Image: Remains of the ancient Odeon (concert hall) in Gortyna, Crete
This is an occasional series of readings from and brief notes
and commentary upon Eusebius of Caesarea’s The
Ecclesiastical History. Here is Book 4, chapters 23-25. Listen here.
Notes and Commentary:
These chapters continue the record of some of the noted
second century bishops and writers, first noted in EH.4.21. These include:
Dionysius of Corinth; Theophilus of Antioch; and Philip of Gortyna (Crete).
Chapter 23 describes the ministry of Dionysius
of Corinth, who wrote many letters to the churches. K. Lake notes that none of
these are extant.
They include:
A letter to the Lacedaemonians.
A letter to the Athenians. He says that Dionysius the
Areopagite of Acts 17 was the first bishop. A bishop named Publius was martyred,
and the church declined spiritually until Quadratus became bishop.
A letter to the Nicomedians, in which he opposed Marcion.
A letter to Gortyna in Crete on welcoming Philip as bishop.
A letter to Amastris in Pontus, mentioning their bishop
Palmas, with teaching on marriage, chastity, and backsliding.
A letter to Cnossus, with exhortations to the bishop Pinytos,
and a charitable exchange between them.
A letter to the Romans and their bishop Soter. A quote is
offered from the letter in which reference is made to their good works
including ministering to Christians in the mines. K. Lake: “The mines were
constantly used by the Romans as convict establishments, as work in them was
regarded as unfit even for slaves” (382). Eusebius that he also the same letter
quotes from a letter from Rome to Corinth (perhaps 1 Clement or, as Lake says
Harnack suggested, 2 Clement).
A letter to a Christian woman named Chrysophora offering her
“the proper spiritual food.”
Chapter 24 describes the ministry of Theophilus
of Antioch. He is said to have written three “elementary treatises” to
Autolycus and another work titled Against
the Heresy of Hermogenes among others. He is especially commended for driving
off heretics from Christ’s sheep like wild beasts. He was succeeded as bishop
by Maximinus (7th from the apostles).
Chapter 25 describes the ministry of Philip of
Gortyna in Crete, who, like Irenaeus and Modestus, also wrote against Marcion.
Conclusion:
Eusebius continues to trace and commend these bishops who
were writers and defenders of orthodoxy against heretical teaching.
JTR
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