Preparation for the Gospel 1.5.1–1.8.19

Eusebius of Caesarea · Preparation for the Gospel · ca. 313–324 · Caesarea · 58 passages

Greek text: Dindorf, Eusebii Opera 1 (Greek text: W. Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 1–2 (Leipzig: Teubner, 1867), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: E. H. Gifford, Eusebii Pamphili Evangelicae Praeparationis libri XV (Oxford, 1903), vol. 3 (English).

Preparation 1, chapter 5

1.5.1Dindorf 1:16

Κεφάλαιον δὲ τῆς πρώτης καὶ μεγίστης εὐεργεσίας τοῦ σωτηρίου λόγου γνοίης ἂν, εἰ ἐν νῷ λάβοις τὴν δεισιδαίμονα πλάνην τῆς παλαιᾶς εἰδωλολατρίας, ᾗ τὸ σύμπαν ἀνθρώπων γένος δαιμόνων ἀνάγκαις πάλαι πρότερον κατετρύχετο· ἧς ὥσπερ ἀπὸ σκοτίας ζοφωδεστάτης Ἓλληνας ὁμοῦ καὶ βαρβάρους δυνάμει θείᾳ μεταστησάμενος ἐπὶ νοερὰν καὶ φωτεινοτάτην ἡμέραν τῆς ἀληθοῦς εὐσεβείας τοῦ παμβασιλέως θεοῦ τοὺς πάντας μετηγάγετο.

Kephalaion de tēs prōtēs kai megistēs euergesias tou sōtēriou logou gnoiēs an, ei en nǭ labois tēn deisidaimona planēn tēs palaias eidōlolatrias, hę̄ to sympan anthrōpōn genos daimonōn anankais palai proteron katetrycheto; hēs hōsper apo skotias zophōdestatēs Hellēnas homou kai barbarous dynamei theią metastēsamenos epi noeran kai phōteinotatēn hēmeran tēs alēthous eusebeias tou pambasileōs theou tous pantas metēgageto.

You would recognize the sum of the first and greatest benefit of the saving word if you considered the superstitious error of the ancient idolatry, by which the whole human race was formerly worn down under the compulsion of demons. Out of it, as out of the gloomiest darkness, the word by divine power removed Greeks and barbarians alike and brought them all over to the intellectual and most radiant day of the true worship of God the universal King.

Notes and citation

Summary: The greatest benefit of the gospel is deliverance from idolatry into the light of true worship.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen rejoined; repeated word in digitization; stray punctuation in digitization): ὁμοῦ ὁμοῦ → ὁμοῦ; ἀληθοῦς. εὐσεβείας → ἀληθοῦς εὐσεβείας; εἰδωλο- λατρίας → εἰδωλολατρίας.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.5.1 (Dindorf 1:16; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-5-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek of Dindorf's Teubner text (1867; digital text First1KGreek, CC BY-SA 4.0), then compared section by section with the public-domain English of E. H. Gifford (1903); differences checked against the Greek.

1.5.2Dindorf 1:16

καὶ τί χρὴ μηκύνειν ἀποδεικνύναι πειρωμένους ὅτι μὴ ἀλόγῳ πίστει ἑαυτοὺς ἀνεθήκαμεν, σώφροσι δὲ καὶ ὠφελίμοις λόγοις τὸν τῆς ἀληθοῦς εὐσεβείας τρόπον περιέχουσι; τῆς παρούσης ὑποθέσεως αὐτὸ δὴ τοῦτο καθόλου πραγματευομένης, τοὺς μὲν ἐπιτηδείως ἒχοντας ἕπεσθαι λόγων ἀποδείξεσι προτρέπομεν καὶ παρακαλοῦμεν φρονήσεως ἐπιμέλεσθαι, καὶ λογικώτερον τῶν δογμάτων τὰς ἀποδείξεις παραλαμβάνειν, ἑτοίμους τε εἶναι πρὸς ἀπολογίαν παντὶ τῷ ἐπερωτῶντι ἡμᾶς τὸν λόγον τῆς καθʼ ἡμὰς ἐλπίδος.

kai ti chrē mēkynein apodeiknynai peirōmenous hoti mē alogǭ pistei heautous anethēkamen, sōphrosi de kai ōphelimois logois ton tēs alēthous eusebeias tropon periechousi? tēs parousēs hypotheseōs auto dē touto katholou pragmateuomenēs, tous men epitēdeiōs echontas hepesthai logōn apodeixesi protrepomen kai parakaloumen phronēseōs epimelesthai, kai logikōteron tōn dogmatōn tas apodeixeis paralambanein, hetoimous te einai pros apologian panti tǭ eperōtōnti hēmas ton logon tēs kathʼ hēmas elpidos.

Why should we go on at length trying to show that we have not committed ourselves to an unreasoning faith, but to sober and profitable doctrines containing the way of true piety? Since the present work treats precisely this throughout, we urge those who are fit to follow demonstrations by argument, and exhort them to cultivate understanding, to receive the proofs of our doctrines in a more reasoned way, and to be ready to make a defense to everyone who asks us for the reason of our hope.

1 Pet 3:15 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Those capable of argument are urged to examine the proofs of Christian doctrine and be ready to give a defense.

Allusion to 1 Pet 3:15.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen rejoined): κα- θόλου → καθόλου.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.5.2 (Dindorf 1:16; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-5-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.5.3Dindorf 1:16–17

ἐπεὶ δὲ μὴ πάντες τοιοῦτοι, φιλανθρώπου τυγχάνοντος τοῦ λόγου, καί μηδένα μηδαμῶς ἀποτρεπομένου, πάντα δὲ ἄνθρωπον τοῖς καταλλήλοις ἰωμένου φαρμάκοις, καὶ τὸν ἀμαθῆ καὶ ἰδιώτην ἐπὶ τὴν τῶν τρόπων θεραπείαν παρακαλοῦντος, εἰκότως ἐν εἰσαγωγῇ τοὺς ἀρχομένους τῶν ἰδιωτικωτέρων γύναια καὶ παῖδας καὶ τὸ τῶν ἀγελαίων πλῆθος ἐπὶ τὸν εὐσεβῆ βίον χειραγωγοῦντες, ὡς ἐν φαρμάκου μοίρᾳ, τὴν ὑγιῆ πίστιν παραλαμβάνομεν, ὀρθὰς δόξας περὶ θεοῦ προνοίας καὶ περὶ ψυχῆς ἀθανασίας καὶ περὶ τοῦ κατʼ ἀρετὴν βίου ἐντιθέντες αὐτοῖς.

epei de mē pantes toioutoi, philanthrōpou tynchanontos tou logou, kai mēdena mēdamōs apotrepomenou, panta de anthrōpon tois katallēlois iōmenou pharmakois, kai ton amathē kai idiōtēn epi tēn tōn tropōn therapeian parakalountos, eikotōs en eisagōgę̄ tous archomenous tōn idiōtikōterōn gynaia kai paidas kai to tōn agelaiōn plēthos epi ton eusebē bion cheiragōgountes, hōs en pharmakou moirą, tēn hygiē pistin paralambanomen, orthas doxas peri theou pronoias kai peri psychēs athanasias kai peri tou katʼ aretēn biou entithentes autois.

But since not all are such, and since the Word is a lover of humankind, turning no one away at all but healing every person with fitting remedies and calling even the ignorant and unlearned to the healing of their ways, we rightly, at the introductory stage, lead by the hand toward the pious life the beginners from among the simpler sort, women and children and the common crowd, and give them sound faith as a kind of medicine, implanting in them right beliefs about God's providence, about the immortality of the soul, and about the life of virtue.

Notes and citation

Summary: For simple beginners, sound faith serves as a medicine that gives them right beliefs about providence, immortality, and virtue.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen rejoined): θε- ραπείαν → θεραπείαν.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.5.3 (Dindorf 1:16–17; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-5-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.5.4Dindorf 1:17

ἢ οὐχ οὕτως καὶ τοὺς τὰ σωμάτων κάμνοντας ἐπιστημόνως ἰωμένους ὁρῶμεν αὐτοὺς μὲν διὰ πλείστης ἀσκήσεως καὶ παιδείας τοὺς κατὰ ἰατρικὴν λόγους ἀνειληφότας καὶ πάντα λογικῶς χειρουργοῦντας, τούς γε μὴν ἐπὶ θεραπείᾳ προσιόντας αὐτοῖς πίστει ἑαυτοὺς καὶ τῇ τῶν χρηστοτέρων ἐλπίδι παρέχοντας, καὶ τῶν μὲν κατὰ τὴν ἐπιστήμην θεωρημάτων μηδὲν ἀκριβῶς ἐπαΐοντας, μόνης δὲ τῆς ἀγαθῆς ἐλπίδος τε καὶ πίστεως ἐξηρτημένους;

ē ouch houtōs kai tous ta sōmatōn kamnontas epistēmonōs iōmenous horōmen autous men dia pleistēs askēseōs kai paideias tous kata iatrikēn logous aneilēphotas kai panta logikōs cheirourgountas, tous ge mēn epi therapeią prosiontas autois pistei heautous kai tę̄ tōn chrēstoterōn elpidi parechontas, kai tōn men kata tēn epistēmēn theōrēmatōn mēden akribōs epaïontas, monēs de tēs agathēs elpidos te kai pisteōs exērtēmenous?

Do we not see the same with those who skillfully heal the sick in body? They themselves have taken up the principles of medicine through long practice and training and perform every operation with reason; but those who come to them for treatment entrust themselves in faith and in hope of better things, though they understand nothing of the science's theory precisely, and depend only on good hope and faith.

Notes and citation

Summary: As patients trust physicians without understanding medicine, so beginners may rightly receive the faith.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.5.4 (Dindorf 1:17; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-5-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.5.5Dindorf 1:17

καὶ ὁ μὲν τῶν ἰατρῶν ἄριστος εἰς μέσον παρελθὼν ἅ τε χρὴ προφυλάττεσθαι καὶ ἃ προσήκει δρᾶν ὥσπερ τις ἄρχων καὶ κύριος μετʼ ἐπιστήμης προστάττει, ὁ δʼ ὡς βασιλεῖ καὶ νομοθέτῃ πείθεται, πιστεύων συνοίσειν αὐτῷ τὸ προστεταγμένον. οὕτω

kai ho men tōn iatrōn aristos eis meson parelthōn ha te chrē prophylattesthai kai ha prosēkei dran hōsper tis archōn kai kyrios metʼ epistēmēs prostattei, ho dʼ hōs basilei kai nomothetę̄ peithetai, pisteuōn synoisein autǭ to prostetagmenon. houtō

The best of physicians comes forward and, like a ruler and master, prescribes with knowledge what must be avoided and what ought to be done; and the patient obeys as if he were a king and lawgiver, believing that what is prescribed will be good for him. So

Notes and citation

Summary: A patient obeys the physician's orders in the belief that they will help him.

The sentence continues in 1.5.6.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization): καἰ νομοθέτῃ → καὶ νομοθέτῃ.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.5.5 (Dindorf 1:17; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-5-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.5.6Dindorf 1:17

καὶ μαθηταὶ παρὰ διδασκάλων παιδείας ἀποδέχονται, πιστεύσαντες ἀγαθὸν αὐτοῖς ἔσεσθαι τὸ μάθημα, ναὶ μὴν καὶ φιλοσοφίας οὐ πρότερόν τις ἐφάψαιτʼ ἂν ἢ πιστεύσας συνοίσειν αὐτῷ τὸ ἐπάγγελμα· καὶ ὁ μέν τις αὐτόθεν εἵλετο τὰ Ἐπικούρου, ὁ δὲ τὸν κυνικὸν ζηλοῖ βίον, ἄλλος κατὰ Πλάτωνα φιλοσοφεῖ, κατʼ Ἀριστοτέλην ἕτερος, καὶ πάλιν ἄλλος πάντων τὰ Στωïκὰ προετίμησεν, ἑκάστου χρηστοτέρᾳ ἐλπίδι τε καὶ πίστει τὸ δόξαν ὡς συνοῖσον ἀγαπήσαντος.

kai mathētai para didaskalōn paideias apodechontai, pisteusantes agathon autois esesthai to mathēma, nai mēn kai philosophias ou proteron tis ephapsaitʼ an ē pisteusas synoisein autǭ to epangelma; kai ho men tis autothen heileto ta Epikourou, ho de ton kynikon zēloi bion, allos kata Platōna philosophei, katʼ Aristotelēn heteros, kai palin allos pantōn ta Stōika proetimēsen, hekastou chrēstoterą elpidi te kai pistei to doxan hōs synoison agapēsantos.

also pupils receive instruction from teachers, believing that the lesson will be good for them. Yes, and no one would take up philosophy before believing that what it promises will be good for him. One person straightaway chose the doctrines of Epicurus, another emulates the Cynic life, another pursues philosophy after Plato, another after Aristotle, and yet another preferred the Stoic doctrines above all, each embracing what seemed good to him with better hope and faith that it would profit him.

Notes and citation

Summary: Students and philosophers also begin by believing that their teachers or schools will benefit them.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (breathing misread in digitization; line-break hyphen rejoined): Ἑπικούρου → Ἐπικούρου; πρό- τερόν → πρότερόν.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.5.6 (Dindorf 1:17; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-5-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.5.7Dindorf 1:17

οὕτω καὶ τέχνας ἄνθρωποι τὰς μέσας μετῆλθον, καὶ ἄλλοι τὸν στρατιωτικὸν, ἂλλοι δὲ τὸν ἐμπορικὸν βίον, πίστει πάλαι προειληφότες βιοποιστικὸν αὐτοῖς ἔσεσθαι τὸ ἐπιτήδευμα. καὶ γάμων δὲ αἱ πρῶται σύνοδοι καὶ κοινωνίαι τῆς κατὰ παιδοποιίαν ἐλπίδος ἐξ ἀγαθῆς ἐνήρξαντο πίστεως.

houtō kai technas anthrōpoi tas mesas metēlthon, kai alloi ton stratiōtikon, alloi de ton emporikon bion, pistei palai proeilēphotes biopoistikon autois esesthai to epitēdeuma. kai gamōn de hai prōtai synodoi kai koinōniai tēs kata paidopoiian elpidos ex agathēs enērxanto pisteōs.

So too people have taken up the ordinary trades, some the soldier's life, others the merchant's, having first taken it on faith that the occupation would give them a living. And the first unions of marriage and partnerships began from good faith in the hope of having children.

Notes and citation

Summary: Trades, careers, and marriages likewise begin with faith and hope.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (breathing misread in digitization; digitization slip): ἂνθωποι → ἄνθρωποι; αἶ πρῶται → αἱ πρῶται.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.5.7 (Dindorf 1:17; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-5-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.5.8Dindorf 1:17–18

καὶ πλεῖ τις αὖθις εἰς ἄδηλον, οὐδʼ ἄλλην προβεβλημένος τῆς σωτηρίας ἄγκυραν ἢ μόνην τὴν πίστιν καὶ τὴν ἀγαθὴν ἐλπίδα· καὶ γεωργεῖ πάλιν ἄλλος, καὶ τὸν σπόρον εἰς γῆν ἀπορρίψας κάθηται τῆς ὥρας τὴν τροπὴν ἐκδεχόμενος, πιστεύων τὸ φθαρὲν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ πλημμυρίσιν ὑετῶν καλυφθὲν αὖθις ὥσπερ ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναβιώσεσθαι· πορείαν δέ τις μακρὰν ἐπʼ ἀλλοδαπῆς ἐκ τῆς οἰκείας στελλόμενος πάλιν τὴν ἐλπίδα καὶ τὴν πίστιν ἀγαθὰς ὁδηγοὺς ἑαυτῷ συνεπάγεται.

kai plei tis authis eis adēlon, oudʼ allēn probeblēmenos tēs sōtērias ankyran ē monēn tēn pistin kai tēn agathēn elpida; kai geōrgei palin allos, kai ton sporon eis gēn aporripsas kathētai tēs hōras tēn tropēn ekdechomenos, pisteuōn to phtharen epi tēs gēs kai plēmmyrisin hyetōn kalyphthen authis hōsper ek nekrōn anabiōsesthai; poreian de tis makran epʼ allodapēs ek tēs oikeias stellomenos palin tēn elpida kai tēn pistin agathas hodēgous heautǭ synepagetai.

