Friday, 9 August 2019

SUMMARY OF EUSEBIUS' ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY


INTRODUCTION

The ecclesiastical history as written by Eusebius encapsulates the top events in the history of Christianity dating from antiquity. This is a specific account of the events that shaped the church and its civilization. The church transcends the facts of the world, but it is connected to historical events. With brief words on the author and the book, here is a concise summary of the ecclesiastical history written by Eusebius.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Eusebius was born in AD 260 in Palestine about the end of the reign of Gallienus. He was a student of Pamphilius, and later became the bishop of Caesarea in about 313[1], and thus the reason he is called Eusebius Pamphili or the Eusebius of Caesarea. He is a historian and a leading figure in the religious struggle of his time, one of the last apologists and the first chronicler and archivist of the church.

ABOUT THE BOOK AND SITUATION THAT WARRANTED THE WRITING

The ecclesiastical history is a presentation of the church’s history, recording from the apostolic age as far as the early fourth century, written during the periods of the roman persecution and revised several times between 312 and 324.[2]  This book was written with the purpose of exposing the Christian religion in its antiquity and broadly for the preservation of history. Thus Eusebius said at the beginning of the book that it is his purpose to record the successions of the apostles together with the times since our savior down to the present and secondly he made known his intention to swiftly describe the calamities that swiftly overwhelmed the whole Jewish nation, by what means and in what time the word of God experienced hostility and the eminent people who made positive or negative impacts.

THE ECCLESIATICAL HISTORY

This book shows the person of Christ as the object of faith and hope from the most remote ages. This account of the first centuries of Christianity is a landmark in Christian historiography. It is chronologically order into ten books which are as follows:

BOOK 1: in this book which have thirteen chapters, Eusebius presents the subject of his work, his purposes and intentions, alongside acknowledgments. Here also he defends the events of the life history of Christ, (his person, authority and divinity), giving prominence to the account of the gospels, and specially pointing out prominent figures in the life of Christ, His trials and death. This book comprises of the divinity of Jesus, the antiquity of the doctrines and the evangelical life lead by Christians.

BOOK 2: here in twenty-six chapters Eusebius presents the circumstances that followed after the ascension of Christ. This book which started with the account of the replacement of Judas with Matthias covers the timeline from Tiberius to Nero, the evangelical works of the apostles and their martyrdoms, and how the doctrine of Christianity got across the ends of the world. The believers visited places like Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch but the gentiles were discriminated until the vision of Peter and the conversion of Paul. The period of peace under Tiberius most favoured the work of evangelization. This book also accounts for the death of James the just in the chapter twenty-three.

BOOK 3: consisting of thirty-nine chapters, this book contains the details regarding the period from Vespasian to Trajan. It discussed the creation of the Gospels, the book of revelation and the successors of the apostles, succinctly expressing in the first chapter what region was evangelized by which particular apostle. Here also is a record of early persecution and heresies.

BOOK 4: this book of thirty chapters portrays Rome and Alexandria becoming more outstanding and influential. It covers the period from Trajan to Marcus with particular focus on the succession of bishops and their writings. It related the details of the sufferings of the Jews, the calamity of Trajan, martyrdom of Justin, opposition to heresies and the defense of the faith.

BOOK 5: These thirty-eight chapters started with persecution under Verus and the restoration of the lapsed. This book have a common content with the book four but it focused more on the heresy of Marcion. This contained the resolution of the Easter festival dispute.

BOOK 6: within these forty-six chapters, the situation of persecution under Severus was related. The discourse of the person of Origen and his contemporaries dominated this book.

BOOK 7: consisting of thirty-two chapters, this contains the details of persecution under Decius and contention for the rebaptism of the heretics. Within this book also is the erroneous doctrine of Sabellius, heresy of manes and the Novetian schism. During this time, the see of Jerusalem gained dominance.

BOOK 8: this book contains the memories of the greatest and last persecution of the first centuries of the church, demolition of churches and attestation to the faith by the martyrs. As part of this book, is included the book of the martyrs.

BOOK 9: within these eleven chapters is stated the details of the turn-around in history when things came back in favour of Christianity and decrees against the Christians were revoked at.

BOOK 10: this book of nine chapters commended the reverse of events with the copies of the documented privileges granted to the Christians. This was the period of Constantine.

RELEVANCE IN THE CHURCH TODAY:

The church is obviously rooted in history, and this is relevant and necessary for a basic understanding of the institution of the Christian church. History is not a subject to be tolerated when necessary and ignored when possible. The ecclesiastical history is full of controversies, heresies and battles for the truth. We need to familiarize with the events in the church’s past if we are to stand faithfully and fitfully in the present. Above all, I personally think this book provides the entire church with some kind of courage and consolations, especially in areas where the church is being persecuted to hold on to the faith and know that they are working or suffering for a greater course. Also, it gives a detailed account of those (martyrs) who suffered for what we have now and the sacrifices they made. Thus the saying: “the church is built upon the blood of the martyrs”; reminding us that we are part of a larger family of faith. This master piece serves as an authoritative reference; it is one of the primary sources for the church’s history and it provides a model for ecclesiastical historians, giving basic details of what happened ages before us.

CONCLUSION:

Ecclesiastical history traces the history of the Church from the time of Christ to the Great Persecution at the beginning of the fourth century and ending with the conversion of the Emperor Constantine.  Supported with extensive quotation from original sources, it showed the purity and continuity of the doctrinal tradition of Christianity in its struggle against persecutors and heretics.



[1] Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

1 comment:

  1. I found this summary helpful in directing my thought to particular books within the Ecclesiastical History. However, I believe it will be quite helpful if the basic theme of discus in any of the book is highlighted just after the book number. For example: Book 8 (The Great Persecution).

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