So many Eusebiuses; Constantine baptised by an Arian Eusebius

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MrMacSon
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So many Eusebiuses; Constantine baptised by an Arian Eusebius

Post by MrMacSon »

MrMacSon wrote: Thu Mar 16, 2023 2:09 pm
Stuart wrote: Thu Mar 16, 2023 12:41 pm [many if not most or even all] Patristic writings...are compendiums of material sometimes from very different unnamed authors with an editor that gives us a false sense of unity, and are ascribed to a legendary figure. Hermann Detering did an excellent analysis of the writings of Augustin, that show quite clearly the works were put together long after his death and from a 3rd person perspective. My view is the same applies to nearly all the Patristic writings, not just the NT.
  • I agree! (and hope I haven't misrepresented Stuart with my edits of this part of his post)

    In my ponderings, I have thought the word 'repositories' might better reflect what happened; so, perhaps:
    • repository-compendiums, or
    • compended-repositories, or similar (but using different descriptor-words) might capture the proposed concept better

    Furthermore, while I generally agree with what Stuart said prior to those statements viz.
Stuart wrote: Thu Mar 16, 2023 12:41 pm
Leucius Charinus wrote: Wed Mar 15, 2023 10:26 pm AFAIK Origen (3rd century) and Jerome (4th century) were the only two "Fathers" who were reported to have been involved in translations (by Christians) from the Hebrew to the Greek.
These are legends. The naming of these two should be treated in the same sense as we treat legends of this or that church or this or that letter [allegedly] being written by Paul or Peter or John. It was very common to ascribe the name of a legendary character to something in order to gain authority. We should no more accept that than we do the concept that apostles Matthew and John, or members of the seventy Luke and Mark wrote gospels, as the lore of the church fathers would have us believe.
  • the proposal or discussion of the issue may well require more teasing out eg.
    1. whether 'people' such as Origen and Jerome (and others, such as Lactantius and Eusebius, and even - or especially - Tertullian) were and are fully legend; or
      .
    2. whether some of these people were actually historical person's and they and their body of works became repositories for later works(+/- their own, actual works were elaborated on)
    Leucius Charinus is, iirc, fully aware of these propositions wrt Origen, his alleged mentor, Adamantius, and others.

    The numbers of Eusebius's around this time is intriguing, as they say, 'at the least.'
    See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eusebius_(disambiguation)


Eusebius (/juːˈsiːbiəs/; Greek Εὐσέβιος "pious" from eu (εὖ) "well," and sebein (σέβειν) "to respect") may refer to:
  • Eusebius of Laodicea (died 268), bishop of Laodicea
  • Pope Eusebius (died 310), Pope in 309 or 310
  • Eusebius (AD 263 – 339; Eusebius of Caesarea and Eusebius Pamphili): Christian exegete, historian and polemicist1
  • Eusebius of Nicomedia (died 341), bishop of Berytus, Nicomedia and Constantinople, leader of Arianism2
  • Eusebius (consul 347) (died c. 350), Roman consul in 347
  • Saint Eusebius of Rome (died 357), priest and martyr
  • Eusebius (consul 359), Roman consul in 359
  • Eusebius of Emesa (300–360), bishop of Emesa
  • Eusebius (praepositus sacri cubiculi), under Constantius II (died 361 AD)
  • Eusebius of Gaza (died c. 362), early Christian martyr
  • Saint Eusebius of Vercelli (283–371), bishop of Vercelli, opponent of Arianism
  • Saint Eusebius of Samosata (died 4th-century), bishop of Samosata
  • Saint Eusebius the Hermit (4th century), solitary monk of Syria
  • Eusebius of Myndus (4th century), Neoplatonist philosopher
  • Eusebius (sophist) (4th century), Roman sophist
  • Saint Eusebius of Cremona (died c. 423), monk, pre-congregational saint, and disciple of Jerome
  • Saint Eusebius (bishop of Milan) (died 462), archbishop of Milan
  • Eusebius (consul 489), Roman consul in 489 and 493
  • Eusebius of Dorylaeum (5th century), bishop of Dorylaeum, opponent of Nestorianism and Monophysitism
  • Eusebius, bishop of Paris until his death in 555
  • Eusebius of Alexandria (6th century), Christian author
  • Eusebius of Thessalonika (6th or 7th century), bishop of Thessalonika during the time of Pope Gregory the Great
  • Hwaetberht (died c. 740s), Abbot of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Priory, who wrote under the pen-name of Eusebius
  • etcetera | ie. continues


Eusebius is also the name of:
  • Jerome (347–420), Christian scholar and church father, whose full name was Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus

1 we know of Eusebius of Caesarea

2 what about Eusebius of Nicomedia ?