Again, someone sails into the unknown, having put out no other anchor of safety than faith alone and good hope. Another farms, casts his seed into the earth, and sits waiting for the turn of the season, believing that what has decayed in the earth and been covered by floods of rain will come to life again as from the dead. Someone sets out from home on a long journey to a foreign land, and again takes along with him hope and faith as good guides.

Notes and citation

Summary: Sailors, farmers, and travelers all act in faith and hope.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip): φθαρὶν → φθαρὲν.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.5.8 (Dindorf 1:17–18; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-5-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.5.9Dindorf 1:18

καὶ τί γὰρ ἄλλʼ ἢ τὸν πάντα τῶν ἀνθρώπων βίον δυοῖν τούτοιν ἀνηρτημένον, ἐλπίδος τε καὶ πίστεως, καταλαμβάνων, τί δὴ θαυμάζεις εἰ καὶ τὰ κρείττονα κατὰ ψυχὴν τοῖς μὲν διὰ πίστεως παραδίδοται; οἷς οὐ σχολὴ λογικώτερον τὰ κατὰ μέρος παιδεύεσθαι, τοῖς δὲ καὶ τοὺς λόγους αὐτοὺς πάρεστι μετιέναι καὶ τὰς ἀποδείξεις τῶν πρεσβευομένων μανθάνειν;

kai ti gar allʼ ē ton panta tōn anthrōpōn bion dyoin toutoin anērtēmenon, elpidos te kai pisteōs, katalambanōn, ti dē thaumazeis ei kai ta kreittona kata psychēn tois men dia pisteōs paradidotai? hois ou scholē logikōteron ta kata meros paideuesthai, tois de kai tous logous autous paresti metienai kai tas apodeixeis tōn presbeuomenōn manthanein?

Since you find, then, that all human life hangs on nothing else than these two, hope and faith, why do you wonder that the higher things of the soul are handed on to some through faith, to those who have no leisure to be taught the details in a more reasoned way, while others may pursue the arguments themselves and learn the demonstrations of what we hold?

Notes and citation

Summary: Since all life depends on faith and hope, it is no wonder that some receive the truth by faith and others by demonstration.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization; line-break hyphen rejoined): οἶς οὐ → οἷς οὐ; αὐ- τοὺς → αὐτοὺς.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.5.9 (Dindorf 1:18; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-5-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.5.10Dindorf 1:18

Ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἐν ὀλίγῳ τούτων ἡμῖν οὐκ εἰς ἄχρηστον προγεγυμνασμένων ἀνίωμεν ἐπὶ τὴν πρώτην κατηγορίαν, καὶ τίνες ὄντες καὶ πόθεν ὁρμώμενοι τοῖς διερωτῶσιν ἀποκρινούμεθα. ὅτι μὲν οὖν τὸ γένος Ἕλληνες ὄντες καὶ τὰ Ἑλλήνων φρονοῦντες ἐκ παντοίων τε ἐθνῶν ὡς ἂν νεολέκτου στρατιὰς λογάδες συνειλεγμένοι τῆς πατρίου δεισιδαιμονίας ἀποστάται καθεστήκαμεν οὐδʼ ἂν αὐτοί ποτε ἀρνηθείημεν· ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅτι Ἰουδαïκαῖς βίβλοις προσανέχοντες κἀκ τῶν παρʼ αὐτοῖς προφητειῶν τὰ πλεῖστα τοῦ καθʼ ἡμᾶς λόγου συνάγοντες οὐκέθʼ ὁμοίως ζῆν τοῖς ἐκ περιτομῆς προσφιλὲς ἡγούμεθα, καὶ τοῦτʼ ἂν αὐτόθεν ὁμολογήσαιμεν.

Alla gar en oligǭ toutōn hēmin ouk eis achrēston progegymnasmenōn aniōmen epi tēn prōtēn katēgorian, kai tines ontes kai pothen hormōmenoi tois dierōtōsin apokrinoumetha. hoti men oun to genos Hellēnes ontes kai ta Hellēnōn phronountes ek pantoiōn te ethnōn hōs an neolektou stratias logades syneilegmenoi tēs patriou deisidaimonias apostatai kathestēkamen oudʼ an autoi pote arnētheiēmen; alla kai hoti Ioudaikais biblois prosanechontes kak tōn parʼ autois prophēteiōn ta pleista tou kathʼ hēmas logou synagontes oukethʼ homoiōs zēn tois ek peritomēs prosphiles hēgoumetha, kai toutʼ an autothen homologēsaimen.

But now that we have briefly, and not without use, exercised ourselves in these points, let us go back to the first charge and answer those who ask who we are and where we come from. That we, being Greeks by race and thinking as Greeks, gathered out of all kinds of nations like the picked men of a newly enlisted army, have become deserters from the superstition of our fathers, we ourselves would never deny. And that, devoting ourselves to the Jewish books and gathering from the prophecies among them most of our doctrine, we no longer think it good to live like those of the circumcision, this too we would confess at once.

Notes and citation

Summary: Eusebius admits that Christians have left Greek religion and use the Jewish books without living as Jews.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.5.10 (Dindorf 1:18; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-5-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.5.11Dindorf 1:18–19

ὥρα τοιγαροῦν τούτων τὸν αἰτιολογισμὸν ὑποσχεῖν. πῶς οὖν ἂν ἄλλως δόξαιμεν εὖ πεποιηκέναι τὰ πάτρια καταλείψαντες εἰ μὴ πρῶτον εἰς μέσον αὐτὰ παραθέμενοι καὶ ἀγαγόντες ὑπʼ ὄψιν τῶν ἐντευξομένων; οὕτω γὰρ ἂν γένοιτο φανερὰ καὶ τῆς εὐαγγελικῆς ἀποδείξεως ἡ θεία δύναμις, εἰ τοῖς πᾶσι πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν τεθείη, τίνων καὶ ὁποίων κακῶν τὴν ἴασιν εὐαγγελίζεται.

hōra toigaroun toutōn ton aitiologismon hyposchein. pōs oun an allōs doxaimen eu pepoiēkenai ta patria kataleipsantes ei mē prōton eis meson auta parathemenoi kai agagontes hypʼ opsin tōn enteuxomenōn? houtō gar an genoito phanera kai tēs euangelikēs apodeixeōs hē theia dynamis, ei tois pasi pro ophthalmōn tetheiē, tinōn kai hopoiōn kakōn tēn iasin euangelizetai.

It is time, therefore, to give the reasons for these things. How else could we appear to have done well in abandoning our ancestral religion, unless we first set it out openly and bring it before the eyes of our readers? For in this way the divine power of the Demonstration of the Gospel would become plain, if it were set before the eyes of all from what evils, and of what kind, it announces the cure.

Notes and citation

Summary: To justify leaving the ancestral religion, Eusebius will first set it out in full.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip): αἰτοιλογισμὸν → αἰτιολογισμὸν.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.5.11 (Dindorf 1:18–19; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-5-11). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.5.12Dindorf 1:19

πῶς δʼ ἂν τὸ εὔλογον τῆς τῶν Ἰουδαïκῶν μεταδιώξεως φανείη μὴ οὐχὶ καὶ τῆς τούτων ἀρετῆς ἀποδειχθείσης; τίνι τε λόγῳ τὰς παρʼ αὐτοῖς γραφὰς ἀσπαζόμενοι τὸν ὅμοιον τοῦ βίου τρόπον ἀποκλίνομεν καλῶς ἂν ἔχοι διελθεῖν, καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσι τίς ὁ καθʼ ἡμᾶς τῆς εὐαγγελικῆς ὑποθέσεως λόγος καὶ τίς ἂν κυρίως λεχθείη ὁ χριστιανισμὸς, οὔθʼ Ἑλληνισμὸς ὢν οὔτε Ἰουδαïσμὸς, ἀλλά τις καινὴ καὶ ἀληθὴς θεοσοφία, ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς προσηγορίας τὴν καινοτομίαν ἐπαγομένη.

pōs dʼ an to eulogon tēs tōn Ioudaikōn metadiōxeōs phaneiē mē ouchi kai tēs toutōn aretēs apodeichtheisēs? tini te logǭ tas parʼ autois graphas aspazomenoi ton homoion tou biou tropon apoklinomen kalōs an echoi dielthein, kai epi pasi tis ho kathʼ hēmas tēs euangelikēs hypotheseōs logos kai tis an kyriōs lechtheiē ho christianismos, outhʼ Hellēnismos ōn oute Ioudaismos, alla tis kainē kai alēthēs theosophia, ex autēs tēs prosēgorias tēn kainotomian epagomenē.

And how could the reasonableness of our pursuit of the Jewish books appear unless their excellence were also demonstrated? It would be well to explain also on what principle, though we embrace their Scriptures, we decline the like manner of life; and, above all, what is the meaning of our gospel subject, and what Christianity might properly be said to be, being neither Hellenism nor Judaism, but a new and true divine wisdom, bringing its newness from its very name.

Notes and citation

Summary: Eusebius will show the excellence of the Hebrew books, why Christians do not live as Jews, and what Christianity is: neither Hellenism nor Judaism.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.5.12 (Dindorf 1:19; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-5-12). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.5.13Dindorf 1:19

φέρʼ οὖν πρῶτον ἀπάντων τὰς παλαιτάτας καὶ δὴ καὶ τὰς πατρίους ἡμῶν αὐτῶν θεολογίας κατὰ πάσαν πόλιν εἰσέτι καὶ νῦν τεθρυλημένας ἐπιθεωρήσωμεν, τάς τε σεμνὰς τῶν γενναίων φιλοσόφων περί τε κόσμου συστάσεως καὶ περὶ θεῶν διαλήψεις, ἵνα γνῶμεν εἴτε καὶ ὀρθῶς ἀπέστημεν αὐτῶν, εἴτε καὶ μή.

pherʼ oun prōton apantōn tas palaitatas kai dē kai tas patrious hēmōn autōn theologias kata pasan polin eiseti kai nyn tethrylēmenas epitheōrēsōmen, tas te semnas tōn gennaiōn philosophōn peri te kosmou systaseōs kai peri theōn dialēpseis, hina gnōmen eite kai orthōs apestēmen autōn, eite kai mē.

Come then, first of all, let us examine the most ancient theologies, and in particular our own ancestral ones, which are still celebrated in every city even now, and the solemn views of the noble philosophers about the constitution of the world and about the gods, so that we may know whether we were right to depart from them or not.

Notes and citation

Summary: Eusebius begins by examining the ancient Greek theologies and the philosophers' views of the world and the gods.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (letter lost in digitization): ἐπιθεωήσωμεν → ἐπιθεωρήσωμεν.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.5.13 (Dindorf 1:19; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-5-13). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.5.14Dindorf 1:19

θήσω δὲ οὐκ ἐμὰς φωνὰς ἐν τῇ τῶν δηλουμένων ἐκφάνσει, ἀλλʼ αὐτῶν δὴ τῶν μάλιστα τὴν περὶ οὕς φασι θεοὺς εὐσέβειαν περισπούδαστον πεποιημένων, ὡς ἂν ὁ λόγος ἀπάσης ἐκτὸς τῆς περὶ τοῦ πλάττεσθαι ἡμὰς ὑπονοίας κατασταίη.

thēsō de ouk emas phōnas en tę̄ tōn dēloumenōn ekphansei, allʼ autōn dē tōn malista tēn peri hous phasi theous eusebeian perispoudaston pepoiēmenōn, hōs an ho logos apasēs ektos tēs peri tou plattesthai hēmas hyponoias katastaiē.

In setting out what is to be shown I shall put forward not my own words, but those of the very people who have been most zealous for the worship of those they call gods, so that the argument may be free of all suspicion that we are making things up.

Notes and citation

Summary: Eusebius will quote the pagans' own writers so that he cannot be suspected of inventing anything.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip): περισπούδαστου → περισπούδαστον.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.5.14 (Dindorf 1:19; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-5-14). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Preparation 1, chapter 6

1.6.1Dindorf 1:19

Φοίνικας τοιγαροῦν καὶ Αἰγυπτίους πρώτους ἁπάντων ἀνθρώπων κατέχει λόγος ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην καὶ ἀστέρας θεοὺς ἀποφῆναι, μόνους τε εἶναι τῆς τῶν ὅλων γενέσεως τε καὶ φθορᾶς αἰτίους, εἶτα δὲ τὰς παρὰ τοῖς πᾶσι βοωμένας θεοποιίας τε καὶ θεογονίας εἰσηγήσασθαι τῷ βίῳ·

Phoinikas toigaroun kai Aigyptious prōtous hapantōn anthrōpōn katechei logos hēlion kai selēnēn kai asteras theous apophēnai, monous te einai tēs tōn holōn geneseōs te kai phthoras aitious, eita de tas para tois pasi boōmenas theopoiias te kai theogonias eisēgēsasthai tǭ biǭ;

The prevailing account, then, is that the Phoenicians and Egyptians were the first of all people to declare the sun, the moon, and the stars to be gods, and to be the sole causes of the coming into being and the perishing of all things, and that afterward they introduced into human life the deifications and genealogies of gods that are noised abroad among all.

Notes and citation

Summary: The Phoenicians and Egyptians were said to be the first to deify the heavenly bodies and to introduce stories of the gods' origins.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.6.1 (Dindorf 1:19; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-6-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.6.2Dindorf 1:19–20

πρὸ δέ γε τούτων μηδένα μηδὲν πλέον τῶν κατʼ οὐρανὸν φαινομένων εἰδέναι, ὀλίγων ἐκτὸς ἀνδρῶν τῶν παρʼ Ἑβραίοις μνημονευομένων, οἳ διανοίας καθαρωτάτοις ὄμμασι πᾶν τὸ ὁρώμενον ὑπερκύψαντες τὸν κοσμοποιὸν καὶ τῶν ὅλων δημιουργὸν ἐσεβάσθησαν, ὑπερθαυμάσαντες τῆς τοσαύτης αὐτὸν σοφίας τε καὶ δυνάμεως, ἣν ἐκ τῶν ἔργων ἐφαντάσθησαν, καὶ μόνον εἶναι θεὸν πεισθέντες μόνον εἰκότως ἐθεολόγησαν, τὴν ἀληθῆ καὶ πρώτην καὶ μόνην ταύτην εὐσέβειαν παῖς παρὰ πατρὸς διαδεξάμενοι καὶ φυλάξαντες.

pro de ge toutōn mēdena mēden pleon tōn katʼ ouranon phainomenōn eidenai, oligōn ektos andrōn tōn parʼ Hebraiois mnēmoneuomenōn, hoi dianoias katharōtatois ommasi pan to horōmenon hyperkypsantes ton kosmopoion kai tōn holōn dēmiourgon esebasthēsan, hyperthaumasantes tēs tosautēs auton sophias te kai dynameōs, hēn ek tōn ergōn ephantasthēsan, kai monon einai theon peisthentes monon eikotōs etheologēsan, tēn alēthē kai prōtēn kai monēn tautēn eusebeian pais para patros diadexamenoi kai phylaxantes.

Before these, no one knew anything more than the phenomena of the sky, except a few men remembered among the Hebrews, who with the purest eyes of the mind looked beyond everything visible and worshipped the maker of the world and creator of all things. They marveled exceedingly at his great wisdom and power, which they perceived from his works, and being persuaded that he alone is God, they rightly proclaimed him alone as God; this true, first, and only piety they received, son from father, and preserved.

