Church History 5.28.6

Summary: Victor himself excommunicated Theodotus the cobbler, the first to call Christ a mere man.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:236–237

πῶς οὖν ἐκ τοσούτων ἐτῶν καταγγελ- ’‘λομένου τοῦ ἐκκλησιαστικοῦ φρονήματος ἐνδέχεται “τοὺς μέχρι Βίκτορος οὕτως, ὡς οὗτοι λέγουσι, κεκη- “ρυχέναι; πῶς δὲ οὐκ αἰδοῦνται ταῦτα Βίκτορος “καταψεύδεσθαι, ἀκριβῶς εἰδότες ὅτι Βίκτωρ Θεό- “δοτον τὸν σκυτέα, τὸν ἀρχηγὸν καὶ πατέρα ταύτης “τῆς ἀρνησιθέου ἀποστασίας, ἀπεκήρυξε τῆς κοινω- “νίας, πρῶτον εἰπόντα ψιλὸν ἄνθρωπον τὸν Χριστόν; “εἰ γὰρ Βίκτωρ κατʼ αὐτοὺς οὕτως ἐφρόνει ὡς ἡ “τούτων διδάσκει βλασφημία, πῶς ἂν ἀπέβαλλε Θεό- “δοτον τὸν τῆς αἱρέσεως ταύτης εὑρετήν;” καὶ τὰ μὲν κατὰ τὸν Βίκτορα τοιαῦτα.

English · Claude translation

How then is it possible, since the mind of the church has been proclaimed for so many years, that those up to Victor preached as these men say? And how are they not ashamed to tell these lies about Victor, knowing well that Victor excommunicated Theodotus the cobbler, the leader and father of this God-denying apostasy, the first to say that Christ was a mere man? For if Victor thought as their blasphemy teaches, how would he have cast out Theodotus, the inventor of this heresy?” Such were the things concerning Victor.

About this passage

Source

Dindorf 4:236–237 · 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

Christology, Heresy, Church office

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 5.28.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/5/28/6/).

Plain text

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 5.28.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/5/28/6/).

Greek text · Dindorf 4:236–237

English · Claude translation

About this passage

Notes

Translation notes

Cite this passage