ἑκάστοτε ὧδε ὑπὸ τῶν οἰομένων τι λέγειν ὥσπερ νῦν δὴ ἐγὼ ἔλεγον, ὅτι τῶν δοξῶν ἃς οἱ ἄνθρωποι δοξάζουσι δέοι τὰς μὲν περὶ πολλοῦ ποιεῖσθαι, τὰς δὲ μή.

epithymō dʼ egōge episkepsasthai, ō Kritōn, koinę̄ meta sou, ei ti moi alloioteros phaneitai, epeidē hōdʼ echō, ē ho autos, kai easomen chairein ē peisometha autǭ. elegeto de pōs, hōs egǭmai, hekastote hōde hypo tōn oiomenōn ti legein hōsper nyn dē egō elegon, hoti tōn doxōn has hoi anthrōpoi doxazousi deoi tas men peri pollou poieisthai, tas de mē.

I long, Crito, to examine together with you whether it will appear any different to me now that I am in this situation, or the same, and whether we shall dismiss it or obey it. It used to be said, I think, each time, by those who thought they were saying something, as I was saying just now, that of the opinions men hold some should be valued highly and others not.

Notes and citation

Summary: The principle: some opinions are to be valued and others not.

Plato, Crito 46d.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; line-end hyphen left in the digital text): ἄνθωποι → ἄνθρωποι; ἀλλοιότε- ρος → ἀλλοιότερος.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Crito 46d (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.6.4 (Dindorf 2:177–178; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-6-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.6.5Dindorf 2:178

τοῦτο πρὸς θεῶν, ὦ Κρίτων, οὐ δοκεῖ καλῶς σοι λέγεσθαι; σὺ γὰρ, ὅσα γε τάνθρώπεια, ἐκτὸς εἶ τοῦ μέλλειν ἀποθνήσκειν αὔριον, καὶ οὐκ ἄν σε παρακρούοι ἡ παροῦσα συμφορά. σκόπει δή· οὐχ ἱκανῶς δοκεῖ σοι λέγεσθαι ὅτι οὐ πάσας χρὴ τὰς δόξας τὰς τῶν ἀνθρώπων τιμᾶν, ἀλλὰ τὰς μὲν, τὰς δʼ οὔ; οὐδὲ πάντων, ἀλλὰ τῶν μὲν, τῶν δʼ οὔ; τί φῄς; ταῦτα οὐχὶ καλῶς λέγεται; Καλῶς.

touto pros theōn, ō Kritōn, ou dokei kalōs soi legesthai? sy gar, hosa ge tanthrōpeia, ektos ei tou mellein apothnēskein aurion, kai ouk an se parakrouoi hē parousa symphora. skopei dē; ouch hikanōs dokei soi legesthai hoti ou pasas chrē tas doxas tas tōn anthrōpōn timan, alla tas men, tas dʼ ou? oude pantōn, alla tōn men, tōn dʼ ou? ti phę̄s? tauta ouchi kalōs legetai? Kalōs.

Tell me, by the gods, Crito, does this not seem to you well said? For you, as far as human things go, are in no danger of dying tomorrow, and the present misfortune would not lead you astray. Consider, then: does it not seem to you sufficiently said that we must not honor all the opinions of men, but some and not others, nor those of all men, but of some and not others? What do you say? Is this not well said? It is.

Notes and citation

Summary: Crito agrees that not all opinions or all men’s opinions are to be honored.

Plato, Crito 46d–47a.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Crito 46d–47a (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.6.5 (Dindorf 2:178; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-6-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.6.6Dindorf 2:178

Οὐκοῦν τὰς μὲν χρηστὰς τιμᾶν, τὰς δὲ πονηρὰς μή; Ναί. Χρησταὶ δὲ οὐχ αἱ τῶν φρονίμων, πονηραὶ δὲ αἱ τῶν ἀφρόνων; Πῶς δὲ οὔ; Φέρε δὴ, πῶς αὖ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐλέγετο; γυμναζόμενος ἀνὴρ καὶ τοῦτο πράττων πότερον παντὸς ἀνδρὸς ἐπαίνῳ καὶ ψόγῳ καὶ δόξῃ τὸν νοῦν προσέχει, ἢ ἑνὸς μόνου ἐκείνου ὃς ἂν τυγχάνῃ ἰατρὸς ἢ παιδοτρίβης ὤν; ῾Ενὸς μόνου.

Oukoun tas men chrēstas timan, tas de ponēras mē? Nai. Chrēstai de ouch hai tōn phronimōn, ponērai de hai tōn aphronōn? Pōs de ou? Phere dē, pōs au ta toiauta elegeto? gymnazomenos anēr kai touto prattōn poteron pantos andros epainǭ kai psogǭ kai doxę̄ ton noun prosechei, ē henos monou ekeinou hos an tynchanę̄ iatros ē paidotribēs ōn? ῾Enos monou.

