If
you ever wondered what is the source of many details
about the New Testament era that aren't found in the
Bible, this history may be it. Eusebius tells us what
happened to the disciples of Jesus in later life, how
the early Christians were persecuted, and much more.
Whether you are Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant (or
not even a believer at all) if you are at all interested
in the history of the Early Church, this book is a
must-read.
The full title of this
work is "A
Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of
the Christian Church".
This collection contains the full 14 volume set of that
work. Also included,
Eusebius Pamphilus Life of Constantine, and Oration in
Praise of Constantine.
Eusebius' "History of the Church" is rightly known as
"THE History of the Church." There is no other of the
same breadth and depth as Eusebius'. This volume is an
excellent synthesis of the works of all significant
early Christian and secular historians and eyewitness
accounts of the events forming the early Church.
Eusebius's narrative is linear, tracking the growth of
the Church from Pentecost, A.D. 32 through stages of
vicious persecution until the Emperor Constantine's
sanctioning of Christianity as The Roman Empire's
official religion. Eusebius' prose is terse yet
wonderfully erudite with an obvious bias towards the
early Church--baptized in blood so that the Church today
might flourish.
Eusebius tells us how the Church and the Canon of
Scripture came to be. Every major Church figure,
controversy, and event of significance is recorded in
accurate detail. Every heresy that threatened the
Church's existence is reported thoroughly, yet
concisely. Eusebius was not an eyewitness to many of the
events himself and therefore draws upon all available
secondary sources during his time, including Josephus;
Philo; Clement; and documents that later formed the
Canon of Scripture. This synthesis of the ancient
sources in itself is extremely valuable--Eusebius makes
sense of all of Josephus' and Philo's voluminous works
and puts it all together clearly for his readers.
Eusebius writes about people, and there are many in this
account. From the 12 Disciples and Paul to the Church
bishops to all those branded as heretics. Eusebius pays
special attention to the martyrs: e.g., James, killed by
Herod; Polycarp, whose death Eusebius presents a
riveting account of. Eusebius also writes of those who
abandoned the faith at swordpoint so that later
Christians may take heed.
Eusebius of Caesarea, also
called Eusebius Pamphili, (flourished 4th century,
Caesarea Palestinae, Palestine), bishop, exegete,
polemicist, and historian whose account of the first
centuries of Christianity, in his Ecclesiastical
History, is a landmark in Christian historiography.
Eusebius was baptized and ordained at Caesarea, where he
was taught by the learned presbyter Pamphilus, to whom
he was bound by ties of respect and affection and from
whom he derived the name “Eusebius Pamphili” (the son or
servant of Pamphilus). Pamphilus came to be persecuted
by the Romans for his beliefs and died in martyrdom in
310. After the death of Pamphilus, Eusebius withdrew to
Tyre and later, while the Diocletian persecution was
still raging, went to Egypt, where he seems to have been
imprisoned but soon released.
This CD-ROM contains this title in
PDF format, for viewing only in your computer. This CD cannot
be played on the CD player hooked up to your TV or stereo.
Hard cover versions of these works
have sold for 10 times or more the cost of this disk. With
our CD, you can read, study, and print out the pages as many
times as you want.
