Sophia Scriptura

Church History 4.11.5

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

Summary: Irenaeus (quoted): the Marcosians perform a “bridal chamber” rite and a baptism in the name of the unknown Father, Truth, and the one who descended on Jesus.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:148

“οἱ μὲν γὰρ αὐτῶν νυμφῶνα κατασκευάζουσι καὶ “ μυσταγωγίαν ἐπιτελοῦσι μετʼ ἐπιρρήσεών τινων τοῖς τελουμένοις, καὶ πνευματικὸν γάμον φάσκουσιν “ εἶναι τὸ ὑπʼ αὐτῶν γινόμενον, κατὰ τὴν ὁμοιότητα τῶν ἄνω συζυγιῶν. οἱ δὲ ἄγουσιν ἐφʼ ὕδωρ, καὶ “ βαπτίζοντες οὕτως ἐπιλέγουσιν· εἰς ὄνομα ἀγνώστου πατρὸς τῶν ὅλων, εἰς ἀλήθειαν μητέρα τῶν πάντων, ῾ εἰς τὸν κατελθόντα εἰς τὸν Ἰησοῦν. ἄλλοι δὲ Ἑβρα- “ϊκὰ ὀνόματα ἐπιλέγουσι πρὸς τὸ μᾶλλον καταπλῆξαι “τοὺς τελουμένους.’’

English · Claude translation

“For some of them prepare a bridal chamber and perform a mystic rite with certain invocations for those being initiated, and they say that what is done by them is a spiritual marriage, after the likeness of the unions above. Others lead them to water, and baptizing them say: Into the name of the unknown Father of all, into Truth the mother of all, into him who descended upon Jesus. Others pronounce Hebrew names, to astound those being initiated the more.”

About this passage

Source
Dindorf 4:148 · 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. 1.21.3 (Irenaeus, Against Heresies) · quotation, high confidence
Topics
Heresy, Baptism

Notes

Translation notes

  • Quotation from Irenaeus, Haer. 1.21.3. The “unions above” (συζυγίαι) are the paired Aeons of the Valentinian system.

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 4.11.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/4/11/5/).

Plain text
Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 4.11.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/4/11/5/).

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