Preparation for the Gospel 4.20.1–5.3.10

Preparation 4, chapter 20

4.20.1Dindorf 1:199–200

“ Σπεύδοντος γοῦν τοῦ προφήτου αὐτοπτῆσαι τὸ θεῖον καὶ ἐπειγομένου ὁ Ἀπόλλων ἀδύνατον ἔφη τὸ τοιοῦτον πρὶν λύτρα τῷ πονηρῷ δαίμονι δοῦναι. λέγει δὲ οὕτως λύτρα δίδου γαίης πατρίης οἰκήτορι σεμνῷ, πρῶτα χοὰς, μετέπειτα πυρὴν ἠδʼ αἷμα κελαινὸν οἴνου παμμέλανός τʼ ὀίων θʼ ἅμα λευκὰ ῥέεθρα. καὶ σαφέστερον εἶπε περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν οἶνον καὶ γάλα βάλλε καὶ ὕδατος ἀγλαὸν εἶδος, καὶ ξύλα καρπὸν ἔχοντα διογνήτων ἀκυλάων· σπλάγχνα δὲ κατθέμενος λιπαροῖς ἅμα νάμασι σπένδε. μετὰ ποίας δὲ εὐχῆς ἐρωτηθεὶς ἤρξατο μὲν, οὐ μὴν ἐπλήρωσεν, οὕτως εἰπὼν δαῖμον ἀλιτρονόων ψυχῶν διάδημα λελογχὼς, ἠερίων ὑπένερθε μυχῶν χθονίων τʼ ἐγύπερθεν.”

“ Speudontos goun tou prophētou autoptēsai to theion kai epeigomenou ho Apollōn adynaton ephē to toiouton prin lytra tǭ ponērǭ daimoni dounai. legei de houtōs lytra didou gaiēs patriēs oikētori semnǭ, prōta choas, metepeita pyrēn ēdʼ haima kelainon oinou pammelanos tʼ oiōn thʼ hama leuka rheethra. kai saphesteron eipe peri tōn autōn oinon kai gala balle kai hydatos aglaon eidos, kai xyla karpon echonta diognētōn akylaōn; splanchna de katthemenos liparois hama namasi spende. meta poias de euchēs erōtētheis ērxato men, ou mēn eplērōsen, houtōs eipōn daimon alitronoōn psychōn diadēma lelonchōs, ēeriōn hypenerthe mychōn chthoniōn tʼ egyperthen.”

"At any rate, when the prophet was eager and pressing to see the divine with his own eyes, Apollo said that such a thing was impossible before giving ransoms to the wicked demon. He says thus: 'Give ransoms to the dread dweller of your native land: first libations, then a pyre, and the dark blood of black wine, and the white streams of sheep together.' And he spoke more clearly about the same things: 'Cast wine and milk and the bright form of water, and fruit-bearing wood of Zeus-born oaks; and laying down the entrails, pour libations with rich streams.' And when asked with what prayer, he began but did not finish, saying thus: 'Demon, who have received the crown of sinful souls, beneath the recesses of the air and above those of the earth.'"

Notes and citation

Summary: Porphyry records Apollo's oracle commanding offerings to a wicked demon before a vision of the divine.

Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles.

Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Porphyry, Phil. orac. (Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles (fragments); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.20.1 (Dindorf 1:199–200; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-4-20-1). (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.

4.20.2Dindorf 1:200

Ταῦτα μὲν ὁ θαυμάσιος θεὸς, μᾶλλον δὲ τὸ πολυπλανὲς δαιμόνιον· τὰ δὲ τοῦ κατὰ φύσιν λογισμοῦ τἀναντία, καθαίρειν τὴν ψυχὴν, ἀλλὰ μὴ θυσίαις ἐπισπᾶσθαι τοὺς πονηροὺς δαίμονας, παρακελευόμενα· καθαρᾷ γὰρ ψυχῇ μὴ ἐπιτίθεσθαι διὰ τὸ αὐτοῖς ἀνόμοιον. εἰ δὲ δὴ συνετὸς εἶναι καὶ σώφρων ἀνὴρ ὀρθῶς ἐκρίθη ὁ εὐλαβὴς καὶ μὴ θύων δαίμοσιν, ὁ τοῖς πονηροῖς θύειν διὰ τοῦ χρησμοῦ παραινῶν τίς ἂν εὐλόγως καὶ ποδαπὸς νομισθείη σοὶ καταλείπω σκοπεῖν.

Tauta men ho thaumasios theos, mallon de to polyplanes daimonion; ta de tou kata physin logismou tanantia, kathairein tēn psychēn, alla mē thysiais epispasthai tous ponērous daimonas, parakeleuomena; katharą gar psychę̄ mē epitithesthai dia to autois anomoion. ei de dē synetos einai kai sōphrōn anēr orthōs ekrithē ho eulabēs kai mē thyōn daimosin, ho tois ponērois thyein dia tou chrēsmou parainōn tis an eulogōs kai podapos nomistheiē soi kataleipō skopein.

So says the wonderful god, or rather the much-erring demon. But the teachings of natural reasoning command the opposite: to purify the soul, and not to draw the wicked demons by sacrifices; for they do not attack a pure soul, because it is unlike them. And if the man who is cautious and does not sacrifice to demons has rightly been judged wise and sober, I leave you to consider whom, and of what kind, one should reasonably think the one who advises through the oracle to sacrifice to the wicked.

Notes and citation

Summary: Apollo's oracle contradicts natural reason, revealing his character.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.20.2 (Dindorf 1:200; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-4-20-2). (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.

4.20.3Dindorf 1:200

ἐντεῦθεν δὲ ἀναδραμόντι προφανὲς ἔσται ποῖοί τινες ὑπῆρχον τὴν τοῦ τρόπου φύσιν οἱ ταῖς ἀνθρωποθυσίαις χαίροντες, ἢ οἱ τούτοις πᾶν τὸ ἀνθρώπινον γένος πάλαι πρότερον καταδεδουλωμένοι. εἰ δὲ λέγοι τις μὴ φαῦλον εἶναι τὸν τῆς ἀνθρωποθυσίας τρόπον, ὀρθότατα δʼ ὑπὸ τῶν παλαιῶν τελεῖσθαι, ὥρα τοῖς νῦν καταμέμφεσθαι πᾶσιν, ὅτι μηδεὶς ὁμοίως τοῖς πατράσιν εὐσεβεῖ.

enteuthen de anadramonti prophanes estai poioi tines hypērchon tēn tou tropou physin hoi tais anthrōpothysiais chairontes, ē hoi toutois pan to anthrōpinon genos palai proteron katadedoulōmenoi. ei de legoi tis mē phaulon einai ton tēs anthrōpothysias tropon, orthotata dʼ hypo tōn palaiōn teleisthai, hōra tois nyn katamemphesthai pasin, hoti mēdeis homoiōs tois patrasin eusebei.

Running back from here it will be plain what kind of character belonged to those who delighted in human sacrifices, or who formerly enslaved the whole human race to them. And if anyone should say that the practice of human sacrifice is not bad, but was most rightly performed by the ancients, it is time to blame all men now, because no one is as pious as their fathers.

Notes and citation

Summary: If human sacrifice were right, all people now would be impious for having abandoned it.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization): τοὐτοις → τούτοις.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.20.3 (Dindorf 1:200; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-4-20-3). (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.

Preparation 4, chapter 21

4.21.1Dindorf 1:200

Εἰ δʼ ἐμφρόνως οἱ καθʼ ἡμὰς τῆς ἀπηνοῦς καὶ ἀγρίας ὠμότητος τὴν ἀποστροφὴν ἐποιήσαντο, τῶν παλαιῶν οὐδεὶς ἦν ἄρα σοφὸς, τοὺς πονηροὺς δαίμονας ταῖς ἀνθρωποκτονίαις μειλισσόμενος. ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ τυφλῷ, φασὶ, δῆλον ὡς οὔτε θεοὶ ἂν εἶεν οὔτε δαίμονες ἀγαθοὶ οἱ πάλαι πρὸς τῶν ἐθνῶν ἁπάντων θεολογούμενοι, πορρωτάτω δὲ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ἐξῳκισμένοι.

Ei dʼ emphronōs hoi kathʼ hēmas tēs apēnous kai agrias ōmotētos tēn apostrophēn epoiēsanto, tōn palaiōn oudeis ēn ara sophos, tous ponērous daimonas tais anthrōpoktoniais meilissomenos. alla gar kai typhlǭ, phasi, dēlon hōs oute theoi an eien oute daimones agathoi hoi palai pros tōn ethnōn hapantōn theologoumenoi, porrōtatō de tou agathou exǭkismenoi.

But if the men of our time wisely turned away from the harsh and savage cruelty, then none of the ancients was wise who appeased the wicked demons with human killings. Indeed, even to a blind man, as they say, it is plain that those proclaimed as gods of old by all the nations would be neither gods nor good demons, but banished very far from the good.

Notes and citation

Summary: The gods who required human sacrifice were neither gods nor good demons.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization): τοὐ ἀγαθοῦ → τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.21.1 (Dindorf 1:200; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-4-21-1). (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.

4.21.2Dindorf 1:200–201

διὸ καὶ ἐνδίκως θεομάχοι τινὲς καὶ ἀσεβεῖς λεχθεῖεν ἂν, τὸν πάντα λυμηνάμενοι βίον, ὧν ἐξ αἰῶνος· οὐδεὶς ἢ μόνος ὁ σωτὴρ καὶ κύριος ἡμῶν ὁ Χριστὸς τοῦ θεοῦ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις τὴν φυγὴν προεξένησεν, εὐαγγελιζόμενος ὁμοῦ πάντας Ἕλληνάς τε καὶ βαρβάρους θεραπείαν τῆς πατρικῆς νόσου, καὶ τῆς πικρᾶς καὶ παλαιτάτης δουλείας ἐλευθερίαν· ἐφʼ ἣν σπεύδειν ὁ τῆς εὐαγγελικῆς ἀποδείξεως παρορμᾷ λόγος, μεγάλῃ τῇ φωνῇ τοῖς πᾶσιν εἰς ἐξάκουστον βοῶν “πνεῦμα κυρίου ἐπʼ ἐμὲ, οὗ ἕνεκεν ἔχρισέ με, εὐαγγελίσασθαι πτωχοῖς ἀπέσταλκέ με, κηρῦξαι αἰχμαλώτοις ἄφεσιν καὶ τυφλοῖς ἀνάβλεψιν, ἰάσασθαι τοὺς συντετριμμένους τὴν καρδίαν.’ καὶ πάλιν ἐξαγαγεῖν ἐκ δεσμῶν πεπεδημένους, καὶ ἐξ οἴκου φυλακῆς καθημένους ἐν σκότει.’’

dio kai endikōs theomachoi tines kai asebeis lechtheien an, ton panta lymēnamenoi bion, hōn ex aiōnos; oudeis ē monos ho sōtēr kai kyrios hēmōn ho Christos tou theou pasin anthrōpois tēn phygēn proexenēsen, euangelizomenos homou pantas Hellēnas te kai barbarous therapeian tēs patrikēs nosou, kai tēs pikras kai palaitatēs douleias eleutherian; ephʼ hēn speudein ho tēs euangelikēs apodeixeōs parormą logos, megalę̄ tę̄ phōnę̄ tois pasin eis exakouston boōn “pneuma kyriou epʼ eme, hou heneken echrise me, euangelisasthai ptōchois apestalke me, kēryxai aichmalōtois aphesin kai typhlois anablepsin, iasasthai tous syntetrimmenous tēn kardian.’ kai palin exagagein ek desmōn pepedēmenous, kai ex oikou phylakēs kathēmenous en skotei.’’

Therefore they might justly be called enemies of God and impious, having ruined all life; from whom, from all time, no one but our Savior and Lord, the Christ of God, provided for all men the means of escape, announcing as good news to all alike, Greeks and barbarians, the cure of their ancestral disease and freedom from their bitter and most ancient slavery. To this the word of the gospel demonstration urges us to hasten, crying with a loud voice to all, for all to hear: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me; he has sent me to proclaim good news to the poor, to preach release to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to heal the brokenhearted"; and again: "to bring out those bound from their chains, and from the prison house those who sit in darkness."

Isa 61:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 4:18 (allusion, medium confidence) · Isa 42:7 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Only Christ freed mankind from the demons, as Isaiah foretold.

Quotations: Isa 61:1 (compare Luke 4:18); Isa 42:7 (LXX wording).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization; digitization slip): πικρὰς → πικρᾶς; ἐξάχουστον → ἐξάκουστον.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.21.2 (Dindorf 1:200–201; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-4-21-2). (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.

4.21.3Dindorf 1:201

ταῦτα γὰρ ἄνωθεν ἐκ παλαιοῦ τὰ θεῖα ὡς ἀληθῶς παρʼ Ἑβραίοις ἐθέσπιζε λόγια, τὴν ἡμῶν τῶν πάλαι τυφλῶν τὰς ψυχὰς καὶ δαιμόνων πονηρῶν πολυπλόκοις δεσμοῖς πεπεδημένων ἀπολύτρωσιν εὐαγγελιζόμενα. ὅθεν εἰκότως τοὺς τῆς διανοίας ὀφθαλμοὺς πρὸς τοῦ σωτηρίου λόγου καταυγασθέντες, σώφρονές τε καὶ εὐλαβεῖς καὶ συνετοὶ γενόμενοι, καὶ πάντων ἐλεύθεροι κακῶν, οὔτε θύσομεν οὔτε δουλεύσομεν τοῖς τῶν ἐθνῶν νενομισμένοις θεοῖς, οἳ δὴ καὶ ἡμῶν τὸ πρὶν κατετυράννουν· ἀχθέντες δὲ καὶ προσαχθέντες ὑπὸ τῆς τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν διδασκαλίας τῷ μόνῳ καὶ ἀληθεῖ θεῷ, τῷ δὴ καὶ δεσπότῃ καὶ τροφεῖ, σωτῆρί τε καὶ εὐεργέτῃ, καὶ ἔτι ποιητῇ καὶ δημιουργῷ καὶ παμβασιλεῖ τῶν ὅλων, μόνον τοῦτον ἀληθῆ θεὸν ἡγησόμεθα, καὶ μόνῳ τὸ προσῆκον ἀπονεμοῦμεν σέβας, μόνον γεραίροντες καὶ μόνον αὐτὸν εὐσεβοῦντες, οὐχ ᾗ τοῖς δαίμοσι φίλον, ἀλλʼ ᾗ τῷ πρὸς αὐτοῦ καταπεμφθέντι πάντων ἀνθρώπων σωτῆρι διὰ τῆς εὐαγγελικῆς αὐτοῦ διδασκαλίας παραδέδοται.

tauta gar anōthen ek palaiou ta theia hōs alēthōs parʼ Hebraiois ethespize logia, tēn hēmōn tōn palai typhlōn tas psychas kai daimonōn ponērōn polyplokois desmois pepedēmenōn apolytrōsin euangelizomena. hothen eikotōs tous tēs dianoias ophthalmous pros tou sōtēriou logou kataugasthentes, sōphrones te kai eulabeis kai synetoi genomenoi, kai pantōn eleutheroi kakōn, oute thysomen oute douleusomen tois tōn ethnōn nenomismenois theois, hoi dē kai hēmōn to prin katetyrannoun; achthentes de kai prosachthentes hypo tēs tou sōtēros hēmōn didaskalias tǭ monǭ kai alēthei theǭ, tǭ dē kai despotę̄ kai trophei, sōtēri te kai euergetę̄, kai eti poiētę̄ kai dēmiourgǭ kai pambasilei tōn holōn, monon touton alēthē theon hēgēsometha, kai monǭ to prosēkon aponemoumen sebas, monon gerairontes kai monon auton eusebountes, ouch hę̄ tois daimosi philon, allʼ hę̄ tǭ pros autou katapemphthenti pantōn anthrōpōn sōtēri dia tēs euangelikēs autou didaskalias paradedotai.

