Sophia Scriptura

Church History 8.10.2

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

Summary: Phileas writes that the martyrs, following the examples of Scripture and the Christ who humbled himself to death, held fast to their calling.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:362

τούτων ἁπάντων ὑπο- “δειγμάτων ἡμῖν καὶ ὑπογραμμῶν καὶ καλῶν γνωρι- “σμάτων ἐν ταῖς θείαις καὶ ἱεραῖς γραφαῖς κειμένων,·‘οὐδὲν μελλήσαντες οἱ μακάριοι σὺν ἡμῖν μάρτυρες, “τὸ τῆς ψυχῆς ὄμμα πρὸς τὸν ἐπὶ πάντων θεὸν κα- “θαρῶς τείναντες, καὶ τὸν ἐπʼ εὐσεβείᾳ θάνατον ἐν “νῷ λαβόντες, ἀπρὶξ τῆς κλήσεως εἴχοντο, τὸν μὲν “κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν εὑρόντες ἐνανθρω- “πήσαντα διʼ ἡμᾶς, ἵνα πᾶσαν μὲν ἁμαρτίαν ἐκκόψῃ, “ἐφόδια δὲ τῆς εἰς τὴν αἰώνιον ζωὴν εἰσόδου ἡμῖν “κατάθηται· οὐ γὰρ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο τὸ εἶναι ἴσα “θεῷ, ἀλλʼ ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσε μορφὴν δούλου λαβὼν, “καὶ σχήματι εὑρεθεὶς ὡς ἄνθρωπος ἑαυτὸν ἐταπεί- ‘νωσεν ἕως θανάτου, θανάτου δὲ σταυροῦ.

English · Claude translation

[Phileas writes:] “Since all these examples, models, and fine tokens lie before us in the divine and holy Scriptures, the blessed martyrs who were with us did not hesitate, but, directing the eye of the soul purely toward the God over all and taking to mind death for piety, they held fast to their calling. For they found that our Lord Jesus Christ became man for our sakes, so that he might cut off all sin and lay up for us provisions for the entrance into eternal life. ‘For he did not regard being equal with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself to death, even death on a cross.’

About this passage

Source
Dindorf 4:362 · 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)
Scripture
Topics
Martyrdom, Christology, Scripture and canon

Notes

Translation notes

  • From the letter of Phileas of Thmuis to his church, quoted by Eusebius. The quotation is Phil 2:6–8.

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.10.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8/10/2/).

Plain text
Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.10.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8/10/2/).

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