Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History: Complete and Unabridged

By Eusebius, Eusebius (of Caesarea, Eusebius Of

Book Overview

All ten books of Eusebius' famous church history are presented here complete in a superb and authoritative translation. Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History is one of the first comprehensive, chronologically arranged histories ever written about the Christian church, and it is consulted by scholars and historians to this day. Eusebius authored his history as the Roman Empire's influence upon the European continent waned amid insurgencies and surrender of Roman lands to other peoples. This also a time in which Christianity's influence upon Europe's peoples burgeoned and grew. As one of a very few learned and scholarly Christians of his era Eusebius enjoyed a rare privilege: access to the document archives of the early Christian church. Much of these archives have since been lost; Eusebius' use of these long lost texts is the only window which readers of today have to such records. Thus, a sense of mystery is present as events for which scant evidence still exists are told. Despite his being suspected as an Arian heretic by figures within the church of his time, Eusebius was highly scrupulous when collecting and making use of his sources. The information was collated and arranged in such a way that the author was beyond reproach. However later historians have noted that certain biases and omissions may have been included, given Eusebius' own opinions and tentative position within the church schema. Beginning with the familiar story of Jesus Christ and the Gospels, this complex and ambitious text attempts to organize and outline the history of the Christian teachers, the means by which bishops succeeded one another, the outbreak and suppression of various heresies, the history of the Jewish people, and the numerous martyrs who emerged and left their mark during the first three centuries of Christianity. At the time Eusebius authored his history in the 4th Century AD, Christianity had, in the space of a few centuries, risen to become one of the most influential religions ever seen. The Roman oppression of Christians, and the eventual conversion of the Roman Empire to the Christian creed as initiated by Emperor Constantine, and the organization of the church itself, are fascinating reading.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1975666887
• ISBN13: 9781975666880
• Release Date: August 2017
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 202 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 8.5" x 11.0"

Customer Reviews

Should Be Required Reading for Christians!

There is little for me to add to the fine reviews previously written here about Eusebius' "The History of the Church." By all means, take the time to read these reviews as they provide excellent tips on how to approach this genuine Christian classic.Although I have been a Church history buff for over 30 years, I had never read Eusebius until recently. Now I would suggest that this volume (whichever translation you prefer) should be required reading for all thinking Christians. However, it would help to have read some other books on early Church history before approaching this one. One of my favorites is "Historical Road of Eastern Orthodoxy," by Alexander Schmemann.I read Eusebius over a period of several months which caused me to ask various questions of the early Church along the way. Here are some things worth looking for:1. What did the early Church look like? What did they believe and practice and how did they worship?2. What role did heresy (or should I say "fighting heresy?") play in determining what was orthodox belief and what was not?3. Would I be willing to suffer the same kind of persecution as did these early confessors and martyrs? How can I not be filled with lifelong gratitude for what they endured so that the Christian faith could survive and thrive?4. What was the Church's relationship with the governing authorities? How did this change when Constantine came to power and issued the Edict of Milan (the full text is included in this book) which freed Christians from persecution?5. Does the Church I attend, and the faith I believe, at all resemble what is represented on these pages?By all means, read this book! Perhaps you'll agree that it should be required reading.

Excellent book

This book is a great addition to any library. Paul Maier translates Eusebius' works into very understandable English with unobtrusive, yet insightful, comments. The book is well organized. You can read by section or by book pretty easily. The book itself is quite marvelous. Eusebius gives us a history of what happened in the church after the writing of the New Testament up to the conferences of his day. It is from Eusebius that we gain a lot of understanding of Christian thought from that time. Eusebius did have a few factual errors in his works, but that's OK given that they did not have a library system like we have or the internet...

simply the best translation available

For those few brave souls today interested enough in theology and textual criticism to appreciate what a new and modern translation of "Church History" would add to their ability to understand the history of the Church, this is the only book out there. Dr. Maier follows up his classic translation of Josephus with a modern translation of Eusebius. His most important contribution to Eusebian studies is his decision to cut out the repetitiveness in the original work and translate Eusebius' train of thought instead of merely translating all of the asides and rhetorical flowerings of the nearly impossable-to-read and vast Church history. Each chapter of Eusebius is summarized and critiqued by Dr. Maier in an attempt to help the reader recognize both the value and the critical diffuculties in the original work. This kept me in the text and allowed me to skip certain sections that I wasn't interested in. (I challenge anybody to read the entire volume word for word, I made it through almost 8 chapters before starting to skip whole sections) The content of Eusebius is gripping at time, especially his vivid descriptions of the martyrdom of the early Church and his eyewitness biographical details of Origen and other early church fathers who he knew and studied under. Without Eusebius we would know almost nothing of the march of Christianity across the Roman empire and even less about the crucial critical history of the New Testament in the first 3 centuries. Dr. Maier has opened up access to this invaluable source both to lowly theologians like myself, and to the leading scholars of the day. I pray that Dr. Maier will continue to translate other ancient authors who up until this day are only available in translations so old that there are no publishing dates on the title pages!