Rom 1:20 (echo, low confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Before polytheism, a few Hebrews worshipped the one Creator, known from his works, and handed this true piety down from father to son.

Allusion to the knowledge of God from his works (compare Rom 1:20).

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.6.2 (Dindorf 1:19–20; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-6-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.6.3Dindorf 1:20

οἵ γε μὴν λοιποὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τῆσδε τῆς μόνης καὶ ἀληθοῦς ἀποπεσόντες εὐσεβείας, τὰ φωσφόρα τῶν οὐρανίων σαρκὸς ὀφθαλμοῖς, οἷα νήπιοι τὰς ψυχὰς, καταπλαγέντες, θεούς τε ἀνεῖπον καὶ θυσίαις καὶ καταπλαγέντες, ἐγέραιρον, οὐ νεὼς δειμάμενοι, οὐδʼ ἀφιδρύμασι καὶ ξοάνοις θνητῶν εἰκόνας πλασάμενοι, πρὸς αἰθέρα δὲ καὶ αὐτὸν οὐρανὸν ἀποβλέποντες καὶ μέχρι τῶν τῇδε ὁρωμένων ταῖς ψυχαῖς ἐφικνούμενοι.

hoi ge mēn loipoi tōn anthrōpōn tēsde tēs monēs kai alēthous apopesontes eusebeias, ta phōsphora tōn ouraniōn sarkos ophthalmois, hoia nēpioi tas psychas, kataplagentes, theous te aneipon kai thysiais kai kataplagentes, egerairon, ou neōs deimamenoi, oudʼ aphidrymasi kai xoanois thnētōn eikonas plasamenoi, pros aithera de kai auton ouranon apoblepontes kai mechri tōn tę̄de horōmenōn tais psychais ephiknoumenoi.

But the rest of mankind, falling away from this one true piety and, like children in soul, struck with wonder at the light-bearing bodies of heaven seen by the eyes of the flesh, proclaimed them gods and honored them with sacrifices and acts of homage. They did not build temples or fashion likenesses of mortals in images and wooden statues, but looked up to the ether and to heaven itself, reaching with their souls only as far as the things seen here.

Notes and citation

Summary: Others fell away and worshipped the heavenly bodies, at first without temples or images.

The digital text repeats καταπλαγέντες ("struck with wonder") where a noun of worship is expected after θυσίαις καί; translated by sense ("acts of homage").

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (letter lost in digitization; line-break hyphen rejoined): ἀφιδύμασι → ἀφιδρύμασι; καταπλα- γέντες → καταπλαγέντες.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.6.3 (Dindorf 1:20; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-6-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.6.4Dindorf 1:20

ἀλλʼ οὐ τῇδε ἄρα καὶ τοῖς μετέπειτα ἀνθρώποις τὰ τῆς πολυθέου πλάνης περιίστατο, ἐλαύνοντα δὲ εἰς βυθὸν κακῶν μείζονα τῆς ἀθεότητος τὴν δυσσέβειαν ἀπειργάζετο, Φοινίκων, εἶτα Αἰγυπτίων ἀπαρξαμένων τῆς πλάνης· παρʼ ὧν φάσι πρῶτον Ὀρφέα τὸν Οἰάγρου μεταστησάμενον τὰ παρʼ Αἰγυπτίοις Ἕλλησι μεταδοῦναι μυστήρια, ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ Κάδμον τὰ Φοινικικὰ τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἀγαγεῖν μετὰ καὶ τῆς τῶν γραμμάτων μαθήσεως· οὔπω γὰρ εἰσέτι τοὺς Ἓλληνας τότε τὴν τῶν γραμμάτων χρῆσιν εἰδέναι.

allʼ ou tę̄de ara kai tois metepeita anthrōpois ta tēs polytheou planēs periistato, elaunonta de eis bython kakōn meizona tēs atheotētos tēn dyssebeian apeirgazeto, Phoinikōn, eita Aigyptiōn aparxamenōn tēs planēs; parʼ hōn phasi prōton Orphea ton Oiagrou metastēsamenon ta parʼ Aigyptiois Hellēsi metadounai mystēria, hōsper oun kai Kadmon ta Phoinikika tois autois agagein meta kai tēs tōn grammatōn mathēseōs; oupō gar eiseti tous Hellēnas tote tēn tōn grammatōn chrēsin eidenai.

Yet the error of polytheism did not stop at this point for later generations, but drove them into a depth of evils and produced an impiety worse than atheism, the Phoenicians first and then the Egyptians beginning the error. From the Egyptians, they say, Orpheus son of Oeagrus first transferred the Egyptian mysteries and imparted them to the Greeks, just as Cadmus brought the Phoenician rites to the same people, together with the learning of letters; for the Greeks did not yet at that time know the use of letters.

Notes and citation

Summary: Polytheism grew worse among Phoenicians and Egyptians; Orpheus and Cadmus brought their rites, and letters, to the Greeks.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (letter lost in digitization; line-break hyphen rejoined): ἀπειγάζετο → ἀπειργάζετο; βυ- θὸν → βυθὸν.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.6.4 (Dindorf 1:20; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-6-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.6.5Dindorf 1:20–21

πρῶτα τοίνυν σκεψόμεθα τὰ τῆς κοσμογονίας τῆς πρώτης, ὅπως οἱ δηλούμενοι διειλήφασι· ἔπειτα τὰ περὶ τῆς πρώτης καὶ παλαιτάτης τοῦ τῶν ἀνθρώπων βίου δεισιδαιμονίας· καὶ τρίτον τὰ Φοινίκων, τέταρτον τὰ Αἰγυπτίων, μεθʼ ἃ πέμπτον τὰ Ἑλλήνων διελόντες πρότερον μὲν τὴν καὶ τούτων παλαιὰν καὶ μυθικωτέραν πλάνην ἐποπτεύσομεν, εἶτα δὲ τὴν σεμνοτέραν καὶ φυσικωτέραν δὴ περὶ θεῶν φιλοσοφίαν, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα τὸν περὶ τῶν θαυμαστῶν χρηστηρίων ἐφοδεύσομεν λόγον· ἐφʼ οἷς καὶ τὰ σεμνὰ τῆς γενναίας Ἑλλήνων φιλοσοφίας ἐπισκεψόμεθα.

prōta toinyn skepsometha ta tēs kosmogonias tēs prōtēs, hopōs hoi dēloumenoi dieilēphasi; epeita ta peri tēs prōtēs kai palaitatēs tou tōn anthrōpōn biou deisidaimonias; kai triton ta Phoinikōn, tetarton ta Aigyptiōn, methʼ ha pempton ta Hellēnōn dielontes proteron men tēn kai toutōn palaian kai mythikōteran planēn epopteusomen, eita de tēn semnoteran kai physikōteran dē peri theōn philosophian, kai meta tauta ton peri tōn thaumastōn chrēstēriōn ephodeusomen logon; ephʼ hois kai ta semna tēs gennaias Hellēnōn philosophias episkepsometha.

First, then, we shall consider the first cosmogony, how the writers in question have conceived it; next, the first and most ancient superstition of human life; third, the religion of the Phoenicians; fourth, that of the Egyptians; after which, fifth, we shall divide the religion of the Greeks and survey first their old and more mythical error, and then the more dignified and more physical philosophy about the gods. After this we shall go through the account of the wonderful oracles, and then examine the dignified doctrines of the noble philosophy of the Greeks.

Notes and citation

Summary: Eusebius sets out his plan: cosmogony, ancient superstition, Phoenician, Egyptian, and Greek religion, oracles, and Greek philosophy.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip; line-break hyphen rejoined): μυδικτέραν → μυθικωτέραν; ἐφοδεύ- σομεν → ἐφοδεύσομεν.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.6.5 (Dindorf 1:20–21; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-6-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.6.6Dindorf 1:21

τούτων δʼ ἡμῖν διευκρινηθέντων ἐπὶ τὰ Ἑβραίων μεταβησόμεθα, τῶν δὴ πρώτων καὶ ἀληθῶς Ἑβραίων, καὶ τῶν μετὰ ταῦτα τὴν Ἰουδαίων λαχόντων προσηγορίαν. ἐπὶ πᾶσι δὲ τούτοις ὥσπερ ἐπισφράγισμα τῶν ὅλων ἐποίσομεν τὰ ἡμέτερα.

toutōn dʼ hēmin dieukrinēthentōn epi ta Hebraiōn metabēsometha, tōn dē prōtōn kai alēthōs Hebraiōn, kai tōn meta tauta tēn Ioudaiōn lachontōn prosēgorian. epi pasi de toutois hōsper episphragisma tōn holōn epoisomen ta hēmetera.

When these have been examined, we shall pass on to the religion of the Hebrews, that is, of those who were first and truly Hebrews, and of those who afterward received the name of Jews. After all this, as a seal on the whole, we shall bring forward our own.

Notes and citation

Summary: Then he will treat the Hebrews and the Jews, and finally the Christian faith.

Eusebius distinguishes the "Hebrews" (the pious before Moses) from the later "Jews"; both words are kept as he writes them.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.6.6 (Dindorf 1:21; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-6-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.6.7Dindorf 1:21

ἀναγκαίως δὲ τῆς τούτων ἁπάντων μνημονεύσομεν ἱστορίας, ὡς ἂν διὰ τῆς τῶν ἑκασταχοῦ τεθαυμασμένων παραθέσεως ὁ τῆς ἀληθείας ἔλεγχος ἀποδειχθῇ, ὁποίων τε ἡμεῖς ἀποστάντες τὴν ὁποίαν εἱλόμεθα φανερὸν τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσι γένηται.

anankaiōs de tēs toutōn hapantōn mnēmoneusomen historias, hōs an dia tēs tōn hekastachou tethaumasmenōn paratheseōs ho tēs alētheias elenchos apodeichthę̄, hopoiōn te hēmeis apostantes tēn hopoian heilometha phaneron tois entynchanousi genētai.

Of necessity we shall record the history of all these, so that by setting side by side what is admired in each place the test of the truth may be shown, and it may be plain to readers what kind of things we have left and what kind we have chosen.

Notes and citation

Summary: Comparing all these religions will show what Christians have left and what they have chosen.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.6.7 (Dindorf 1:21; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-6-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.6.8Dindorf 1:21

ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἐπίωμεν ἐπὶ τὸ πρῶτον. πόθεν δῆτα πιστωσόμεθα τὰς ἀποδείξεις; οὐ μὲν δὴ ἐκ τῶν παρʼ ἡμῖν γραμμάτων, ὡς ἂν μὴ δοκοίημεν κεχαρισμένα πράττειν τῷ λόγῳ· μάρτυρες δὲ παρέστων ἡμῖν Ἑλλήνων αὐτῶν οἱ τε τὴν φιλοσοφίαν αὐχοῦντες καὶ οἱ τὴν ἄλλην τῶν ἐθνῶν ἱστορίαν διηρευνηκότες.

alla gar epiōmen epi to prōton. pothen dēta pistōsometha tas apodeixeis? ou men dē ek tōn parʼ hēmin grammatōn, hōs an mē dokoiēmen kecharismena prattein tǭ logǭ; martyres de parestōn hēmin Hellēnōn autōn hoi te tēn philosophian auchountes kai hoi tēn allēn tōn ethnōn historian diēreunēkotes.

But let us come to the first point. From where shall we make our proofs credible? Not from our own writings, so that we may not seem to be doing favors to our own argument; let our witnesses be the Greeks themselves, both those who boast of philosophy and those who have investigated the history of the other nations.

Notes and citation

Summary: Eusebius will draw his evidence from Greek philosophers and historians, not from Christian writings.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip): Ἑλγήνων → Ἑλλήνων.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.6.8 (Dindorf 1:21; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-6-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.6.9Dindorf 1:21

γράφει τοίνυν ἄνωθεν τὴν παλαιὰν Αἰγυπτίων ὑφηγούμενος θεολογίαν ὁ Σικελιώτης Διόδωρος, γνωριμώτατος ἀνὴρ τοῖς Ἑλλήνων λογιωτάτοις, ὡς ἂν ὑπὸ μίαν συναγηοχὼς πραγματείαν ἅπασαν τὴν ἱστορικὴν βιβλιοθήκην. ἐξ οὗ πρῶτα παραθήσομαι ἃ περὶ τῆς τοῦ παντὸς κοσμογονίας ἀρχόμενος τοῦ λόγου διείληφε, τὰς τῶν παλαιῶν ἱστορῶν δόξας τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον.

graphei toinyn anōthen tēn palaian Aigyptiōn hyphēgoumenos theologian ho Sikeliōtēs Diodōros, gnōrimōtatos anēr tois Hellēnōn logiōtatois, hōs an hypo mian synagēochōs pragmateian hapasan tēn historikēn bibliothēkēn. ex hou prōta parathēsomai ha peri tēs tou pantos kosmogonias archomenos tou logou dieilēphe, tas tōn palaiōn historōn doxas touton ton tropon.

Diodorus of Sicily, then, a man very well known to the most learned of the Greeks, as one who has gathered the whole of history into a single work, the Library, writes, explaining from the beginning the ancient theology of the Egyptians. From him I shall first set out what he has stated at the beginning of his work about the cosmogony of the universe, recording the opinions of the ancient historians in this way.

Notes and citation

Summary: Eusebius introduces Diodorus of Sicily's account of the world's origin.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen rejoined): γνω- ριμώτατος → γνωριμώτατος.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.6.9 (Dindorf 1:21; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-6-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Preparation 1, chapter 7

1.7.1Dindorf 1:21–22

Περὶ μὲν οὑν θεῶν τίνας ἐννοίας ἔσχον οἱ πρῶτοι καταδείξαντες τιμᾶν τὸ θεῖον καὶ περὶ τῶν μυθολογουμένων ἑκάστου τῶν ἀθανάτων τὰ μὲν πολλὰ συντάξασθαι πειρασόμεθα κατʼ ἰδίαν, διὰ τὸ τὴν ὑπόθεσιν ταύτην πολλοῦ λόγου προσδεῖσθαι ὅσα δʼ ἂν ταῖς προκειμέναις ἱστορίαις ἐοικότα δόξωμεν ὑπάρχειν παραθήσομεν ἐν κεφαλαίοις, ἵνα μηδὲν τῶν ἀκοῆς ἀξίων ἐπιζητῆται.

Peri men houn theōn tinas ennoias eschon hoi prōtoi katadeixantes timan to theion kai peri tōn mythologoumenōn hekastou tōn athanatōn ta men polla syntaxasthai peirasometha katʼ idian, dia to tēn hypothesin tautēn pollou logou prosdeisthai hosa dʼ an tais prokeimenais historiais eoikota doxōmen hyparchein parathēsomen en kephalaiois, hina mēden tōn akoēs axiōn epizētētai.

"What notions about the gods were held by those who first showed how to honor the divine, and what is told in myth about each of the immortals, we shall try for the most part to arrange separately, since this subject requires a long account; but whatever seems to us fitting for the present histories we shall set down in summary, so that nothing worth hearing may be missed.

Notes and citation

Summary: Diodorus says he will treat the myths of the gods separately and give here only what suits his history.

Diodorus, Library 1.6.1–2 (to 1.7.2).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization; digitization slip): τιμὰν → τιμᾶν; ἔνα μηδὲν → ἵνα μηδὲν.

