Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, LCL 265: Eusebius II, Books 6-10
J.E.L. Oulton
Number of quotes: 39
Book ID: 142 Page: 223/225
Section: 2D1
But as Paul refused on any account to give up possession of the church-building, the emperor Aurelian, on being petitioned, gave an extremely just decision regarding the matter, ordering the assignment of the building to those with whom the bishops of the doctrine{1} in Italy and Rome should communicate in writing. Thus, then, was the aforesaid man driven with the utmost indignity from the church by the ruler of the world. - FOUND John replaced and put in NPNF2 Vol. 1
Quote ID: 8770
Time Periods: 3
Book ID: 142 Page: 251
Section: 3B
It is beyond our powers to describe in a worthy manner the measure and nature of that honour as well as freedom which was accorded by all men, both Greeks and barbarians, before the persecution in our day, to that word of piety toward the God of the universe which had been proclaimed through Christ to the world.….
Why need one speak of those in the imperial palaces and of the supreme rulers, who allowed the members of their households—wives, children and servants—to practice openly to their face the divine word and conduct….
Quote ID: 8541
Time Periods: 234
Book ID: 142 Page: 253
Section: 3B,2E3
With what favour one might note that the rulers in every church were honoured by all procurators and governors! And how could one fully describe those assemblies thronged with countless men, and the multitudes that gathered together in every city, and the famed concourse in the places of prayer; by reason of which they were no longer satisfied with the buildings of olden time, and would erect from the foundations churches of spacious dimensions throughout all the cities?
Quote ID: 8542
Time Periods: 34
Book ID: 142 Page: 253
Section: 3B
But when, as the result of greater freedom, a change to pride and sloth came over our affairs, we fell to envy and fierce railing against one another, warring upon ourselves, so to speak, as occasion offered, with weapons and spears formed of words; and rulers attacked rulers and laity formed factions against laity, while unspeakable hypocrisy and pretence pursued their evil course to the furthest end….
Quote ID: 8543
Time Periods: 34
Book ID: 142 Page: 257
Section: 3B
All things in truth were fulfilled in our day, when we saw with our very eyes the houses of prayer cast down to their foundations from top to bottom, and the inspired and sacred Scriptures committed to the flames in the midst of the market-places, and the pastors of the churches, some shamefully hiding themselves here and there, while others were ignominiously captured and made a mockery by their enemies….
Quote ID: 8544
Time Periods: 34
Book ID: 142 Page: 257/259
Section: 3B
It was the nineteenth year of the reign of Diocletian,{1} and the month of Dystrus,{2} or March, as the Romans would call it, in which, as the festival of the Saviour’s Passion{1} was coming on, an imperial letter was everywhere promulgated, ordering the razing of the Churches to the ground and the destruction by fire of the Scriptures, and proclaiming that those who held high positions would lose all civil rights, while those in households, if they persisted in their profession of Christianity, would be deprived of their liberty.
Quote ID: 8545
Time Periods: 34
Book ID: 142 Page: 303
Section: 3C2
Book VIII chapter XIVHis son Maxentius, who secured for himself the tyranny at Rome, at the beginning counterfeited our faith in order to please and fawn upon the Roman populace; and for this reason ordered his subjects to give over the persecution against Christians . . .
Quote ID: 3110
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 142 Page: 359
Section: 3C2
Book IX chapter IIIConstantine, the superior of the Emperors in rank and dignity, was the first to take pity on those subjected to tyranny at Rome; and, calling in prayer upon God who is in heaven, and His Word, even Jesus Christ the Saviour of all, as his ally, he advanced in full force, seeking to secure for the Romans their ancestral liberty.
Quote ID: 3111
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 142 Page: 363
Section: 2E1,3C2
Constantine by his very deeds sang to God the Ruler of all and Author of the victory; then he entered Rome with hymns of triumph, and all the senators and other persons of great note, together with women and quite young children and all the Roman people, received him in a body with beaming countenances to their very heart as a ransomer, saviour, and benefactor, with praises and insatiable joy. But he, as one possessed of natural piety towards God, was by no means stirred by their shouts nor uplifted by their praises, for well he knew that his help was from God; and straightway he gave orders that a memorial of the Saviour’s Passion should be set up in the hand of his own statue; and indeed when they set him in the most public place in Rome holding the Saviour’s sign in his right hand, he bade them engrave this very inscription in these words in the Latin tongue: “By this salutary sign, the true proof of bravery, I saved and delivered your city from the yoke of the tyrant; and moreover I freed and restored to their ancient fame and splendour both the senate and the people of the Romans.”
