Eusebius

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For other uses, see Eusebius (disambiguation).
Eusebius of Caesarea
Eusebius of Caesarea.jpg
Eusebius in a modern imagining
Born Eusebius
260265
Died 339340 (aged 7479)
Occupation Bishop, historian, theologian
Period Constantinian Rome
Notable works Ecclesiastical history, On the Life of Pamphilus, Chronicle, On
the Martyrs
Eusebius of Caesarea (ju?'si?bi?s; Greek ??s???? t?? ?a?sa?e?a?, Eusbios ts
Kaisareas; ad 260265 339340), also known as Eusebius Pamphili, was a Greek
historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist. He became the bishop
of Caesarea Maritima about 314 AD. Together with Pamphilus, he was a scholar of the
Biblical canon and is regarded as an extremely learned Christian of his time.[1] He
wrote Demonstrations of the Gospel, Preparations for the Gospel, and On
Discrepancies between the Gospels, studies of the Biblical text. As Father of
Church History he produced the Ecclesiastical History, On the Life of Pamphilus,
the Chronicle and On the Martyrs.

Contents [hide]
1 Sources
2 Early life
3 Bishop of Caesarea
4 Death
5 Works
5.1 Onomasticon
5.2 Biblical text criticism
5.3 Chronicle
5.4 Church History
5.5 Life of Constantine
5.6 Minor historical works
5.7 Apologetic and dogmatic works
5.8 Exegetical and miscellaneous works
6 Doctrine
7 Assessment
8 See also
9 References
10 External links
Sources[edit]
Little is known about the life of Eusebius. His successor at the See of Caesarea,
Acacius, wrote a Life of Eusebius, a work that has since been lost. Eusebius' own
surviving works probably only represent a small portion of his total output. Beyond
notices in his extant writings, the major sources are the 5th-century
ecclesiastical historians Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret, and the 4th-century
Christian author Jerome. There are assorted notices of his activities in the
writings of his contemporaries Athanasius, Arius, Eusebius of Nicomedia, and
Alexander of Alexandria. Eusebius' pupil, Eusebius of Emesa, provides some
incidental information.[2]

Early life[edit]
In his Ecclesiastical History, Eusebius writes of Dionysius of Alexandria as his
contemporary. If this is true, Eusebius' birth must have been before Dionysius'
death in autumn 264; most modern scholars date the birth to some point in the five
years between 260 and 265.[3] He was presumably born in the town in which he lived
for most of his adult life, Caesarea Maritima.[4] He was baptized and instructed in
the city,[5] and lived in Palestine in 296, when Diocletian's army passed through
the region (in the Life of Constantine, Eusebius recalls seeing Constantine
traveling with the army).[6] Eusebius was made presbyter by Agapius of Caesarea.[5]
Some, like theologian and ecclesiastical historian John Henry Newman, understand
Eusebius' statement that he had heard Dorotheus of Tyre expound the Scriptures
wisely in the Church to indicate that Eusebius was Dorotheus' pupil while the
priest was resident in Antioch; others, like the scholar D. S. Wallace-Hadrill,
deem the phrase too ambiguous to support the contention.[7]

By the 3rd century, Caesarea had a population of about 100,000. It had been a pagan
city since Pompey had given control of the city to the gentiles during his command
of the eastern provinces in the 60s BC. The gentiles retained control of the city
for the three centuries to follow, despite Jewish petitions for joint governorship.
Gentile government was strengthened by the city's refoundation under Herod the
Great (r. 374 BC), when it had taken on the name of Augustus Caesar.[8] In
addition to the gentile settlers, Caesarea had large Jewish and Samaritan
minorities. Eusebius was probably born into the Christian contingent of the city.
Caesarea's Christian community presumably had a history reaching back to apostolic
times,[9] but it is a common claim that no bishops are attested for the town before
about 190,[10] even though the Apostolic Constitutions 7.46 states that Zacchaeus
was the first bishop.