Extrabiblical texts: Diodorus Siculus, 1.6.1 (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.7.1 (Dindorf 1:21–22; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-7-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.7.2Dindorf 1:22

περὶ δὲ τοῦ γένους τῶν ἀπάντων ἀνθρώπων καὶ τῶν πραχθέντων ἐν τοῖς γνωριζομένοις μέρεσι τῆς οἰκουμένης, ὡς ἂν ἐνδέχηται περὶ τῶν οὕτω παλαιῶν, ἀκριβῶς ἀναγράψομεν ἀπὸ τῶν ἀρχαιοτάτων χρόνων ἀρξάμενοι.”

peri de tou genous tōn apantōn anthrōpōn kai tōn prachthentōn en tois gnōrizomenois meresi tēs oikoumenēs, hōs an endechētai peri tōn houtō palaiōn, akribōs anagrapsomen apo tōn archaiotatōn chronōn arxamenoi.”

But concerning the origin of all mankind and the deeds done in the known parts of the inhabited world, we shall write accurately, as far as is possible with matters so ancient, beginning from the earliest times."

Notes and citation

Summary: Diodorus will record the history of mankind from the earliest times.

Extrabiblical texts: Diodorus Siculus, 1.6.2 (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.7.2 (Dindorf 1:22; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-7-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.7.3Dindorf 1:22

“Περὶ τῆς πρώτης τοίνυν γενέσεως τῶν ἀνθρώπων διτταὶ γεγόνασιν ἀποφάνσεις παρὰ τοῖς νομιμωτάτοις τῶν τε φυσιολόγων καὶ τῶν ἱστορικῶν. οἱ μὲν γὰρ αὐτῶν ἀγένητον καὶ ἄφθαρτον ὑποστησάμενοι τὸν κόσμον ἀπεφήναντο καὶ τὸ γένος τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐξ αἰῶνος ὑπάρχειν, μηδέποτε τῆς αὐτῶν τεκνώσεως ἀρχὴν ἐσχηκυίας, οἱ δὲ γενητὸν καὶ φθαρτὸν εἶναι νομίσαντες ἔφησαν ὁμοίως ἐκείνοις τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τυχεῖν τῆς πρώτης γενέσεως ὡρισμένοις χρόνοις.

“Peri tēs prōtēs toinyn geneseōs tōn anthrōpōn dittai gegonasin apophanseis para tois nomimōtatois tōn te physiologōn kai tōn historikōn. hoi men gar autōn agenēton kai aphtharton hypostēsamenoi ton kosmon apephēnanto kai to genos tōn anthrōpōn ex aiōnos hyparchein, mēdepote tēs autōn teknōseōs archēn eschēkuias, hoi de genēton kai phtharton einai nomisantes ephēsan homoiōs ekeinois tous anthrōpous tychein tēs prōtēs geneseōs hōrismenois chronois.

"Concerning the first origin of human beings, two views have been held by the most reputable of the natural philosophers and historians. Some of them, supposing the world to be unbegotten and imperishable, declared that the human race too has existed from eternity, its begetting never having had a beginning. Others, holding the world to be begotten and perishable, said that human beings, like it, had their first origin at definite times.

Notes and citation

Summary: Diodorus reports two views: an eternal world and human race, or a world and humanity with a beginning.

Diodorus, Library 1.6.3–1.7.6 (sections 1.7.3–8).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip; word split and repeated article in digitization): ἱστορικόν → ἱστορικῶν; ὑποστησά μενοι τὸν τὸν κόσμον → ὑποστησάμενοι τὸν κόσμον; ἀνθρώτων → ἀνθρώπων.

Extrabiblical texts: Diodorus Siculus, 1.6.3 (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.7.3 (Dindorf 1:22; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-7-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.7.4Dindorf 1:22

κατὰ γὰρ τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς τῶν ὅλων σύστασιν μίαν ἔχειν ἰδέαν οὐρανόν τε καὶ γῆν, μεμιγμένης αὐτῶν τῆς φύσεως· μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα διαστάντων τῶν σωμάτων ἀπʼ ἀλλήλων τὸν μὲν κόσμον περιλαβεῖν ἅπασαν τὴν ὁρωμένην ἐν αὐτῷ σύνταξιν, τὸν δʼ ἀέρα κινήσεως τυχεῖν συνεχοῦς, καὶ τὸ μὲν πυρῶδες αὐτοῦ πρὸς τοὺς μετεωροτάτους τόπους συνδραμεῖν, ἀνωφεροῦς οὔσης τῆς τοιαύτης φύσεως διὰ τὴν κουφότητα· ἀφʼ ἧς αἰτίας τὸν μὲν ἥλιον καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν πλῆθος τῶν ἄστρων ἐναποληφθῆναι τῇ πάσῃ δίνῃ, τὸ δὲ ἰλυῶδες καὶ θολερὸν μετὰ τῆς τῶν ὑγρῶν συγκρίσεως ἐπὶ ταὐτὸ καταστῆναι διὰ τὸ βάρος· εἱλούμενον δʼ ἐν ἑαυτῷ καὶ συστρεφόμενον συνεχῶς ἐκ μὲν τῶν ὑγρῶν τὴν θάλατταν, ἐκ δὲ τῶν στερεμνιωτέρων ποιῆσαι τὴν γῆν πηλώδη καὶ παντελῶς ἁπαλήν

kata gar tēn ex archēs tōn holōn systasin mian echein idean ouranon te kai gēn, memigmenēs autōn tēs physeōs; meta de tauta diastantōn tōn sōmatōn apʼ allēlōn ton men kosmon perilabein hapasan tēn horōmenēn en autǭ syntaxin, ton dʼ aera kinēseōs tychein synechous, kai to men pyrōdes autou pros tous meteōrotatous topous syndramein, anōpherous ousēs tēs toiautēs physeōs dia tēn kouphotēta; aphʼ hēs aitias ton men hēlion kai to loipon plēthos tōn astrōn enapolēphthēnai tę̄ pasę̄ dinę̄, to de ilyōdes kai tholeron meta tēs tōn hygrōn synkriseōs epi tauto katastēnai dia to baros; heiloumenon dʼ en heautǭ kai systrephomenon synechōs ek men tōn hygrōn tēn thalattan, ek de tōn steremniōterōn poiēsai tēn gēn pēlōdē kai pantelōs hapalēn

For in the original constitution of the universe heaven and earth had one form, their natures being mingled; but afterward, when the bodies separated from one another, the world took on the whole ordered arrangement seen in it, and the air received continual motion. Its fiery part ran together into the highest regions, since such a nature moves upward because of its lightness; for this reason the sun and the rest of the multitude of stars were caught up in the whole whirl. The muddy and turbid part, together with the mass of moisture, settled in the same place because of its weight; and as it rolled and was continually compressed upon itself, from the moist parts it made the sea, and from the more solid parts the earth, muddy and entirely soft.

Notes and citation

Summary: Diodorus describes the separation of heaven and earth and the formation of sky, sea, and land.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip; word split in digitization): φύς ἕως → φύσεως; κουρότητα → κουφότητα.

Extrabiblical texts: Diodorus Siculus, 1.7.1 (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.7.4 (Dindorf 1:22; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-7-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.7.5Dindorf 1:22–23

ταύτην δὲ τὸ μὲν πρῶτον τοῦ περὶ τὸν ἥλιον πυρὸς καταλάμψαντος πῆξιν λαβεῖν, ἔπειτα διὰ τὴν θερμασίαν ἀναζυμουμένης τῆς ἐπιφανείας συνοιδῆσαί τινα τῶν ὑγρῶν κατὰ πολλοὺς τόπους, καὶ γενέσθαι περὶ αὐτὰ σηπεδόνας ὑμέσι λεπτοῖς περιεχομένας, ὅπερ ἐν τοῖς ἕλεσι καὶ τοῖς λιμνάζουσι τῶν τόπων ἔτι καὶ νῦν ὁρᾶσθαι γινόμενον, ἐπειδὰν τῆς χώρας κατεψυγμένης ἄφνω διάπυρος ἀὴρ γένηται, μὴ λαβὼν τὴν μεταβολὴν ἐκ τοῦ κατʼ ὀλίγον.

tautēn de to men prōton tou peri ton hēlion pyros katalampsantos pēxin labein, epeita dia tēn thermasian anazymoumenēs tēs epiphaneias synoidēsai tina tōn hygrōn kata pollous topous, kai genesthai peri auta sēpedonas hymesi leptois periechomenas, hoper en tois helesi kai tois limnazousi tōn topōn eti kai nyn horasthai ginomenon, epeidan tēs chōras katepsygmenēs aphnō diapyros aēr genētai, mē labōn tēn metabolēn ek tou katʼ oligon.

This earth at first became firm as the fire of the sun shone upon it; then, as its surface fermented from the heat, some of the moist parts swelled up in many places, and putrid growths covered with thin membranes formed around them. This can be seen happening even now in marshes and swampy places, when, after the ground has been chilled, the air suddenly becomes burning hot, without making the change gradually.

Notes and citation

Summary: As the earth dried, swellings covered with membranes formed in its moist places.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (letter lost in digitization; line-break hyphen rejoined): χώας → χώρας; πυ- ρὸς → πυρὸς.

Extrabiblical texts: Diodorus Siculus, 1.7.3 (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.7.5 (Dindorf 1:22–23; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-7-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.7.6Dindorf 1:23

ζωογονουμένων δὲ τῶν ὑγρῶν διὰ τῆς θερμασίας τὸν εἰρημένον τρόπον τὰς μὲν νύκτας λαμβάνειν αὐτίκα τὴν τροφὴν ἐκ τῆς πιπτούσης ἀπὸ τοῦ περιέχοντος ὁμίχλης, τὰς δʼ ἡμέρας ὑπὸ τοῦ καύματος στερεοῦσθαι· τὸ δὲ ἔσχατον τῶν κυοφορουμένων τὴν τελείαν αὒξησιν λαβόντων καὶ τῶν ὑμένων διακαυθέντων τε καὶ περιρραγέντων ἀναφυῆναι παντοδαποὺς τύπους ζώων.

zōogonoumenōn de tōn hygrōn dia tēs thermasias ton eirēmenon tropon tas men nyktas lambanein autika tēn trophēn ek tēs piptousēs apo tou periechontos homichlēs, tas dʼ hēmeras hypo tou kaumatos stereousthai; to de eschaton tōn kyophoroumenōn tēn teleian auxēsin labontōn kai tōn hymenōn diakauthentōn te kai perirragentōn anaphyēnai pantodapous typous zōōn.

And as the moist parts were brought to life by the heat in the way described, they at once took nourishment by night from the mist that fell from the surrounding air, and by day were made solid by the heat; and at last, when the embryos had reached full growth and the membranes had been burned through and broken open, all kinds of forms of living creatures sprang up.

Notes and citation

Summary: From these, living creatures of every kind emerged.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip; stray letters joined in digitization): μένοντρόπον → τρόπον; τὰρ δʼ → τὰς δʼ.

Extrabiblical texts: Diodorus Siculus, 1.7.4 (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.7.6 (Dindorf 1:23; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-7-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.7.7Dindorf 1:23

τούτων δὲ τὰ μὲν πλείστης θερμασίας κεκοινωνηκότα πρὸς τοὺς μετεώρους τόπους ἀπελθεῖν γενόμενα πτηνὰ, τὰ δὲ γεώδους ἀντεχόμενα συγκρίσεως ἐν τῇ τῶν ἑρπετῶν καὶ τῇ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν ἐπιγείων τάξει καταριθμηθῆναι, τὰ δὲ φύσεως ὑγρᾶς μάλιστα μετειληφότα πρὸς τὸν ὁμογενῆ τόπον συνδραμεῖν ὀνομασθέντα πλωτά.

toutōn de ta men pleistēs thermasias kekoinōnēkota pros tous meteōrous topous apelthein genomena ptēna, ta de geōdous antechomena synkriseōs en tę̄ tōn herpetōn kai tę̄ tōn allōn tōn epigeiōn taxei katarithmēthēnai, ta de physeōs hygras malista meteilēphota pros ton homogenē topon syndramein onomasthenta plōta.

Of these, those that had shared most in the heat went off to the upper regions and became winged creatures; those that held to an earthy constitution were counted in the class of reptiles and other land animals; and those that had partaken most of a moist nature ran together to the region of their own kind and were called swimming creatures.

Notes and citation

Summary: Birds, land animals, and fish arose according to the element that predominated in them.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization; letter lost in digitization): κεκοινωνηκὀτα → κεκοινωνηκότα; συγκρίσως → συγκρίσεως.

Extrabiblical texts: Diodorus Siculus, 1.7.5 (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.7.7 (Dindorf 1:23; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-7-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.7.8Dindorf 1:23

τὴν δὲ γῆν ἀεὶ μᾶλλον στερεουμένην ὑπό τε τοῦ περὶ τὸν ἥλιον πυρὸς καὶ τῶν πνευμάτων τὸ τελευταῖον μηκέτι δύνασθαι μηδὲν τῶν μειζόνων ζωογονεῖν, ἀλλʼ ἐκ τῆς πρὸς ἄλληλα μίξεως ἕκαστα γεννᾶσθαι τῶν ἐμψύχων.

tēn de gēn aei mallon stereoumenēn hypo te tou peri ton hēlion pyros kai tōn pneumatōn to teleutaion mēketi dynasthai mēden tōn meizonōn zōogonein, allʼ ek tēs pros allēla mixeōs hekasta gennasthai tōn empsychōn.

And the earth, growing ever more solid under the fire of the sun and the winds, was at last no longer able to generate any of the larger animals, but each kind of living creature was begotten from intercourse with one another.

Notes and citation

Summary: Once the earth hardened, animals reproduced by mating.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (letter lost in digitization): πυὸς → πυρὸς.

Extrabiblical texts: Diodorus Siculus, 1.7.6 (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.7.8 (Dindorf 1:23; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-7-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.7.9Dindorf 1:23–24

ἔοικε δὲ περὶ τῆς τῶν ὅλων φύσεως οὐδʼ Εὐριπίδης διαφωνεῖν τοῖς προειρημένοις, μαθητὴς ὣν Ἀναξαγόρου τοῦ φυσικοῦ. ἐν γὰρ τῇ Μελανίππῃ τίθησιν οὕτως ὡς οὐρανός τε γαῖά τʼ ἦν μορφὴ μία· ἐπεὶ δʼ ἐχωρίσθησαν ἀλλήλων δίχα, τίκτουσι πάντα, κἀνέδωκαν εἰς φάος δένδρη, πετεινὰ, θῆρας, οὕς θʼ ἅλμη τρέφει, γένος τε θνητῶν.”

eoike de peri tēs tōn holōn physeōs oudʼ Euripidēs diaphōnein tois proeirēmenois, mathētēs hōn Anaxagorou tou physikou. en gar tę̄ Melanippę̄ tithēsin houtōs hōs ouranos te gaia tʼ ēn morphē mia; epei dʼ echōristhēsan allēlōn dicha, tiktousi panta, kanedōkan eis phaos dendrē, peteina, thēras, hous thʼ halmē trephei, genos te thnētōn.”

Euripides too, a disciple of Anaxagoras the natural philosopher, seems not to disagree with what has been said about the nature of the universe. For in his Melanippe he puts it thus: 'Heaven and earth were once one form; but when they were parted asunder from each other, they bring forth all things and give up to the light trees, birds, beasts, the creatures the brine nourishes, and the race of mortals.'"

Notes and citation

Summary: Diodorus cites Euripides' Melanippe for the original unity and separation of heaven and earth.

Diodorus, Library 1.7.7, quoting Euripides, Melanippe the Wise, fragment 484 (Nauck).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization): ἢν μορφὴ → ἦν μορφὴ.