For these things the truly divine oracles among the Hebrews foretold from of old, announcing the redemption of us who were formerly blind in soul and bound in the many-stranded chains of wicked demons. Therefore, having rightly had the eyes of our understanding enlightened by the saving word, and having become sober, reverent, wise, and free from all evils, we will neither sacrifice to nor serve the reputed gods of the nations, who once tyrannized over us too; but, led and brought by our Savior's teaching to the only and true God, who is Lord and nourisher, Savior and benefactor, and also maker, creator, and universal King of all things, we will hold him alone to be true God and give the fitting worship to him alone, honoring him alone and revering him alone, not in the way the demons like, but as has been handed down by the Savior of all men whom he sent, through his gospel teaching.

Notes and citation

Summary: Enlightened by the gospel, Christians worship only the one true God in the way Christ taught.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (repeated syllable in digitization): εὐλαβεῖς βεῖς → εὐλαβεῖς; εὐσεβοῦντες, τες, → εὐσεβοῦντες,.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.21.3 (Dindorf 1:201; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-4-21-3). (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.

4.21.4Dindorf 1:201–202

ταύτῃ δὲ θεοσεβοῦντες διώξομεν καὶ ἀπελάσομεν ἑαυτῶν, πολλοῦ δεῖ φοβηθησόμεθα, τοὺς πονηροὺς δαίμονας μόνας διʼ ἁγνείας καὶ καθαροῦ τρόπου βίου τε σώφρονος καὶ παναρέτου, τοῦ δὴ πρὸς τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν διωρισμένου. καθαρᾷ γὰρ μὴ δύνασθαι ψυχῇ πλησιάζειν διὰ τὸ ἀνόμοιον ὡμολόγηται ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ μαντείας καὶ χρησμῶν δεησόμεθα, οὐδὲ σπλάγχνα ζῴων διερευνήσομεν, οὐδέ τι τῶν διὰ δαιμονικῆς κινήσεως ἐνεργουμένων πολυπραγμονήσομεν.

tautę̄ de theosebountes diōxomen kai apelasomen heautōn, pollou dei phobēthēsometha, tous ponērous daimonas monas diʼ hagneias kai katharou tropou biou te sōphronos kai panaretou, tou dē pros tou sōtēros hēmōn diōrismenou. katharą gar mē dynasthai psychę̄ plēsiazein dia to anomoion hōmologētai allʼ oude manteias kai chrēsmōn deēsometha, oude splanchna zǭōn diereunēsomen, oude ti tōn dia daimonikēs kinēseōs energoumenōn polypragmonēsomen.

Worshipping God in this way, we will drive away and banish the wicked demons from ourselves, far from fearing them, by purity alone, a clean character, and a sober and all-virtuous life, the life prescribed by our Savior; for it is agreed that they cannot approach a pure soul because it is unlike them. Nor will we need divinations and oracles, nor search the entrails of animals, nor meddle with anything worked by demonic agency.

Notes and citation

Summary: Christians repel demons by purity of life and need no divination.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (letter lost in digitization; line-break hyphen rejoined; accent corrected; repeated syllables in digitization): ταύ- τῇ → ταύτῃ; δαίμονς → δαίμονας; κινήσεως νήσεως → κινήσεως.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.21.4 (Dindorf 1:201–202; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-4-21-4). (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.

4.21.5Dindorf 1:202

ὧν γὰρ ἕνεκα ταῦτα τοῖς πολλοῖς σπουδάζεται, τούτων ἡμῖν ἀφίστασθαι μελετᾶν ὁ τοῦ Χριστοῦ λόγος διεστείλατο, μόνων δὲ ἐκείνων ἐφίεσθαι προύτρεψε, περὶ ὧν ἀληθῶς μάντις μὲν οὐδεὶς οὐδὲ σπλάγχνα ζῴων μηνύσει τὸ σαφὲς, αὐτὸς δὲ μόνος ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγος, ὁ ἐν τοῖς ἀληθινοῖς ἐνοικῶν σπλάγχνοις τῶν οἴων τε αὐτὸν διʼ ἄκραν ψυχῆς καθαρότητα ἔνδον ἐν ἑαυτοῖς χωρεῖν. περὶ ὧν φησί που ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς γράμμασιν " ἐνοικήσω ἐν αὐτοῖς, καὶ ἐμπεριπατήσω, καὶ ἔσομαι αὐτῶν θεὸς, καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔσονταί μοι λαός.’’

hōn gar heneka tauta tois pollois spoudazetai, toutōn hēmin aphistasthai meletan ho tou Christou logos diesteilato, monōn de ekeinōn ephiesthai proutrepse, peri hōn alēthōs mantis men oudeis oude splanchna zǭōn mēnysei to saphes, autos de monos ho tou theou logos, ho en tois alēthinois enoikōn splanchnois tōn oiōn te auton diʼ akran psychēs katharotēta endon en heautois chōrein. peri hōn phēsi pou en tois hierois grammasin " enoikēsō en autois, kai emperipatēsō, kai esomai autōn theos, kai autoi esontai moi laos.’’

For the word of Christ has instructed us to practice withdrawing from the things for whose sake the many pursue these, and has urged us to seek only those things about which truly no seer nor the entrails of animals will show the truth, but only the Word of God himself, who dwells in the true inward parts of those able, through the utmost purity of soul, to receive him within themselves. Concerning them he says somewhere in the sacred writings: "I will dwell in them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people."

2 Cor 6:16 (quotation, high confidence) · Lev 26:12 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The Word of God dwells in pure souls and reveals what divination cannot.

Quotation: 2 Cor 6:16 (from Lev 26:12).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (breathing lost in digitization): έν τοῖς → ἐν τοῖς.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.21.5 (Dindorf 1:202; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-4-21-5). (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.

4.21.6Dindorf 1:202–203

Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν τὰ ἀπὸ τοῦ περὶ θυσιῶν τόπου ἀπελεγκτικὰ τῆς τῶν δαιμόνων μοχθηρίας. ἄκουε δʼ οἷα περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν αὖθις ὁ τῆς Περὶ τῶν ἐμψύχων ἀποχῆς συγγραφεὺς ἱστορεῖ, διαρρήδην ὁμολογῶν τοὺς πονηροὺς δαίμονας ἐν σχήμασι πλείοσιν ἐκτυπουμένοις, καὶ παντοίας μορφὰς χαρακτηρίζοντας, λανθάνειν καὶ ἐξαπατᾶν τοὺς πολλοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων. ἀγαθῶν γὰρ, φησὶν, ὑποδυόμενοι πρόσωπα καὶ προσεταιριζόμενοι τὰ πλήθη διὰ τοῦ τὰς ἐπιθυμίας τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐκκαίειν, τοὺς ἀνωτάτω θεοὺς ἑαυτοὺς ἐπιφημίζεσθαι βούλονται. τοσοῦτόν τέ φησιν αὐτοὺς ἰσχῦσαι ὡς ἀπατῆσαι καὶ τοὺς σοφωτάτους τῶν Ἑλλήνων ποιητὰς καὶ φιλοσόφους, οὓς καὶ ὁμολογεῖ τῆς τοῦ πλήθους γεγονέναι διαστροφῆς αἰτίους· ὅτι τε ἐξ αὐτῶν πᾶσα γοητεία συνέστη, καὶ τὰ πρὸς ἡδονὴν ἀνθρώποις διʼ αὐτῶν προξενεῖται· ὅπως τε θεοὶ εἶναι βούλονται, δαίμονες ὄντες φαῦλοι· καὶ ὡς ἡ προεστῶσα αὐτῶν δύναμις δοκεῖ θεὸς εἶναι ὁ μέγιστος. ταῦτα δὲ ὁ Πορφύριος πάντα τοῦτον ἱστορεῖ τὸν τρόπον

Tauta men oun ta apo tou peri thysiōn topou apelenktika tēs tōn daimonōn mochthērias. akoue dʼ hoia peri tōn autōn authis ho tēs Peri tōn empsychōn apochēs syngrapheus historei, diarrēdēn homologōn tous ponērous daimonas en schēmasi pleiosin ektypoumenois, kai pantoias morphas charaktērizontas, lanthanein kai exapatan tous pollous tōn anthrōpōn. agathōn gar, phēsin, hypodyomenoi prosōpa kai prosetairizomenoi ta plēthē dia tou tas epithymias tōn anthrōpōn ekkaiein, tous anōtatō theous heautous epiphēmizesthai boulontai. tosouton te phēsin autous ischysai hōs apatēsai kai tous sophōtatous tōn Hellēnōn poiētas kai philosophous, hous kai homologei tēs tou plēthous gegonenai diastrophēs aitious; hoti te ex autōn pasa goēteia synestē, kai ta pros hēdonēn anthrōpois diʼ autōn proxeneitai; hopōs te theoi einai boulontai, daimones ontes phauloi; kai hōs hē proestōsa autōn dynamis dokei theos einai ho megistos. tauta de ho Porphyrios panta touton historei ton tropon

These, then, are the refutations of the wickedness of the demons drawn from the subject of sacrifices. Listen also to what the author of On Abstinence from Animal Food records again about the same things, plainly admitting that the wicked demons, molding themselves in many shapes and taking forms of every kind, escape the notice of the many and deceive them. For, he says, putting on the masks of the good and winning over the multitudes by inflaming the desires of men, they wish to be called the highest gods. And he says they have been so strong as to deceive even the wisest poets and philosophers of the Greeks, whom he admits to have been the causes of the perversion of the multitude; that from them all sorcery arose, and pleasures are procured for men through them; how, being bad demons, they wish to be gods; and how the power that presides over them is thought to be the greatest god. Porphyry records all this in this way:

Notes and citation

Summary: Eusebius introduces Porphyry's admission that evil demons disguise themselves as the highest gods.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip; stray mark and accent misread in digitization): χαρακτηρίζονιας → χαρακτηρίζοντας; ἱστορεῖ ’τον τρόπον → ἱστορεῖ τὸν τρόπον.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.21.6 (Dindorf 1:202–203; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-4-21-6). (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.

Preparation 4, chapter 22

4.22.1Dindorf 1:203

" Ὅσαι δὲ ψυχαὶ τοῦ συνεχοῦς πνεύματος οὐ κρατοῦσιν, ἀλλʼ ὡς τὸ πολὺ καὶ κρατοῦνται, διὰ τοῦτο ἄγονταί τε καὶ φέρονται λίαν, ὅταν αἱ τοῦ πνεύματος ὀργαί τε καὶ ἐπιθυμίαι τὴν ὁρμὴν λάβωσιν· αὗται δὲ αἱ ψυχαὶ δαίμονες μὲν καὶ αὐταὶ, κακοεργοὶ δʼ ἂν εἰκότως λέγοιντο.

" Hosai de psychai tou synechous pneumatos ou kratousin, allʼ hōs to poly kai kratountai, dia touto agontai te kai pherontai lian, hotan hai tou pneumatos orgai te kai epithymiai tēn hormēn labōsin; hautai de hai psychai daimones men kai autai, kakoergoi dʼ an eikotōs legointo.

"All souls that do not master the pneuma joined to them, but are for the most part mastered by it, are for this reason carried and swept about greatly whenever the passions and desires of the pneuma take their impulse; and these souls are demons too, but may reasonably be called evil-doing.

Notes and citation

Summary: Porphyry describes evil-doing demons as souls ruled by their passions.

Porphyry, On Abstinence 2.38–40 (sections 4.22.1–15). Pneuma here is the subtle, breathlike body of the soul.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (breathing misread in digitization): αἶ τοῦ → αἱ τοῦ.

Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Abst. (Porphyry, On Abstinence from Killing Animals; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.22.1 (Dindorf 1:203; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-4-22-1). (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.

4.22.2Dindorf 1:203

καί εἰσιν οἱ σύμπαντες οὗτοί τε καὶ οἱ τῆς ἐναντίας δυνάμεως, ἀόρατοί τε καὶ τελείως ἀναίσθητοι αἰσθήσεσιν ἀνθρωπίναις. οὐ γὰρ στερεὸν σῶμα περιβέβληνται, οὐδὲ μορφὴν πάντες μίαν, ἀλλʼ ἐν σχήμασι πλείοσιν· ἐκτυπούμεναι δὲ καὶ χαρακτηρίζουσαι τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτῶν αἱ μορφαὶ τοτὲ μὲν ἐπιφαίνονται, τοτὲ δὲ ἀφανεῖς εἰσιν· ἐνίοτε δὲ καὶ μεταβάλλουσι τὰς μορφὰς οἵ γε χείρους.

kai eisin hoi sympantes houtoi te kai hoi tēs enantias dynameōs, aoratoi te kai teleiōs anaisthētoi aisthēsesin anthrōpinais. ou gar stereon sōma peribeblēntai, oude morphēn pantes mian, allʼ en schēmasi pleiosin; ektypoumenai de kai charaktērizousai to pneuma autōn hai morphai tote men epiphainontai, tote de aphaneis eisin; eniote de kai metaballousi tas morphas hoi ge cheirous.

And all of these, and those of the opposite power, are invisible and entirely imperceptible to human senses. For they are not clothed in a solid body, nor do all have one form, but they exist in many shapes; and the forms that mold and stamp their pneuma sometimes appear and sometimes are invisible; and sometimes the worse ones even change their forms.

Notes and citation

Summary: Demons are invisible, without solid bodies, and the worse ones change their shapes.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization; breathing misread in digitization; final sigma misread in digitization): σύμπαντεσ → σύμπαντες; οἷ τῆς → οἱ τῆς; ἐκτυποὐμεναι → ἐκτυπούμεναι; αἶ μορφαὶ → αἱ μορφαὶ.

Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Abst. (Porphyry, On Abstinence from Killing Animals; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.22.2 (Dindorf 1:203; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-4-22-2). (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.

4.22.3Dindorf 1:203

τὸ δὲ πνεῦμα ᾗ μέν ἐστι σωματικὸν, παθητικόν ἐστι καὶ φθαρτόν· τῷ δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν ψυχῶν οὕτως δεδέσθαι ὥστε τὸ εἶδος αὐτῶν διαμένειν πλείω χρόνον, οὐ μήν ἐστιν αἰώνιον· καὶ γὰρ ἀπορρεῖν αὐτοῦ τι συνεχῶς εἰκός ἐστι καὶ τρέπεσθαι.

to de pneuma hę̄ men esti sōmatikon, pathētikon esti kai phtharton; tǭ de hypo tōn psychōn houtōs dedesthai hōste to eidos autōn diamenein pleiō chronon, ou mēn estin aiōnion; kai gar aporrein autou ti synechōs eikos esti kai trepesthai.

The pneuma, insofar as it is bodily, is passible and perishable; but because it is so bound by the souls that their form lasts a long time, it is still not eternal; for it is likely that something is continually flowing away from it and changing.