Then the good ones are to be honored, and the bad ones not? Yes. And the good are those of the wise, and the bad those of the foolish? Of course. Come, then, how was this sort of thing put? Does a man in training, and practicing it, pay attention to the praise and blame and opinion of every man, or only of that one who happens to be a physician or trainer? Of that one alone.

Notes and citation

Summary: A man in training heeds only his trainer or physician.

Plato, Crito 47a–b.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Crito 47a–b (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.6.6 (Dindorf 2:178; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-6-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.6.7Dindorf 2:178–179

Οὐκοῦν φοβεῖσθαι χρὴ τοὺς ψόγους καὶ ἀσπάζεσθαι τοὺς ἐπαίνους τοὺς τοῦ ἑνὸς ἐκείνου, ἀλλὰ μὴ τοὺς τῶν πολλῶν. Δηλαδή. Ταύτῃ ἄρα αὐτῷ πρακτέον καὶ γυμναστέον, καὶ ἐδεστέον γε καὶ ποτέον, ᾗ ἂν τῷ ἐνὶ δοκῇ τῷ ἐπιστάτῃ καὶ ἐπαΐοντι μᾶλλον ἢ ξύμπασι τοῖς ἄλλοις. Ἒστι ταῦτα. Εἷεν. ἀπειθήσας δὲ τῷ ἐνὶ καὶ ἀτιμάσας αὐτοῦ τὴν δόξαν καὶ τοὺς ἐπαίνους, τιμήσας δὲ τοὺς τῶν πολλῶν καὶ μηδὲν ἐπαιόντων ἆρα οὐδὲν κακὸν πείσεται; Πῶς γὰρ οὔ; Τί δʼ ἐστὶ τὸ κακὸν τοῦτο; καὶ ποῖ τείνει, καὶ εἰς τί τῶν τοῦ ἀπειθοῦντος; Δηλονότι εἰς τὸ σῶμα· τοῦτο γὰρ διόλλυσι.

Oukoun phobeisthai chrē tous psogous kai aspazesthai tous epainous tous tou henos ekeinou, alla mē tous tōn pollōn. Dēladē. Tautę̄ ara autǭ prakteon kai gymnasteon, kai edesteon ge kai poteon, hę̄ an tǭ eni dokę̄ tǭ epistatę̄ kai epaïonti mallon ē xympasi tois allois. Esti tauta. Heien. apeithēsas de tǭ eni kai atimasas autou tēn doxan kai tous epainous, timēsas de tous tōn pollōn kai mēden epaiontōn ara ouden kakon peisetai? Pōs gar ou? Ti dʼ esti to kakon touto? kai poi teinei, kai eis ti tōn tou apeithountos? Dēlonoti eis to sōma; touto gar diollysi.

Then he should fear the blame and welcome the praise of that one man, and not of the many. Clearly. Then he must act and train, and eat and drink, in the way that seems good to the one man, the overseer who understands, rather than to all the rest together. That is so. Well then. If he disobeys the one and dishonors his opinion and praise, and honors those of the many who understand nothing, will he not suffer some harm? Of course. And what is this harm? Where does it tend, and to what part of the one who disobeys? Clearly to the body; for this it ruins.

Notes and citation

Summary: Disobeying the expert and following the many harms the body.

Plato, Crito 47b–c.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (accent slip in the digital text; stray mark in the digital text; stray stop in the digital text): Ταύτῃ. ἄρα → Ταύτῃ ἄρα; ἐπαί· οντι → ἐπαΐοντι; τοὺς τῶν πολλόν → τοὺς τῶν πολλῶν.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Crito 47b–c (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.6.7 (Dindorf 2:178–179; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-6-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.6.8Dindorf 2:179

Καλῶς λέγεις. οὐκοῦν καὶ τὰ ἄλλα, ὠ Κρίτων, οὕτως, ἵνα μὴ πάντα διίωμεν. καὶ δὴ καὶ περὶ τῶν δικαίων καὶ ἀδίκων καὶ αἰσχρῶν καὶ καλῶν καὶ ἀγαθῶν καὶ κακῶν, περὶ ὧν νῦν ἡ βουλὴ ἡμῖν ἐστι, πότερον τῇ τῶν πολλῶν δόξῃ δεῖ ἡμᾶς ἕπεσθαι καὶ φοβεῖσθαι αὐτὴν, ἢ τῇ τοῦ ἑνὸς, εἴ τίς ἐστιν ἐπαίων, ὅν δεῖ καὶ αἰσχύνεσθαι καὶ φοβεῖσθαι μᾶλλον ἢ ξύμπαντας τοὺς ἄλλους; ᾧ εἰ μὴ ἀκολουθήσομεν, διαφθεροῦμεν ἐκεῖνο καὶ λωβησόμεθα ὃ τῷ μὲν δικαίῳ βέλτιον ἐγίνετο, τῷ δὲ ἀδίκῳ ἀπώλλυτο. ἢ οὐδέν ἐστι τοῦτο; Οἶμαι ἔγωγε, ὠ Σώκρατες.