Extrabiblical texts: Diodorus Siculus, 1.7.7 (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History; quotation); Euripides, Melanippe frag. 484 (Euripides (plays and fragments); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.7.9 (Dindorf 1:23–24; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-7-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.7.10Dindorf 1:24

Καὶ περὶ μὲν τῆς πρώτης τῶν ὅλων γενέσεως τοιαῦτα παρειλήφαμεν· τοὺς δὲ ἐξ ἀρχῆς γεννηθέντας τῶν ἀνθρώπων φασὶν ἐν ἀτάκτῳ καὶ θηριώδει βίῳ καθεστῶτας σποράδην ἐπὶ τὰς νομὰς ἐξιέναι, καὶ προσφέρεσθαι τῆς τε βοτάνης τὴν προσηνεστάτην καὶ τοὺς αὐτομάτους ἀπὸ τῶν δένδρων καρπούς· καὶ πολεμουμένους μὲν ὑπὸ τῶν θηρίων ἀλλήλοις βοηθεῖν ὑπὸ τοῦ συμφέροντος διδασκομένους, ἀθροιζομένους δὲ διὰ τὸν φόβον ἐπιγινώσκειν ἐκ τοῦ κατὰ μικρὸν τοὺς ἀλλήλων τύπους·

Kai peri men tēs prōtēs tōn holōn geneseōs toiauta pareilēphamen; tous de ex archēs gennēthentas tōn anthrōpōn phasin en ataktǭ kai thēriōdei biǭ kathestōtas sporadēn epi tas nomas exienai, kai prospheresthai tēs te botanēs tēn prosēnestatēn kai tous automatous apo tōn dendrōn karpous; kai polemoumenous men hypo tōn thēriōn allēlois boēthein hypo tou sympherontos didaskomenous, athroizomenous de dia ton phobon epiginōskein ek tou kata mikron tous allēlōn typous;

"Such are the accounts we have received about the first origin of all things. They say that the first human beings to be born lived a disorderly and beastlike life, going out to pasture scattered here and there and eating the most palatable herbs and the fruits that grew of themselves on the trees. When attacked by wild beasts they helped one another, taught by their own advantage; and gathering together out of fear they gradually came to recognize one another's features.

Notes and citation

Summary: Diodorus describes the earliest humans as living like beasts and banding together for protection.

Diodorus, Library 1.8.1–9 (sections 1.7.10–15).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen rejoined): γενέ- σεως → γενέσεως.

Extrabiblical texts: Diodorus Siculus, 1.8.1 (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.7.10 (Dindorf 1:24; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-7-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.7.11Dindorf 1:24

τῆς φωνῆς δὲ ἀσήμου καὶ συγκεχυμένης ὑπαρχούσης ἐκ τοῦ κατʼ ὀλίγον διαρθροῦν τὰς λέξεις, καὶ πρὸς ἀλλήλους τιθέντας σύμβολα περὶ ἑκάστου τῶν ὑποκειμένων γνώριμον σφίσιν αὐτοῖς ποιήσαι τὴν περὶ ἁπάντων ἑρμηνείαν.

tēs phōnēs de asēmou kai synkechymenēs hyparchousēs ek tou katʼ oligon diarthroun tas lexeis, kai pros allēlous tithentas symbola peri hekastou tōn hypokeimenōn gnōrimon sphisin autois poiēsai tēn peri hapantōn hermēneian.

Their voice being without meaning and confused, they gradually articulated words, and by setting up among themselves symbols for each thing they made the expression of everything known to one another.

Notes and citation

Summary: Language arose gradually by agreed signs.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen rejoined): γνώ- ριμον → γνώριμον.

Extrabiblical texts: Diodorus Siculus, 1.8.3 (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.7.11 (Dindorf 1:24; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-7-11). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.7.12Dindorf 1:24

τοιούτων δὲ συστημάτων γινομένων καθʼ ἅπασαν τὴν οἰκουμένην, οὐχ ὁμόφωνον πάντας ἔχειν τὴν διάλεκτον, ἑκάστων ὡς ἔτυχεν συνταξάντων τὰς λέξεις· διὸ καὶ παντοίους τε ὑπάρξαι χαρακτῆρας διαλέκτων καὶ τὰ πρῶτα γενόμενα συστήματα τῶν ἁπάντων ἐθνῶν ἀρχέγονα γενέσθαι.

toioutōn de systēmatōn ginomenōn kathʼ hapasan tēn oikoumenēn, ouch homophōnon pantas echein tēn dialekton, hekastōn hōs etychen syntaxantōn tas lexeis; dio kai pantoious te hyparxai charaktēras dialektōn kai ta prōta genomena systēmata tōn hapantōn ethnōn archegona genesthai.

And as such groups formed throughout the whole inhabited world, not all had a language of the same sound, since each group arranged its words as chance had it. Therefore every kind of language came into being, and the first groups that formed became the original stocks of all the nations.

Notes and citation

Summary: Different groups formed different languages and became the first nations.

Extrabiblical texts: Diodorus Siculus, 1.8.4 (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.7.12 (Dindorf 1:24; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-7-12). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.7.13Dindorf 1:24

τοὺς οὖν πρώτους τῶν ἀνθρώπων μηδὲν τῶν πρὸς τὸν βίον χρησίμων εὑρημένων ἐπιπόνως διάγειν, γυμνοὺς μὲν ἐσθῆτος ὄντας, οἰκήσεως δὲ καὶ πυρὸς ἀήθεις, τροφῆς δʼ ἡμέρου παντελῶς ἀνεννοήτους. καὶ γὰρ τὴν συγκομιδὴν τῆς ἀγρίας τροφῆς ἀγνοοῦντας μηδεμίαν τῶν καρπῶν εἰς τὰς ἐνδείας ποιεῖσθαι παράθεσιν· διὸ καὶ πολλοὺς αὐτῶν ἀπόλλυσθαι κατὰ τοὺς χειμῶνας διά τε τὸ ψῦχος καὶ τὴν σπάνιν τῆς τροφῆς.

tous oun prōtous tōn anthrōpōn mēden tōn pros ton bion chrēsimōn heurēmenōn epiponōs diagein, gymnous men esthētos ontas, oikēseōs de kai pyros aētheis, trophēs dʼ hēmerou pantelōs anennoētous. kai gar tēn synkomidēn tēs agrias trophēs agnoountas mēdemian tōn karpōn eis tas endeias poieisthai parathesin; dio kai pollous autōn apollysthai kata tous cheimōnas dia te to psychos kai tēn spanin tēs trophēs.

The first human beings, then, since none of the things useful for life had yet been discovered, lived a laborious life, naked of clothing, unaccustomed to dwelling and fire, and entirely without any notion of cultivated food. For not knowing even how to gather wild food, they made no store of fruits against times of need; and so many of them perished in the winters through cold and lack of food.

Notes and citation

Summary: The first humans lacked clothes, houses, fire, and stored food, and many died in winter.

Extrabiblical texts: Diodorus Siculus, 1.8.5 (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.7.13 (Dindorf 1:24; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-7-13). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.7.14Dindorf 1:24–25

ἐκ δὲ τούτου κατʼ ὀλίγον ὑπὸ τῆς πείρας διδασκομένους εἴς τε τὰ σπήλαια καταφεύγειν ἐν τῷ χειμῶνι καὶ τῶν καρπῶν τοὺς φυλάττεσθαι δυναμένους ἀποτίθεσθαι. γνωσθέντος δὲ τοῦ πυρὸς καὶ τῶν ἄλλων χρησίμων κατὰ μικρὸν καὶ τὰς τέχνας ἐξευρεθῆναι καὶ τὰ ἄλλα τὰ δυνάμενα τὸν κοινὸν βίον ὠφελῆσαι.

ek de toutou katʼ oligon hypo tēs peiras didaskomenous eis te ta spēlaia katapheugein en tǭ cheimōni kai tōn karpōn tous phylattesthai dynamenous apotithesthai. gnōsthentos de tou pyros kai tōn allōn chrēsimōn kata mikron kai tas technas exeurethēnai kai ta alla ta dynamena ton koinon bion ōphelēsai.

From this, gradually taught by experience, they took refuge in caves in winter and laid up such fruits as could be kept. And when fire and the other useful things became known, little by little the arts also were discovered, and the other things that could benefit common life.

Notes and citation

Summary: Experience taught them shelter, storage, fire, and the arts.

Extrabiblical texts: Diodorus Siculus, 1.8.6 (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.7.14 (Dindorf 1:24–25; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-7-14). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.7.15Dindorf 1:25

καθόλου γὰρ πάντων τὴν χρείαν αὐτὴν διδάσκαλον γενέσθαι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ὑφηγουμένην οἰκείως τὴν ἑκάστου μάθησιν εὐφυεῖ ζῴῳ καὶ συνεργοὺς ἔχοντι πρὸς ἅπαντα χεῖρας καὶ λόγον καὶ ψυχῆς ἀγχίνοιαν. καὶ περὶ μὲν τῆς πρώτης γενέσεως τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ τοῦ παλαιοτάτου βίου τοῖς ῥηθεῖσιν ἀρκεσθησόμεθα, στοχαζόμενοι τῆς συμμετρίας.”

katholou gar pantōn tēn chreian autēn didaskalon genesthai tois anthrōpois hyphēgoumenēn oikeiōs tēn hekastou mathēsin euphyei zǭǭ kai synergous echonti pros hapanta cheiras kai logon kai psychēs anchinoian. kai peri men tēs prōtēs geneseōs tōn anthrōpōn kai tou palaiotatou biou tois rhētheisin arkesthēsometha, stochazomenoi tēs symmetrias.”

For in general need itself became the teacher of human beings in all things, guiding appropriately the learning of each thing for a creature well endowed by nature and having, as helpers for everything, hands and speech and quickness of mind. Concerning the first origin of human beings and their most ancient life, we shall be content with what has been said, aiming at due proportion."

Notes and citation

Summary: Need taught humanity everything, aided by hands, speech, and intelligence.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization): τοὐ παλαιοτάτου → τοῦ παλαιοτάτου.

Extrabiblical texts: Diodorus Siculus, 1.8.9 (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.7.15 (Dindorf 1:25; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-7-15). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.7.16Dindorf 1:25

Τοσαῦτα μὲν ὁ δηλωθεὶς συγγραφεὺς, οὐδὲ μέχρις ὀνόματος τοῦ θεοῦ μνημονεύσας ἐν τῇ κοσμογονίᾳ, συντυχικὴν δέ τινα καὶ αὐτόματον εἰσηγησάμενος τὴν τοῦ παντὸς διακόσμησιν. τούτῳ δʼ ἂν εὓροις συμφώνους καὶ τοὺς πλείστους τῶν παρʼ Ἕλλησι φιλοσόφων, ὧν ἐγώ σοι τὰς περὶ ἀρχῶν δόξας καὶ τὰς πρὸς ἀλλήλους διαστάσεις καὶ διαφωνίας, ἐκ στοχασμῶν, ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἀπὸ καταλήψεως ὁρμηθείσας, ἀπὸ τῶν Πλουτάρχου Στρωματέων ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος ἐκθήσομαι. σὺ δὲ μὴ παρέργως, σχολῇ δὲ καὶ μετὰ λογισμοῦ θέα τῶν δηλουμένων τὴν πρὸς ἀλλήλους διάστασιν.

Tosauta men ho dēlōtheis syngrapheus, oude mechris onomatos tou theou mnēmoneusas en tę̄ kosmogonią, syntychikēn de tina kai automaton eisēgēsamenos tēn tou pantos diakosmēsin. toutǭ dʼ an heurois symphōnous kai tous pleistous tōn parʼ Hellēsi philosophōn, hōn egō soi tas peri archōn doxas kai tas pros allēlous diastaseis kai diaphōnias, ek stochasmōn, allʼ ouk apo katalēpseōs hormētheisas, apo tōn Ploutarchou Strōmateōn epi tou parontos ekthēsomai. sy de mē parergōs, scholę̄ de kai meta logismou thea tōn dēloumenōn tēn pros allēlous diastasin.

So much the writer we have cited, who did not so much as mention the name of God in his cosmogony, but introduced an ordering of the universe that was accidental and spontaneous. With him you would find most of the Greek philosophers in agreement. I shall now set out for you their opinions about first principles, and their disagreements and disputes with one another, arising from guesswork and not from sure knowledge, from the Miscellanies of Plutarch. Do you, not carelessly but at leisure and with reflection, observe how the views reported disagree with one another.

Notes and citation

Summary: Diodorus never mentions God; Eusebius turns to Plutarch's Miscellanies to show the philosophers' conflicting views on first principles.

The "Miscellanies" (Stromateis) ascribed to Plutarch survive only in these extracts; the ascription is doubtful.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (letter lost in digitization): κοσμογοίᾳ → κοσμογονίᾳ.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.7.16 (Dindorf 1:25; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-7-16). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Preparation 1, chapter 8

1.8.1Dindorf 1:25

‘‘Θάλητα πρῶτον πάντων φασὶν ἀρχὴν τῶν ὅλων ὑποστήσασθαι τὸ ὕδωρ· ἐξ αὐτοῦ γὰρ εἶναι τὰ πάντα καὶ εἰς αὐτὸ χωρεῖν.”

‘‘Thalēta prōton pantōn phasin archēn tōn holōn hypostēsasthai to hydōr; ex autou gar einai ta panta kai eis auto chōrein.”

"Thales, they say, was the first of all to make water the first principle of all things; for from it all things come, and into it they return."

Notes and citation

Summary: Thales held that water is the first principle of all things.

Pseudo-Plutarch, Miscellanies (Stromateis), frag. 179 (Sandbach), 1.8.1–12.

Extrabiblical texts: Plutarch, Strom. (Plutarch; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.8.1 (Dindorf 1:25; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-8-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.8.2Dindorf 1:25–26

“ Μεθʼ ὃν Ἀναξίμανδρον, Θάλητος ἑταῖρον γενόμενον, τὸ ἄπειρον φάναι τὴν πᾶσαν αἰτίαν ἔχειν τῆς τοῦ παντὸς γενέσεως τε καὶ φθορᾶς, ἐξ οὗ δή φησι τούς τε οὐρανοὺς ἀποκεκρίσθαι καὶ καθόλου Τοὺς ἅπαντας ἀπείρους ὄντας κόσμους. ἀπεφήνατο δὲ τὴν φθορὰν γίνεσθαι, καὶ πολὺ πρότερον τὴν γένεσιν, ἐξ ἀπείρου αἰῶνος ἀνακυκλουμένων πάντων αὐτῶν. ὑπάρχειν δέ φησι τῷ μὲν σχήματι τὴν γῆν κυλινδροειδῆ, ἒχειν δὲ τοσοῦτον βάθος ὅσον ἂν εἴη τρίτον πρὸς τὸ πλάτος. φησὶ δὲ τὸ ἐκ τοῦ ἀιδίου γόνιμον θερμοῦ τε καὶ ψυχροῦ κατὰ τὴν γένεσιν τοῦδε τοῦ κόσμου ἀποκριθῆναι, καί τινα ἐκ τούτου φλογὸς σφαῖραν περιφυῆναι τῷ περὶ τὴν γῆν ἀέρι ὡς τῷ δένδρῳ φλοιόν. ἧστινος ἀπορραγείσης καὶ εἴς τινας ἀποκλεισθείσης κύκλους ὑποστῆναι τὸν ἥλιον καὶ τὴν σελήνην καὶ τοὺς ἀστέρας. ἔτι φησὶν ὅτι κατʼ ἀρχὰς ἐξ ἀλλοειδῶν ζῴων ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐγεννήθη ἐκ τοῦ τὰ μὲν ἄλλα διʼ ἑαυτῶν ταχὺ νέμεσθαι, μόνον δὲ τὸν ἄνθρωπον πολυχρονίου δεῖσθαι τιθηνήσεως· διὸ καὶ κατʼ ἀρχὰς οὐκ ἄν ποτε τοιοῦτον ὂντα διασωθῆναι. ταῦτα μὲν οὑν ὁ Ἀναξίμανδρος.

