Sophia Scriptura

Church History 3.26.2

Eusebius of Caesarea · Church History · ca. 300–325 · Caesarea · Read in context

Summary: Menander taught that his magic and baptism gave immortality even in this life.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:117

διδάσκων δὲ μὴ ἄλλως δύνασθαί τινα καὶ αὐτῶν τῶν κοσμοποιῶν ἀγγέλων περιγενήσεσθαι, μὴ πρότερον διὰ τῆς πρὸς αὐτοῦ παραδιδομένης μαγικῆς ἐμπειρίας ἀχθέντα, καὶ διὰ τοῦ μεταδιδομένου πρὸς αὐτοῦ βαπτίσματος, οὗ τοὺς κατηξιωμένους ἀθανασίαν ἀΐδιον ἐν αὐτῷ τούτῳ μεθέξειν τῷ βίῳ, μηκέτι θνήσκοντας, αὐτοῦ δὲ παραμένοντας, εἰς τὸ ἀεὶ ἀγήρως τινὰς καὶ ἀθανάτους ἐσομένους. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν καὶ ἐκ τῶν Εἰρηναίου διαγνῶναι ῥᾴδιον.

English · Claude translation

and teaching that no one could overcome even the world-making angels themselves unless he were first led through the magical skill handed down by him and through the baptism imparted by him; those thought worthy of it would share in everlasting immortality in this very life, no longer dying but remaining here, to be for ever ageless and immortal. These things it is easy to learn from the works of Irenaeus.

About this passage

Source
Dindorf 4:117 · 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)
Extrabiblical texts
  • Irenaeus, Irenaeus, Haer. 1.23.5 (Irenaeus, Against Heresies) · allusion, high confidence
Topics
Heresy, Baptism

Notes

Translation notes

  • Source: Irenaeus, Haer. 1.23.5.

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 3.26.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/3/26/2/).

Plain text
Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 3.26.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/3/26/2/).

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