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| caption = 6th century [[Syriac Christianity|Syriac]] portrait of St. Eusebius of Caesarea from the [[Rabbula Gospels]]
| birth_date={{Circa|260}}–265
| birth_place= [[Caesarea Maritima]], [[Syria Palaestina]], [[Roman Empire]]
| death_date=30 May 339 (aged 74–79)<ref>Barnes, ''Constantine and Eusebius'', pp. 94, 278</ref>
| death_place= Caesarea Maritima, Syria Palaestina, Roman Empire
| occupation=[[Bishop]], [[historian]], [[theologian]]
| nationality=
| period=[[Constantinian dynasty]]
| movement=
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}}
'''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 – 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>
Together with [[Pamphilus of Caesarea|Pamphilus]], ==Sources==
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The theological views of Arius, that taught the subordination of the [[God the Son|Son]] to the [[God the Father|Father]], continued to be controversial. [[Eustathius of Antioch]] strongly opposed the growing influence of [[Origen]]'s theology as the root of [[Arianism]]. Eusebius, an admirer of Origen, was reproached by [[Eustathius of Antioch|Eustathius]] for deviating from the Nicene faith. Eusebius prevailed and Eustathius was deposed at a [[synod]] in [[Antioch]].{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}
However, [[Athanasius of Alexandria]] became a more powerful opponent and in 334 he was summoned before a synod in Caesarea (which he refused to attend). In the following year, he was again summoned before a [[First Synod of Tyre|synod in Tyre]] at which Eusebius of Caesarea presided. Athanasius, foreseeing the result, went to [[Constantinople]] to bring his cause before the Emperor. Constantine called the bishops to his court, among them Eusebius. Athanasius was condemned and exiled at the end of 335. Eusebius remained in the Emperor's favour throughout this time and more than once was exonerated with the explicit approval of the Emperor Constantine.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}} After the Emperor's death (
==Works==
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* the martyrdom of [[Pionius]];
* the martyrdoms of [[Carpus and Papylus|Carpus, Papylus]], and [[Carpus and Papylus|Agathonike]];
* the martyrdoms in the congregations of [[Vienne (department)|Vienne]] and [[Lyon]];
* the martyrdom of Apollonius.
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* Small fragments of commentaries on [[Epistle to the Romans|Romans]] and [[1 Corinthians]].
Eusebius also wrote a work '{{lang|la|Quaestiones ad Stephanum et Marinum}}, ''On the Differences of the Gospels'' (including solutions). This was written for the purpose of harmonizing the contradictions in the reports of the different Evangelists. This work was recently (2011) translated into the English language by David J. Miller and Adam C. McCollum and was published under the name ''Eusebius of Caesarea: Gospel Problems and Solutions''.<ref>{{cite book|title=Eusebius of Caesarea: Gospel Problems and Solutions (Ancient Texts in Translation): Roger Pearse, David J Miller, Adam C McCollum: 9780956654014: Amazon.com: Books |date= 2010-03-06|isbn = 978-0956654014|last1 = Caesaea|first1 = Eusebius of|last2= Miller|first2= David J. D.|last3= McCollum|first3= Adam C.|last4= Downer|first4= Carol|last5= Zamagni|first5= Claudio|publisher= Chieftain}}</ref> The original work was also translated into [[Syriac language|Syriac]], and lengthy quotations exist in a ''[[Catena (biblical commentary)|catena]]'' in that language, and also in [[Arabic]] catenas.<ref>Georg Graf, ''Geschichte der christlichen arabischen Literatur'' vol. 1</ref>
Eusebius also wrote treatises on the biblical past; these three treatises have been lost. They were:
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==Doctrine==
Eusebius is fairly unusual in his [[preterist]], or fulfilled, eschatological view. Saying "the Holy Scriptures foretell that there will be unmistakable signs of the Coming of Christ. Now there were among the Hebrews three outstanding offices of dignity, which made the nation famous, firstly the kingship, secondly that of prophet, and lastly the high priesthood. The prophecies said that the abolition and complete destruction of all these three together would be the sign of the presence of the Christ. And that the proofs that the times had come, would lie in the ceasing of the Mosaic worship, the desolation of Jerusalem and its Temple, and the subjection of the whole Jewish race to its enemies. ...The holy oracles foretold that all these changes, which had not been made in the days of the prophets of old, would take place at the coming of the Christ, which I will presently shew to have been fulfilled as never before in accordance with the predictions" (''Demonstratio Evangelica'' VIII).
