This is an occasional series of readings from and brief notes
and commentary upon Eusebius of Caesarea’s The
Ecclesiastical History: Book 8, chapters 1-4.
Notes and Commentary:
These opening chapters set the
stage for book 8.
Chapter 1 provides a
prelude to the great persecution suffered by the church under the emperor Diocletian.
As noted at the end of book 7,
Eusebius sees the events recorded here as marking a significant transition in
the Christian movement.
He begins by describing the freedom
and privileges enjoyed by the church before this persecution. The Roman rulers
allowed Christians to practice their faith, even as members of their households.
Christian men like Dorotheus and Gorgonius were esteemed. Spacious church
buildings were constructed in various cities.
With greater freedom, however, there
also arose pride and sloth. Christians began to rail against one another and
break into factions. When the persecution began among Christian brothers in the
army, Eusebius says that the church did not seek the favor and goodwill of God.
Chapter 2 turns to
the persecution itself. Eusebius notes that he was an eyewitness of “the houses
of prayer” being cast to the ground, of the scriptures being “committed to the
flames” in the marketplaces, and of pastors either hiding or being captured and
mocked by their enemies.
He notes that the persecution began
in the nineteenth year of Diocletian’s reign (c. 303) with the issuing of an imperial
letter at the time of the “the festival of the Savior’s Passion.” This letter
was promulgated which ordered, “the razing of churches to the ground and the
destruction by fire of the Scriptures,” as well threatening loss of liberty to Christian
leaders and ordinary believers. Later letters instructed the “presidents of the
local churches to be imprisoned and pressured to make sacrifices.”
Chapter 3 describes
the sufferings of the rulers of the churches. Some contended with stout hearts,
while others proved cowardly and weak at the first assault. He gives several
examples of those who stood firm in the faith.
Chapter 4 notes again
how early attacks upon Christians began among those “in the camps” (i.e., in
the army) with some leaving the military lest they should become renegades in
the faith. A particular “supreme commander” (whom Oulton identifies in a footnote
as Veturius) is mentioned, who, in the early stages, deprived some Christians
of their rank if they disobeyed the command to sacrifice and even took the lives
of several. In time to come there would be countless martyrs in all the cities
and the countryside.
Conclusion:
These chapters introduce the beginnings
of the devastating Diocletian persecution which began with imperial letters in AD
303. This persecution would include the destruction of many churches and copies
of Scripture, as well as producing numerous martyrs from the church’s officers
and laymen. Eusebius saw this period as pivotal in the history of the Christian
movement.
JTR
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