Notes and citation

Summary: The demons' subtle bodies are passible and not eternal.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (accent and punctuation misread in digitization; punctuation misread in digitization): ῂ μέν ἐστι σωματικὸν; → ᾗ μέν ἐστι σωματικὸν,; αἰώνιον ’ καὶ → αἰώνιον· καὶ.

Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Abst. (Porphyry, On Abstinence from Killing Animals; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.22.3 (Dindorf 1:203; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-4-22-3). (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.

4.22.4Dindorf 1:203–204

ἐν συμμετρίᾳ μὲν οὖν τὰ τῶν ἀγαθῶν, ὡς καὶ τὰ σώματα τῶν φαινομένων, τῶν δὲ κακοποιῶν ἀσύμμετρα, οἵ πλέον τῷ παθητικῷ νέμοντες τὸν περίγειον τόπον οὐδὲν ὅ τι τῶν κακῶν οὐκ ἐπιχειροῦσι δρᾶν. βίαιον γὰρ ὅλως καὶ ὕπουλον ἔχοντες ἦθος, ἐστερημένον τε τῆς φυλακῆς τῆς ἀπὸ τοῦ κρείττονος δαιμονίου, σφοδρὰς καὶ αἰφνιδίους, οἷον ἐνέδρας, ὡς τὸ πολὺ ποιοῦν τὰς ἐμπτώσεις, πῇ μὲν λανθάνειν πειρώμενοι, πῇ δὲ βιαζόμενοι.’’

en symmetrią men oun ta tōn agathōn, hōs kai ta sōmata tōn phainomenōn, tōn de kakopoiōn asymmetra, hoi pleon tǭ pathētikǭ nemontes ton perigeion topon ouden ho ti tōn kakōn ouk epicheirousi dran. biaion gar holōs kai hypoulon echontes ēthos, esterēmenon te tēs phylakēs tēs apo tou kreittonos daimoniou, sphodras kai aiphnidious, hoion enedras, hōs to poly poioun tas emptōseis, pę̄ men lanthanein peirōmenoi, pę̄ de biazomenoi.’’

The bodies of the good are well proportioned, like those of visible beings, but those of the evil-doers are disproportioned. These, assigning more to the passive part, inhabit the region about the earth and there is no evil they do not attempt. For having a wholly violent and treacherous character, and being deprived of the protection of the better daemon, they make their attacks mostly vehement and sudden, like ambushes, sometimes trying to escape notice, and sometimes using force."

Notes and citation

Summary: Evil demons dwell near the earth and attack men violently or by stealth.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization; iota subscript lost in digitization; letters lost in digitization; line-break hyphen rejoined): σφοδρʼ καὶ → σφοδρὰς καὶ; πὴ μὲν → πῇ μὲν; πῆ δὲ → πῇ δὲ; φυ- λακῆς → φυλακῆς.

Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Abst. (Porphyry, On Abstinence from Killing Animals; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.22.4 (Dindorf 1:203–204; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-4-22-4). (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.

4.22.5Dindorf 1:204

Καὶ ἐξῆς ἐπιλέγει Ταῦτα δὲ καὶ τὰ ὅμοια ποιοῦσι μεταστῆσαι ἡμᾶς ἐθέλοντες ἀπὸ τῆς ὀρθῆς ἐννοίας τῶν θεῶν καὶ ἐφʼ ἑαυτοὺς ἐπιστρέψαι. πᾶσι γὰρ τοῖς οὕτως ἀνομολόγως καὶ ἀκαταλλήλως γιγνομένοις αὐτοὶ χαίρουσι, καὶ ὥσπερ ὑποδύντες τὰ τῶν ἄλλων θεῶν πρόσωπα τῆς ἡμετέρας ἀβουλίας ἀπολαύουσι, προσεταιριζόμενοι τὰ πλήθη, διὰ τοῦ τὰς ἐπιθυμίας τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐκκαίειν ἔρωσι καὶ πόθοις πλούτων καὶ δυναστειῶν καὶ ἡδονῶν, κενοδοξίας τε αὖ, ἐξ ὧν στάσεις καὶ πόλεμοι φύονται καὶ τὰ συγγενῆ τούτων.

Kai exēs epilegei Tauta de kai ta homoia poiousi metastēsai hēmas ethelontes apo tēs orthēs ennoias tōn theōn kai ephʼ heautous epistrepsai. pasi gar tois houtōs anomologōs kai akatallēlōs gignomenois autoi chairousi, kai hōsper hypodyntes ta tōn allōn theōn prosōpa tēs hēmeteras aboulias apolauousi, prosetairizomenoi ta plēthē, dia tou tas epithymias tōn anthrōpōn ekkaiein erōsi kai pothois ploutōn kai dynasteiōn kai hēdonōn, kenodoxias te au, ex hōn staseis kai polemoi phyontai kai ta syngenē toutōn.

And next he adds: "They do these and similar things wishing to turn us away from the right notion of the gods and to turn us to themselves. For they themselves delight in all things done so inconsistently and incongruously; and as if putting on the masks of the other gods, they enjoy our folly, winning over the multitudes by inflaming the desires of men with loves and longings for wealth, power, and pleasures, and vainglory too, from which arise seditions, wars, and things akin to these.

Notes and citation

Summary: Demons disguise themselves as gods and inflame human desires, causing strife and war.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization): ἐξ ὢν → ἐξ ὧν.

Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Abst. (Porphyry, On Abstinence from Killing Animals; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.22.5 (Dindorf 1:204; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-4-22-5). (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.

4.22.6Dindorf 1:204

τὸ δὲ πάντων δεινότατον, ἐπαναβαίνουσιν ἐκ τῶνδε, καὶ τὰ ὅμοια ἀναπείθουσι καὶ περὶ τῶν μεγίστων θεῶν, μέχρι τοῦ καὶ τὸν ἄριστον θεὸν τούτοις τοῖς ἐγκλήμασιν ὑπάγειν· ᾧ δὴ καὶ τεταράχθαι φασὶ πάντʼ ἄνω κάτω. πεπόνθασι δὲ τοῦτο οὐκ ἰδιῶται μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ διατριβόντων οὐκ ὀλίγοι.

to de pantōn deinotaton, epanabainousin ek tōnde, kai ta homoia anapeithousi kai peri tōn megistōn theōn, mechri tou kai ton ariston theon toutois tois enklēmasin hypagein; hǭ dē kai tetarachthai phasi pantʼ anō katō. peponthasi de touto ouk idiōtai monon, alla kai tōn en philosophią diatribontōn ouk oligoi.

And worst of all, they go further from here and persuade men of the same things about the greatest gods, even to the point of bringing the best god under these charges; by whom, they say, everything has been thrown into confusion. And this has happened not only to ordinary people, but also to not a few of those engaged in philosophy.

Notes and citation

Summary: Demons persuade even philosophers to attribute evils to the highest god.

Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Abst. (Porphyry, On Abstinence from Killing Animals; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.22.6 (Dindorf 1:204; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-4-22-6). (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.

4.22.7Dindorf 1:204

ἡ δʼ αἰτία διʼ ἀλλήλων γέγονε. καὶ γὰρ τῶν φιλοσοφούντων οἱ μὴ ἀποστάντες τῆς καινῆς φορᾶς εἰς τὰ αὐτὰ τοῖς πλήθεσι συνέβησαν· καὶ πάλιν αὖ τὰ πλήθη σύμφωνα ταῖς αὐτῶν δόξαις παρὰ τῶν δοκούντων σοφῶν ἀκούοντα ἐπερρώσθη φρονεῖν ἐπὶ μᾶλλον περὶ τῶν θεῶν τὰ τοιαῦτα.

hē dʼ aitia diʼ allēlōn gegone. kai gar tōn philosophountōn hoi mē apostantes tēs kainēs phoras eis ta auta tois plēthesi synebēsan; kai palin au ta plēthē symphōna tais autōn doxais para tōn dokountōn sophōn akouonta eperrōsthē phronein epi mallon peri tōn theōn ta toiauta.

And the cause has come from both sides. For those philosophers who did not stand apart from the common course fell in with the multitudes in the same opinions; and the multitudes in turn, hearing from those thought wise things agreeing with their own opinions, were strengthened all the more in thinking such things about the gods.

Notes and citation

Summary: Philosophers and the crowd reinforced each other's false beliefs about the gods.

Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Abst. (Porphyry, On Abstinence from Killing Animals; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.22.7 (Dindorf 1:204; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-4-22-7). (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.

4.22.8Dindorf 1:204–205

τὸ μὲν γὰρ ποιητικὸν καὶ προσεξέκαυσε τὰς ὑπολήψεις τῶν ἀνθρώπων τῷ χρῆσθαι φράσει πρὸς ἔκπληξιν καὶ γοητείαν πεποιημένῃ, κήλησίν τε ἐμποιῆσαι καὶ πίστιν περὶ τῶν ἀδυνατωτάτων δυναμένῃ, δέον ἐμπέδως πεπεῖσθαι ὅτι οὔτε τὸ ἀγαθὸν βλάπτει ποτὲ οὔτε τὸ κακὸν ὠφελεῖ. οὐ γὰρ θερμότητος, ὥς φησι Πλάτων, τὸ ψύχειν, ἀλλὰ τοῦ ἐναντίου, οὐδὲ ψυχρότητος τὸ θερμαίνειν, ἀλλὰ τοῦ ἐναντίου, οὕτως οὐδὲ τοῦ δικαίου τὸ βλάπτειν.

to men gar poiētikon kai prosexekause tas hypolēpseis tōn anthrōpōn tǭ chrēsthai phrasei pros ekplēxin kai goēteian pepoiēmenę̄, kēlēsin te empoiēsai kai pistin peri tōn adynatōtatōn dynamenę̄, deon empedōs pepeisthai hoti oute to agathon blaptei pote oute to kakon ōphelei. ou gar thermotētos, hōs phēsi Platōn, to psychein, alla tou enantiou, oude psychrotētos to thermainein, alla tou enantiou, houtōs oude tou dikaiou to blaptein.

For poetry further inflamed men's beliefs by using language made for astonishment and enchantment, able to produce spellbinding and belief about the most impossible things; whereas one ought to be firmly persuaded that the good never harms and the bad never helps. For it is not the work of heat, as Plato says, to cool, but of its opposite, nor of cold to heat, but of its opposite; so neither is it the work of the just to harm.

Notes and citation

Summary: Poetry spread false beliefs, though the good can never harm, as Plato says.

Plato, Republic 1.335d.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip): ἐμπεσως → ἐμπέδως.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 335d (Plato (works); allusion); Porphyry, Abst. (Porphyry, On Abstinence from Killing Animals; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.22.8 (Dindorf 1:204–205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-4-22-8). (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.

4.22.9Dindorf 1:205

δικαιότατον δὲ δήπου φύσει πάντων τὸ θεῖον, ἐπεὶ οὐδʼ ἂν ἦν θεῖον. οὐκοῦν ἀποτετμῆσθαι δεῖ ταύτην τὴν δύναμιν καὶ μοῖραν τῶν δαιμόνων τῶν ἀγαθοεργῶν. ἡ γὰρ βλάπτειν πεφυκυῖά τε καὶ βουλομένη ἐναντία τῇ ἀγαθοεργῷ· τὰ δʼ ἐναντία περὶ τὸ αὐτὸ οὐκ ἄν ποτε γένοιτο.”

dikaiotaton de dēpou physei pantōn to theion, epei oudʼ an ēn theion. oukoun apotetmēsthai dei tautēn tēn dynamin kai moiran tōn daimonōn tōn agathoergōn. hē gar blaptein pephykuia te kai boulomenē enantia tę̄ agathoergǭ; ta dʼ enantia peri to auto ouk an pote genoito.”

And the divine is surely by nature the most just of all, since otherwise it would not be divine. So this power and function must be cut off from the beneficent demons. For the power that is naturally disposed and willing to harm is opposite to the beneficent one; and opposites could never exist in the same subject."

Notes and citation

Summary: Porphyry argues that harming cannot belong to the divine or to beneficent demons.

Porphyry, On Abstinence 2.41.

Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Abst. (Porphyry, On Abstinence from Killing Animals; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.22.9 (Dindorf 1:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-4-22-9). (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.

4.22.10Dindorf 1:205

Καὶ αὖθις “Διὰ μέντοι τῶν ἐναντίων καὶ ἡ πᾶσα γοητεία ἐπιτελεῖται· τούτους γὰρ μάλιστα καὶ τὸν προεστῶτα αὐτῶν ἐκτιμῶσιν οἱ τὰ κακὰ διὰ τῶν γοητειῶν διαπραττόμενοι

Kai authis “Dia mentoi tōn enantiōn kai hē pasa goēteia epiteleitai; toutous gar malista kai ton proestōta autōn ektimōsin hoi ta kaka dia tōn goēteiōn diaprattomenoi

And again: "It is through the opposite powers that all sorcery is accomplished; for these and their leader are especially honored by those who bring about evils through sorcery.

Notes and citation

Summary: Porphyry says all sorcery is worked through the evil demons and their leader.

Porphyry, On Abstinence 2.41–42.

Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Abst. (Porphyry, On Abstinence from Killing Animals; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.22.10 (Dindorf 1:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-4-22-10). (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.

4.22.11Dindorf 1:205

πλήρεις γάρ εἰσι πάσης φαντασίας καὶ ἀπατῆσαι ἱκανοὶ διὰ τῆς τερατουργίας. διὰ τούτων φίλτρα καὶ ἐρωτικὰ κατασκευάζουσιν οἱ κακοδαίμονες· πᾶσα γὰρ ἀκολασία καὶ πλούτων ἐλπὶς καὶ δόξης διὰ τούτων, καὶ μάλιστα ἡ ἀπάτη.

plēreis gar eisi pasēs phantasias kai apatēsai hikanoi dia tēs teratourgias. dia toutōn philtra kai erōtika kataskeuazousin hoi kakodaimones; pasa gar akolasia kai ploutōn elpis kai doxēs dia toutōn, kai malista hē apatē.

For they are full of every kind of illusion and able to deceive by their wonder-working. Through them the wretched prepare philters and love charms; for all licentiousness, and hope of wealth and glory, come through them, and above all deceit.

Notes and citation

Summary: The evil demons deceive through wonders and inspire love charms and greed.

Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Abst. (Porphyry, On Abstinence from Killing Animals; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.22.11 (Dindorf 1:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-4-22-11). (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.

4.22.12Dindorf 1:205

τὸ γὰρ ψεῦδος τούτοις οἰκεῖον· βούλονται γὰρ εἶναι θεοὶ καὶ ἡ προεστῶσα αὐτῶν δύναμις δοκεῖν θεὸς εἶναι ὁ μέγιστος. οὗτοι οἱ χαίροντες ῾λοιβῇ τε κνίσῃ τέ, ᾿ διʼ ὧν αὐτῶν τὸ πνευματικὸν καὶ σωματικὸν πιαίνεται. ζῇ γὰρ τοῦτο ἀτμοῖς καὶ ἀναθυμιάσεσι, ποικίλως διὰ τῶν ποικίλων, καὶ δυναμοῦται ταῖς ἐκ τῶν αἱμάτων καὶ σαρκῶν θυσίαις.”

to gar pseudos toutois oikeion; boulontai gar einai theoi kai hē proestōsa autōn dynamis dokein theos einai ho megistos. houtoi hoi chairontes ῾loibę̄ te knisę̄ te, ᾿ diʼ hōn autōn to pneumatikon kai sōmatikon piainetai. zę̄ gar touto atmois kai anathymiasesi, poikilōs dia tōn poikilōn, kai dynamoutai tais ek tōn haimatōn kai sarkōn thysiais.”