Eusebius of Nicomedia (Greek: Εὐσέβιος; died 341) was an Arian priest who baptized Constantine the Great on his deathbed in 337.[1][2] A fifth-century legend evolved that Pope Sylvester I was the one to baptize Constantine, but this is dismissed by scholars as a forgery 'to amend the 'historical memory' of the Arian baptism that the emperor received at the end of his life, and instead to attribute an unequivocally orthodox baptism to him'.[3][4] He was a bishop of Berytus (modern-day Beirut) in Phoenicia. He was later made the bishop of Nicomedia, where the Imperial court resided. He lived finally in Constantinople from 338 up to his death.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eusebius_of_Nicomedia

1 Eusebius of Caesarea, Life of Constantine
2 Jerome (380). Chronicon. "Constantine, baptized by Eusebius of Nicomedia at the very end of his life, falls into the dogma of Arius, and from that time until now seizures of churches and discord of the whole world have followed [under 279th Olympiad]"



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Re: So many Eusebiuses; Constantine baptised by an Arian Eusebius

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MrMacSon wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 8:46 pm
1 Eusebius of Caesarea, Life of Constantine



'Being at length convinced that his life was drawing to a close, he felt the time was come at which he should seek purification from sins of his past career, firmly believing that, whatever errors he had committed as a mortal man, his soul would be purified from them through the efficacy of the mystical words and the salutary waters of baptism [literally: salutary word of deansing]. Impressed with these thoughts, he poured forth his supplications and confessions to God, kneeling on the pavement in the church itself, in which he also now for the first time received the imposition of hands with prayer. After this he proceeded as far as the suburbs of Nicomedia, and there, having summoned the bishops to meet him, addressed them in the following words:

Chapter LXII

Constantine's Appeal to the Bishops Requesting them to Confer upon him the Rite of Baptism

"The time is arrived which I have long hoped for, with an earnest desire and prayer that I might obtain the salvation of God. The hour is come in which I too may have the blessing of that seal which confers immortality; the hour in which I may receive the seal of salvation. I had thought to do this in the waters of the river Jordan, wherein our Saviour, for our example, is recorded to have been baptized : but God, who knows what is expedient for us, is pleased that I should receive this blessing here. Be it so, then, without delay: for should it be his will who is Lord of life and death, that my existence here should be prolonged, and should I be destined henceforth to associate with the people of God and unite with them in prayer as a member of his Church, I will prescribe to myself from this time such a course of life as befits his service."

After he had thus spoken, the prelates performed the sacred ceremonies in the usual manner, and, having given him the necessary instructions, made him a partaker of the mystic ordinance.

'Thus was Constantine the first of all sovereigns who was regenerated and perfected in a church dedicated to the martyrs of Christ; thus gifted with the Divine seal of baptism, he rejoiced in spirit, was renewed, and filled with heavenly light: his soul was gladdened by reason of the fervency of his faith, and astonished at the manifestation of the power of God. At the conclusion of the ceremony he arrayed himself in shining imperial vestments, brilliant as the light, and reclined on a couch of the purest white, refusing to clothe himself with the purple any more.


Chapter LXIII

After his Baptism he Rendered Thanks to God

'He then lifted his voice and poured forth a strain of thanksgiving to God ; after which he added these words.


''Now I know that I am truly blessed : now I feel assured that I am ac- counted worthy of immortality, and am made a partaker of Divine light."

He further expressed his compassion for the unhappy condition of those who were strangers to such blessings as he enjoyed: and when the tribunes and generals of his army appeared in his presence with lamentations and tears at the prospect of their bereavement, and with prayers that his days might yet be prolonged, he assured them in reply that he was now in possession of true life; that none but himself could know the value of the blessings he had received; so that he was anxious rather to hasten than to defer his departure to God. He then proceeded to complete the needful arrangement of his affairs, bequeathing an annual donation to the Roman inhabitants of his imperial city; apportioning the inheritance of the empire, like a patrimonial estate, among his own children; in short, making every disposition according to his own pleasure.

Chapter LXIV

Constantine's death at Noon at the Feast of Pentacost

'All these events occurred during a most important festival, I mean the august and holy solemnity of Pentecost, which is distinguished by a period of seven weeks, and sealed with that one day on which the holy Scriptures attest the ascension of our common Saviour into heaven, and the descent of the Holy Spirit among men. In the course of this feast the emperor received the privileges I have described; and on the last day of all, which one might justly call the feast of feasts, he was re- moved about mid-day to the presence of his God, leaving his mortal remains to his fellow mortals, and carrying into fellowship with God that part of his being which was capable of understanding and loving him. Such was the close of Constantine's mortal life. Let us now attend to the circumstances which followed this event.'

https://archive.org/details/aselectlibr ... 6/mode/2up



Last edited by MrMacSon on Mon May 29, 2023 12:18 am, edited 7 times in total.
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Re: So many Eusebiuses

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Typical! You wait until the Fourth Century for a Eusebius. And then a whole bunch of them turn up at once!
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Re: So many Eusebiuses; Constantine baptised by an Arian Eusebius

Post by Peter Kirby »

Relevant here:
Peter Kirby wrote: Sat May 06, 2023 2:30 pm Notable for attributing the baptism of Contantine to Eusebius of Nicomedia in 337.

Other sources, such as Theophanes, assert a revisionist claim that Constantine was baptized earlier by Sylvester in Rome, saying that a baptism by Eusebius of Nicomedia was an "Arian" falsehood.