Quote ID: 3112
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 142 Page: 365
Section: 3B
Book IX chapter IX Copy of a Translation of the Epistle of the Tyrant“Jovius Maximinus Augustus to Sabinus. I am persuaded that it is manifest both to thy Firmness and to all men that our masters Diocletian and Maximian, our fathers, when they perceived that almost all men had abandoned the worship of the gods and associated themselves with the nation of the Christians, rightly gave orders that all men who deserted the worship of their gods, the immortal gods, should be recalled to the worship of the gods by open correction and punishment.
Quote ID: 3113
Time Periods: 34
Book ID: 142 Page: 371
Section: 3C2
Book IX chapter IXaIn truth, this monster of iniquity had resolved not to give in as regards this matter; until he was smitten by the divine Justice, and at the last against his will forced to do so.
Quote ID: 3114
Time Periods: 1234
Book ID: 142 Page: 379
Section: 3B,2E3
Book IX chapter XAnd permission has also been granted them to build the Lord’s houses.
Quote ID: 3115
Time Periods: 34
Book ID: 142 Page: 379
Section: 3B,2E3
Book IX chapter X. . . were godless and wicked, these he now allows both to observe their form of worship and to build churches;
Pastor John’s note: Greek for Lord’s houses. This is an Ordinance of Maximinus. Notice the mis-translation of that word!!!
Quote ID: 3116
Time Periods: 34
Book ID: 142 Page: 381
Section: 3C2
Book IX chapter XAll at once he was smitten by a stroke of God over his whole body, with the result that he fell prone under the onslaught of terrible pains and agonies; he was wasted by hunger, and his flesh entirely consumed by an invisible, divinely-sent fire; the form which his body once possessed wasted away and vanished, and there remained only a form of dry bones, like some phantom shape long since reduced to a skeleton, so that those present could not but think that his body had become the tomb of his soul, which had been buried in what was now a corpse and completely wasted away. And as the heat consumed him still more fiercely in the very depths of his marrow, his eyes projected, and falling from their sockets{1} left him blind.
Pastor John notes: John’s note: silly myth
Quote ID: 3117
Time Periods: 1234
Book ID: 142 Page: 393
Section: 3C2
Book X chapter IThe whole race of God’s enemies had verily been removed even as we have stated,{1} and in a moment blotted out of men’s sight; so that once more a divine saying hath fulfilment, that which says: “I have seen the wicked in great power, and lifted up like the cedars of Lebanon. And I passed by, and, lo, he was not: and I sought his place, and it was not found.” And now henceforth a day bright and radiant with rays of heavenly light, overshadowed by never a cloud, shone down upon the churches of Christ throughout the whole world; nor were even those outside our society {2} grudged, if not the equal enjoyment of our divinely-sent blessings, at any rate a share in their effluence and a participation thereof.
1.
a.
b. So the whole human race was freed from the oppression of the tyrants. And, delivered from his former ills, each one after his own fashion acknowledged as the only true God Him who was the Champion of the pious.
c.
Quote ID: 3118
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 142 Page: 395
Section: 3C,3C2
Book X chapter II. . . and bishops constantly received even personal letters from the Emperor, and honours and gifts of money. It may not be unfitting at the proper place. . . .
Quote ID: 3119
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 142 Page: 395
Section: 3C,3C2
Book X chapter IIIAfter this there was brought about that spectacle for which we all prayed and longed: festivals of dedication in the cities and consecrations of the newly-built houses of prayer, assemblages of bishops, comings together of those from far off foreign lands, kindly acts on the part of laity towards laity, union between the members of Christ’s body as they met together in complete harmony.
Quote ID: 3120
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 142 Page: 397
Section: 3C,3C2
Book X chapter IIIYea verily, our leaders conducted perfect ceremonies, and the consecrated priests performed the sacred rites and stately ordinances of the Church, here with psalmody and recitation of such other words as have been given us from God, there with the ministering of divine and mystic services; and the ineffable symbols of the Saviour’s Passion were present.
Quote ID: 3121
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 142 Page: 397
Section: 2E3
Book X chapter III. . . most excellent and beloved of God, by whose zeal and enthusiasm the temple in Tyre, surpassing in splendour all others in Phoenicia, had been erected: . . . .
Pastor John’s note: not “church”
Quote ID: 3122
Time Periods: 34
Book ID: 142 Page: 399
Section: 3C2
Book X chapter IVPanergyric on the building of the churches, addressed to Paulinus, bishop of the Tyrians:
Quote ID: 3123
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 142 Page: 399
Section: 4B
Book X chapter IV. . . whether one should call thee a new Bezalel the architect of a divine tabernacle, or Solomon the kind of a new and far goodlier Jerusalem, or even a new Zerubbabel who bestowed upon the temple of God that glory which greatly exceeded the former;
Quote ID: 3124
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 142 Page: 407
Section: 2E3,4B
Book X chapter IV. . . all and of themselves they recognize as the one and only God, and confess that Christ the Son of God is sovereign King of the universe, and style Him as Saviour on monuments, inscribing in an imperishable record His righteous acts and His victories over the impious ones, in imperial characters in the midst of the city that is Empress among the cities of the world.
