Ecclesiastical History (Eusebius)
The Ecclesiastical History (Greek: Ἐκκλησιαστικὴ Ἱστορία, Ekklēsiastikḕ Historía; Latin: Historia Ecclesiastica), also known as The History of the Church and Church History, is a 4th-century chronological account of the development of Early Christianity from the 1st century to the 4th century, composed by Eusebius, the bishop of Caesarea. It was written in Koine Greek and survives also in Latin, Syriac, and Armenian manuscripts.[1]
Eusebius attempted according to his own declaration (I.i.1) to present the history of the Church from the apostles to his own time, with special regard to the following points:
He grouped his material according to the reigns of the emperors, presenting it as he found it in his sources. The contents are as follows:
Chronology[edit]
Andrew Louth has argued that the Ecclesiastical History was first published in 313 CE.[5] In its present form, the work was brought to a conclusion before the death of Crispus (July 326), and, since book x is dedicated to Paulinus, Archbishop of Tyre, who died before 325, at the end of 323 or in 324. This work required the most comprehensive preparatory studies, and it must have occupied him for years. His collection of martyrdoms of the older period may have been one of these preparatory studies.
Other early church historians:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the : Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Ecclesiastical History". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
