Church History 1.2.8

Summary: The one who appeared to Abraham cannot be the unchangeable Father, and so must be the pre-existent Word.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:5–6

εἰ γὰρ μηδεὶς ἐπιτρέποι λόγος τὴν ἀγέννητον καὶ ἄτρεπτον οὐσίαν θεοῦ τοῦ παντοκράτορος εἰς ἀνδρὸς εἶδος μεταβάλ- λειν, μηδʼ αὖ γεννητοῦ μηδενὸς φαντασίᾳ τὰς τῶν ὁρώντων ὄψεις ἐξαπατᾶν, μηδὲ μὴν ψευδῶς τὰ τοιαῦτα πλάττεσθαι τὴν γραφὴν, θεὸς καὶ κύριος ὁ κρίνων πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν καὶ ποιῶν κρίσιν ἐν ἀνθρώπου ὁρώμενος σχήματι, τίς ἂν ἕτερος ἀναγορεύοιτο, εἰ μὴ φάναι θέμις τὸ πρῶτον τῶν ὅλων αἴτιον, ἢ μόνος ὁ προὼν αὐτοῦ λόγος; περὶ οὗ καὶ ἐν ψαλμοῖς ἀνείρηται “ ἀπέστειλε τὸν λόγον αὑτοῦ, καὶ ἰάσατο αὐτοὺς, καὶ ἐρρύσατο αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῶν διαφθορῶν αὐτῶν.”

English · Claude translation

For if no reason would allow that the unbegotten and unchangeable being of God Almighty should change into the form of a man, nor again that it should deceive the eyes of those who saw by the illusion of anything created, nor that Scripture should falsely invent such things, then who else could be named the God and Lord who judges all the earth and does justice, seen in the form of a man, if it is not lawful to say the first cause of the universe, than his pre-existent Word alone? Of him it is said in the Psalms too: “He sent his Word and healed them, and delivered them from their corruptions.”

About this passage

Source

Dindorf 4:5–6 · Wilhelm Dindorf, ed., Eusebii Caesariensis Opera, vol. 4: Historiae ecclesiasticae libri I–X (Leipzig: Teubner, 1871) · Greek text: W. Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Leipzig: Teubner, 1871), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0

Text

As printed in Dindorf, Eusebii Opera 4. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.

Translation

Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.

Compare

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 1 (1890) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made)

Scripture

Ps 107:20 (106:20 LXX) · quotation, high confidence
Gen 18:25 · allusion, high confidence

Topics

Christology, Trinity

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 1.2.8 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/1/2/8/).

Plain text

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 1.2.8 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/1/2/8/).

Greek text · Dindorf 4:5–6

English · Claude translation

About this passage

Notes

Translation notes

Cite this passage