Eusebius: Difference between revisions

'''Eusebius of Caesarea''' ({{IPAc-en|j|uː|ˈ|s|iː|b|i|ə|s}}; {{lang-grc-gre|Εὐσέβιος τῆς Καισαρείας}} {{transliteration|grc|Eusebios tēs Kaisareias}}; {{c.}} 260/265&nbsp;– 30 May 339), also known as '''Eusebius Pamphilus'''<ref>{{citation |author=Eusebius |authorlink=Eusebius of Caesaria |url=https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.toc.html |title=Church History, Life of Constantine the Great, and Oration in Praise of Constantine |series=''A Select Library of the Christian Church: Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers'', 2nd ser., vol. I |translator-last=Schaff |translator-first=Philip |editor=Henry Wace |display-editors=0 |publisher=T. & T. Clark |location=Edinburgh |date=1876}}.</ref> (from the {{lang-grc-gre|Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου}}), was a [[Greeks|Greek]]<ref>{{Cite book|last=Jacobsen|first=Anders-Christian|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/180106520|title=Three Greek apologists Origen, Eusebius, and Athanasius = Drei griechische Apologeten|date=2007|others=Ulrich, Jörg|isbn=978-3-631-56833-0|location=Frankfurt, M|pages=1|oclc=180106520}}</ref> [[Syria Palaestina|Syro-Palestinian]]<ref>{{cite book | last1=Richardson | first1=E.C. | last2=Wace | first2=H. | last3=McGiffert | first3=A.C. | last4=Schaff | first4=P. | title=Eusebius - Church History, Life of Constantine the Great, and Oration in Praise of Constantine | publisher=Parker | series=Select library of Nicene and post-Nicene fathers of the Christian Church | year=1890 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8-mBbkoNmv8C |page=4|quote=His birthplace cannot be determined with certainty. The fact that he is called "Eusebius the Palestinian " by [[Marcellus of Ancyra|Marcellus]] (''Euseb. lib. adv. Marcell.'' I. 4), [[Basil of Caesarea|Basil]] (''Lib. ad. Amphil. de Spir. Sancto'', c. 29), and others, does not prove that he was a Palestinian by birth; for the epithet may be used to indicate merely his place of residence (he was bishop of Cæsarea in Palestine for many years). Moreover, the argument urged by [[Franz Joseph von Stein|Stein]] and [[J. B. Lightfoot|Lightfoot]] in support of his Palestinian birth, namely, that it was customary to elect to the episcopate of any church a native of the city in preference to a native of some other place, does not count for much. All that seems to have been demanded was that a man should have been already a member of the particular church over which he was to be made bishop, and even this rule was not universal (see [[Joseph Bingham|Bingham]]'s Antiquities, II. 10, 2 and 3). The fact that he was bishop of Cæsarea therefore would at most warrant us in concluding only that he had made his residence in Cæsarea for some time previous to his election to that office. Nevertheless, although neither of these arguments proves his Palestinian birth, it is very probable that he was a native of that country, or at least of that section. He was acquainted with Syriac as well as with Greek, which circumstance taken in connection with his ignorance of Latin (see below, p. 47) points to the region of Syria as his birthplace. Moreover, we learn from his own testimony that he was in Cæsarea while still a youth (''[[Life of Constantine|Vita Constantini]]'', I. 19), and in his epistle to the church of Cæsarea (see below, p. 16) he says that he was taught the creed of the Cæsarean church in his childhood (or at least at the beginning of his Christian life: έν τή κατηχήσει), and that he accepted it at baptism. It would seem therefore that he must have lived while still a child either in Cæsarea itself, or in the neighborhood, where its creed was in use. Although no one therefore (except [[Theodore Metochites|Theodorus Metochita]] of the fourteenth century, in his ''Cap. Miscell.'' 17; [[Jacques Paul Migne|Migne]], ''[[Patrologia Latina|Patr. Lat.]]'' CXLIV. 949) directly states that Eusebius was a Palestinian by birth, we have every reason to suppose him such.}}</ref> [[historian of Christianity]], [[exegete]], and [[Christianity|Christian]] [[polemicist]]. In about AD 314 he became the [[bishop]] of [[Caesarea Maritima]] in the [[Roman province]] of [[Syria Palaestina]].

Together with [[Pamphilus of Caesarea|Pamphilus]], heEusebius was a scholar of the [[biblical canon]] and is regarded as one of the most learned Christians during [[late antiquity]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cQW0ACdLn6kC|title=The Story of Christianity: Volume 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation|last=Gonzalez|first=Justo L.|date=2010-08-10|publisher=Zondervan|isbn=978-0-06-185588-7|pages=149–150|language=en}}</ref> He wrote the ''Demonstrations of the Gospel'', ''[[Preparation for the gospel|Preparations for the Gospel]]'' and ''On Discrepancies between the Gospels'', studies of the biblical text. His bookwork ''[[Onomasticon (Eusebius)|Onomasticon]]'' is an early [[Historical geography|geographical lexicon]] of places in the [[Holy Land]] mentioned in the Bible. As "Father of [[Church history|Church History]]"{{NoteTag|Eusebius is considered the first historian of Christianity.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/audiences/2007/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20070613.html |title=General Audience of 13 June 2007: Eusebius of Caesarea {{!}} BENEDICT XVI |access-date=2021-06-01 |website=www.vatican.va}}</ref>}} (not to be confused with the title of [[Church Fathers|Church Father]]), he produced the ''[[Church History (Eusebius)|Ecclesiastical History]]'', ''On the Life of Pamphilus'', the ''Chronicle'' and ''On the Martyrs''. He also produced [[Life of Constantine|a biographical work]] on [[Constantine the Great]], the first Christian [[Roman emperor]], who was [[Augustus (title)|''Augustus'']] between AD 306 and AD 337.