Works Eusebius of Caesarea (260-339) Historia Ecclesiastica

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Histoire ecclésiastique

CHAPITRE III : TOUT JEUNE IL PRÊCHE LA PAROLE DU CHRIST

[1] Cependant, tandis qu'il était occupé à son enseignement, ainsi qu'il le raconte encore lui-même dans ses écrits, il ne se rencontra plus personne à Alexandrie pour catéchiser : tous se trouvaient éloignés par la menace de la persécution, et quelques-uns des païens vinrent à lui pour entendre la parole de Dieu.1 [2] Parmi ceux-ci, il désigne premièrement Plutarque, qui, après une vie honorable, eut l'honneur d'un saint martyre ; en second lieu, Héraclas, frère de Plutarque ; celui-ci, après avoir donné un grand exemple de vie austère et ascétique, fut jugé digne du siège épiscopal d'Alexandrie après Démétrius.2

[3] Il avait dix-huit ans lorsqu'il fut mis à la tête de l'école de la catéchèse : il y grandit dans les persécutions sous Aquila, gouverneur d'Alexandrie, et obtint alors un nom de la plus grande célébrité auprès de 161 ceux qui sont initiés à la toi, à cause de son accueil et de son zèle à l'égard de tous les saints martyrs inconnus et connus.3 [4] Il les assistait en effet non seulement lorsqu'ils étaient en prison, et pendant qu'ils étaient interrogés et jusqu'à la sentence suprême, mais même ensuite, lorsqu'ils étaient conduits à la mort. Il montrait à cela une grande indépendance et allait au-devant des dangers. Aussi bien lorsqu'il s'avançait courageusement, et quand, avec une grande audace, il saluait les martyrs avec un baiser, il arriva souvent que la foule des païens qui étaient autour, entrait en fureur, et il s'en fallut peu qu'ils ne se précipitassent sur lui : heureusement il trouva chaque fois la main de Dieu pour le secourir, et il échappa miraculeusement.4 [5] La même grâce divine et céleste le garda encore et bien d'autres fois, sans qu'il soit possible de dire combien, contre ceux qui lui tendaient alors des embûches à cause de sa hardiesse excessive à exposer la doctrine du Christ et de la liberté de son langage. L'hostilité des infidèles contre lui était en effet si grande, qu'ils se concentraient en masses pour aller à la maison où il demeurait, et y plaçaient tout autour des soldats, tout cela à cause de la multitude de ceux qui étaient instruits par lui des choses de la sainte foi. [6] Chaque jour la persécution contre lui était si ardente que la ville entière ne suffisait plus pour le cacher : il allait de maison en maison, changeant de demeure, chassé de partout à cause de la foule de ceux qui venaient à lui pour l'enseignement divin qu'il donnait : c'est qu'en lui les actes de sa vie contenaient des traits tout à fait dignes d'admiration et de la plus 163 véritable philosophie. [7] «Telle sa parole, disait, on, telle sa vie, et telle sa vie, telle sa parole. » C'était par là surtout, grâce à la force divine qui l'assistait, qu'il entraînait des milliers de gens à l'imiter.5

[8] Quand il vit les disciples venir à lui plus nombreux, comme il était le seul auquel Démétrius, le chef de l'Église, avait confié l'école de la catéchèse, il jugea incompatible l'enseignement des sciences grammaticales avec le travail qui a pour but de donner les connaissances divines, et sans larder il brisa avec le premier, le regardant comme inutile et opposé aux éludes sacrées.6 [9] Puis il fit une convention afin de n'être pas dans le besoin de recourir à l'aide des autres : il céda tout ce qu'il avait jusque-là d'ouvrages anciens dont les copies étaient admirablement écrites, et les quatre oboles de chaque jour que lui donnait l'acheteur lui suffisaient. Pendant de longues années, il suivit ce régime des philosophes et il retrancha tout ce qui aurait alimenté les passions de la jeunesse; tout le jour il accomplissait de grands travaux d'ascèse, et de sa nuit, il donnait la plus grande parla l'élude des divines écritures : il s'astreignait le plus possible à la vie la plus austère, s'adonnant tantôt aux exercices du jeûne, tantôt n'accordant au sommeil que des temps mesurés très court ; encore s'efforçait-il avec soin de ne pas le prendre en général sur une couverture, mais parterre.7 [10] Il pensait qu'il fallait par-dessus tout observer les paroles évangéliques du Sauveur, qui nous recommandent de n'avoir 165 pas deux vêtements et de ne pas se servir de sandales, comme aussi de ne point passer son temps dans les soucis de l'avenir. [11] Mais aussi avec un courage au-dessus de son âge, il persistait à demeurer dans le froid et la nudité, poussant la pauvreté jusqu'à l'extrême limite. Ceux qui étaient auprès de lui en étaient très frappés et un fort grand nombre en étaient chagrinés, ils le priaient d'accepter de partager leurs biens avec eux, à cause des travaux qu'ils lui voyaient supporter pour l'enseignement divin ; mais lui ne se laissait pas fléchir par leurs efforts. [12] On dit même que pendant bien des années, il marcha sans jamais se servir de sandale ; il s'abstint plus longtemps encore de l'usage du vin et de tous les aliments qui ne sont pas indispensables pour se nourrir; aussi tomba-t-il alors en danger de soulèvement et d'altération de la poitrine.8 [13] Il donnait à ceux qui en étaient témoins, de tels exemples d'une vie philosophique, et parla, ajuste titre, il provoquait tant de ses élèves à rivaliser avec lui, qu'alors des païens infidèles et des gens de culture et de philosophie, et non pas les premiers venus, étaient amenés à l'enseignement qu'il donnait ; il arriva même que ceux-ci, après avoir reçu de lui sincèrement dans le fond de leur âme la foi en la divine parole, se distinguèrent à cette époque de la persécution, si bien que quelques-uns furent arrêtés et finirent par le martyre.