Through the activities of the theologian Origen (1856254) and the school of his
follower Pamphilus (later 3rd century 309), Caesarea became a center of Christian
learning. Origen was largely responsible for the collection of usage information,
or which churches were using which gospels, regarding the texts which became the
New Testament. The information used to create the late-fourth-century Easter
Letter, which declared accepted Christian writings, was probably based on the
Ecclesiastical History [HE] of Eusebius of Caesarea, wherein he uses the
information passed on to him by Origen to create both his list at HE 325 and
Origen's list at HE 625. Eusebius got his information about what texts were
accepted by the third-century churches throughout the known world, a great deal of
which Origen knew of firsthand from his extensive travels, from the library and
writings of Origen.[11]

On his deathbed, Origen had made a bequest of his private library to the Christian
community in the city.[12] Together with the books of his patron Ambrosius,
Origen's library (including the original manuscripts of his works[13][notes 1])
formed the core of the collection that Pamphilus established.[15] Pamphilus also
managed a school that was similar to (or perhaps a re-establishment of[16]) that of
Origen.[17] Pamphilus was compared to Demetrius of Phalerum and Pisistratus, for he
had gathered Bibles from all parts of the world.[18] Like his model Origen,
Pamphilus maintained close contact with his students. Eusebius, in his history of
the persecutions, alludes to the fact that many of the Caesarean martyrs lived
together, presumably under Pamphilus.[19]

Soon after Pamphilus settled in Caesarea (ca. 280s), he began teaching Eusebius,
who was then somewhere between twenty and twenty-five.[20] Because of his close
relationship with his schoolmaster, Eusebius was sometimes called Eusebius Pamphili
Eusebius, son of Pamphilus.[notes 2] The name may also indicate that Eusebius was
made Pamphilus' heir.[23] Pamphilus gave Eusebius a strong admiration for the
thought of Origen.[24] Neither Pamphilus nor Eusebius knew Origen personally;[25]
Pamphilus probably picked up Origenist ideas during his studies under Pierius
(nicknamed Origen Junior[26]) in Alexandria.[27] In Caesarea, Origenist thought was
continued in the generation after his death by Theotecnus, bishop of the city for
much of the late 3rd century and an alumnus of Origen's school.[28]

Eusebius' Preparation for the Gospel bears witness to the literary tastes of Origen
Eusebius quotes no comedy, tragedy, or lyric poetry, but makes reference to all the
works of Plato and to an extensive range of later philosophic works, largely from
Middle Platonists from Philo to the late 2nd century.[29] Whatever its secular
contents, the primary aim of Origen and Pamphilus' school was to promote sacred
learning. The library's biblical and theological contents were more impressive
Origen's Hexapla and Tetrapla; a copy of the original Aramaic version of the Gospel
of Matthew; and many of Origen's own writings.[20] Marginal comments in extant
manuscripts note that Pamphilus and his friends and pupils, including Eusebius,
corrected and revised much of the biblical text in their library.[20] Their efforts
made the hexaplaric Septuagint text increasingly popular in Syria and Palestine.
[30] Soon after joining Pamphilus' school, Eusebius started helping his master
expand the library's collections and broaden access to its resources. At about this
time Eusebius compiled a Collection of Ancient Martyrdoms, presumably for use as a
general reference tool.[20]

In the 290s, Eusebius began work on his magnum opus, the Ecclesiastical History, a
narrative history of the Church and Christian community from the Apostolic Age to
Eusebius' own time. At about the same time, he worked on his Chronicle, a universal
calendar of events from the Creation to, again, Eusebius' own time. He completed
the first editions of the Ecclesiastical History and Chronicle before 300.[31]

Bishop of Caesarea[edit]
Eusebius succeeded Agapius as Bishop of Caesarea soon after 313 and was called on
by Arius who had been excommunicated by his bishop Alexander of Alexandria. An
episcopal council in Caesarea pronounced Arius blameless.[32] Eusebius, a learned
man and famous author, enjoyed the favour of the Emperor Constantine. Because of
this he was called upon to present the creed of his own church to the 318 attendees
of the Council of Nicaea in 325.[33] However, the anti-Arian creed from Palestine
prevailed becoming the basis for the Nicene Creed.[34]

The theological views of Arius, that taught the subordination of the Son to the
Father, continued to be a problem. Eustathius of Antioch strongly opposed the
growing influence of Origen's theology