From a [[dogma]]tic point of view, Eusebius
Eusebius held that men were sinners by their own free choice and not by the necessity of their natures. Eusebius said:
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In the June 2002 issue of the [[Church History (journal)|''Church History'']] journal, Pier Franco Beatrice reports that Eusebius testified that the word ''[[Homoousion|homoousios]]'' ([[Consubstantiality|consubstantial]]) "was inserted in the Nicene Creed solely by the personal order of Constantine."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Beatrice|first=Pier Franco|date=June 2002|title=The Word "Homoousios" from Hellenism to Christianity|journal=Church History|volume=71|issue=2|pages=243–272|jstor=4146467|doi=10.1017/S0009640700095688|s2cid=162605872}}</ref>
{{Blockquote|text=According to Eusebius of Caesarea, the word ''homoousios'' was inserted in the Nicene Creed solely by the personal order of Constantine. But this statement is highly problematic. It is very difficult to explain the seeming paradoxical fact that this word, along with the explanation given by Constantine, was accepted by the "Arian" Eusebius, whereas it has left no traces at all in the works of his opponents, the leaders of the anti-Arian party such as Alexander of Alexandria, [[Hosius of Corduba|Ossius of Cordova]], [[Marcellus of Ancyra]], and [[Eustathius of Antioch]], who are usually considered Constantine's theological advisers and the strongest supporters of the council. Neither before nor during Constantine's time is there any evidence of a normal, well-established Christian use of the term ''homoousios'' in its strictly [[Trinitarian]] meaning. Having once excluded any relationship of the Nicene ''homoousios'' with the Christian tradition, it becomes legitimate to propose a new explanation, based on an analysis of two pagan documents which have so far never been taken into account. The main thesis of this paper is that ''homoousios'' came straight from Constantine's [[Hermeticism|Hermetic]] background. As can be clearly seen in the ''[[Poimandres]]'', and even more clearly in an inscription mentioned exclusively in the ''Theosophia'', in the theological language of [[Ancient Egyptian religion|Egyptian paganism]] the word ''homoousios'' meant that the Nous-Father and the Logos-Son, who are two distinct beings, share the same perfection of the divine nature.|author=Pier Franco Beatrice|title="The Word 'Homoousios' from Hellenism to Christianity"|source=''Church History'', Volume 71, № 2, June 2002, p. 243}}
However, the council evidently did not force the insertion of the word and instead adopted a text related to the confession of Jerusalem.<ref name="Ferguson">Ferguson, Everett "Encyclopedia of Early Christianity, 2nd edition" Routledge, 2013, p. 811.</ref> The role of Constantine remained uncertain during the council.<ref name="Ayres">Ayres, Lewis "Nicaea and its Legacy: An Approach to Fourth Century Trinitarian Theology" OUP Oxford, 2004, p. 89.</ref>
==Assessment==
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* When his own honesty was challenged by his contemporaries,<ref>See Gibbon's ''Vindication'' for examples of the accusations that he faced.</ref> Gibbon appealed to a chapter heading in Eusebius' ''[[Preparation for the Gospel|Praeparatio evangelica]]'' (Book XII, Chapter 31)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/eusebius_pe_12_book12.htm|title=Eusebius of Caesarea: Praeparatio Evangelica (translated by E.H. Gifford)|publisher=tertullian.org|access-date=2013-03-04}}</ref> in which Eusebius discussed "that it will be necessary sometimes to use falsehood as a remedy for the benefit of those who require such a mode of treatment."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/eusebius/pe_data.htm|title=Data for discussing the meaning of pseudos and Eusebius in PE XII, 31|publisher=tertullian.org|access-date=2008-02-01}}</ref>