  1. ἀπεληλαμένων. Cet euphémisme désigne la fuite dans la persécution. Sur les idées des Pères relatives à cette 526 tactique, voy. E. JOLLYON, La fuite de la persécution pendant les trois premiers siècles du christianisme (64-323), Lyon et Paris,1905.  ↩

  2. ἀξιοῦται: il fut d'abord chef de l'école quand Origène partit d'Alexandrie en 231, et presque aussitôt, en 231 ou 232, devint évêque.  ↩

  3. ὀκτωκαιδέκατον : en 202-203. — Les termes dont se sert Eusèbe ne permettent pas de dire si Aquila était préfet d'Egypte ou simple gouverneur de la ville.  ↩

  4. τὴν ἐπὶ θανάτῳ : expression qui se retrouve iv, 1 (avec θάνατον); v, 3; VII, xv, 5, etc. - κατέλευσεν. (« etiam impetus in eum gentilium fieret »), κατέλυσεν BM, « er war nahe daran durch sie zu sterben » arm. Cf. SCHWARTZ, p. xc.  ↩

  5. Proverbe : οἷος ὁ λόγος τοῖος ὁ βίος. Cf. SENKQUE, Epist., cx.v, 1 : « Apud Graecos in prouerbium cessit : Talis hominibus fuit oratio qualis uita ».  ↩

  6. ἐναντίαν doit être interprété d'après le contexte : c'est l'aflluence des disciples à l'école catéchétique qui rend les deux enseignements incompatibles. Cf. xviii, 2.  ↩

  7. λόγων ἀρχχαίων : les auteurs classiques. Ce passage est intéressant pour l'histoire du livre dans l'antiquité. Voy. en général, BIRT, Das antike Buchwesen, Berlin, 1882. - ἀναπ<ιμπ>πλῶν SCUWARTZ : ἀνατλῶν ABDEMR, ἀναντλῶν T1 — Toute celte description est rattachée à l'exemple des philosophes, τοῦτον φιλοσοφῶν τὸν τρόπον : ces mots ne peuvent être ici que pris au sens propre et ordinaire. Ce sont surtout les cynico-stoïciens qui donnaient cet exemple. Ce passage nous montre comment le mot. φιλοσοφία (ici, § 6, γνησιωτάτης φιλοσοφίας , et § 13, encore avec une allusion au sens ordinaire) a pris facilement chez les écrivains chrétiens le sens de «vie ascétique». Voy. BOULENGER sur GREGOIRE DE NAZIANZE, Eloge de Césaire, I 5 (p. LVI).  ↩

  8. ἀνατροπῆς καὶ διαφθορᾶς τοῦ θώρακος: le sens précis de ces mots nous échappe ; par une traduction littérale, nous avons voulu attirer l'attention sur la difficulté. ↩

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The Church History of Eusebius

Chapter III.--While still very Young, he taught diligently the Word of Christ.

1. But while he was lecturing in the school, as he tells us himself, and there was no one at Alexandria to give instruction in the faith, as all were driven away by the threat of persecution, some of the heathen came to him to hear the word of God.

2. The first of them, he says, was Plutarch, 1 who after living well, was honored with divine martyrdom. The second was Heraclas, 2 a brother of Plutarch; who after he too had given with him abundant evidence of a philosophic and ascetic life, was esteemed worthy to succeed Demetrius in the bishopric of Alexandria.

3. He was in his eighteenth year when he took charge of the catechetical school. 3 He was prominent also at this time, during the persecution under Aquila, 4 the governor of Alexandria, when his name became celebrated among the leaders in the faith, through the kindness and goodwill which he manifested toward all the holy martyrs, whether known to him or strangers.