Quote ID: 3125
Time Periods: 34
Book ID: 142 Page: 421
Section: 2E3
Book X chapter IV“Thus, then, the whole area that he enclosed was much larger.{2} The outer enclosure he made strong with the wall surrounding the whole, so that it might be a most secure defence thereof; while he spread out a porch, great and raised aloft, towards the rays of the rising sun, and even to those standing far outside the sacred precincts supplied no scanty view of that which is within; thus, one might say, turning the gaze, even of strangers of the faith, towards the first entrances, so that none might hastily pass by without first having his soul mightily struck . . .
. . . .
. . . and in the midst thereof he hath left an open space where men can see the sky, thus providing it with air bright and open to the rays of light. And here he hath placed symbols of sacred purifications, by erecting fountains right opposite the temple, whose copious streams of flowing water supply cleansing to those who are advancing within the sacred precincts.
{Footnote 2} i.e. than that occupied by the previous church. The description here given (?? 37-45) is the earliest account that we possess of the structure and furniture of a Christian church.
Quote ID: 3126
Time Periods: 34
Book ID: 142 Page: 425
Section: 2E3
Book X chapter IV“Now as to the royal house, {1} he hath builded it of abundant and still richer materials, eagerly desiring to spare no expenses.
Quote ID: 3127
Time Periods: 34
Book ID: 142 Page: 427
Section: 2E3
Book X chapter IVNevertheless, having thus completed the temple he adorned it with thrones, very lofty, to do honour unto the presidents, and likewise with benches arranged in order throughout in a convenient manner; and after all these he hath placed in the midst the holy of holies even the altar, and again surrounded this part also, that the multitude might not tread thereon, with a fence of wooden lattice-work, delicately wrought with the craftman’s utmost skill, so as to present a marvelous spectacle to those that see it.
Pastor John’s note: disgusting
Quote ID: 3128
Time Periods: 34
Book ID: 142 Page: 427
Section: 2E3
Book X chapter IVThese also were wrought by our most peaceful Solomon, who builded the temple of God, for those who still have need of cleansing and sprinkling with water and the Holy Spirit, . . .
Quote ID: 3129
Time Periods: 34
Book ID: 142 Page: 429
Section: 3C2
Book X chapter IVBut meanwhile in the present time she who hath long been a widow and deserted hath been robbed by the grace of God with these blossoms, and is become in truth as a lily, as saith the prophecy; and having received again the garb of a bride and put on the garland of beauty, she is taught by Isaiah to dance, as it were, presenting her thank-offering to the glory of God the King in words of praise. Let us listen to her as she saith:
. . . .
“With these words, then, she danceth. But with what words the Bridegroom also, even the heavenly Word, Jesus Christ Himself, answereth her, hear the Lord as He saith: ’Fear not for thou hast been put to shame; neither dread for that thou hast been put to reproach: for thou shalt forget thy everlasting shame, and the reproach of thy widowhood shalt thou remember no more. . . .
Quote ID: 3130
Time Periods: 34
Book ID: 142 Page: 435
Section: 3C2
Book X chapter IV“But when through the envy and jealousy of the demon which loveth evil she became of her own free choice a lover of that which is sensual and evil, and the Deity departed from her, leaving her bereft of a protector, she fell an easy capture and prey to the snares of those who long had envied her; and, laid low by the engines and machines of her invisible enemies and spiritual foes, she feel a tremendous fall, . . .
Pastor John notes: John’s note: NT saints
Quote ID: 3131
Time Periods: 1234
Book ID: 142 Page: 435
Section: 3C2
“But her Guardian, the Word, the divinely-bright and saving One, when she had paid the just penalty for her sins, once more again restored her, hearkening to the loving-kindness of all-gracious Father. First, then, choosing unto Himself the souls of the supreme Emperors, by means of these men most dearly beloved of God He cleansed the whole world of all the wicked and baneful persons and of the cruel God-hating tyrants themselves.
Quote ID: 3132
Time Periods: 1234
Book ID: 142 Page: 441
Section: 3C2
Book X chapter IV. . . even Jesus, the only-begotten of God, receiveth with joyful countenance and upturned hands the sweet-smelling incense from all, and the bloodless and immaterial sacrifices offered in prayer, and sendeth them on their way to the heavenly Father and God of the universe; whom He Himself first adoreth and alone rendereth to His Father the honour that is due. . .