(xix) Chronicon Pascale [ca. 630-640]

The Persians declared war against the Romans, and Constantine, who had reached year 32 of his rule, set out for the east against the Persians; when he had gone as far as Nicomedia, he gloriously and piously quitted life in a suburb of the same city, on 11th in the month Artemisius [May], having been vouchsafed the saving baptism by Eusebius bishop of Constantinople, after a reign of 31 years and 10 months.

I'm not aware of earlier sources for this, despite the other tradition (Sylvester) seeming likely to be false. But maybe I'm missing something.
Peter Kirby wrote: Sat May 06, 2023 2:42 pm As part of his polemic against "Arianism," Athanasius provides information regarding the baptism of Constantine's son, Constantius.

(xx) Athanasius, De Synodis 31 [ca. 361]

https://www.tertullian.org/fathers2/NPN ... -04-64.htm

Because then of the extreme shamelessness of their blasphemy they were called by all Anomoeans, having also the name of Exucontian, and the heretical Constantius for the patron of their irreligion, who persisting up to the end in irreligion, and on the point of death, thought good to be baptized; not however by religious men, but by Euzoius, who for his Arianism had been deposed, not once, but often, both when he was a deacon, and when he was in the see of Antioch.

Recorded likewise in Chronicon Pascale [ca. 630-640] as follows:

At the beginning of the fourth indiction, because the rebellion of Julian Caesar had been reported to him, he came to the springs of Mompsus at the first staging-post from Cilician Tarsus; after he had first received the holy baptism from Euzoius bishop of Antioch, who was summoned to the same staging-post by the same Constantius, the same Constantius Augustus quitted life on day 3 in the month Dius [November], year of Antioch 410, indiction 5, when year 50 of the peace of the churches had been reached, under the aforenamed consuls Taurus and Florentius.

I can find a contemporary source (Athanasius) for the baptism of Constantius, his son.

It seems like the baptism of Constantine was a great embarrassment, since the anti-Arians wanted to assert that they were restoring the faith to that which was established at Nicaea under Constantine.

The Second Council of Nicaea condemns Eusebius of Caesarea as an Arian.
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Re: So many Eusebiuses; Constantine baptised by an Arian Eusebius

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Peter Kirby wrote: Sat May 06, 2023 2:30 pm
Notable for attributing the baptism of Contantine to Eusebius of Nicomedia in 337.

Other sources, such as Theophanes, assert a revisionist claim that Constantine was baptized earlier by Sylvester in Rome, saying that a baptism by Eusebius of Nicomedia was an "Arian" falsehood.

(xix) Chronicon Pascale [ca. 630-640]

The Persians declared war against the Romans, and Constantine, who had reached year 32 of his rule, set out for the east against the Persians; when he had gone as far as Nicomedia, he gloriously and piously quitted life in a suburb of the same city, on 11th in the month Artemisius [May], having been vouchsafed the saving baptism by Eusebius bishop of Constantinople, after a reign of 31 years and 10 months.

I bet Constantine's baptism by an 'Arian' bishop, Eusebius of Nicomedia, was an embarrassment.

But, besides Eusebius of Caesarea saying Constantine was baptised by another Eusebius, Jerome—aka Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus—repeats it:
MrMacSon wrote: Thu Mar 16, 2023 2:09 pm
2 Jerome (380). Chronicon. "Constantine, baptized by Eusebius of Nicomedia at the very end of his life, falls into the dogma of Arius, and, from that time until now, seizures of churches and discord of the whole world have followed [under 279th Olympiad]"

nb. He says, "churches and discord of the whole world followed [suit]"
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Re: So many Eusebiuses; Constantine baptised by an Arian Eusebius

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Peter Kirby wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 9:14 pm The Second Council of Nicaea condemns Eusebius of Caesarea as an Arian.
Origen was accused of Arianism for using terms like "second God", and Patriarch Dionysius of Alexandria was denounced at Rome for saying that Son is a work and creature of God.

, Constantius II (r.337–361), son of Constantine the Great and emperor in the East, and Valens (r.364–378), were said to have become Arians or Semi-Arians,* as were prominent Gothic, Vandal, and Lombard warlords [both before and after the fall of the Western Roman Empire].

* a third, compromise version that lay somewhere in between Arianism and the Nicene Creed
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Re: So many Eusebiuses; Constantine baptised by an Arian Eusebius

Post by Peter Kirby »

MrMacSon wrote: Sun May 28, 2023 9:49 pm as were prominent Gothic, Vandal, and Lombard warlords
Indeed, the extension of controversies outside of the Roman Empire reflects the competing ambitions of the Arian and anti-Arian camps. Just as Athanasius of Alexandria sent men to Ethiopia and succeeded in converting the king there to the Athanasian doctrine, much to the consternation of the emperor Constantius, so did Eusebius of Nicomedia succeed in sending Arian missionaries to the newly-founded Gothic kingdom, translating the Bible into their language. Long after the Athanasian camp eventually triumphed in the eastern Roman Empire after much struggle, the Arian missionaries sent by the clerics of Constantius kept that doctrine current for hundreds of years outside the reach of imperial authority.
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