Sophia Scriptura

Church History 4.23.6

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

Summary: Dionysius wrote to Amastris and Pontus with scriptural exposition, much counsel on marriage and chastity, and a command to receive back all who repent of sin or heresy.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:173

καὶ τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ δὲ τῇ παροικούσῃ Ἄμαστριν ἅμα ταῖς κατὰ Πόντον ἐπιστείλας Βακχυλίδου μὲν καὶ Ἐλπίστου ὡσὰν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὸ γράψαι προτρεψάντων μέμνηται, γραφῶν τε θείων ἐξηγήσεις παρατέθειται, ἐπίσκοπον αὐτῶν ὀνοματι Πάλμαν ὑποσημαίνων· πολλὰ δὲ περὶ γάμου καὶ ἁγνείας τοῖς αὐτοῖς παραινεῖ, καὶ τοὺς ἐξ οἴας δʼ οὖν ἀποπτώσεως, εἴτε πλημμελείας, εἴτε μὴν αἱρετικῆς πλάνης ἐπιστρέφοντας δεξιοῦσθαι προστάττει.

English · Claude translation

And writing to the church sojourning in Amastris together with those in Pontus, he mentions Bacchylides and Elpistus as having urged him to write, sets out interpretations of the divine Scriptures, and names their bishop, Palmas. He gives them much advice about marriage and chastity, and commands them to welcome those who return from any falling away whatever, whether of misconduct or of heretical error.

About this passage

Source
Dindorf 4:173 · 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
  • Dionysius of Corinth, Letter to the Amastrians (Dionysius of Corinth (letters)) · allusion, high confidence
Topics
Marriage, Ethics, Heresy

Notes

Translation notes

  • The letter is lost; its advice on marriage and chastity may have opposed an ascetic rigorism.

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 4.23.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/4/23/6/).

Plain text
Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 4.23.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/4/23/6/).

Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)

Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text

Report an error in this passage