“ Methʼ hon Anaximandron, Thalētos hetairon genomenon, to apeiron phanai tēn pasan aitian echein tēs tou pantos geneseōs te kai phthoras, ex hou dē phēsi tous te ouranous apokekristhai kai katholou Tous hapantas apeirous ontas kosmous. apephēnato de tēn phthoran ginesthai, kai poly proteron tēn genesin, ex apeirou aiōnos anakykloumenōn pantōn autōn. hyparchein de phēsi tǭ men schēmati tēn gēn kylindroeidē, echein de tosouton bathos hoson an eiē triton pros to platos. phēsi de to ek tou aidiou gonimon thermou te kai psychrou kata tēn genesin toude tou kosmou apokrithēnai, kai tina ek toutou phlogos sphairan periphyēnai tǭ peri tēn gēn aeri hōs tǭ dendrǭ phloion. hēstinos aporrageisēs kai eis tinas apokleistheisēs kyklous hypostēnai ton hēlion kai tēn selēnēn kai tous asteras. eti phēsin hoti katʼ archas ex alloeidōn zǭōn ho anthrōpos egennēthē ek tou ta men alla diʼ heautōn tachy nemesthai, monon de ton anthrōpon polychroniou deisthai tithēnēseōs; dio kai katʼ archas ouk an pote toiouton onta diasōthēnai. tauta men houn ho Anaximandros.

"After him Anaximander, a companion of Thales, said that the infinite holds the whole cause of the coming into being and perishing of the universe; from it, he says, the heavens were separated off, and in general all the worlds, which are infinite in number. He declared that perishing, and much earlier coming into being, take place as all of them revolve in cycles from infinite ages. He says that the earth is cylindrical in shape and has a depth one third of its breadth. He says that what is productive of the hot and the cold from the eternal was separated off at the coming into being of this world, and that a sphere of flame from this grew around the air surrounding the earth, like bark around a tree. When this was broken off and shut up in certain circles, the sun, the moon, and the stars came to be. He says also that in the beginning man was born from creatures of another kind, since the other animals quickly feed themselves, while man alone needs prolonged nursing; therefore in the beginning, being such as he is, he would never have survived. Such were Anaximander's views.

Notes and citation

Summary: Anaximander held that the infinite is the cause of all, that the world and heavenly bodies arose from it, and that man came from other creatures.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip; line-break hyphen rejoined; stray punctuation in digitization): κυλινδροιεδῆ → κυλινδροειδῆ; ἥλιο. ν → ἥλιον; διασωθῆνει → διασωθῆναι; τιθη- νήσεως → τιθηνήσεως.

Extrabiblical texts: Plutarch, Strom. (Plutarch; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.8.2 (Dindorf 1:25–26; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-8-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.8.3Dindorf 1:26

“Ἀναξιμένην δέ φασι τὴν τῶν ὅλων ἀρχὴν τὸν ἀέρα εἰπεῖν, καὶ τοῦτον εἶναι τῷ μὲν γένει ἂπειρον, ταῖς δὲ περὶ αὐτὸν ποιότησιν ὡρισμένον· γεννασθαί τε πάντα κατά τινα πύκνωσιν τούτου καὶ πάλιν ἀραίωσιν. τήν γε μὴν κίνησιν ἐξ αἰῶνος ὑπάρχειν· πιλουμένου δὲ τοῦ ἀέρος πρώτην γεγενῆσθαι λέγει τὴν γῆν, πλατεῖαν μάλα· διὸ καὶ κατὰ λόγον αὐτὴν ἐποχεῖσθαι τῷ ἀέρι· καὶ τὸν ἥλιον καὶ τὴν σελήνην καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ ἄστρα τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς γενέσεως ἔχειν ἐκ γῆς. ἀποφαίνεται γοῦν τὸν ἥλιον γῆν, διὰ δὲ τὴν ὀξεῖαν κίνησιν καὶ μάλʼ ἱκανῶς θερμοτάτην κίνησιν λαβεῖν.”

“Anaximenēn de phasi tēn tōn holōn archēn ton aera eipein, kai touton einai tǭ men genei apeiron, tais de peri auton poiotēsin hōrismenon; gennasthai te panta kata tina pyknōsin toutou kai palin araiōsin. tēn ge mēn kinēsin ex aiōnos hyparchein; piloumenou de tou aeros prōtēn gegenēsthai legei tēn gēn, plateian mala; dio kai kata logon autēn epocheisthai tǭ aeri; kai ton hēlion kai tēn selēnēn kai ta loipa astra tēn archēn tēs geneseōs echein ek gēs. apophainetai goun ton hēlion gēn, dia de tēn oxeian kinēsin kai malʼ hikanōs thermotatēn kinēsin labein.”

"Anaximenes, they say, called air the first principle of all things, and said that it is infinite in kind but defined in its qualities; and that all things are generated by a kind of condensation of it, and again by rarefaction. Motion, he says, exists from eternity. When the air was compressed, the earth came into being first, very flat; therefore it reasonably rides upon the air. And the sun, the moon, and the other stars had the origin of their coming into being from earth. At any rate he declares the sun to be earth, which through its swift motion acquired very great heat."

Notes and citation

Summary: Anaximenes made air the first principle and explained the world by its condensation and rarefaction.

The last clause reads "acquired very hot motion" in the digital text (κίνησιν repeated); translated by sense.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (letter lost in digitization): ὑπάρειν → ὑπάρχειν.

Extrabiblical texts: Plutarch, Strom. (Plutarch; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.8.3 (Dindorf 1:26; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-8-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.8.4Dindorf 1:26–27

“Ξενοφάνης δὲ ὁ Κολοφώνιος, ἰδίαν τινὰ ὁδὸν πεπορευμένος καὶ παρηλλαχυῖαν πάντας τοὺς προειρημένους, οὔτε γένεσιν οὔτε φθορὰν ἀπολείπει, ἀλλʼ εἷναι λέγει τὸ πᾶν ἀεὶ ὅμοιον. εἰ γὰρ γίγνοιτο τοῦτο, φησὶν, ἀναγκαῖον πρὸ τούτου μὴ εἶναι· τὸ μὴ ὄν δὲ οὐκ ἂν γένοιτο, οὐδʼ ἂν τὸ μὴ ὂν ποιήσαι τι, οὔτε ὑπὸ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος γένοιτʼ ἂν τι. ἀποφαίνεται δὲ καὶ τὰς αἰσθήσεις ψευδεῖς, καὶ καθόλου σὺν αὐταῖς καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν λόγον διαβάλλει. ἀποφαίνεται δὲ καὶ τῷ χρόνῳ καταφερομένην συνεχῶς καὶ κατʼ ὀλίγον τὴν γῆν εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν χωρεῖν. φησὶ δὲ καὶ τὸν ἥλιον ἐκ μικρῶν καὶ πλειόνων πυριδίων ἀθροίζεσθαι. ἀποφαίνεται δὲ καὶ περὶ θεῶν ὡς οὐδεμιᾶς ἡγεμονίας ἐν αὐτοῖς οὔσης· οὐ γὰρ ὃσιον δεσπόζεσθαί τινα τῶν θεῶν· ἐπιδεῖσθαί τε μηδενὸς αὐτῶν μηδένα μηδʼ ὅλως· ἀκούειν δὲ καὶ ὁρᾶν καθόλου καὶ μὴ κατὰ μέρος. ἀποφαίνεται δὲ καὶ τὴν γῆν ἄπειρον εἶναι, καὶ κατὰ πᾶν μέρος μὴ περιέχεσθαι ὑπὸ ἀέρος· γίνεσθαι δὲ ἅπαντα ἐκ γῆς· τὸν δὲ ἥλιόν φησι καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ἄστρα ἐκ τῶν νεφῶν γίνεσθαι.’

“Xenophanēs de ho Kolophōnios, idian tina hodon peporeumenos kai parēllachuian pantas tous proeirēmenous, oute genesin oute phthoran apoleipei, allʼ heinai legei to pan aei homoion. ei gar gignoito touto, phēsin, anankaion pro toutou mē einai; to mē on de ouk an genoito, oudʼ an to mē on poiēsai ti, oute hypo tou mē ontos genoitʼ an ti. apophainetai de kai tas aisthēseis pseudeis, kai katholou syn autais kai auton ton logon diaballei. apophainetai de kai tǭ chronǭ katapheromenēn synechōs kai katʼ oligon tēn gēn eis tēn thalassan chōrein. phēsi de kai ton hēlion ek mikrōn kai pleionōn pyridiōn athroizesthai. apophainetai de kai peri theōn hōs oudemias hēgemonias en autois ousēs; ou gar hosion despozesthai tina tōn theōn; epideisthai te mēdenos autōn mēdena mēdʼ holōs; akouein de kai horan katholou kai mē kata meros. apophainetai de kai tēn gēn apeiron einai, kai kata pan meros mē periechesthai hypo aeros; ginesthai de hapanta ek gēs; ton de hēlion phēsi kai ta alla astra ek tōn nephōn ginesthai.’

"Xenophanes of Colophon, who went a way of his own different from all those mentioned before, admits neither coming into being nor perishing, but says that the universe is always alike. For if it came into being, he says, it must necessarily not have existed before this; but what is not could not come into being, nor could what is not make anything, nor could anything come into being from what is not. He declares the senses to be false, and in general discredits, together with them, reason itself. He declares also that the earth, continually carried down little by little in the course of time, passes into the sea. He says that the sun is collected from many small particles of fire. He declares also concerning the gods that there is no leadership among them, for it is not holy that any of the gods should be ruled; and that none of them needs anything at all from any; and that they hear and see as a whole and not in part. He declares too that the earth is infinite and is not surrounded by air on every side; and that all things come from earth; and he says that the sun and the other stars come into being from the clouds."

Notes and citation

Summary: Xenophanes denied coming into being, distrusted the senses, and held that no god rules over another.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (words joined in digitization): ἣλιόνφησι → ἥλιόν φησι.

Extrabiblical texts: Plutarch, Strom. (Plutarch; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.8.4 (Dindorf 1:26–27; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-8-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.8.5Dindorf 1:27

“Παρμενίδης δὲ ὁ Ἐλεάτης, ὁ ἑταῖρος Ξενοφάνους, ἅμα μὲν καὶ τῶν τούτου δοξῶν ἀντεποιήσατο, ἅμα δὲ καὶ τὴν ἐναντίαν ἐνεχείρησε στάσιν. ἀΐδιον μὲν γὰρ τὸ πὰν καὶ ἀκίνητον ἀποφαίνεται καὶ κατὰ τὴν τῶν πραγμάτων ἀλήθειαν· εἶναι γὰρ αὐτὸ μοῦνον, μουνογενές τε καὶ ἀτρεμὲς, ἠδʼ ἀγένητον· γένεσιν δὲ τῶν καθʼ ὑπόληψιν ψευδῆ δοκούντων εἶναι καὶ τὰς αἰσθήσεις ἐκβάλλει ἐκ τῆς ἀληθείας. φησὶ δὲ ὅτι εἴ τι παρὰ τὸ ὂν ὑπάρχει, τοῦτο οὐκ ἔστιν ὄν· τὸ δὲ μὴ ὂν ἐν τοῖς ὅλοις οὐκ ἔστιν. οὕτως οὗν τὸ ὂν ἀγένητον ἀπολείπει· λέγει δὲ τὴν γῆν τοῦ πυκνοῦ καταρρυέντος ἀέρος γεγονέναι.”

“Parmenidēs de ho Eleatēs, ho hetairos Xenophanous, hama men kai tōn toutou doxōn antepoiēsato, hama de kai tēn enantian enecheirēse stasin. aïdion men gar to pan kai akinēton apophainetai kai kata tēn tōn pragmatōn alētheian; einai gar auto mounon, mounogenes te kai atremes, ēdʼ agenēton; genesin de tōn kathʼ hypolēpsin pseudē dokountōn einai kai tas aisthēseis ekballei ek tēs alētheias. phēsi de hoti ei ti para to on hyparchei, touto ouk estin on; to de mē on en tois holois ouk estin. houtōs houn to on agenēton apoleipei; legei de tēn gēn tou pyknou katarryentos aeros gegonenai.”

"Parmenides of Elea, the companion of Xenophanes, at the same time laid claim to his opinions and also attempted the opposite position. For he declares the universe eternal and unmoved, even according to the truth of things; for it is 'alone, only-begotten, unshaken, and unbegotten.' But coming into being belongs to the things that seem to exist by false supposition, and he excludes the senses from the truth. He says that if anything exists besides being, it is not being; but non-being does not exist in the universe. So he leaves being unbegotten. He says that the earth came into being from the dense air flowing down."

Notes and citation

Summary: Parmenides held that being is eternal, one, and unmoved, and that coming into being is mere opinion.

The phrase in quotation marks is from Parmenides' poem, frag. 8.4 (Diels–Kranz).

Extrabiblical texts: Plutarch, Strom. (Plutarch; quotation); Parmenides, frag. 8.4 (Parmenides (fragments); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.8.5 (Dindorf 1:27; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-8-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.8.6Dindorf 1:27–28

“Ζήνων δὲ ὁ Ἐλεάτης ἴδιον μὲν οὐδὲν ἐξέθετο, διηπόρησε δὲ περὶ τούτων ἐπὶ πλέον.’’

“Zēnōn de ho Eleatēs idion men ouden exetheto, diēporēse de peri toutōn epi pleon.’’

"Zeno of Elea set out no view of his own, but raised further difficulties about these matters."

Notes and citation

Summary: Zeno of Elea only raised difficulties.

Extrabiblical texts: Plutarch, Strom. (Plutarch; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.8.6 (Dindorf 1:27–28; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-8-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.8.7Dindorf 1:28

“Δημόκριτος ὁ Ἀβδηρίτης ὑπεστήσατο τὸ πᾶν ἄπειρον, διὰ τὸ μηδαμῶς ὑπό τινος αὐτὸ δεδημιουργῆσθαι· ἔτι δὲ καὶ ἀμετάβλητον αὐτὸ λέγει· καὶ καθόλου, οἷον πᾶν ἐστι, ῥητῶς ἐκτίθεται μηδεμίαν ἀρχὴν ἔχειν τὰς αἰτίας τῶν νῦν γιγνομένων, ἄνωθεν δὲ ὅλως ἐξ ἀπείρου χρόνου προκατέχεσθαι τῇ ἀνάγκῃ πάνθʼ ἀπλῶς τὰ γεγονότα καὶ ὄντα καὶ ἐσόμενα. ἡλίου δὲ καὶ σελήνης γένεσίν φησι, κατʼ ἰδίαν φέρεσθαι ταῦτα μηδέπω τοπαράπαν ἔχοντα θερμὴν φύσιν, μηδὲ μὴν καθόλου λαμπροτάτην, τοὐναντίον δὲ ἐξωμοιωμένην τῇ περὶ τὴν γῆν φύσει· γεγονέναι γὰρ ἑκάτερον τούτων πρότερον ἔτι κατʼ ἰδίαν ὑποβολήν τινα κόσμου, ὕστερον δὲ μεγεθοποιουμένου τοῦ περὶ τὸν ἥλιον κύκλου ἐναποληφθῆναι ἐν αὐτῶ τὸ πῦρ.”

“Dēmokritos ho Abdēritēs hypestēsato to pan apeiron, dia to mēdamōs hypo tinos auto dedēmiourgēsthai; eti de kai ametablēton auto legei; kai katholou, hoion pan esti, rhētōs ektithetai mēdemian archēn echein tas aitias tōn nyn gignomenōn, anōthen de holōs ex apeirou chronou prokatechesthai tę̄ anankę̄ panthʼ aplōs ta gegonota kai onta kai esomena. hēliou de kai selēnēs genesin phēsi, katʼ idian pheresthai tauta mēdepō toparapan echonta thermēn physin, mēde mēn katholou lamprotatēn, tounantion de exōmoiōmenēn tę̄ peri tēn gēn physei; gegonenai gar hekateron toutōn proteron eti katʼ idian hypobolēn tina kosmou, hysteron de megethopoioumenou tou peri ton hēlion kyklou enapolēphthēnai en autō to pyr.”