Kalōs legeis. oukoun kai ta alla, ō Kritōn, houtōs, hina mē panta diiōmen. kai dē kai peri tōn dikaiōn kai adikōn kai aischrōn kai kalōn kai agathōn kai kakōn, peri hōn nyn hē boulē hēmin esti, poteron tę̄ tōn pollōn doxę̄ dei hēmas hepesthai kai phobeisthai autēn, ē tę̄ tou henos, ei tis estin epaiōn, hon dei kai aischynesthai kai phobeisthai mallon ē xympantas tous allous? hǭ ei mē akolouthēsomen, diaphtheroumen ekeino kai lōbēsometha ho tǭ men dikaiǭ beltion egineto, tǭ de adikǭ apōllyto. ē ouden esti touto? Oimai egōge, ō Sōkrates.

You are right. And so with other things, Crito, so that we need not go through them all; and especially concerning things just and unjust, shameful and honorable, good and evil, about which we are now deliberating: must we follow the opinion of the many and fear it, or that of the one, if there is one who understands, whom we ought to respect and fear more than all the others together? If we do not follow him, we shall corrupt and maim that which used to become better by justice and was destroyed by injustice. Or is this nothing? I think it is something, Socrates.

Notes and citation

Summary: In matters of justice too, one must follow the one who understands, not the many.

Plato, Crito 47c–d.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (stray mark and broken word in the digital text): ’πό τερον → πότερον.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Crito 47c–d (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.6.8 (Dindorf 2:179; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-6-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.6.9Dindorf 2:179–180

Φέρε δὴ, ἐὰν τὸ ὑπὸ τοῦ ὑγιεινοῦ μὲν βέλτιον γινόμενον, ὑπὸ τοῦ νοσώδους δὲ διαφθειρόμενον διολέσωμεν, πειθόμενοι μὴ τῇ τῶν ἐπαιόντων δόξῃ, ἆρα βιωτὸν ἡμῖν ἐστι διεφθαρμένου αὐτοῦ; ἔστι δέ που τοῦτο σῶμα, ἢ οὐχί; Ναί. Ἀρʼ οὖν βιωτὸν ἡμῖν ἐστι μετὰ μοχθηροῦ καὶ διεφθαρμένου σώματος; Οὐδαμῶς.

Phere dē, ean to hypo tou hygieinou men beltion ginomenon, hypo tou nosōdous de diaphtheiromenon diolesōmen, peithomenoi mē tę̄ tōn epaiontōn doxę̄, ara biōton hēmin esti diephtharmenou autou? esti de pou touto sōma, ē ouchi? Nai. Arʼ oun biōton hēmin esti meta mochthērou kai diephtharmenou sōmatos? Oudamōs.

Come, then: if we destroy what is made better by the healthy and ruined by the unhealthy, by obeying an opinion not that of those who understand, is life worth living for us when it is ruined? And this, I suppose, is the body, is it not? Yes. Is life worth living with a wretched and ruined body? By no means.

Notes and citation

Summary: Life is not worth living with a ruined body.

Plato, Crito 47d–e.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Crito 47d–e (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.6.9 (Dindorf 2:179–180; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-6-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.6.10Dindorf 2:180

Ἀλλὰ μετʼ ἐκείνου ἄρα ἐστὶν ἡμῖν βιωτὸν διεφθαρμένου ὃ τὸ ἄδικον μὲν λωβᾶται, τὸ δὲ δίκαιον ὀνίνησιν; ἢ φαυλότερον ἡγούμεθα εἶναι τοῦ σώματος ἐκεῖνο, ὅ τι ποτʼ ἐστὶ τῶν ἡμετέρων, περὶ ὃ ἥ τε ἀδικία καὶ ἡ δικαιοσύνη ἐστίν; Οὐδαμῶς. Ἀλλὰ τιμιώτερον; Πολύ γε.

Alla metʼ ekeinou ara estin hēmin biōton diephtharmenou ho to adikon men lōbatai, to de dikaion oninēsin? ē phauloteron hēgoumetha einai tou sōmatos ekeino, ho ti potʼ esti tōn hēmeterōn, peri ho hē te adikia kai hē dikaiosynē estin? Oudamōs. Alla timiōteron? Poly ge.