For falsehood is akin to them; for they wish to be gods, and the power that presides over them wishes to seem the greatest god. These are they who delight 'in libation and savor of fat,' by which their pneumatic and bodily part is fattened. For this lives on vapors and exhalations, in various ways through various things, and is strengthened by the sacrifices of blood and flesh."

Notes and citation

Summary: The evil demons wish to be gods and feed on the fumes of sacrifices.

The quoted phrase is Homer, Iliad 9.500.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen rejoined): ποικί- λως → ποικίλως.

Extrabiblical texts: Homer, Il. 9.500 (Homer, Iliad; quotation); Porphyry, Abst. (Porphyry, On Abstinence from Killing Animals; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.22.12 (Dindorf 1:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-4-22-12). (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.

4.22.13Dindorf 1:205–206

Διὰ δὴ τούτων ἀκηκόαμεν ὁμολογούντων ὅτι μὴ μόνον οἱ παρʼ Ἕλλησι ποιηταὶ προσεξέκαυσαν τὰς ὑπολήψεις τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὰς περὶ τῶν φαύλων δαιμόνων ὡς περὶ θεῶν καὶ ἀγαθῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ διατριβόντων οἱ περὶ θεοὺς δοκοῦντες σπουδαίως ἔχειν, οἳ καὶ αὐτοὶ οὐ θεοὺς, ἀλλὰ πονηροὺς δαίμονας περιέποντες τὰ πλήθη καὶ τοὺς δήμους εἰς τὴν ὁμοίαν πλάνην ἐξετραχήλισαν.

Dia dē toutōn akēkoamen homologountōn hoti mē monon hoi parʼ Hellēsi poiētai prosexekausan tas hypolēpseis tōn anthrōpōn tas peri tōn phaulōn daimonōn hōs peri theōn kai agathōn, alla kai tōn en philosophią diatribontōn hoi peri theous dokountes spoudaiōs echein, hoi kai autoi ou theous, alla ponērous daimonas periepontes ta plēthē kai tous dēmous eis tēn homoian planēn exetrachēlisan.

By these words we have heard them admit that not only the poets among the Greeks inflamed men's beliefs about the bad demons as about gods and good beings, but also those engaged in philosophy who seemed to be in earnest about the gods; and they themselves, honoring not gods but wicked demons, threw the multitudes and the peoples headlong into the like error.

Notes and citation

Summary: Porphyry admits that both poets and philosophers spread the worship of evil demons.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen rejoined): πονη- ροὺς → πονηροὺς; δή- μους → δήμους.

Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Abst. (Porphyry, On Abstinence from Killing Animals; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.22.13 (Dindorf 1:205–206; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-4-22-13). (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.

4.22.14Dindorf 1:206

ὡμολόγησε γοῦν σαφῶς ὁ λόγος ὡς ἄρα παρὰ τῶν δοκούντων σοφῶν ἀκούοντα περὶ θεῶν τὰ πλήθη σύμφωνα ταῖς αὐτῶν δόξαις ἐπερρώσθη φρονεῖν ἐπὶ μᾶλλον ὡς περὶ θεῶν περὶ τῶν μοχθηρῶν δαιμόνων. καὶ ταῦτα οὐκ ἐξ ἡμῶν κατηγορεῖται, ἀλλʼ ὑπʼ αὐτῶν τῶν ἀκριβέστατα τὰ οἰκεῖα μᾶλλον ἢ ἡμεῖς εἰδότων.

hōmologēse goun saphōs ho logos hōs ara para tōn dokountōn sophōn akouonta peri theōn ta plēthē symphōna tais autōn doxais eperrōsthē phronein epi mallon hōs peri theōn peri tōn mochthērōn daimonōn. kai tauta ouk ex hēmōn katēgoreitai, allʼ hypʼ autōn tōn akribestata ta oikeia mallon ē hēmeis eidotōn.

At any rate the account plainly admitted that the multitudes, hearing from those thought wise things about the gods agreeing with their own opinions, were strengthened all the more in thinking of the wicked demons as of gods. And these charges are brought not by us, but by those who know their own affairs more exactly than we do.

Notes and citation

Summary: The charge comes from pagans themselves, not from Christians.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (accent lost in digitization): δοκουντων → δοκούντων; συμφωνα → σύμφωνα.

Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Abst. (Porphyry, On Abstinence from Killing Animals; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.22.14 (Dindorf 1:206; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-4-22-14). (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.

4.22.15Dindorf 1:206

ὁ γέ τοι αὐτὸς συγγραφεὺς οὐ παρέργως ὁμιλήσας τῇ τοὺς πολλοὺς λανθανούσῃ δεισιδαιμονίᾳ φησὶ τοὺς πονηροὺς δαίμονας βούλεσθαι εἶναι θεοὺς καὶ ἀγαθῶν δόξαν ἔχειν παρὰ ἀνθρώποις, τίς τε προεστῶσα αὐτῶν δύναμις τυγχάνει ὁ αὐτὸς πάλιν διασαφήσει, τοὺς ἄρχοντας τῶν πονηρῶν δαιμόνων λέγων εἶναι τὸν Σάραπιν καὶ τὴν Ἑκάτην· ἡ δὲ θεία γραφὴ τὸν βελζεβούλ. ἄκουε δʼ ὅπως καὶ περὶ τούτου γράφει ἐν τοῖς ‘‘Περὶ τῆς ἐκ λογίων φιλοσοφίας.”

ho ge toi autos syngrapheus ou parergōs homilēsas tę̄ tous pollous lanthanousę̄ deisidaimonią phēsi tous ponērous daimonas boulesthai einai theous kai agathōn doxan echein para anthrōpois, tis te proestōsa autōn dynamis tynchanei ho autos palin diasaphēsei, tous archontas tōn ponērōn daimonōn legōn einai ton Sarapin kai tēn Hekatēn; hē de theia graphē ton belzeboul. akoue dʼ hopōs kai peri toutou graphei en tois ‘‘Peri tēs ek logiōn philosophias.”

The same writer, at any rate, being no casual acquaintance with the superstition hidden from the many, says that the wicked demons wish to be gods and to have the reputation of good beings among men; and who the power presiding over them is, the same will again make plain, saying that the rulers of the wicked demons are Sarapis and Hecate; the divine Scripture says Beelzebul. Listen how he writes about this too in his On the Philosophy from Oracles:

Matt 12:24 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Porphyry names Sarapis and Hecate as rulers of the evil demons; Scripture names Beelzebul.

Allusion to Matt 12:24.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (stray word in digitization): τούτου του γράφει → τούτου γράφει.

Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Abst. (Porphyry, On Abstinence from Killing Animals; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.22.15 (Dindorf 1:206; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-4-22-15). (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.

Preparation 4, chapter 23

4.23.1Dindorf 1:206

“ Τοὺς δὲ πονηροὺς δαίμονας οὐκ εἰκῆ ὑπὸ τὸν Σάραπιν ὑποπτεύομεν, οὐδʼ ἐκ τῶν συμβόλων μόνων ἀναπεισθέντες, ἀλλʼ ὅτι τὰ μειλίγματα καὶ τὰ τούτων ἀποτρόπαια πρὸς τὸν Πλούτωνα γίνεται, ὡς ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ ἐδείκνυμεν. αὐτὸς δὲ τῷ Πλούτωνι ὁ θεὸς, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο μάλιστα δαιμόνων ἄρχων, καὶ σύμβολα διδοὺς πρὸς τὴν τούτων ἔλασιν.

“ Tous de ponērous daimonas ouk eikē hypo ton Sarapin hypopteuomen, oudʼ ek tōn symbolōn monōn anapeisthentes, allʼ hoti ta meiligmata kai ta toutōn apotropaia pros ton Ploutōna ginetai, hōs en tǭ prōtǭ edeiknymen. autos de tǭ Ploutōni ho theos, kai dia touto malista daimonōn archōn, kai symbola didous pros tēn toutōn elasin.

"We suspect, not without reason, that the wicked demons are under Sarapis, persuaded not only by the symbols, but because the propitiations and averting rites concerning them are addressed to Pluto, as we showed in the first book. And this god is the same as Pluto, and for this reason is above all ruler of demons and gives tokens for driving them away.

Notes and citation

Summary: Porphyry says the evil demons are under Sarapis, who is Pluto.

Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles (sections 4.23.1–8).

Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Porphyry, Phil. orac. (Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles (fragments); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.23.1 (Dindorf 1:206; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-4-23-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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4.23.2Dindorf 1:206

οὗτος γοῦν καὶ τοῖς ἱκέταις ἐδήλωσεν ὡς πᾶσι ζῴοις ὁμοιούμενοι προσίασι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις· ὅθεν καὶ παρʼ Αἰγυπτίοις καὶ παρὰ Φοίνιξι καὶ ὅλως παρὰ τοῖς τὰ θεῖα σοφοῖς ἱμάντες ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς ἐπιρρήσσονται, καὶ ζῷα προσουδίζεται πρὸ τῆς θρησκείας τῶν θεῶν, ἐξελαυνόντων τῶν ἱερέων τούτους, διὰ τοῦ δοῦναι πνεῦμα, ἢ αἷμα ζῴων, καὶ διὰ τῆς τοῦ ἀέρος πληγῆς, ἵνα τούτων ἀπελθόντων παρουσία τοῦ θεοῦ γένηται.

houtos goun kai tois hiketais edēlōsen hōs pasi zǭois homoioumenoi prosiasi tois anthrōpois; hothen kai parʼ Aigyptiois kai para Phoinixi kai holōs para tois ta theia sophois himantes en tois hierois epirrēssontai, kai zǭa prosoudizetai pro tēs thrēskeias tōn theōn, exelaunontōn tōn hiereōn toutous, dia tou dounai pneuma, ē haima zǭōn, kai dia tēs tou aeros plēgēs, hina toutōn apelthontōn parousia tou theou genētai.

He it was, at any rate, who made known to his suppliants that they approach men taking the likeness of all kinds of animals. Hence among the Egyptians and Phoenicians, and in general among those wise in divine things, thongs are cracked in the temples and animals dashed on the ground before the worship of the gods, the priests driving these demons away by giving them the breath or blood of animals and by beating the air, so that when they have gone the presence of the god may come.

Notes and citation

Summary: Priests drive demons from temples by noise, beating the air, and animal blood.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (accent lost in digitization; accent misread in digitization; digitization slip): οὕτος → οὗτος; ζῲοις → ζῴοις; ἔνα τούτων → ἵνα τούτων; του θεοῦ → τοῦ θεοῦ.

Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Porphyry, Phil. orac. (Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles (fragments); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.23.2 (Dindorf 1:206; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-4-23-2). (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.

4.23.3Dindorf 1:206–207

καὶ οἶκος δὲ πᾶς μεστὸς, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο προκαθαίρουσι καὶ ἐκβάλλουσι τούτους, ὅταν θεὸν κατακαλῶσι. καὶ τὰ σώματα τοίνυν μεστὰ ἀπὸ τούτων· καὶ γὰρ μάλιστα ταῖς ποιαῖς τροφαῖς χαίρουσι. σιτουμένων γὰρ ἡμῶν προσίασι καὶ προσιζάνουσι τῷ σώματι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο αἱ ἁγνεῖαι, οὐ διὰ τοὺς θεοὺς προηγουμένως, ἀλλʼ ἵνʼ οὗτοι ἀποστῶσι. μάλιστα δὲ αἵματι χαίρουσι καὶ ταῖς ἀκαθαρσίαις, καὶ ἀπολαύουσι τούτων εἰσδύνοντες τοῖς χρωμένοις.

kai oikos de pas mestos, kai dia touto prokathairousi kai ekballousi toutous, hotan theon katakalōsi. kai ta sōmata toinyn mesta apo toutōn; kai gar malista tais poiais trophais chairousi. sitoumenōn gar hēmōn prosiasi kai prosizanousi tǭ sōmati, kai dia touto hai hagneiai, ou dia tous theous proēgoumenōs, allʼ hinʼ houtoi apostōsi. malista de haimati chairousi kai tais akatharsiais, kai apolauousi toutōn eisdynontes tois chrōmenois.

Every house too is full of them, and for this reason they first purify it and cast them out when they call down a god. And our bodies too are full of them; for they delight especially in certain kinds of food. When we eat they approach and settle on the body; and this is the reason for the purifications, not chiefly because of the gods, but so that these may depart. They delight most in blood and in impurities, and enjoy these by entering those who use them.

Notes and citation

Summary: Demons fill houses and bodies, especially at meals, which is why purifications are made.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip): προφαῖςνουσι → προσιζάνουσι; ἔνʼ οὗτοι → ἵνʼ οὗτοι.

Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Porphyry, Phil. orac. (Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles (fragments); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.23.3 (Dindorf 1:206–207; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-4-23-3). (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.

4.23.4Dindorf 1:207

ὅλως γὰρ ἡ ἐπίτασις τῆς πρός τι ἐπιθυμίας καὶ ἡ τοῦ πνεύματος τῆς ὀρέξεως ὁρμὴ ἀλλαχόθεν οὐ σφοδρύνεται ἢ ἐκ τῆς τούτων παρουσίας· οἱ καὶ εἰς ἀσήμους φθόγγους καὶ φύσας ἀναγκάζουσι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἐμπίπτειν διὰ τῆς συναπολαύσεως τῆς μετʼ αὐτῶν γιγνομένης.

holōs gar hē epitasis tēs pros ti epithymias kai hē tou pneumatos tēs orexeōs hormē allachothen ou sphodrynetai ē ek tēs toutōn parousias; hoi kai eis asēmous phthongous kai physas anankazousi tous anthrōpous empiptein dia tēs synapolauseōs tēs metʼ autōn gignomenēs.

For in general the intensifying of desire toward anything and the impulse of the pneuma's appetite grow vehement from no other cause than their presence; and they compel men to fall into inarticulate sounds and belchings through the shared enjoyment that comes about with them.

Notes and citation

Summary: Intense desires and bodily noises come from the demons' presence.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (repeated word in digitization): ἐμπίπτειν ἐμπίπτειν → ἐμπίπτειν.

Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Porphyry, Phil. orac. (Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles (fragments); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.23.4 (Dindorf 1:207; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-4-23-4). (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.

4.23.5Dindorf 1:207

ὅπου γὰρ πνεύματος πλείονος ὁλκὴ ἢ τῆς γαστρὸς ἐξ ἡδυπαθείας πεπληρωμένης, ἢ τῆς προθυμίας διʼ ἡδονῆς ἐπίτασιν ἐκφυσώσης καὶ πολὺ τὸ ἔξωθεν σπώσης, ἐκεῖ παρουσία τῶν τοιούτων πνευμάτων σοι δηλούσθω. ἄχρι τούτων τολμᾷ φύσις ἀνθρώπου εὑρίσκειν τὰς περὶ αὑτῆς συνεστώσας παγίδας· καὶ γὰρ ὁ θεὸς ὅταν εἰσκριθῇ, πολυπλασιάζεται τὸ πνεῦμα.”

hopou gar pneumatos pleionos holkē ē tēs gastros ex hēdypatheias peplērōmenēs, ē tēs prothymias diʼ hēdonēs epitasin ekphysōsēs kai poly to exōthen spōsēs, ekei parousia tōn toioutōn pneumatōn soi dēlousthō. achri toutōn tolmą physis anthrōpou heuriskein tas peri hautēs synestōsas pagidas; kai gar ho theos hotan eiskrithę̄, polyplasiazetai to pneuma.”