Quote ID: 3133
Time Periods: 1234
Book ID: 142 Page: 447
Section: 2B2,3C
Book X chapter V“When I Constantine Augustus and I Licinius Augustus had come under happy auspices to Milan, and discussed all matters that concerned the public advantage and good, among the other things that seemed to be of benefit to the many, {3} – or rather, first and foremost – we resolved to make such decrees as should secure respect and reverence for the Deity; namely, to grant both to the Christians and to all the free choice of following whatever form of worship they pleased, to the intent that all the divine and heavenly powers that be might be favourable to us and all those living under our authority. Therefore with sound and most upright reasoning we resolved on this {4} counsel: that authority be refused to no one whomsoever to follow and choose the observance or form of worship that Christians use, and that authority be granted to each one to give his mind to that form of worship which he deems suitable to himself, to the intent that the Divinity {5} . . . may in all things afford us his wonted care and generosity.
Quote ID: 3134
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 142 Page: 449
Section: 2B2,3C
Book X chapter VThis has been done by us, to the intent that we should not seem to have detracted in any way from any rite {2} or form of worship.
Quote ID: 3135
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 142 Page: 451
Section: 4B
Book X chapter V“And inasmuch as these same Christians had not only those places at which it was their wont to assemble, but also are known to have had others, belonging not to individuals among them, but to the lawful property of their corporation, that is, of the Christians, all these, under the provisions of the law set forth above, thou wilt give orders to be restored without any question whatsoever to these same Christians, that is, to their corporation and assembly.
Quote ID: 3136
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 142 Page: 453
Section: 2C
Book X Chapter V“Greeting, Anulinus, our most honored Sir. It is the custom of our benevolence, that we will that whatsoever appertains by right to another should not only not suffer harm, but even be restored, most honoured Anulinus. Wherefore we will that, when thou receivest this letter, if aught of those things that belonged to the Catholic Church {2} of the Christians in any city, or even in other places, be now in the possession either of citizens or of any others: these thou shouldest cause to be restored forthwith to these same churches…”
Quote ID: 2307
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 142 Page: 455
Section: 2C
Book X chapter V“Constantine Augustus to Miltiades bishop of the Romans, and to Mark.
Quote ID: 3137
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 142 Page: 457
Section: 2C
Book X chapter V“Constantine Augustus to Chrestus bishop of the Syracusans. Already on a former occasion, when some in a base and perverse manner began to create divisions with regard to the worship of the holy and heavenly Power and the Catholic religion, in my desire to cut short such dissensions among them, I had given orders to the effect that certain bishops should be sent from Gaul, nay further, that the opposing parties, who were contending stubbornly and persistently together, should be summonsed from Africa; that so, in the presence also of the bishop of Rome, this question which appeared to have been raised might through their coming receive a right solution by means of a careful examination in every particular.”
Quote ID: 3138
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 142 Page: 463
Section: 2D3B
Book X chapter VIAnd since I have learnt that certain persons of unstable mind are desirous of turning aside the laity of the most holy and Catholic Church by some vile method of seduction, know that I have given such commands to Anulinus, the proconsul, and moreover to Patricius, the Vicar of the Prefects,{1} when they were here, that they should give due attention in all other matters and especially in this, and not suffer such an occurrence to be overlooked; therefore if thou observest any such men continuing in this madness, do not thou hesitate to go to the above-mentioned judges and bring this matter before them, so that (as I commanded them when they were here) they may turn these people from their error. May the divinity of the great God preserve thee for many years.“
Quote ID: 3139
Time Periods: 34
Book ID: 142 Page: 463
Section: 3C
Book X chapter VIICopy of an Imperial Letter, in which he gives orders that the presidents of the churches be released from all public offices.
Quote ID: 3140
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 142 Page: 465
Section: 3C
Book X chapter VII“...it has seemed good that those men who, with due holiness and constant observance of this law, bestow their services on the performance of divine worship, should receive the rewards of their own labours, most honoured Anulinus. Wherefore it is my wish that those persons who, within the province committed to thee, in the Catholic Church over which Caecilian presides, bestow their service on this holy worship - those whom they are accustomed to call clerics - should once for all be kept absolutely free from all the public offices, that they be not drawn away by any error or sacrilegious fault from the worship which they owe to the Divinity, but rather without any hindrance serve the utmost their own law. For when they render supreme service to the Deity, it seems that they confer incalculable benefit on the affairs of the State. Fare thee well, Anulinus, our most honoured and esteemed Sir.”
Quote ID: 2312
Time Periods: 4
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