Sophia Scriptura

Church History 5.28.12

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

Summary: Scourged by angels in the night, Natalius repented in sackcloth and was with difficulty readmitted by Zephyrinus.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:237–238

ἐπεὶ δὲ ῥᾳθυμότερον τοῖς ὁράμασι “προσεῖχε, δελεαζόμενος τῇ τε παρʼ αὐτοῖς πρωτο- “καθεδρίᾳ καὶ τῇ πλείστους ἀπολλυούσῃ αἰσχροκερ- “δείᾳ, τελευταῖον ὑπὸ ἁγίων ἀγγέλων ἐμαστιγώθη, “διʼ ὅλης τῆς νυκτὸς οὐ σμικρῶς αἰκισθεὶς, ὥστε “ἕωθεν ἀναστῆναι, καὶ ἐνδυσάμενον σάκκον καὶ σπο- “δὸν καταπασάμενον μετὰ πολλῆς σπουδῆς καὶ δα- “κρύων προσπεσεῖν Ζεφυρίνῳ τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ, κυλιό- “μενον ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας οὐ μόνον τῶν ἐν κλήρῳ, “ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν λαϊκῶν, συγχέαι τε τοῖς δάκρυσι τὴν “εὔσπλαγχνον ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ ἐλεήμονος Χριστοῦ· “πολλῇ τε τῇ δεήσει χρησάμενον, δείξαντά τε τοὺς “μώλωπας ὧν εἰλήφει πληγῶν μόλις κοινωνηθῆναι.”

English · Claude translation

But since he paid rather careless attention to the visions, being enticed by the first seat among them and by the shameful love of gain that destroys very many, at last he was scourged by holy angels, and was severely beaten through a whole night, so that he rose early in the morning, put on sackcloth, covered himself with ashes, and with great haste and tears fell down before Zephyrinus the bishop, rolling at the feet not only of the clergy but also of the laity, and moved with his tears the compassionate church of the merciful Christ; and after much entreaty, and showing the weals of the blows he had received, he was with difficulty received into communion.”

About this passage

Source
Dindorf 4:237–238 · 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)
Topics
Heresy, Church office

Notes

Translation notes

  • Quotation from the anonymous work against Artemon.

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 5.28.12 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/5/28/12/).

Plain text
Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 5.28.12 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/5/28/12/).

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