For wherever there is a drawing in of much breath, either because the belly has been filled through indulgence or because eagerness from the intensity of pleasure blows out and draws in much from outside, there let the presence of such spirits be shown to you. So far does human nature dare to discover the snares set around it; for when the god enters, the breath is multiplied."

Notes and citation

Summary: Heavy breathing signals the presence of demons, as also when a god enters.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (repeated word in digitization): πνευμάτων πνευμάτων → πνευμάτων.

Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Porphyry, Phil. orac. (Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles (fragments); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.23.5 (Dindorf 1:207; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-4-23-5). (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.

4.23.6Dindorf 1:207

Ταῦτα μὲν οὑν περὶ τῶν πονηρῶν δαιμόνων, ὧν φησιν ἄρχοντα εἶναι τὸν Σάραπιν. καὶ τὴν Ἑκάτην δὲ τούτων ἄρχειν ὁ αὐτὸς διδάσκει λέγων οὕτως “ Μήποτε οὗτοί εἰσιν ὧν ἄρχει ὁ Σάραπις, καὶ τούτων σύμβολον ὁ τρίκρανος κύων, τουτέστιν ὁ ἐν τοῖς τρισὶ στοιχείοις, ὕδατι, γῇ, ἀέρι, πονηρὸς δαίμων· οὓς καταπαύει ὁ θεὸς ὁ ἔχων ὑπὸ χεῖρα. ἄρχει δʼ αὐτῶν καὶ ἡ Ἑκάτη, ὡς συνέχουσα τὸ τρίστοιχον.” Καὶ πάλιν φησὶν

Tauta men houn peri tōn ponērōn daimonōn, hōn phēsin archonta einai ton Sarapin. kai tēn Hekatēn de toutōn archein ho autos didaskei legōn houtōs “ Mēpote houtoi eisin hōn archei ho Sarapis, kai toutōn symbolon ho trikranos kyōn, toutestin ho en tois trisi stoicheiois, hydati, gę̄, aeri, ponēros daimōn; hous katapauei ho theos ho echōn hypo cheira. archei dʼ autōn kai hē Hekatē, hōs synechousa to tristoichon.” Kai palin phēsin

So much, then, about the wicked demons, whose ruler he says is Sarapis. The same writer teaches that Hecate too rules them, saying thus: "Perhaps these are the ones whom Sarapis rules, and whose symbol is the three-headed dog, that is, the wicked demon in the three elements, water, earth, and air; whom the god who has them in hand restrains. And Hecate too rules them, as holding together the three elements." And again he says:

Notes and citation

Summary: Porphyry makes Sarapis and Hecate rulers of the demons, symbolized by the three-headed dog.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip (quotation mark for breathing)): ‘Εκάτην → Ἑκάτην.

Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Porphyry, Phil. orac. (Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles (fragments); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.23.6 (Dindorf 1:207; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-4-23-6). (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.

4.23.7Dindorf 1:207–208

“Ἕν χρηστήριον ἔτι παραθεὶς, ὅπερ αὐτὴ ἡ Ἑκάτη πεποίηται, καταπαύσω τὸν περὶ ταύτης λόγον ἥδʼ ἐγώ εἰμι κόρη πολυφάσματος, οὐρανόφοιτος, ταυρῶπις, τρικάρηνος, ἀπηνὴς, χρυσοβέλεμνος, Φοίβη ἀπειρολεχὴς, φαεσίμβροτος Εἰλήθυια, τριστοίχου φύσεως συνθήματα τρισσὰ φέρουσα· αἰθέρα μὲν πυρόεσσιν ἐειδομένη εἰδώλοις, ἠέρα δʼ ἀργεννοῖσι τροχάσμασιν ἀμφικάθημαι· γαῖα δʼ ἐμῶν σκυλάκων δνοφερὸν γένος ἡνιοχεύει.’

“Hen chrēstērion eti paratheis, hoper autē hē Hekatē pepoiētai, katapausō ton peri tautēs logon hēdʼ egō eimi korē polyphasmatos, ouranophoitos, taurōpis, trikarēnos, apēnēs, chrysobelemnos, Phoibē apeirolechēs, phaesimbrotos Eilēthuia, tristoichou physeōs synthēmata trissa pherousa; aithera men pyroessin eeidomenē eidōlois, ēera dʼ argennoisi trochasmasin amphikathēmai; gaia dʼ emōn skylakōn dnopheron genos hēniocheuei.’

"Adding one more oracle, which Hecate herself has given, I will end the account of her: 'Here am I, the maiden of many forms, roaming the heavens, bull-faced, three-headed, ruthless, with golden arrows, Phoebe who knows no bed, Eileithyia bringing light to mortals, bearing the threefold tokens of a threefold nature: in the ether I appear in fiery images, the air I occupy with gleaming wheels, and the earth guides the dark race of my whelps.'"

Notes and citation

Summary: Hecate's oracle describes her threefold nature and her 'whelps' on earth.

Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Porphyry, Phil. orac. (Porphyry, Philosophy from Oracles (fragments); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.23.7 (Dindorf 1:207–208; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-4-23-7). (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.

4.23.8Dindorf 1:208

οἷς ἐπιλέγει ὁ συγγραφεὺς σαφῶς τίνες οἱ σκύλακες· ὅτι οἱ πονηροὶ δαίμονες, περὶ ὧν ἄρτι πεπαύμεθα λέγοντες. τοσαῦτα μὲν δὴ καὶ ταῦτα. περὶ δὲ τοῦ δαίμονας εἶναι πονηροὺς ἀληθῶς, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲν ἀγαθὸν ἐπαγομένους, τοὺς παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς θεολογουμένους, φέρε ἔτι μᾶλλον διὰ πλειόνων κρατύνωμεν.

hois epilegei ho syngrapheus saphōs tines hoi skylakes; hoti hoi ponēroi daimones, peri hōn arti pepaumetha legontes. tosauta men dē kai tauta. peri de tou daimonas einai ponērous alēthōs, allʼ ouden agathon epagomenous, tous para tois pollois theologoumenous, phere eti mallon dia pleionōn kratynōmen.

To which the writer adds plainly who the whelps are: that they are the wicked demons, of whom we have just finished speaking. So much for this. But let us confirm still more, by further proofs, that those whom the many proclaim as gods are truly wicked demons and bring nothing good.

Notes and citation

Summary: Porphyry identifies Hecate's whelps as evil demons; Eusebius will add further proofs.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization; breathing misread in digitization; letters lost and repeated punctuation in digitization): οἶς ἐπιλέγει → οἷς ἐπιλέγει; οἶ σκύλακες → οἱ σκύλακες; οἶ πονηροὶ → οἱ πονηροὶ; θεολουμένους,, → θεολογουμένους,.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 4.23.8 (Dindorf 1:208; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-4-23-8). (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.

Preparation 5, chapter 1

5.1.1Dindorf 1:208

Ἱκανὰ μὲν καὶ τὰ προπαρατεθέντα συστῆσαι ἦν ὅτι μὴ θεοὶ, μηδʼ ἀγαθοὶ δαίμονες, πᾶν δὲ τοὐναντίον ὑπῆρχον οἱ παρὰ τοῖς ἔθνεσι κατά τε πόλεις καὶ χώρας ὡς θεοὶ τετιμημένοι· οὐ λυπεῖ δὲ ἐκ περιουσίας τὴν αὐτὴν ὑπόθεσιν ἔτι μᾶλλον βεβαιώσασθαι πλείοσι καὶ δαψιλεστέροις ἐλέγχοις τῆς τούτων ἀποδείξεως τὴν διὰ τῆς τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν εὐαγγελικῆς διδασκαλίας προξενηθεῖσαν ἅπασιν ἀνθρώποις ἐλευθερίαν τῶν πάλαι κακῶν ἐκφαινούσης.

Hikana men kai ta proparatethenta systēsai ēn hoti mē theoi, mēdʼ agathoi daimones, pan de tounantion hypērchon hoi para tois ethnesi kata te poleis kai chōras hōs theoi tetimēmenoi; ou lypei de ek periousias tēn autēn hypothesin eti mallon bebaiōsasthai pleiosi kai dapsilesterois elenchois tēs toutōn apodeixeōs tēn dia tēs tou sōtēros hēmōn euangelikēs didaskalias proxenētheisan hapasin anthrōpois eleutherian tōn palai kakōn ekphainousēs.

What has been set out before would be enough to establish that those honored as gods among the nations in cities and countries were not gods nor good demons, but the very opposite. But it does no harm to confirm the same thesis over and above with more numerous and more abundant refutations, as the proof of these things shows forth the freedom from ancient evils provided for all men through the gospel teaching of our Savior.

Notes and citation

Summary: Eusebius will add further proofs that the pagan gods were evil demons.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization; breathing misread in digitization; letter lost in digitization; repeated letter in digitization): ἢν ὅτι → ἦν ὅτι; οἶ παρὰ → οἱ παρὰ; περιουσίιας → περιουσίας; εὐγγελικῆς → εὐαγγελικῆς.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.1.1 (Dindorf 1:208; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-5-1-1). (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.

5.1.2Dindorf 1:208

ἄκουε τοιγαροῦν αὐτῶν Ἑλλήνων ὁμολογούντων ἐκλελοιπέναι αὐτῶν τὰ χρηστήρια, οὐκ ἄλλοτέ ποτε ἐξ αἰῶνος ἢ μετὰ τοὺς χρόνους τῆς σωτηρίου καὶ εὐαγγελικῆς διδασκαλίας τὴν ἑνὸς τοῦ παμβασιλέως καὶ δημιουργοῦ τῶν ὅλων θεοῦ γνῶσιν φωτὸς δίκην πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ἀνατειλάσης.

akoue toigaroun autōn Hellēnōn homologountōn ekleloipenai autōn ta chrēstēria, ouk allote pote ex aiōnos ē meta tous chronous tēs sōtēriou kai euangelikēs didaskalias tēn henos tou pambasileōs kai dēmiourgou tōn holōn theou gnōsin phōtos dikēn pasin anthrōpois anateilasēs.

Listen, then, to the Greeks themselves admitting that their oracles have failed, at no other time in all the ages than after the times of the saving gospel teaching, which made the knowledge of the one God, universal King and creator of all, rise like light upon all men.

Notes and citation

Summary: The Greeks admit that their oracles failed after the coming of the gospel.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (breathing lost and repeated syllable in digitization): έκλελοιπέναι ’ναι → ἐκλελοιπέναι.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.1.2 (Dindorf 1:208; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-5-1-2). (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.

5.1.3Dindorf 1:208–209

αὐτίκα γοῦν μάλα ὅσον οὐδέπω παραστήσομεν ὡς ἄρα μετὰ τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν αὐτοῦ καὶ θάνατοι τῶν δαιμόνων ἱστορήθησαν καὶ τὰ θαυμαστὰ καὶ πάλαι βοώμενα χρηστήρια διαλέλοιπεν.

autika goun mala hoson oudepō parastēsomen hōs ara meta tēn epiphaneian autou kai thanatoi tōn daimonōn historēthēsan kai ta thaumasta kai palai boōmena chrēstēria dialeloipen.

Presently, then, we shall show that after his appearing deaths of demons were recorded, and the wonderful oracles celebrated of old ceased.

Notes and citation

Summary: Eusebius will show that demons died and oracles ceased after Christ's appearing.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.1.3 (Dindorf 1:208–209; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-5-1-3). (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.

5.1.4Dindorf 1:209

ἤδη δὲ καὶ πρότερον ἀποδέδεικται ὅτι δὴ παῦλαν κακῶν οὐδʼ ἄλλοτέ πω πρότερον ἢ μετὰ τὴν εὐαγγελικὴν διδασκαλίαν εἰλήφασιν αἱ παρὰ πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ὠμῶς καὶ ἀνηλεῶς ἐπιτελούμεναι τὸ πρὶν ἀνθρωποθυσίαι· οἷς ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος προσθεῖναι καλὸν ὅτι μὴ μόνον ἐξ ἐκείνου τὰ τῆς δαιμονικῆς ἀπέσβη δεισιδαιμονίας, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ τῆς τῶν ἐθνῶν πολυαρχίας.

ēdē de kai proteron apodedeiktai hoti dē paulan kakōn oudʼ allote pō proteron ē meta tēn euangelikēn didaskalian eilēphasin hai para pasi tois ethnesin ōmōs kai anēleōs epiteloumenai to prin anthrōpothysiai; hois epi tou parontos prostheinai kalon hoti mē monon ex ekeinou ta tēs daimonikēs apesbē deisidaimonias, alla kai ta tēs tōn ethnōn polyarchias.

It has already been shown before that the human sacrifices formerly performed cruelly and mercilessly among all the nations found rest from their evils at no time before the gospel teaching. To this it is well to add now that from then on not only the demonic superstition was quenched, but also the rule of many over the nations.

Notes and citation

Summary: After the gospel both human sacrifice and the division of nations under many rulers ended.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization; breathing misread in digitization): αἶ παρὰ → αἱ παρὰ; οἶς ἐπὶ → οἷς ἐπὶ.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.1.4 (Dindorf 1:209; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-5-1-4). (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.

5.1.5Dindorf 1:209

σχεδὸν γὰρ κατὰ πᾶσαν πόλιν καὶ κώμην βασιλεῖς καὶ τυράννους τοπάρχας τε καὶ δυνάστας παλαιὸν ἦν ὁρᾶν, ἐθναρχίας τε καὶ πολυαρχίας, διʼ ἃς ἐπὶ τοὺς κατʼ ἀλλήλων πολέμους συνεχῶς ὁρμῶντες δῃώσεις τε χωρῶν καὶ πόλεων πολιορκίας ἀνδραποδισμούς τε καὶ αἰχμαλωσίας τῶν πλησιοχώρων ἀεὶ καὶ διὰ παντὸς ἐνήργουν, πρὸς τῶν οἰκείων δαιμόνων ἐπὶ τὸν κατʼ ἀλλήλων πόλεμον ἐξοιστρούμενοι.

schedon gar kata pasan polin kai kōmēn basileis kai tyrannous toparchas te kai dynastas palaion ēn horan, ethnarchias te kai polyarchias, diʼ has epi tous katʼ allēlōn polemous synechōs hormōntes dę̄ōseis te chōrōn kai poleōn poliorkias andrapodismous te kai aichmalōsias tōn plēsiochōrōn aei kai dia pantos enērgoun, pros tōn oikeiōn daimonōn epi ton katʼ allēlōn polemon exoistroumenoi.

For in ancient times one could see in almost every city and village kings and tyrants, local rulers and princes, governments by nations and by many rulers, through which, continually rushing into wars against one another, they were always and everywhere ravaging lands, besieging cities, and enslaving and taking captive their neighbors, driven to frenzy by their own demons into war against one another.