4. For not only was he with them while in bonds, and until their final condemnation, but when the holy martyrs were led to death, he was very bold and went with them into danger. So that as he acted bravely, and with great boldness saluted the martyrs with a kiss, oftentimes the heathen multitude round about them became infuriated, and were on the point of rushing upon him.

5. But through the helping hand of God, he escaped absolutely and marvelously. And this same divine and heavenly power, again and again, it is impossible to say how often, on account of his great zeal and boldness for the words of Christ, guarded him when thus endangered. 5 So great was the enmity of the unbelievers toward him, on account of the multitude that were instructed by him in the sacred faith, that they placed bands of soldiers around the house where he abode.

6. Thus day by day the persecution burned against him, so that the whole city could no longer contain him; but he removed from house to house and was driven in every direction because of the multitude who attended upon the divine instruction which he gave. For his life also exhibited right and admirable conduct according to the practice of genuine philosophy.

7. For they say that his manner of life was as his doctrine, and his doctrine as his life. 6 Therefore, by the divine Power working with him he aroused a great many to his own zeal.

8. But when he saw yet more coming to him for instruction, and the catechetical school had been entrusted to him alone by Demetrius, who presided over the church, he considered the teaching of grammatical science inconsistent with training in divine subjects, 7 and forthwith he gave up his grammatical school as unprofitable and a hindrance to sacred learning.

9. Then, with becoming consideration, that he might not need aid from others, he disposed of whatever valuable books of ancient literature he possessed, being satisfied with receiving from the purchaser four oboli a day. 8 For many years he lived philosophically 9 in this manner, putting away all the incentives of youthful desires. Through the entire day he endured no small amount of discipline; and for the greater part of the night he gave himself to the study of the Divine Scriptures. He restrained himself as much as possible by a most philosophic life; sometimes by the discipline of fasting, again by limited time for sleep. And in his zeal he never lay upon a bed, but upon the ground.

10. Most of all, he thought that the words of the Saviour in the Gospel should be observed, in which he exhorts not to have two coats nor to use shoes 10 nor to occupy oneself with cares for the future. 11

11. With a zeal beyond his age he continued in cold and nakedness; and, going to the very extreme of poverty, he greatly astonished those about him. And indeed he grieved many of his friends who desired to share their possessions with him, on account of the wearisome toil which they saw him enduring in the teaching of divine things.

12. But he did not relax his perseverance. He is said to have walked for a number of years never wearing a shoe, and, for a great many years, to have abstained from the use of wine, and of all other things beyond his necessary food; so that he was in danger of breaking down and destroying his constitution. 12

13. By giving such evidences of a philosophic life to those who saw him, he aroused many of his pupils to similar zeal; so that prominent men even of the unbelieving heathen and men that followed learning and philosophy were led to his instruction. Some of them having received from him into the depth of their souls faith in the Divine Word, became prominent in the persecution then prevailing; and some of them were seized and suffered martyrdom.

  1. Of this Plutarch we know only what Eusebius tells us here, and in chap. 4, where he says that he was the first of Origen's pupils to suffer martyrdom. (On the date of the persecution in which he suffered, see note 4). ↩

  2. Heraclas, brother of Plutarch, proved himself so good a pupil that, when Origen later found the work of teaching too great for him to manage alone, he made him his assistant, and committed the elementary instruction to him (chap. 15). From chap. 19 we learn that he was for years a diligent student of Greek philosophy (chap. 15 implies his proficiency in it), and that he even went so far as to wear the philosopher's cloak all the time, although he was a presbyter in the Alexandrian church. His reputation for learning became so great, as we learn from chap. 31, that Julius Africanus went to Alexandria to see him. In 231, when Origen took his departure from Alexandria, he left the catechetical school in the charge of Heraclas (chap. 26), and in 231 or 232, upon the death of Demetrius (see Bk. V. chap. 22, note 4), Heraclas became the latter's successor as bishop of Alexandria (chaps. 26 and 29), and was succeeded in the presidency of the catechetical school by Dionysius (chap. 29). According to chap. 35 he was bishop for sixteen years and with this both versions of the Chron. agree, though Jerome puts his accession two years too early--into the ninth year of Alexander Severus instead of the eleventh--while giving at the same time, quite inconsistently, the proper date for his death. Heraclas' later relations to Origen are not quite clear. He was evidently, in earlier years, one of his best friends, and there is no adequate ground for the assumption, which is quite common, that he was one of those who united with Bishop Demetrius in condemning him. It is true, no attempt seems to have been made after he became bishop to reverse the sentence against Origen, and to invite him back to Alexandria; but this does not prove that Heraclas did not remain friendly to him; for even when Dionysius (who kept up his relations with Origen, as we know from chap. 46) became bishop (a.d. 248), no such attempt seems to have been made, although Origen was still alive and at the height of his power. The fact that the greater part of the clergy of Alexandria and Egypt were unfavorable to Origen, as shown by their condemnation of him, does not imply that Heraclas could not have been elected unless he too showed hostility to Origen; for Dionysius, who we know was not hostile, was appointed at that time head of the catechetical school, and sixteen years later bishop. It is true that Heraclas may not have sympathized with all of Origen's views, and may have thought some of them heretical (his strict judgment of heretics is seen from Bk. VII. chap. 7), but many even of the best of Origen's friends and followers did likewise, so that among his most devoted adherents were some of the most orthodox Fathers of the Church (e.g. the two Gregories and Basil). That Heraclas did not agree with Origen in all his opinions (if he did not, he may not have cared to press his return to Alexandria) does not prove therefore that he took part in the condemnatory action of the synod, and that he was himself in later life hostile to Origen. ↩