* Although Gibbon refers to Eusebius as the "gravest" of the ecclesiastical historians,<ref>"The gravest of the ecclesiastical historians, Eusebius himself, indirectly confesses, that he has related whatever might redound to the glory, and that he has suppressed all that could tend to the disgrace, of religion." (History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol II, Chapter XVI)</ref> he also suggests that Eusebius was more concerned with the passing political concerns of his time than with his duty as a reliable historian.<ref>"Such an acknowledgment will naturally excite a suspicion that a writer who has so openly violated one of the fundamental laws of history has not paid a very strict regard to the observance of the other; and the suspicion will derive additional credit from the character of Eusebius, which was less tinctured with credulity, and more practised in the arts of courts, than that of almost any of his contemporaries." (History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol II, Chapter XVI)</ref>
* [[Jacob Burckhardt]] (19th century cultural historian) dismissed Eusebius as "the first thoroughly dishonest historian of antiquity".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Singh |first=Devin |date=2015 |title=Eusebius as Political Theologian: The Legend Continues |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/harvard-theological-review/article/abs/eusebius-as-political-theologian-the-legend-continues/85D2326BD1AEDC36550AD826D9B7E42B |journal=Harvard Theological Review |volume=108 |pages=129–154 |doi=10.1017/S0017816015000073 |quote=...and the eminent historian Jacob Burckhardt who declared Eusebius to be “the most objectionable of all eulogists” and “first thoroughly dishonest historian of antiquity.”}}</ref>
* Other critics of Eusebius' work cite the panegyrical tone of the ''Vita'', plus the omission of internal Christian conflicts in the ''Canones'', as reasons to interpret his writing with caution.<ref>Burgess, R. W., and Witold Witakowski. 1999. Studies in Eusebian and Post-Eusebian chronography 1.'' The "Chronici canones" of Eusebius of Caesarea: structure, content and chronology, AD 282–325 – 2. The "Continuatio Antiochiensis Eusebii": a chronicle of Antioch and the Roman Near East during the Reigns of Constantine and Constantius II, AD 325–350.'' Historia (Wiesbaden, Germany), Heft 135. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner. Page 69.</ref>
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{{refbegin|40em}}
* Eusebius of Caesarea.
** ''Historia Ecclesiastica'' (''Church History'') first seven books {{circa|300}}, eighth and ninth book
*** Migne, J.P., ed. ''Eusebiou tou Pamphilou, episkopou tes en Palaistine Kaisareias ta euriskomena panta'' (in Greek). ''Patrologia Graeca'' 19–24. Paris, 1857. Online at [http://khazarzar.skeptik.net/pgm/PG_Migne/Eusebius%20Caesariensis_PG%2019-24/ Khazar Skeptik] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091228102648/http://khazarzar.skeptik.net/pgm/PG_Migne/Eusebius%20Caesariensis_PG%2019-24/ |date=2009-12-28 }} and [http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/04z/z_0265-0339__Eusebius_Caesariensis__Historia_Ecclesiastica__GR.pdf.html Documenta Catholica Omnia]. Accessed 4 November 2009.
*** McGiffert, Arthur Cushman, trans. ''Church History''. From ''Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers'', Second Series, Vol. 1. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1890. Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. Online at [http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2501.htm New Advent] and [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.toc.html CCEL]. Accessed 28 September 2009.
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* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05617b.htm "Eusebius"] in ''New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia'' (1917)
* [http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/eusebius/ "Eusebius of Caesarea"] at the [http://www.tertullian.org ''Tertullian Project'']
* [http://www.earlychurch.org.uk/eusebius.php Extensive bibliography] at ''EarlyChurch.org''
* [http://www.fourthcentury.com/index.php/eusebius-chart Chronological list of Eusebius's writings]
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{{s-rel|grt}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Agapius of Caesarea|Agapius]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bishop of Caesarea]]|years={{c.}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Acacius of Caesarea|Acacius]]}}
{{S-end}}
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