Notes and citation

Summary: Formerly many petty rulers, driven by their demons, waged constant war.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip): πόκαὶ καὶ κώμην → πόλιν καὶ κώμην.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.1.5 (Dindorf 1:209; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-5-1-5). (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.

5.1.6Dindorf 1:209

ὧν οὕτως ἐχόντων ἐν ὁποία τότε συγχύσει κακῶν συμφορῶν τε ἐπαλλήλων ὁ πᾶς ἐνέσχητο βίος καὶ αὐτῷ σοι παραλείπω σκοπεῖν.

hōn houtōs echontōn en hopoia tote synchysei kakōn symphorōn te epallēlōn ho pas eneschēto bios kai autǭ soi paraleipō skopein.

These things being so, I leave you to consider for yourself in what confusion of evils and successive calamities all life was then held.

Notes and citation

Summary: Life was then full of confusion and calamity.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.1.6 (Dindorf 1:209; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-5-1-6). (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.

5.1.7Dindorf 1:209–210

τούτων δὴ οὖν ἀθρόως ἁπάντων ὁμοῦ σὺν τῇ πολυθέῳ πλάνῃ ἐκποδὼν μεταστάντων οὐκ ἄλλοτε ἢ μετὰ τὴν τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν εἰς ἀνθρώπους ἐπιδημίαν, πῶς οὐ χρὴ τὸ μέγα μυστήριον τῆς ἀληθῶς σωτηρίου καὶ εὐαγγελικῆς ἀποδείξεως ὑπερθαυμάζειν, διʼ ἧς ἀθρόως κατὰ πᾶσαν τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων οἰκουμένην προσευκτήρια καὶ ναοὶ τῷ παμβασιλεῖ καὶ δημιουργῷ τῶν ἁπάντων καὶ μόνῳ θεῷ ἔν τε πόλεσι καὶ κώμαις βαρβάρων τε ἐθνῶν ἐν ἐρημίαις ἀφιερωμένα συνέστη, βίβλοι τε καὶ ἀναγνώσματα, μαθήματά τε παντοῖα διδασκαλίαι, περὶ τῆς εἰς ἄκρον ἀρετῆς καὶ τρόπου τοῦ κατὰ τὴν ἀληθῆ θεοσέβειαν παραγγέλματα περιέχουσαι, ἀνδράσιν ὁμοῦ καὶ γυναιξὶ καὶ παισὶν εἰς ἐπήκοον παραδέδονται, νεκρὰ δὲ τὰ ἀπὸ δαιμόνων πάντα χρηστήριά τε καὶ μαντεύματα;

toutōn dē oun athroōs hapantōn homou syn tę̄ polytheǭ planę̄ ekpodōn metastantōn ouk allote ē meta tēn tou sōtēros hēmōn eis anthrōpous epidēmian, pōs ou chrē to mega mystērion tēs alēthōs sōtēriou kai euangelikēs apodeixeōs hyperthaumazein, diʼ hēs athroōs kata pasan tēn tōn anthrōpōn oikoumenēn proseuktēria kai naoi tǭ pambasilei kai dēmiourgǭ tōn hapantōn kai monǭ theǭ en te polesi kai kōmais barbarōn te ethnōn en erēmiais aphierōmena synestē, bibloi te kai anagnōsmata, mathēmata te pantoia didaskaliai, peri tēs eis akron aretēs kai tropou tou kata tēn alēthē theosebeian parangelmata periechousai, andrasin homou kai gynaixi kai paisin eis epēkoon paradedontai, nekra de ta apo daimonōn panta chrēstēria te kai manteumata?

Since, then, all these were removed at once together with the polytheistic error at no other time than after our Savior's coming among men, how should one not greatly admire the great mystery of the truly saving gospel demonstration, through which, all at once, throughout the whole inhabited world, houses of prayer and temples dedicated to the universal King and creator of all, the only God, have been established in cities and villages, and in the deserts of barbarian nations; books and readings, and all kinds of teachings, containing precepts about the highest virtue and the way of true piety, are handed down for men, women, and children to hear; while all the oracles and divinations from demons are dead?

Notes and citation

Summary: With Christ's coming, churches and teaching spread everywhere, and the demons' oracles died.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip; iota subscript lost in digitization): πλάνη ἐκποδὼν → πλάνῃ ἐκποδὼν; τρόκαὶ που → τρόπου.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.1.7 (Dindorf 1:209–210; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-5-1-7). (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.

5.1.8Dindorf 1:210

οὐδέ τις εἰς τοσοῦτον ἀνθρώπων μέμηνε νῦν, ἐξ οὑπερ εἰς πάντας φωτὸς δίκην ἐξέλαμψεν ἡ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἔνθεος καὶ εὐαγγελικὴ δύναμις, ὡς τολμᾶν τῷ τοῦ φιλτάτου φόνῳ καὶ ταῖς διʼ ἀνθρωποθυσιῶν σφαγαῖς τὰ φονικὰ καὶ φίλαιμα καὶ μισάνθρωπά τε καὶ ἀπάνθρωπα δαιμόνια ἐξιλεοῦσθαι, οἷα πράττειν τοῖς πάλαι σοφοῖς τε καὶ βασιλεῦσι δαιμονῶσιν ὡς ἀληθῶς φίλον ἦν.

oude tis eis tosouton anthrōpōn memēne nyn, ex houper eis pantas phōtos dikēn exelampsen hē tou sōtēros hēmōn entheos kai euangelikē dynamis, hōs tolman tǭ tou philtatou phonǭ kai tais diʼ anthrōpothysiōn sphagais ta phonika kai philaima kai misanthrōpa te kai apanthrōpa daimonia exileousthai, hoia prattein tois palai sophois te kai basileusi daimonōsin hōs alēthōs philon ēn.

Nor is anyone now so mad, since the divine gospel power of our Savior shone out like light upon all, as to dare to appease the murderous, blood-loving, man-hating, and inhuman demons with the murder of his dearest and the slaughter of human sacrifices, such as the wise men and kings of old, truly possessed by demons, liked to do.

Notes and citation

Summary: Since the gospel, no one dares to offer human sacrifice as the ancients did.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.1.8 (Dindorf 1:210; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-5-1-8). (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.

5.1.9Dindorf 1:210

περὶ δὲ τοῦ μηκέτι δύνασθαί τι καὶ ἰσχύειν τοὺς φαύλους δαίμονας μετὰ τὴν τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν εἰς ἀνθρώπους πάροδον καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ καθʼ ἡμᾶς τῶν δαιμόνων προήγορος ἐν τῇ καθʼ ἡμῶν συσκευῇ τοῦτόν που λέγων μαρτυρεῖ τὸν τρόπον

peri de tou mēketi dynasthai ti kai ischyein tous phaulous daimonas meta tēn tou sōtēros hēmōn eis anthrōpous parodon kai autos ho kathʼ hēmas tōn daimonōn proēgoros en tę̄ kathʼ hēmōn syskeuę̄ touton pou legōn martyrei ton tropon

And that the bad demons no longer have any power or strength since our Savior's coming among men, the very advocate of the demons in our time testifies in his attack on us, speaking somewhere in this way:

Notes and citation

Summary: Eusebius introduces Porphyry's admission that the gods lost their power after Jesus.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (elision mark lost in digitization): καθ ἡμᾶς → καθʼ ἡμᾶς.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.1.9 (Dindorf 1:210; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-5-1-9). (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.

5.1.10Dindorf 1:210

“ Νυνὶ δὲ θαυμάζουσιν εἰ τοσούτων ἐτῶν κατείληφε τὴν πόλιν ἡ νόσος, Ἀσκληπιοῦ μὲν ἐπιδημίας καὶ τῶν ἄλλων θεῶν μηκέτʼ οὔσης. Ἰησοῦ γὰρ τιμωμένου οὐδεμιᾶς τις θεῶν δημοσίας ὠφελείας ᾔσθετο.’’

“ Nyni de thaumazousin ei tosoutōn etōn kateilēphe tēn polin hē nosos, Asklēpiou men epidēmias kai tōn allōn theōn mēketʼ ousēs. Iēsou gar timōmenou oudemias tis theōn dēmosias ōpheleias ę̄stheto.’’

"And now they wonder that the plague has held the city for so many years, since there is no longer any visitation of Asclepius and the other gods. For since Jesus has been honored, no one has perceived any public help from the gods."

Notes and citation

Summary: Porphyry complains that since Jesus has been honored the gods give no public help.

Porphyry, Against the Christians (frag. 80 Harnack).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (words joined in digitization): εἰτοσούτων → εἰ τοσούτων.

Extrabiblical texts: Porphyry, Porphyry, Chr. frag. 80 (Porphyry, Against the Christians (fragments); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.1.10 (Dindorf 1:210; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-5-1-10). (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.

5.1.11Dindorf 1:210

Ταῦτα ῥήμασιν αὐτοῖς ὁ Πορφύριος. εἰ δὴ οὖν κατὰ τήνδε τὴν ὁμολογίαν Ἰησοῦ τιμωμένου οὐδεμιᾶς τις θεῶν δημοσίας ὠφελείας ᾔσθετο, μηκέτʼ οὔσης μήτʼ Ἀσκληπιοῦ ἐπιδημίας μήτε τῶν ἄλλων θεῶν, πόθεν δὴ λοιπὸν τὸ ὡς περὶ θεῶν καὶ ἡρώων δόγμα;

Tauta rhēmasin autois ho Porphyrios. ei dē oun kata tēnde tēn homologian Iēsou timōmenou oudemias tis theōn dēmosias ōpheleias ę̄stheto, mēketʼ ousēs mētʼ Asklēpiou epidēmias mēte tōn allōn theōn, pothen dē loipon to hōs peri theōn kai hērōōn dogma?

So says Porphyry in his own words. If, then, according to this admission, since Jesus has been honored no one has perceived any public help from the gods, there being no longer any visitation either of Asclepius or of the other gods, where does the doctrine about gods and heroes come from any longer?

Notes and citation

Summary: Porphyry's admission undermines belief in the gods.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.1.11 (Dindorf 1:210; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-5-1-11). (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.

5.1.12Dindorf 1:210–211

τί γὰρ οὐχὶ μᾶλλον τὰ τῶν θεῶν καὶ τὰ Ἀσκληπιοῦ κρατεῖ τῆς Ἰησοῦ δυνάμεως; εἰ δὴ ὁ μὲν θνητὸς, ὡς ἂν φαῖεν, ἄνθρωπος — τάχα δʼ ἂν εἴποιεν ὅτι καὶ πλάνος — οἱ δὲ σωτῆρες καὶ θεοὶ, τί δῆτα τοίνυν πάντες ἀθρόως αὐτῷ Ἀσκληπιῷ πεφεύγασι, τὰ νῶτα τῷ θνητῷ, καὶ πᾶσαν ἐξῆς ὑποχείριον τὴν ἀνθρωπότητα τῷ μηκέτʼ ὄντι, ὡς ἂν εἴποιεν αὐτοὶ, παραδεδωκότες;

ti gar ouchi mallon ta tōn theōn kai ta Asklēpiou kratei tēs Iēsou dynameōs? ei dē ho men thnētos, hōs an phaien, anthrōpos — tacha dʼ an eipoien hoti kai planos — hoi de sōtēres kai theoi, ti dēta toinyn pantes athroōs autǭ Asklēpiǭ pepheugasi, ta nōta tǭ thnētǭ, kai pasan exēs hypocheirion tēn anthrōpotēta tǭ mēketʼ onti, hōs an eipoien autoi, paradedōkotes?

For why does not the power of the gods and of Asclepius rather prevail over that of Jesus? If he was a mortal man, as they would say (perhaps they would even say a deceiver), and they were saviors and gods, why then have they all, Asclepius included, fled at once, turning their backs on the mortal, and handed over all mankind to the one who, as they themselves would say, no longer exists?

Notes and citation

Summary: Why would gods flee before a mortal, if Jesus were merely a man?

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (breathing misread in digitization): οἶ δὲ σωτῆρες → οἱ δὲ σωτῆρες.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.1.12 (Dindorf 1:210–211; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-5-1-12). (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.

5.1.13Dindorf 1:211

ὁ δὲ καὶ μετὰ θάνατον παρὰ πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ὁσημέραι διαιωνίζει τιμώμενος, ἄντικρυς τῆς μετὰ θάνατον ζωῆς τὸ ἐναργὲς καὶ ἔνθεον τοῖς οἵοις τε συνορᾶν ἐπιδεικνύμενος.

ho de kai meta thanaton para pasi tois ethnesin hosēmerai diaiōnizei timōmenos, antikrys tēs meta thanaton zōēs to enarges kai entheon tois hoiois te synoran epideiknymenos.

But he, even after death, is honored day by day among all the nations through the ages, plainly showing to those able to perceive it the clear and divine reality of life after death.

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ, honored everywhere after his death, shows the reality of life beyond death.

Topics: Christology, Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.1.13 (Dindorf 1:211; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-5-1-13). (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.

5.1.14Dindorf 1:211

ἀλλὰ καὶ εἶς ὢν, καὶ, ὡς ἄν τις ὑπολάβοι, μόνος, τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἀνὰ πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην θεῶν ἐλαύνει, καὶ τάς γε τιμὰς αὐτῶν ἀθετῶν κρατεῖ, ὡς τοὺς μὲν θεοὺς μηκέτʼ εἶναι, μηδʼ ἐνεργεῖν, μηδέ πη παραφαίνεσθαι, μηδὲ συνήθως ταῖς πόλεσιν ἐπιδημεῖν, ὅτι μὴ θεοὶ, δαίμονες δʼ ἦσαν πονηροί· μόνου δὲ αὐτοῦ καὶ τοῦ καταπέμψαντος αὐτὸν θεοῦ τῶν ὅλων αὔξειν ὁσημέραι τὰς τιμὰς, καὶ εἰς μεῖζον ἀρετῆς καθʼ ὅλης τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος ἐπιδιδόναι,

alla kai eis ōn, kai, hōs an tis hypolaboi, monos, to plēthos tōn ana pasan tēn oikoumenēn theōn elaunei, kai tas ge timas autōn athetōn kratei, hōs tous men theous mēketʼ einai, mēdʼ energein, mēde pē paraphainesthai, mēde synēthōs tais polesin epidēmein, hoti mē theoi, daimones dʼ ēsan ponēroi; monou de autou kai tou katapempsantos auton theou tōn holōn auxein hosēmerai tas timas, kai eis meizon aretēs kathʼ holēs tēs anthrōpotētos epididonai,

Moreover, being one and, as one might suppose, alone, he drives out the multitude of gods throughout the whole world and prevails, setting aside their honors, so that the gods no longer exist, nor work, nor appear anywhere, nor visit the cities as they used to, because they were not gods but wicked demons; while the honors of him alone, and of the God of the universe who sent him, increase day by day and advance to greater excellence throughout all mankind;

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ alone drives out the many gods, while his honor and the Father's grow everywhere.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization; repeated syllable in digitization): πλὴθος → πλῆθος; τιμὰμὰς → τιμὰς.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.1.14 (Dindorf 1:211; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-5-1-14). (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.