  3. See below, p. 392. ↩

  4. It is not clear from Eusebius' language whether Aquila was successor of Laetus as viceroy of Egypt (as Redepenning assumes apparently quite without misgiving), or simply governor of Alexandria. He calls Laetus (in chap. 2) governor of Alexandria and of all Egypt, while Aquila is called simply governor of Alexandria. If this difference were insisted on as marking a real distinction, then Aquila would have to be regarded as the chief officer of Alexandria only, and hence subordinate in dignity to the viceroy of Egypt. The term used to describe his position (hegoumenon) is not, however the technical one for the chief officer of Alexandria (see Mommsen, Provinces of the Roman Empire; Scribner's ed., II. p. 267 ff.), and hence his position cannot be decided with certainty. In any case, whether he succeeded Laetus, or was his subordinate, the dates of his accession to and retirement from office are unknown, and hence the time at which the persecutions mentioned took place cannot be determined with exactness. We simply know that they occurred after 203 (for Origen had already taken charge of the catechetical school, and some of his pupils perished in the persecutions) and before 211, the date of Severus' death. ↩

  5. How it happened that Origen escaped the persecution, when, according to Eusebius, he exposed himself so continually, and was so hated by the heathen populace, we cannot tell. Eusebius ascribes it solely to the grace of God here, and in chap. 4. ↩

  6. hoios ho logos toios ho bios was a Greek proverb. Compare the words of Seneca, in Ep. 114 ad Lucilium, "Apud Graecos in proverbium cessit talis hominibus fuit oratio, qualis vita" (quoted by Redepenning, p. 196). ↩

  7. This does not mean that he considered the study of grammar and literature injurious to the Christian, or detrimental to his theological studies. His opinion on that subject is clear enough from all his writings and from his conduct as pictured in chaps. 18 and 19. Nor does it on the other hand imply, as Crusè supposes, that up to this time he had been teaching secular branches exclusively; but it means simply that the demands upon him for instruction in the faith were so great, now that the catechetical school had been officially entrusted to him by Demetrius, that he felt that he could no longer continue to teach secular literature as he had been doing, but must give up that part of his work, and devote himself exclusively to instruction in sacred things. ↩

  8. The obolus was a small Greek coin, equivalent to about three and a half cents of our money. Four oboli a day could have been sufficient, even in that age, only for the barest necessities of life. But with his ascetic tendencies, these were all that Origen wished. ↩

  9. It was very common from the fourth century on (the writer knows of no instances earlier than Eusebius) to call an ascetic mode of life "philosophical," or "the life of a philosopher" (see §2 of this chapter, and compare Chrysostom's works, where the word occurs very frequently in this sense). Origen, in his ascetic practices, was quite in accord with the prevailing Christian sentiment of his own and subsequent centuries, which looked upon bodily discipline of an ascetic kind, not indeed as required, but as commended by Christ. The growing sentiment had its roots partly in the prevailing ideas of contemporary philosophy, which instinctively emphasized strongly the dualism of spirit and matter, and the necessity of subduing the latter to the former, and partly in the increasing moral corruptness of society, which caused those who wished to lead holy lives to feel that only by eschewing the things of sense could the soul attain purity. Under pressure from without and within, it became very easy to misinterpret various sayings of Christ, and thus to find in the Gospels ringing exhortations to a life of the most rigid asceticism. Clement of Alexandria was almost the only one of the great Christian writers after the middle of the second century who distinguished between the true and the false in this matter. Compare his admirable tract, Quis dives salvetur, and contrast the position taken there with the foolish extreme pursued by Origen, as recorded in this chapter. ↩

  10. See Matt. x. 10 ↩

  11. See Matt. vi. 34 ↩

  12. Greek: thorax, properly "chest." Rufinus and Christophorsonus translate stomachum, and Valesius approves; but there is no authority for such a use of the term thorax, so far as I can ascertain. The proper Greek term for stomach is stomachos, which is uniformly employed by Galen and other medical writers. ↩

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