But is life worth living for us when that is ruined which injustice maims and justice benefits? Or do we think that part of us, whatever it is, with which injustice and justice are concerned, to be inferior to the body? By no means. More precious, then? Far more.

Notes and citation

Summary: The part of us concerned with justice is far more precious than the body.

Plato, Crito 47e–48a.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Crito 47e–48a (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.6.10 (Dindorf 2:180; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-6-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.6.11Dindorf 2:180

Οὐκ ἄρα, ὠ βέλτιστε, πάνυ ἡμῖν οὕτω φροντιστέον τί ἐροῦσιν οἱ πολλοὶ ἡμᾶς, ἀλλὰ τί ὁ ἐπαίων περὶ τῶν δικαίων καὶ ἀδίκων, ὁ εἷς, καὶ αὐτὴ ἡ ἀλήθεια. ὥστε πρῶτον μὲν ταύτῃ οὐκ ὀρθῶς εἰσηγῇ, εἰσηγούμενος τῆς τῶν πολλῶν δόξης δεῖν ἡμᾶς φροντίζειν περὶ τῶν δικαίων καὶ καλῶν καὶ ἀγαθῶν καὶ τῶν ἐναντίων.”

Ouk ara, ō beltiste, pany hēmin houtō phrontisteon ti erousin hoi polloi hēmas, alla ti ho epaiōn peri tōn dikaiōn kai adikōn, ho heis, kai autē hē alētheia. hōste prōton men tautę̄ ouk orthōs eisēgę̄, eisēgoumenos tēs tōn pollōn doxēs dein hēmas phrontizein peri tōn dikaiōn kai kalōn kai agathōn kai tōn enantiōn.”

Then, my excellent friend, we should not care so very much what the many will say of us, but what the one who understands about just and unjust things will say, the one, and the truth itself. So first, in this, you are not proposing rightly when you propose that we must care about the opinion of the many concerning things just and honorable and good and their opposites.”

Notes and citation

Summary: We must heed the one who knows and the truth itself, not the many.

Plato, Crito 48a.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip): φροντέζειν → φροντίζειν.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Crito 48a (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.6.11 (Dindorf 2:180; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-6-11). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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13.6.12Dindorf 2:180

Καὶ ὁ σωτήριος δὲ λόγος φησὶ “ δόξαν τὴν παρὰ ἀνθρώπων ζητεῖτε, καὶ τὴν δόξαν τὴν παρὰ μόνου τοῦ ἑνὸς οὐ ζητεῖτε.” διὸ καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐν τοῖς ὑπὲρ εὐσεβείας ἀγῶσιν ὀρθῶς πράττομεν οὐ σκοποῦντες τί ἡμὰς οἶ πολλοὶ ἐροῦσιν, ἀλλὰ τί βούλεται εἷς ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγος, ὃν ἅπαξ κρίσει ἑλομένους προσήκει ὁμοίως καὶ τότε ὥσπερ αὖ καὶ πρότερον τιμᾶν, καὶ μὴ μετατίθεσθαι, μηδʼ ἂν ἡ τῶν πολλῶν δύναμις ὥσπερ παῖδας ἡμᾶς μορμολύττηται. τοιοῦτοι δὲ ἦσαν καὶ οἶ πάλαι παρʼ Ἑβραίοις ἐν μαρτυρίῳ διαλάμψαντες.

Kai ho sōtērios de logos phēsi “ doxan tēn para anthrōpōn zēteite, kai tēn doxan tēn para monou tou henos ou zēteite.” dio kai hēmeis en tois hyper eusebeias agōsin orthōs prattomen ou skopountes ti hēmas oi polloi erousin, alla ti bouletai heis ho tou theou logos, hon hapax krisei helomenous prosēkei homoiōs kai tote hōsper au kai proteron timan, kai mē metatithesthai, mēdʼ an hē tōn pollōn dynamis hōsper paidas hēmas mormolyttētai. toioutoi de ēsan kai oi palai parʼ Hebraiois en martyriǭ dialampsantes.

And the saving Word also says, “You seek the glory that comes from men, and you do not seek the glory that comes from the only One.” Therefore we too act rightly in our contests for godliness, not considering what the many will say of us, but what the one Word of God wills, whom, once we have chosen him by judgment, it is fitting to honor then just as before, and not to change sides, not even if the power of the many tries to frighten us like children. Such too were those among the Hebrews of old who shone in martyrdom.

John 5:44 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christians in persecution, like the Hebrew martyrs, heed the Word of God, not the many.

John 5:44 (freely). Eusebius applies Socrates’ words in Crito 46c to Christian martyrdom.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Crito 46c (Plato (works); allusion)

Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 13.6.12 (Dindorf 2:180; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/13-3-1/#p-13-6-12). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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