"Democritus of Abdera assumed the universe to be infinite, because it was in no way fashioned by anyone. He says further that it is unchangeable; and in general he states expressly that the causes of what now comes to be have no beginning at all, but that all things that have been, are, and will be have been held fast by necessity from above, wholly from infinite time. Of the origin of the sun and moon he says that these were carried along separately, not yet having any hot nature at all, nor indeed any brightness, but on the contrary a nature like that around the earth. For each of these, he says, came into being earlier, still separately, as a kind of foundation of a world; and later, as the circle of the sun grew greater, the fire was enclosed in it."

Notes and citation

Summary: Democritus held the universe infinite, unmade, and governed by necessity.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip): δεδημιουρηῆσθαι → δεδημιουργῆσθαι; τούναντίου → τοὐναντίον.

Extrabiblical texts: Plutarch, Strom. (Plutarch; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.8.7 (Dindorf 1:28; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-8-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.8.8Dindorf 1:28

“Ἐπίκουρος Νεοκλέους Ἀθηναῖος τὸν περὶ θεῶν τῦφον πειρᾶται καταστέλλειν· ἀλλὰ καὶ οὐδὲν, φησὶ, γίγνεται ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος, ὅτι τὸ πᾶν ἀεὶ τοιοῦτον ἢν, καὶ ἔσται τοιοῦτον· ὅτι οὐδὲν ξένον ἐν τῷ παντὶ ἀποτελεῖται παρὰ τὸν ἤδη γεγενημένον χρόνον ἄπειρον· ὅτι πὰν ἐστι σῶμα, καὶ οὐ μόνον ἀμετάβλητον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄπειρον· ὅτι τέλος τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἡδονὴ.

“Epikouros Neokleous Athēnaios ton peri theōn typhon peiratai katastellein; alla kai ouden, phēsi, gignetai ek tou mē ontos, hoti to pan aei toiouton ēn, kai estai toiouton; hoti ouden xenon en tǭ panti apoteleitai para ton ēdē gegenēmenon chronon apeiron; hoti pan esti sōma, kai ou monon ametablēton, alla kai apeiron; hoti telos tōn agathōn hēdonē.

"Epicurus son of Neocles, the Athenian, tries to put down the vain conceit about the gods. Nothing, he says, comes into being from what is not, because the universe always was such as it is and will be such; nothing strange is brought about in the universe beyond the infinite time that has already passed; everything is body, not only unchangeable but also infinite; the end of good things is pleasure.

Notes and citation

Summary: Epicurus denied the gods' activity, held that everything is body, and made pleasure the highest good.

Extrabiblical texts: Plutarch, Strom. (Plutarch; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.8.8 (Dindorf 1:28; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-8-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.8.9Dindorf 1:28

“Ἀρίστιππος ὁ Κυρηναῖος τέλος ἀγαθῶν τὴν ἡδονὴν, κακῶν δὲ τὴν ἀλγηδόνα· τὴν δὲ ἄλλην φυσιολογίαν περιγράφει, μόνον ὠφέλιμον εἶναι λέγων τὸ ζητεῖν ὅττι τοι ἐν μεγάροισι κακόν τʼ ἀγαθόν τε τέτυκται.”

“Aristippos ho Kyrēnaios telos agathōn tēn hēdonēn, kakōn de tēn algēdona; tēn de allēn physiologian perigraphei, monon ōphelimon einai legōn to zētein hotti toi en megaroisi kakon tʼ agathon te tetyktai.”

"Aristippus of Cyrene held pleasure to be the end of good things and pain of evil things. He rejects the rest of natural philosophy, saying that the only useful thing is to seek 'whatever evil and good has been wrought in your halls.'"

Notes and citation

Summary: Aristippus made pleasure the good and confined inquiry to practical ethics.

The quoted line is Homer, Odyssey 4.392.

Extrabiblical texts: Plutarch, Strom. (Plutarch; quotation); Homer, Od. 4.392 (Homer, Odyssey; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.8.9 (Dindorf 1:28; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-8-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.8.10Dindorf 1:28–29

“Ἐμπεδοκλῆς ὁ Ἀκραγαντῖνος στοιχεῖα τὲσσαρα, πῦρ, ὕδωρ, αἰθέρα, γαῖαν· αἰτίαν δὲ τούτων φιλίαν καὶ νεῖκος. ἐκ πρώτης φησὶ τῆς τῶν στοιχείων κράσεως ἀποκριθέντα τὸν ἀέρα περιχυθῆναι κύκλῳ, μετὰ δὲ τὸν ἀέρα τὸ πῦρ ἐκδραμὸν καὶ οὐκ ἔχον ἑτέραν χώραν ἄνω ἐκτρέχειν ὑπὸ τοῦ περὶ τὸν ἀέρα πάγου. εἶναι δὲ κύκλῳ περὶ τὴν γῆν φερόμενα δύο ἡμισφαίρια, τὸ μὲν καθόλου πυρὸς, τὸ δὲ μικτὸν ἐξ ἀέρος καὶ ὀλίγου πυρὸς, ὃπερ οἴεται τὴν νύκτα εἶναι. τὴν δὲ ἀρχὴν τῆς κινήσεως συμβῆναι ἀπὸ τοῦ τετυχηκέναι κατὰ τὸν ἀθροισμὸν, ἐπιβρίσαντος τοῦ πυρός. ὁ δὲ ἥλιος τὴν φύσιν οὐκ ἔστι πῦρ, ἀλλὰ τοῦ πυρὸς ἀντανάκλασις, ὁμοία τῇ ἀφʼ ὕδατος γινομένῃ. σελήνην δέ φησι συστῆναι καθʼ ἑαυτὴν ἐκ τοῦ ἀπολειφθέντος ἀέρος ὑπὸ τοῦ πυρός· τοῦτον γὰρ παγῆναι, καθάπερ καὶ τὴν χάλαζαν· τὸ δὲ φῶς αὐτὴν σχεῖν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου. τὸ δὲ ἡγεμονικὸν οὔτε ἐν κεφαλῇ οὔτε ἐν θώρακι, ἀλλʼ ἐν αἳματι· ὅθεν καθʼ ὅ τι ἂν μέρος τοῦ σώματος πλέον ᾖ παρεσπαρμένον τὸ ἡγεμονικὸν, οἴεται κατʼ ἐκεῖνο προτερεῖν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους.’

“Empedoklēs ho Akragantinos stoicheia tessara, pyr, hydōr, aithera, gaian; aitian de toutōn philian kai neikos. ek prōtēs phēsi tēs tōn stoicheiōn kraseōs apokrithenta ton aera perichythēnai kyklǭ, meta de ton aera to pyr ekdramon kai ouk echon heteran chōran anō ektrechein hypo tou peri ton aera pagou. einai de kyklǭ peri tēn gēn pheromena dyo hēmisphairia, to men katholou pyros, to de mikton ex aeros kai oligou pyros, hoper oietai tēn nykta einai. tēn de archēn tēs kinēseōs symbēnai apo tou tetychēkenai kata ton athroismon, epibrisantos tou pyros. ho de hēlios tēn physin ouk esti pyr, alla tou pyros antanaklasis, homoia tę̄ aphʼ hydatos ginomenę̄. selēnēn de phēsi systēnai kathʼ heautēn ek tou apoleiphthentos aeros hypo tou pyros; touton gar pagēnai, kathaper kai tēn chalazan; to de phōs autēn schein apo tou hēliou. to de hēgemonikon oute en kephalę̄ oute en thōraki, allʼ en haimati; hothen kathʼ ho ti an meros tou sōmatos pleon ę̄ paresparmenon to hēgemonikon, oietai katʼ ekeino proterein tous anthrōpous.’

"Empedocles of Acragas held four elements, fire, water, ether, and earth, and their cause to be Love and Strife. He says that from the first mixture of the elements the air was separated off and poured around in a circle; after the air, the fire ran out and, having no other place, ran upward under the solidified mass around the air. There are two hemispheres moving in a circle around the earth, one wholly of fire, the other mixed of air and a little fire, which he thinks is night. The beginning of motion came about because the fire happened to weigh down upon the accumulation. The sun is not fire by nature, but a reflection of the fire, like that which occurs from water. The moon, he says, was formed by itself from the air cut off by the fire; for this air was solidified like hail; and it has its light from the sun. The ruling part of the soul is neither in the head nor in the chest but in the blood; hence in whatever part of the body the ruling part is more widely dispersed, in that part, he thinks, people excel."

Notes and citation

Summary: Empedocles held four elements moved by Love and Strife and explained the heavens and the soul's seat in the blood.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip; words joined in digitization): ἐκπρώτης → ἐκ πρώτης; ἀπολειφθέωτος → ἀπολειφθέντος.

Extrabiblical texts: Plutarch, Strom. (Plutarch; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.8.10 (Dindorf 1:28–29; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-8-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.8.11Dindorf 1:29

“Μητρόδωρος ὁ Χῖος ἀίδιον εἶναί φησι τὸ πᾶν, ὅτι εἰ ἦν γενητὸν, ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος ἂν ἦν· ἄπειρον δὲ, ὅτι ἀΐδιον, οὐ γὰρ ἔχειν ἀρχὴν ὅθεν ἤρξατο, οὐδὲ πέρας, οὐδὲ τελευτήν· ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ κινήσεως μετέχειν τὸ πὰν. κινεῖσθαι γὰρ ἀδύνατον, μὴ μεθιστάμενον· μεθίστασθαι δὲ ἀναγκαῖον ἤτοι εἰς πλῆρες ἢ εἰς κενόν. πυκνούμενον δὲ τὸν αἰθέρα ποιεῖν νεφέλας, εἶτα ὕδωρ, ὃ καὶ κατιὸν ἐπὶ τὸν ἥλιον σβεννύναι αὐτόν· καὶ πάλιν ἀραιούμενον ἐξάπτεσθαι. χρόνῳ δὲ πήγνυσθαι τῷ ξηρῷ τὸν ἥλιον, καὶ ποιεῖν ἐκ τοῦ λαμπροῦ ὕδατος ἀστέρας, νύκτα τε καὶ ἡμέραν ἐκ τῆς σβέσεως καὶ ἐξάψεως, καὶ καθόλου τὰς ἐκλείψεις ἀποτελεῖν.”

“Mētrodōros ho Chios aidion einai phēsi to pan, hoti ei ēn genēton, ek tou mē ontos an ēn; apeiron de, hoti aïdion, ou gar echein archēn hothen ērxato, oude peras, oude teleutēn; allʼ oude kinēseōs metechein to pan. kineisthai gar adynaton, mē methistamenon; methistasthai de anankaion ētoi eis plēres ē eis kenon. pyknoumenon de ton aithera poiein nephelas, eita hydōr, ho kai kation epi ton hēlion sbennynai auton; kai palin araioumenon exaptesthai. chronǭ de pēgnysthai tǭ xērǭ ton hēlion, kai poiein ek tou lamprou hydatos asteras, nykta te kai hēmeran ek tēs sbeseōs kai exapseōs, kai katholou tas ekleipseis apotelein.”

"Metrodorus of Chios says that the universe is eternal, because if it had come into being, it would have come from what is not; and infinite, because eternal, for it has no beginning from which it began, nor limit, nor end. Nor does the universe share in motion; for it cannot move without changing place, and it must change place either into what is full or into what is empty. The ether, when condensed, makes clouds, then water, which, coming down upon the sun, quenches it; and when it is rarefied again, the sun is kindled. In time the sun is solidified by the dry, and makes stars out of the bright water, and night and day from the quenching and kindling, and in general it produces the eclipses."

Notes and citation

Summary: Metrodorus held the universe eternal, infinite, and unmoved, and explained the sun and stars by condensation and rarefaction.

Extrabiblical texts: Plutarch, Strom. (Plutarch; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.8.11 (Dindorf 1:29; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-8-11). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.8.12Dindorf 1:29–30

“ Διογενὴς ὁ Ἀπολλωνιάτης ἀέρα ὑφίσταται στοιχεῖον· κινεῖσθαι δὲ τὰ πάντα, ἀπείρους τε εἷναι τοὺς κόσμους. κοσμοποιεῖ δὲ οὕτως· ὅτι τοῦ παντὸς κινουμένου, καὶ ἡ μὲν ἀραιοῦ, ἡ δὲ πυκνοῦ γινομένου, ὅπου συνεκύρησε τὸ πυκνὸν συστροφὴν ποιῆσαι, καὶ οὕτω τὰ λοιπὰ κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν λόγον τὰ κουφότατα τὴν ἄνω τάξιν λαβόντα τὸν ἥλιον ἀποτελέσαι.

“ Diogenēs ho Apollōniatēs aera hyphistatai stoicheion; kineisthai de ta panta, apeirous te heinai tous kosmous. kosmopoiei de houtōs; hoti tou pantos kinoumenou, kai hē men araiou, hē de pyknou ginomenou, hopou synekyrēse to pyknon systrophēn poiēsai, kai houtō ta loipa kata ton auton logon ta kouphotata tēn anō taxin labonta ton hēlion apotelesai.

"Diogenes of Apollonia assumes air as the element; all things are in motion, and the worlds are infinite. He makes the world in this way: as the whole was in motion and became rare in one place and dense in another, where the dense ran together it made a mass, and so the rest according to the same principle; and the lightest parts, taking the upper position, produced the sun.

Notes and citation

Summary: Diogenes of Apollonia made air the element and held that there are infinite worlds.

Extrabiblical texts: Plutarch, Strom. (Plutarch; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.8.12 (Dindorf 1:29–30; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-8-12). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.8.13Dindorf 1:30

Τοιαύτη καὶ τῶν πανσόφων Ἑλλήνων τῶν δὴ φυσικῶν φιλοσόφων ἐπικληθέντων ἡ περὶ τῆς συστάσεως τοῦ παντὸς καὶ τῆς πρώτης κοσμογονίας διάληψις, οὐ δημιουργὸν ἢ ποιητήν τινα τῶν ὅλων ὑποστησαμένων, ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ὅλως θεοῦ μνήμην ποιησαμένων, μόνῃ δὲ τῇ ἀλόγῳ φορᾷ καὶ τῇ αὐτομάτῳ κινήσει τὴν αἰτίαν τοῦ παντὸς ἀνατεθειμένων.

Toiautē kai tōn pansophōn Hellēnōn tōn dē physikōn philosophōn epiklēthentōn hē peri tēs systaseōs tou pantos kai tēs prōtēs kosmogonias dialēpsis, ou dēmiourgon ē poiētēn tina tōn holōn hypostēsamenōn, allʼ oudʼ holōs theou mnēmēn poiēsamenōn, monę̄ de tę̄ alogǭ phorą kai tę̄ automatǭ kinēsei tēn aitian tou pantos anatetheimenōn.

Such is the conception of the all-wise Greeks, those called natural philosophers, about the constitution of the universe and the first cosmogony. They posited no creator or maker of all things, nor made any mention at all of God, but attributed the cause of the universe solely to irrational movement and spontaneous motion.