5.1.15Dindorf 1:211

δέον ἔμπαλιν τοὺς μὲν θεοὺς, εἰ δή τινες ὄντως ἦσαν τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς κηδεμόνες, τοῦ μὲν ἄρδην μεταστήσασθαι τὴν πλάνην, εἰ ἄρα τις ἦν, αὐτοὺς δὲ τὰς ἐξ αὐτῶν θεραπείας τε καὶ ὠφελείας ἀφθόνως τοῖς πᾶσιν ἐμπαρέχειν.

deon empalin tous men theous, ei dē tines ontōs ēsan tōn epi gēs kēdemones, tou men ardēn metastēsasthai tēn planēn, ei ara tis ēn, autous de tas ex autōn therapeias te kai ōpheleias aphthonōs tois pasin emparechein.

whereas, on the contrary, the gods, if they were truly guardians of those on earth, ought to have removed his deception utterly, if there was any, and themselves to have provided their healings and benefits ungrudgingly to all.

Notes and citation

Summary: If the gods were real guardians, they should have overcome the error and helped everyone.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization; digitization slip): ἕμταλιν → ἔμπαλιν; ἤσαν → ἦσαν.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.1.15 (Dindorf 1:211; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-5-1-15). (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.

5.1.16Dindorf 1:211

νυνὶ δὲ τοῖσδε καὶ τοῦτʼ ἐπικεχείρηται μὲν πολλάκις, διὰ τῶν κατὰ χρόνους ἀρχόντων τὴν τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν κραταιοτάτην πολεμησάντων διδασκαλίαν· ἄπρακτον δʼ ὅμως εὕροντο τῆς ἐγχειρήσεως τὸ τέλος, ὑπερνικώσης τοὺς πάντας ἀεὶ τῆς τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἐνθέου δυνάμεως, καὶ πάσας τὰς κατὰ τῆς διδασκαλίας αὐτοῦ τῶν πονηρῶν δαιμόνων ἐπαναστάσεις καθαιρούσης, αὐτούς τε ἐλαυνούσης, δαίμονας μὲν ἀληθῶς φαύλους ὄντας, ψευδῶς δὲ νενομισμένους εἶναι θεοὺς ἢ καὶ ἀγαθοὺς δαίμονας.

nyni de toisde kai toutʼ epikecheirētai men pollakis, dia tōn kata chronous archontōn tēn tou sōtēros hēmōn krataiotatēn polemēsantōn didaskalian; aprakton dʼ homōs heuronto tēs encheirēseōs to telos, hypernikōsēs tous pantas aei tēs tou sōtēros hēmōn entheou dynameōs, kai pasas tas kata tēs didaskalias autou tōn ponērōn daimonōn epanastaseis kathairousēs, autous te elaunousēs, daimonas men alēthōs phaulous ontas, pseudōs de nenomismenous einai theous ē kai agathous daimonas.

And they have often attempted this very thing, through the rulers of each age who made war on our Savior's most mighty teaching; but they found the outcome of the attempt fruitless, since the divine power of our Savior always overcomes all, destroying all the uprisings of the wicked demons against his teaching and driving them out, demons that are truly bad but falsely thought to be gods or good demons.

Notes and citation

Summary: The demons tried through persecuting rulers to destroy Christ's teaching, but failed.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip): δαίμουας → δαίμονας.

Topics: Persecution

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.1.16 (Dindorf 1:211; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-5-1-16). (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.

Preparation 5, chapter 2

5.2.1Dindorf 1:211–212

Οἵδε γοῦν περίγειοί τινες ὄντες καὶ καταχθόνιοι, τόν τε ἐπὶ γῆς βαρὺν καὶ ζοφερὸν ἀέρα περιπολοῦντες, καὶ τὸ σκότιον καὶ γεῶδες οἰκητήριον ἔχειν κατακεκριμένοι διʼ ἃς ὕστερον ἀποδώσομεν αἰτίας, τάφοις νεκρῶν καὶ μνήμασι καὶ πάσῃ τῇ μυσαρᾷ καὶ ἀκαθάρτῳ ὕλῃ ἐμφιλοχωροῦντες, αἵμασί τε καὶ λύθροις καὶ παντοίων ζῴων σώμασι τῇ τε ἐκ τῶν ἀναθυμιωμένων καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἐξατμιζομένων ἀναδόσει χαίροντες, οἵ τε τούτων ἄρχοντες ἀέριοί τινες ὑπάρχοντες, ἢ καὶ καταχθόνιοι δυνάμεις, ἐπεὶ κατέμαθον τὸ ἀνθρώπινον γένος κάτω που περὶ νεκρῶν ἀνδρῶν θεοποιίαν ἰλυσπώμενον, θυσίαις τε καὶ κνίσαῖς ταῖς δὴ μάλιστα αὐτοῖς κεχαρισμέναις διὰ πάσης σπουδῆς ἐκπονούμενον, ἐγγύθεν ἔφεδροι καὶ συνεργοὶ τῆς πλάνης παρῆσαν, τοῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων κακοῖς ἐπεντρυφῶντες, καὶ τοὺς ἠλιθίους τὰς ψυχὰς εὐχερῶς ἀπατῶντες κινήσεσί τε ξοάνων, ἃ δὴ ἐπὶ τιμῇ τῶν κατοιχομένων ἀνδρῶν πρὸς τῶν παλαιῶν ἀφιέρωται, καὶ ταῖς διὰ χρησμῶν φαντασίαις, θεραπείαις τε σωμάτων, ἃ διὰ τῆς οἰκείας αὐτῶν ἐνεργείας ἀφανῶς αὐτοὶ λυμαινόμενοι, πάλιν οἱ αὐτοὶ διὰ τῆς ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀνέσεως ἐλευθέρους παθῶν ἠφίεσαν.

Hoide goun perigeioi tines ontes kai katachthonioi, ton te epi gēs baryn kai zopheron aera peripolountes, kai to skotion kai geōdes oikētērion echein katakekrimenoi diʼ has hysteron apodōsomen aitias, taphois nekrōn kai mnēmasi kai pasę̄ tę̄ mysarą kai akathartǭ hylę̄ emphilochōrountes, haimasi te kai lythrois kai pantoiōn zǭōn sōmasi tę̄ te ek tōn anathymiōmenōn kai apo tēs gēs exatmizomenōn anadosei chairontes, hoi te toutōn archontes aerioi tines hyparchontes, ē kai katachthonioi dynameis, epei katemathon to anthrōpinon genos katō pou peri nekrōn andrōn theopoiian ilyspōmenon, thysiais te kai knisais tais dē malista autois kecharismenais dia pasēs spoudēs ekponoumenon, engythen ephedroi kai synergoi tēs planēs parēsan, tois tōn anthrōpōn kakois epentryphōntes, kai tous ēlithious tas psychas eucherōs apatōntes kinēsesi te xoanōn, ha dē epi timę̄ tōn katoichomenōn andrōn pros tōn palaiōn aphierōtai, kai tais dia chrēsmōn phantasiais, therapeiais te sōmatōn, ha dia tēs oikeias autōn energeias aphanōs autoi lymainomenoi, palin hoi autoi dia tēs ex autōn aneseōs eleutherous pathōn ēphiesan.

These, then, being earthly and infernal beings, haunting the heavy and gloomy air about the earth, and condemned to have a dark and earthy dwelling for reasons we shall give later, delighting in tombs of the dead and monuments and all foul and unclean matter, rejoicing in blood and gore and the bodies of all kinds of animals and in the rising of what is exhaled and steams up from the earth; and their rulers, being certain aerial or infernal powers, when they learned that the human race was groveling below in the deification of dead men and laboring with all eagerness at sacrifices and savors of fat, which are most pleasing to them, were at hand close by as watchers and accomplices of the error, reveling in the evils of men and easily deceiving the foolish in soul by movements of the images dedicated by the ancients in honor of the departed, by the illusions of oracles, and by cures of bodies, which they themselves secretly harmed by their own working, and then, by relaxing it, set free from their sufferings.

Notes and citation

Summary: Earthbound demons, delighting in blood and tombs, fostered the worship of the dead through moving images, oracles, and sham cures.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen rejoined; line-break hyphen rejoined; breathing corrected; repeated syllables in digitization; word split in digitization): ὄντʼ ἐς → ὄντες; περιπολοῦντες, πολοῦντες, → περιπολοῦντες,; ἡφίε- σαν → ἠφίεσαν; μυ- σαρᾷ → μυσαρᾷ; κνί- σαῖς → κνίσαῖς.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.2.1 (Dindorf 1:211–212; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-5-2-1). (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.

5.2.2Dindorf 1:212

διʼ ὧν ἐπὶ μᾶλλον κατὰ κρημνῶν ἔφερον τοὺς δεισιδαίμονας, ὡς αὐτοὺς εἶναι νομίζειν ποτὲ μὲν οὐρανίους δυνάμεις καί τινας ἀληθῶς θεοὺς, ποτὲ δὲ τὰς τῶν τεθεοποιημένων ἡρώων ψυχάς.

diʼ hōn epi mallon kata krēmnōn epheron tous deisidaimonas, hōs autous einai nomizein pote men ouranious dynameis kai tinas alēthōs theous, pote de tas tōn tetheopoiēmenōn hērōōn psychas.

By these means they swept the superstitious still further down precipices, so that they thought them sometimes heavenly powers and some truly gods, sometimes the souls of deified heroes.

Notes and citation

Summary: The demons made people take them for gods or deified heroes.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.2.2 (Dindorf 1:212; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-5-2-2). (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.

5.2.3Dindorf 1:212

ἐντεῦθεν γοῦν ἤδη μείζων τις εἶναι καὶ σεμνοτέρα τοῖς πολλοῖς ἐνομίζετο ἡ τῆς πολυθέου πλάνης ὑπόληψις, μεταβαινούσης τῆς διανοίας ἀπὸ τῶν ὁρωμένων ἐπὶ τὸ ἀφανὲς τῶν ἐγκρυπτομένων τοῖς ξοάνοις, καὶ τὴν πλάνην κραταιότερον ἐπικυρούσης.

enteuthen goun ēdē meizōn tis einai kai semnotera tois pollois enomizeto hē tēs polytheou planēs hypolēpsis, metabainousēs tēs dianoias apo tōn horōmenōn epi to aphanes tōn enkryptomenōn tois xoanois, kai tēn planēn krataioteron epikyrousēs.

From this, then, the belief of the polytheistic error came to be thought by the many something greater and more dignified, as the mind passed over from the visible to the invisible beings hidden in the images, and confirmed the error more strongly.

Notes and citation

Summary: The belief in invisible powers in the images strengthened polytheism.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization): τοἲς → τοῖς.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.2.3 (Dindorf 1:212; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-5-2-3). (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.

5.2.4Dindorf 1:212

οὕτω δῆτα λοιπὸν οἱ περίγειοι δαίμονες, οἵ τε ἀμφὶ τὸν ἀέρα κοσμοκράτορες καὶ τὰ πνευματικὰ τῆς πονηρίας, ὅ τε ἐπὶ πᾶσιν αὐτοῖς τῆς κακίας ἐξάρχων, θεῶν οἱ μέγιστοι παρὰ τοῖς πᾶσιν ἐνομίζοντο· ἥ τε τῶν πάλαι νεκρῶν μνήμη τῆς μείζονος ἠξιοῦτο θεραπείας.

houtō dēta loipon hoi perigeioi daimones, hoi te amphi ton aera kosmokratores kai ta pneumatika tēs ponērias, ho te epi pasin autois tēs kakias exarchōn, theōn hoi megistoi para tois pasin enomizonto; hē te tōn palai nekrōn mnēmē tēs meizonos ēxiouto therapeias.

So, then, the earthly demons, the world-rulers about the air, and the spiritual hosts of wickedness, and the leader of evil over them all, were thought by all to be the greatest of the gods; and the memory of the dead of old was counted worthy of the greater worship.

Eph 6:12 (echo, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The demons and their ruler came to be worshipped as the greatest gods.

Echo of Eph 6:12.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.2.4 (Dindorf 1:212; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-5-2-4). (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.

5.2.5Dindorf 1:212–213

ὧν τὰς μὲν τῶν σωμάτων ἰδέας οἱ τῶν κατὰ πόλεις ἀφιερωμένων εἰκόνων φέρειν ἐδόκουν τύποι, τὰς δὲ ψυχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐνθέους καὶ ἀσωμάτους δυνάμεις οἱ φαῦλοι δαίμονες καθυπεκρίνοντο διὰ πολλῆς τερατοποιίας· καὶ αὐτῶν ἤδη τῶν θεραπευόντων καὶ ἱερωμένων αὐτοῖς ἐπὶ τὸ μεῖζον ἀεὶ τὸν ἐκ τῆς φαντασίας τῦφον ἀπαγόντων, καὶ δὴ καὶ γοητικαῖς κακοτεχνίαις τὰ πολλὰ συσκευαζόντων, τῆς καὶ τούτων διδασκαλίας αὐτῶν πάλιν τῶν φαύλων δαιμόνων τοῖς θεραπεύουσι προκαταρξάντων. οἵδε γοῦν καὶ τῆς ἀρχεκάκου γοητείας παντὶ τῷ τῶν ἀνθρώπων βίῳ κατέστησαν αἴτιοι, ὡσπεροῦν ὁ πρὸ τούτου διήλεγξε λόγος.

hōn tas men tōn sōmatōn ideas hoi tōn kata poleis aphierōmenōn eikonōn pherein edokoun typoi, tas de psychas kai tas entheous kai asōmatous dynameis hoi phauloi daimones kathypekrinonto dia pollēs teratopoiias; kai autōn ēdē tōn therapeuontōn kai hierōmenōn autois epi to meizon aei ton ek tēs phantasias typhon apagontōn, kai dē kai goētikais kakotechniais ta polla syskeuazontōn, tēs kai toutōn didaskalias autōn palin tōn phaulōn daimonōn tois therapeuousi prokatarxantōn. hoide goun kai tēs archekakou goēteias panti tǭ tōn anthrōpōn biǭ katestēsan aitioi, hōsperoun ho pro toutou diēlenxe logos.

The forms of the images dedicated in the cities seemed to bear the shapes of their bodies, while the bad demons played the part of their souls and of divine and incorporeal powers through much marvel-working; and their own servants and priests always carried the pretension of the illusion further, and contrived much by the evil arts of sorcery, the bad demons themselves having first taught these too to their worshippers. These, at any rate, became the authors of sorcery, the source of evils, for all human life, as the preceding argument proved.

Notes and citation

Summary: Images represented the dead while demons pretended to be their souls, and taught sorcery to their priests.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip; line-break hyphen rejoined): οἔδε → οἵδε; ἀφιε- ρωμένων → ἀφιερωμένων.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.2.5 (Dindorf 1:212–213; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-5-2-5). (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.