Notes and citation

Summary: Eusebius concludes that the natural philosophers named no creator and ascribed the universe to chance motion.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.8.13 (Dindorf 1:30; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-8-13). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.8.14Dindorf 1:30

τοσαύτη δὲ αὐτῶν καὶ ἡ πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἐναντιότης, ἐν μὲν οὐδενὶ ἀλλήλοις συμπεφωνηκότων, μάχης δὲ καὶ διαφωνίας τὰ πάντα ἀναπεπληρωκότων. ὅθεν καὶ ὁ θαυμάσιος Σωκράτης τουτουσὶ πάντας μωραίνοντας ἀπήλεγχε, καὶ μαινομένων κατʼ οὐδὲν ἔλεγε διαφέρειν, εἰ δή σοι μάρτυς ἀξιόχρεως Ξενοφῶν ἐν Ἀπομνημονεύμασι λέγων οὓτως

tosautē de autōn kai hē pros allēlous enantiotēs, en men oudeni allēlois sympephōnēkotōn, machēs de kai diaphōnias ta panta anapeplērōkotōn. hothen kai ho thaumasios Sōkratēs toutousi pantas mōrainontas apēlenche, kai mainomenōn katʼ ouden elege diapherein, ei dē soi martys axiochreōs Xenophōn en Apomnēmoneumasi legōn houtōs

So great, too, is their opposition to one another, since they agree with one another in nothing and have filled everything with conflict and disagreement. Hence the admirable Socrates also convicted all these of folly and said that they differed in no way from madmen, if Xenophon is a sufficient witness for you, who says in the Memorabilia as follows:

Notes and citation

Summary: The philosophers contradict each other, and Socrates, according to Xenophon, called them fools.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (letter lost in digitization): Ξενοῶν → Ξενοφῶν.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.8.14 (Dindorf 1:30; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-8-14). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.8.15Dindorf 1:30

“Οὐδεὶς δὲ πώποτε Σωκράτους οὐδὲν ἀσεβὲς οὐδὲ ἀνόσιον οὔτε πράττοντος εἶδεν οὔτε λέγοντος ἤκουσεν. οὐδὲ γὰρ περὶ τῆς ἁπάντων φύσεως, ἢ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων, ὡς οἱ πλεῖστοι, διελέγετο, σκοπῶν ὃπως ὁ καλούμενος ὑπὸ τῶν σοφιστῶν κόσμος ἔχει, καὶ τίσιν ἀνάγκαις ἕκαστα γίγνεται τῶν οὐρανίων, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς φροντίζοντας τὰ τοιαῦτα μωραίνοντας ἀπεδείκνυε.” Καὶ ἐπιλέγει ἑξῆς

“Oudeis de pōpote Sōkratous ouden asebes oude anosion oute prattontos eiden oute legontos ēkousen. oude gar peri tēs hapantōn physeōs, ē peri tōn allōn, hōs hoi pleistoi, dielegeto, skopōn hopōs ho kaloumenos hypo tōn sophistōn kosmos echei, kai tisin anankais hekasta gignetai tōn ouraniōn, alla kai tous phrontizontas ta toiauta mōrainontas apedeiknye.” Kai epilegei hexēs

"No one ever saw Socrates doing, or heard him saying, anything impious or unholy. For he did not discourse, as most did, about the nature of all things or about the rest, inquiring how what the sophists call the cosmos is constituted, and by what necessities each of the heavenly things comes to pass; but he even showed those who concerned themselves with such things to be fools." And he adds next:

Notes and citation

Summary: Xenophon: Socrates avoided speculation about nature and called those who pursued it foolish.

Xenophon, Memorabilia 1.1.11.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (breathing misread in digitization; repeated syllable in digitization): ἀσεβὲς βὲς → ἀσεβὲς; οἶ πλεῖστοι → οἱ πλεῖστοι.

Extrabiblical texts: Xenophon, Mem. 1.1.11 (Xenophon, Memorabilia; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.8.15 (Dindorf 1:30; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-8-15). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.8.16Dindorf 1:30–31

‘‘ἐθαύμαζε δὲ εἰ μὴ φανερὸν αὐτοῖς ἐστιν ὅτι ταῦτα ἀδύνατόν ἐστιν ἀνθρώποις εὑρεῖν, ἐπεὶ καὶ τοὺς τὰ μέγιστα φρονοῦντας ἐπὶ τῷ περὶ τούτων λέγειν οὐ τὰ αὐτὰ δοξάζειν ἀλλήλοις, ἀλλὰ τοῖς μαινομένοις ὁμοίως διακεῖσθαι πρὸς ἀλλήλους. τῶν τε γὰρ μαινομένων τοὺς μὲν οὐδὲ τὰ δεινὰ δεδιέναι, τοὺς δὲ τὰ μὴ φοβερὰ φοβεῖσθαι, τῶν τε περὶ τῆς πάντων φύσεως μεριμνώντων τοῖς μὲν δοκεῖν ἕν μόνον τὸ ὂν εἶναι, τοῖς δὲ ἄπειρα τὸ πλῆθος, καὶ τοῖς μὲν ἀεὶ πάντα κινεῖσθαι, τοῖς δὲ οὐδὲν ἄν ποτε κινηθῆναι· καὶ τοῖς μὲν ἅπαντα γίνεσθαί τε καὶ ἀπόλλυσθαι, τοῖς δὲ οὔτʼ ἂν γενέσθαι ποτὲ οὐδὲν οὔτʼ ἀπόλλυσθαι.”

‘‘ethaumaze de ei mē phaneron autois estin hoti tauta adynaton estin anthrōpois heurein, epei kai tous ta megista phronountas epi tǭ peri toutōn legein ou ta auta doxazein allēlois, alla tois mainomenois homoiōs diakeisthai pros allēlous. tōn te gar mainomenōn tous men oude ta deina dedienai, tous de ta mē phobera phobeisthai, tōn te peri tēs pantōn physeōs merimnōntōn tois men dokein hen monon to on einai, tois de apeira to plēthos, kai tois men aei panta kineisthai, tois de ouden an pote kinēthēnai; kai tois men hapanta ginesthai te kai apollysthai, tois de outʼ an genesthai pote ouden outʼ apollysthai.”

"He wondered that it was not plain to them that these things are impossible for human beings to discover; since even those who pride themselves most on speaking about them do not hold the same opinions as one another, but behave toward one another like madmen. For among madmen some do not fear even what is dreadful, while others fear what is not to be feared; and among those who busy themselves with the nature of all things, some think that being is only one, others that it is infinite in number; some that all things are always in motion, others that nothing could ever be moved; some that all things come into being and perish, others that nothing could ever come into being or perish."

Notes and citation

Summary: Socrates compared the natural philosophers, with their contradictory views, to madmen.

Xenophon, Memorabilia 1.1.13–14. The opening verb (ἐθαύμαζε, "he wondered") has been lost in the digital text and is restored from Xenophon.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (first word lost in digitization (Xenophon, Mem. 1.1.13)): ‘‘δὲ εἰ μὴ → ‘‘ἐθαύμαζε δὲ εἰ μὴ.

Extrabiblical texts: Xenophon, Mem. 1.1.13 (Xenophon, Memorabilia; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.8.16 (Dindorf 1:30–31; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-8-16). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.8.17Dindorf 1:31

Ταῦθʼ ὁ Σωκράτης, ὡς ὁ Ξενοφῶν μαρτυρεῖ. συνᾴδει δὲ καὶ ὁ Πλάτων τούτοις ἐν τῷ Περὶ ψυχῆς τοιάδε λέγοντα αὐτὸν ἀναγράφων “Ἐγὼ γὰρ, ἔφη, ὦ Κέβης, νέος ὢν θαυμαστῶς ὡς ἐπεθύμησα ταύτης τῆς σοφίας, ἣν δὴ καλοῦσι περὶ φύσεως ἱστορίαν· ὑπερήφανον γάρ μοι εἶναι ἐδόκει εἰδέναι τὰς αἰτίας ἑκάστου, διὰ τί γίνεται ἕκαστον, καὶ διὰ τί ἀπόλλυται, καὶ διὰ τί ἔστι· καὶ πολλάκις ἐμαυτὸν ἄνω κάτω μετέβαλλον, σκοπῶν πρῶτον τὰ τοιάδε· ἆρʼ ἐπειδὰν τὸ θερμὸν καὶ τὸ ψυχρὸν σηπεδόνα τινὰ λάβῃ, ὥς τινες ἔλεγον, τότε ἤδη τὰ ζῷα ξυντρέφεται· καὶ πότερον τὸ αἷμά ἐστιν ᾧ φρονοῦμεν, ἢ ὁ ἀὴρ, ἢ τὸ πῦρ· ἢ τούτων μὲν οὐδὲν, ὁ δʼ ἐγκέφαλός ἐστιν ὁ τὰς αἰσθήσεις παρέχων τοῦ ὁρᾶν καὶ ἀκούειν καὶ ὀσφραίνεσθαι, ἐκ τούτων δὲ γίγνοιτο μνήμη καὶ δόξα, ἐκ δὲ μνήμης καὶ δόξης λαβούσης τὸ ἠρεμεῖν κατὰ ταῦτα γίνεσθαι ἐπιστήμην.

Tauthʼ ho Sōkratēs, hōs ho Xenophōn martyrei. synądei de kai ho Platōn toutois en tǭ Peri psychēs toiade legonta auton anagraphōn “Egō gar, ephē, ō Kebēs, neos ōn thaumastōs hōs epethymēsa tautēs tēs sophias, hēn dē kalousi peri physeōs historian; hyperēphanon gar moi einai edokei eidenai tas aitias hekastou, dia ti ginetai hekaston, kai dia ti apollytai, kai dia ti esti; kai pollakis emauton anō katō meteballon, skopōn prōton ta toiade; arʼ epeidan to thermon kai to psychron sēpedona tina labę̄, hōs tines elegon, tote ēdē ta zǭa xyntrephetai; kai poteron to haima estin hǭ phronoumen, ē ho aēr, ē to pyr; ē toutōn men ouden, ho dʼ enkephalos estin ho tas aisthēseis parechōn tou horan kai akouein kai osphrainesthai, ek toutōn de gignoito mnēmē kai doxa, ek de mnēmēs kai doxēs labousēs to ēremein kata tauta ginesthai epistēmēn.

So said Socrates, as Xenophon testifies. And Plato too agrees with this, recording him as saying in the dialogue On the Soul: "When I was young, Cebes," he said, "I had an amazing desire for that wisdom which they call the inquiry into nature. For it seemed to me a splendid thing to know the causes of each thing, why each thing comes into being, why it perishes, and why it exists. And I often turned myself upside down, considering first questions like these: Is it when the hot and the cold undergo a kind of putrefaction, as some said, that living creatures are bred? And is it the blood with which we think, or the air, or the fire? Or none of these, but is it the brain that provides the senses of seeing and hearing and smelling, and from these memory and opinion arise, and from memory and opinion, when it has become settled, knowledge arises in the same way?

Notes and citation

Summary: Plato's Socrates tells Cebes how in youth he pursued the inquiry into nature.

Plato, Phaedo 96a–b; "On the Soul" is the Phaedo's ancient subtitle.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (accent misread in digitization; digitization slip; letter lost in digitization; stray mark in digitization): Πλάτωνʼ → Πλάτων; ὠ Κέβης → ὦ Κέβης; ’τον ὁρᾶν → τοῦ ὁρᾶν; λαβούσς → λαβούσης.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Phaed. 96a (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.8.17 (Dindorf 1:31; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-8-17). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.8.18Dindorf 1:31–32

καὶ αὖ τούτων τὰς φθορὰς σκοπῶν, καὶ τὰ περὶ τὸν οὐρανόν τε καὶ τὴν γῆν πάθη, τελευτῶν οὕτως ἐμαυτῷ ἔδοξα πρὸς ταύτην τὴν σκέψιν ἀφυὴς εἷναι ὡς οὐδὲν χρῆμα. τεκμήριον δέ σοι ἐρῶ ἱκανόν· ἐγὼ γὰρ ἃ καὶ πρότερον σαφῶς ἠπιστάμην, ὥς γε ἐμαυτῷ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἐδόκουν, τότε ὑπʼ αὐτῆς τῆς σκέψεως οὕτω σφόδρα ἐτυφλώθην ὥστε ἀπέμαθον καὶ ταῦθʼ ἃ πρὸ τοῦ ᾤμην εἰδέναι.”

kai au toutōn tas phthoras skopōn, kai ta peri ton ouranon te kai tēn gēn pathē, teleutōn houtōs emautǭ edoxa pros tautēn tēn skepsin aphyēs heinai hōs ouden chrēma. tekmērion de soi erō hikanon; egō gar ha kai proteron saphōs ēpistamēn, hōs ge emautǭ kai tois allois edokoun, tote hypʼ autēs tēs skepseōs houtō sphodra etyphlōthēn hōste apemathon kai tauthʼ ha pro tou ǭmēn eidenai.”

And again, considering how these things perish, and what happens in the heavens and on the earth, I finally came to think myself so unfit for this inquiry as to be good for nothing. I will give you sufficient proof: for things that I had previously known clearly, as I and others thought, I was then so utterly blinded by this inquiry that I unlearned even what I had formerly supposed I knew."

Notes and citation

Summary: Socrates says the inquiry into nature blinded him even to what he had known before.

Plato, Phaedo 96b–c.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (breathing lost in digitization; word split in digitization): οὕτʼ ὡς → οὕτως; ειδέναι → εἰδέναι.

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Phaed. 96b (Plato (works); quotation)

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.8.18 (Dindorf 1:31–32; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-8-18). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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1.8.19Dindorf 1:32

Ταῦτα Σωκράτης αὐτὸς ἐκεῖνος ὁ πᾶσιν ἀοίδιμος Ἓλλησιν ὅτε τοίνυν καὶ τῷ τηλικούτῳ φιλοσόφῳ τοιάδε εἶναι ἐδόκει τὰ τῆς τῶν δηλωθέντων φυσιολογίας, εἰκότως μοι δοκῶ καὶ ἡμᾶς τὴν τούτων ἁπάντων ἀθεότητα παρῃτῆσθαι, ἐπεὶ καὶ τὰ τῆς πολυθέου πλάνης αὐτῶν οὐκ ἔοικεν εἶναι ἀλλότρια τῶν εἰρημένων. τοῦτο μὲν οὖν ἐπὶ καιροῦ τοῦ προσήκοντος ἐλεγχθήσεται, καθʼ ὃν ἀποδείξομεν ὅτι πρῶτος Ἑλλήνων Ἀναξαγόρας νοῦν ἐπιστῆσαι τῇ τοῦ παντὸς αἰτίᾳ μνημονεύεται νῦν δέ μοι ἐπὶ τὸν Διόδωρον μετάβα, καὶ σκόπει οἷα περὶ τῆς πρώτης τῶν ἀνθρώπων θεολογίας ἱστορεῖ

Tauta Sōkratēs autos ekeinos ho pasin aoidimos Hellēsin hote toinyn kai tǭ tēlikoutǭ philosophǭ toiade einai edokei ta tēs tōn dēlōthentōn physiologias, eikotōs moi dokō kai hēmas tēn toutōn hapantōn atheotēta parę̄tēsthai, epei kai ta tēs polytheou planēs autōn ouk eoiken einai allotria tōn eirēmenōn. touto men oun epi kairou tou prosēkontos elenchthēsetai, kathʼ hon apodeixomen hoti prōtos Hellēnōn Anaxagoras noun epistēsai tę̄ tou pantos aitią mnēmoneuetai nyn de moi epi ton Diodōron metaba, kai skopei hoia peri tēs prōtēs tōn anthrōpōn theologias historei

So said Socrates himself, celebrated among all the Greeks. Since, then, the natural philosophy of these men seemed such to so great a philosopher, I think we too have rightly rejected the atheism of all of them, since their polytheistic error also seems not unrelated to what has been said. This will be refuted at the proper time, when we show that Anaxagoras is recorded as the first of the Greeks to set Mind over the cause of the universe. But now pass on with me to Diodorus, and see what he records about the first theology of mankind.

Notes and citation

Summary: Since even Socrates rejected the natural philosophers, Christians rightly reject them; Eusebius returns to Diodorus on the earliest religion.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (breathing lost in digitization): εοικεν → ἔοικεν.

Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Praep. ev. 1.8.19 (Dindorf 1:32; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-praeparatio/1-5-1/#p-1-8-19). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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