Preparation 5, chapter 3

5.3.1Dindorf 1:213

Τούτων τοιγαροῦν τῶν μοχθηρῶν καὶ περιγείων δαιμόνων, τῶν τε ἀερίων καὶ καταχθονίων πνευμάτων, οὓς κοσμοκράτορας καὶ πνευματικὰ πονηρίας ἀρχάς τε καὶ ἐξουσίας οἱ θεῖοι λόγοι προσαγορεύουσι, τοτὲ μὲν εἰς ἀγαθοὺς δαίμονας ὑποκρινομένων, τοτὲ δὲ εἰς οὐρανίους θεοὺς σχηματιζομένων, καὶ πάλιν ἄλλοτε εἰς ἥρωας μεταμορφουμένων, ἔστι δʼ ὅπη ἄντικρυς διὰ τῶν δρωμένων τῆς μοχθηρίας τὸ δεῖγμα παραφαινόντων, εἰκότως πολὺς ὁ πλάνος ἀνθρώποις ἔτι μᾶλλον ἐπῄει, τῶν μὲν θεοὺς εἶναι, τῶν δὲ ἥρωας καὶ δαίμονας, ἀλλʼ οὐ θεοὺς ὑπάρχειν ὁμολογούντων, καὶ τῶν δαιμόνων τοὺς μὲν ἀγαθοὺς ἐπιφημιζόντων, τοὺς δὲ φαύλους ἐπικαλούντων, πλὴν ἀλλὰ δεῖν φασκόντων καὶ τοὺς φαύλους ἐξιλεοῦσθαι διὰ τὰς ἐξ αὐτῶν βλάβας· ὥστε τὴν πᾶσαν αὐτοῖς θεοποιίαν εἰς εἴδη πλείονα καταπίπτειν.

Toutōn toigaroun tōn mochthērōn kai perigeiōn daimonōn, tōn te aeriōn kai katachthoniōn pneumatōn, hous kosmokratoras kai pneumatika ponērias archas te kai exousias hoi theioi logoi prosagoreuousi, tote men eis agathous daimonas hypokrinomenōn, tote de eis ouranious theous schēmatizomenōn, kai palin allote eis hērōas metamorphoumenōn, esti dʼ hopē antikrys dia tōn drōmenōn tēs mochthērias to deigma paraphainontōn, eikotōs polys ho planos anthrōpois eti mallon epę̄ei, tōn men theous einai, tōn de hērōas kai daimonas, allʼ ou theous hyparchein homologountōn, kai tōn daimonōn tous men agathous epiphēmizontōn, tous de phaulous epikalountōn, plēn alla dein phaskontōn kai tous phaulous exileousthai dia tas ex autōn blabas; hōste tēn pasan autois theopoiian eis eidē pleiona katapiptein.

Since, then, these wicked earthly demons and aerial and infernal spirits, whom the divine words call world-rulers, spiritual hosts of wickedness, principalities, and powers, at one time pretended to be good demons, at another took the form of heavenly gods, and again at another changed into heroes, and sometimes plainly displayed the sign of their wickedness through what was done, naturally great error came upon men still more: some declaring them gods, others heroes and demons but not gods; and of the demons calling some good and others bad, yet saying that even the bad must be propitiated because of the harm they do; so that all their deification fell into several kinds.

Eph 6:12 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Because the demons took many guises, pagans divided their gods into many classes.

Allusion to Eph 6:12.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen rejoined): περι- γείων → περιγείων.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.3.1 (Dindorf 1:213; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-5-3-1). (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.

5.3.2Dindorf 1:213–214

πρῶτον μὲν τὸ ἐκ τῶν φαινομένων κατʼ οὐρανὸν φωστήρων, οὓς καί φασι διὰ τὸ θέειν, ὅπερ ἐστὶ τρέχειν, διά τε τὸ αἰτίους εἶναι τοῦ θεωρεῖν τὰ ὁρώμενα, πρώτους θεοὺς ἀνηγορεῦσθαι· δεύτερον τὸ διὰ τὰς εἰς τὸν κοινὸν βίον, ὥς φασιν, εὐεργεσίας ἐκτετιμημένον, ὃ δὴ ἐξ ἀνθρώπων γεγεννῆσθαι καὶ αὐτοὶ ὁμολογοῦσι, τοὺς καλουμένους ἥρωας παραφέροντες, Ἡρακλέα καὶ Διοσκούρους, Διόνυσόν τε καὶ τοὺς παρὰ βαρβάροις ὁμοίους.

prōton men to ek tōn phainomenōn katʼ ouranon phōstērōn, hous kai phasi dia to theein, hoper esti trechein, dia te to aitious einai tou theōrein ta horōmena, prōtous theous anēgoreusthai; deuteron to dia tas eis ton koinon bion, hōs phasin, euergesias ektetimēmenon, ho dē ex anthrōpōn gegennēsthai kai autoi homologousi, tous kaloumenous hērōas parapherontes, Hēraklea kai Dioskourous, Dionyson te kai tous para barbarois homoious.

First, that from the luminaries appearing in heaven, which they say were first proclaimed gods because of their running (thein) and because they are the cause of beholding (theorein) what is seen; second, that honored for benefits to the common life, as they say, which they themselves admit was born of men, bringing forward the so-called heroes, Heracles, the Dioscuri, Dionysus, and their like among the barbarians.

Notes and citation

Summary: The first kinds of deification are the heavenly bodies and deified benefactors.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (accent lost in digitization; letters lost in digitization; line-break hyphen rejoined): δια τὸ θέειν → διὰ τὸ θέειν; ραλέα → Ἡρακλέα; ἐκτετιμη- μένον → ἐκτετιμημένον.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.3.2 (Dindorf 1:213–214; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-5-3-2). (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.

5.3.3Dindorf 1:214

ἐξ ὧν ἀφορίσαντες καὶ διαστειλάμενοι τὰ περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν αἰσχρότερα μνημονευόμενα τρίτον εἶδος θεοποιίας ὑπέθεντο, μυθικὸν αὐτὸ ἐπικαλέσαντες. ὃ δὴ ἐπαισχυνθέντες, καίπερ ἀληθὲς καὶ παλαίτατον τυγχάνον, ἐπὶ τὸ φυσικώτερον, ὥς φασι, μεταβεβλήκασι τροπικωτέραις ἀλληγορίαις, θεωρίας δή τινας εὑρεσιλογήσαντες.

ex hōn aphorisantes kai diasteilamenoi ta peri tōn autōn aischrotera mnēmoneuomena triton eidos theopoiias hypethento, mythikon auto epikalesantes. ho dē epaischynthentes, kaiper alēthes kai palaitaton tynchanon, epi to physikōteron, hōs phasi, metabeblēkasi tropikōterais allēgoriais, theōrias dē tinas heuresilogēsantes.

Separating from these and distinguishing the more shameful things recorded about them, they set up a third kind of deification, calling it mythical. Ashamed of it, although it was true and most ancient, they changed it, as they say, to the more physical, by more figurative allegories, inventing certain theories.

Notes and citation

Summary: The third kind is the mythical, which the philosophers turned into physical allegory.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (accent lost in digitization; final sigma misread in digitization): ἐπαισχυνθέντεσ → ἐπαισχυνθέντες; φυσικωτερον → φυσικώτερον.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.3.3 (Dindorf 1:214; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-5-3-3). (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.

5.3.4Dindorf 1:214

ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ εἰς τοῦτο πλάνης αὐτοῖς ἀπήρκει στῆναι, ἀλλὰ καὶ μέχρι τῶν οἰκείων παθῶν τὸ σεβάσμιον καὶ προσκυνητὸν ὄνομα τοῦ θεοῦ καταβαλόντες τέταρτον θεοποιίας προσεπενοήσατο τρόπον, οὐδʼ ἀντιρρήσεως ἄξιον, τῷ καὶ αὐτὸν προφανὲς ἐπάγεσθαι τὸ αἶσχος,

allʼ oudʼ eis touto planēs autois apērkei stēnai, alla kai mechri tōn oikeiōn pathōn to sebasmion kai proskynēton onoma tou theou katabalontes tetarton theopoiias prosepenoēsato tropon, oudʼ antirrēseōs axion, tǭ kai auton prophanes epagesthai to aischos,

But it did not suffice them to stop at this point of error; bringing down the reverend and adorable name of God even to their own passions, they devised a fourth manner of deification, not even worth refuting, since it plainly brings its own shame with it:

Notes and citation

Summary: A fourth kind deifies the passions.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip): σεβάσμιου → σεβάσμιον; ἐπάυεσθαι → ἐπάγεσθαι.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.3.4 (Dindorf 1:214; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-5-3-4). (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.

5.3.5Dindorf 1:214

εἰ δή Ἔρωτα καὶ Ἀφροδίτην καὶ Πόθον, τὰς αἰσχρὰς καὶ ἀκολάστους αὐτῶν ἐπιθυμίας, θεοὺς ἀνειπόντες, καὶ τὸν μὲν λόγον Ἑρμῆν, τὸν δὲ λογισμὸν Ἀθηνᾶν ἐπονομάσαντες, καὶ ταῦτα τῇ οἰκείᾳ παρειλήφασι θεολογίᾳ, ὡς καὶ τὸ πέμπτον ἐκ τῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις γιγνομένων πραγμάτων ἀναπλασάμενοι.

ei dē Erōta kai Aphroditēn kai Pothon, tas aischras kai akolastous autōn epithymias, theous aneipontes, kai ton men logon Hermēn, ton de logismon Athēnan eponomasantes, kai tauta tę̄ oikeią pareilēphasi theologią, hōs kai to pempton ek tōn en anthrōpois gignomenōn pragmatōn anaplasamenoi.

proclaiming as gods Eros, Aphrodite, and Pothos, their shameful and licentious desires, and naming speech Hermes and reason Athena, they took these too into their own theology, as also forming a fifth kind out of the things done among men.

Notes and citation

Summary: They deified love and desire, and named speech Hermes and reason Athena; a fifth kind comes from human activities.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (accent and breathing lost in digitization; repeated syllables in digitization): καἰ Αφροδίτην → καὶ Ἀφροδίτην; Ἑρμῆν, μῆνʼ, → Ἑρμῆν,.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.3.5 (Dindorf 1:214; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-5-3-5). (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.

5.3.6Dindorf 1:214

τὰς γὰρ ἐνεργείας τάς τε πολεμικὰς καὶ τὰς τεχνικὰς ἀνειδωλοποιήσαντες θεοῖς ἀπένειμαν, Ἄρει μὲν καὶ Ἀθηνᾷ τὰς πολεμικὰς, Ἡφαίστῳ δὲ καί τισιν ἑτέροις τὰς τεχνικάς.

tas gar energeias tas te polemikas kai tas technikas aneidōlopoiēsantes theois apeneiman, Arei men kai Athēną tas polemikas, Hēphaistǭ de kai tisin heterois tas technikas.

For they made idols of the activities of war and of the crafts and assigned them to gods: the warlike to Ares and Athena, the crafts to Hephaestus and some others.

Notes and citation

Summary: War and the crafts were assigned to gods.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen rejoined): Ἡφαί- στῳ → Ἡφαίστῳ.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.3.6 (Dindorf 1:214; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-5-3-6). (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.

5.3.7Dindorf 1:214

ἐπὶ πᾶσι τούτοις ἕκτον καὶ ἕβδομον εἶδος αὐτοῖς τὸ δαιμονικὸν παρεισήχθη, πολύτροπον ἀληθῶς τυγχάνον καὶ πολύμορφον, τοτὲ μὲν θεοὺς ὑποκρινόμενον, τοτὲ δὲ ψυχὰς τεθνηκότων, καὶ μηδὲν μὲν ἡμῖν εἰς ἀρετὴν ψυχῆς συμβαλλόμενον, ἐπιτωθάζον δὲ ἀεὶ καὶ κατὰ κρημνῶν φέρον διὰ τῆς ἀπατηλοῦ πλάνης πάντα τὸν δεισιδαίμονα·

epi pasi toutois hekton kai hebdomon eidos autois to daimonikon pareisēchthē, polytropon alēthōs tynchanon kai polymorphon, tote men theous hypokrinomenon, tote de psychas tethnēkotōn, kai mēden men hēmin eis aretēn psychēs symballomenon, epitōthazon de aei kai kata krēmnōn pheron dia tēs apatēlou planēs panta ton deisidaimona;

Besides all these, a sixth and seventh kind, the demonic, was brought in among them, truly versatile and of many forms, now pretending to be gods, now souls of the dead, contributing nothing to us for virtue of soul, but always mocking every superstitious man and carrying him over precipices through deceitful error;

Notes and citation

Summary: The sixth and seventh kinds are the demonic, which deceive and mock.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.3.7 (Dindorf 1:214; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-5-3-7). (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.

5.3.8Dindorf 1:214–215

ὃ καὶ αὐτὸ διόλου φαῦλον ὂν εἰς δύο διελόντες, εἴς τε τὸ βλαπτικὸν καὶ εἰς τὸ ὠφελοῦν, ἀγαθῶν καὶ φαύλων αὐτοῖς τεθείκασι προσηγορίας.

ho kai auto diolou phaulon on eis dyo dielontes, eis te to blaptikon kai eis to ōpheloun, agathōn kai phaulōn autois tetheikasi prosēgorias.

and this, though wholly bad, they divided into two, the harmful and the helpful, and gave them the names of good and bad.

Notes and citation

Summary: They divided the demons into good and bad.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip): ὠρελοῦν → ὠφελοῦν.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.3.8 (Dindorf 1:214–215; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-5-3-8). (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.

5.3.9Dindorf 1:215

ὧν οὕτως ἐχόντων ἀναγκαῖον εἶναί μοι δοκεῖ τὰ μηδʼ ἀντιρρήσεως δεόμενα παρεκθεμένους τὸν περὶ τῆς δαιμονικῆς ἐνεργείας ἀκόλουθον συνιδεῖν λόγον· ὃν ἐκ μέρους προθεωρήσαντες ἐν τῷ πρὸ τούτου συγγράμματι τὰ λείποντα νῦν ἀποπληρώσομέν.

hōn houtōs echontōn anankaion einai moi dokei ta mēdʼ antirrēseōs deomena parekthemenous ton peri tēs daimonikēs energeias akolouthon synidein logon; hon ek merous protheōrēsantes en tǭ pro toutou syngrammati ta leiponta nyn apoplērōsomen.

These things being so, it seems necessary to me to set aside what needs no refutation and consider the logical account of demonic activity; part of which we examined in the preceding book, and we shall now complete what is lacking.

Notes and citation

Summary: Eusebius will complete his account of demonic activity.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.3.9 (Dindorf 1:215; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-5-3-9). (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.

5.3.10Dindorf 1:215

φέρʼ οὖν ἤδη λοιπὸν ἐπʼ αὐτὰς χωρήσωμεν τὰς ἀποδείξεις. θήσω δὲ πρώτας τὰς ἀπὸ τῆς Πλουτάρχου γραφῆς, ἣν πεποίηται Περὶ τῶν ἐκλελοιπότων χρηστηρίων·’ ἔνθα περὶ τοῦ πονηρῶν δαιμόνων εἶναι τὰ παρὰ τοῖς ἔθνεσι μαντεῖά τε καὶ χρηστήρια τόνδε γράφει τὸν τρόπον

pherʼ oun ēdē loipon epʼ autas chōrēsōmen tas apodeixeis. thēsō de prōtas tas apo tēs Ploutarchou graphēs, hēn pepoiētai Peri tōn ekleloipotōn chrēstēriōn;’ entha peri tou ponērōn daimonōn einai ta para tois ethnesi manteia te kai chrēstēria tonde graphei ton tropon

Come, then, let us now go on to the proofs themselves. I shall set down first those from the writing of Plutarch On the Failure of the Oracles, where he writes in this way that the divinations and oracles among the nations belong to wicked demons:

Notes and citation

Summary: Eusebius introduces Plutarch's On the Failure of the Oracles.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (repeated syllables in digitization): Πλουτάρχου τάρχου → Πλουτάρχου.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.3.10 (Dindorf 1:215; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/4-20-1/#p-5-3-10). (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.