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The Church History of Eusebius
Chapter XIV.--The Scriptures mentioned by Him.
1. To sum up briefly, he has given in the Hypotyposes 1 abridged accounts of all canonical Scripture, not omitting the disputed books, 2 --I refer to Jude and the other Catholic epistles, and Barnabas 3 and the so-called Apocalypse of Peter. 4
2. He says that the Epistle to the Hebrews 5 is the work of Paul, and that it was written to the Hebrews in the Hebrew language; but that Luke translated it carefully and published it for the Greeks, and hence the same style of expression is found in this epistle and in the Acts.
3. But he says that the words, Paul the Apostle, were probably not prefixed, because, in sending it to the Hebrews, who were prejudiced and suspicious of him, he wisely did not wish to repel them at the very beginning by giving his name.
4. Farther on he says: "But now, as the blessed presbyter said, since the Lord being the apostle of the Almighty, was sent to the Hebrews, Paul, as sent to the Gentiles, on account of his modesty did not subscribe himself an apostle of the Hebrews, through respect for the Lord, and because being a herald and apostle of the Gentiles he wrote to the Hebrews out of his superabundance."
5. Again, in the same books, Clement gives the tradition of the earliest presbyters, as to the order of the Gospels, in the following manner:
6. The Gospels containing the genealogies, he says, were written first. The Gospel according to Mark 6 had this occasion. As Peter had preached the Word publicly at Rome, and declared the Gospel by the Spirit, many who were present requested that Mark, who had followed him for a long time and remembered his sayings, should write them out. And having composed the Gospel he gave it to those who had requested it.
7. When Peter learned of this, he neither directly forbade nor encouraged it. But, last of all, John, perceiving that the external 7 facts had been made plain in the Gospel, being urged by his friends, and inspired by the Spirit, composed a spiritual Gospel." 8 This is the account of Clement.
8. Again the above-mentioned Alexander, 9 in a certain letter to Origen, refers to Clement, and at the same time to Pantaenus, as being among his familiar acquaintances. He writes as follows:
"For this, as thou knowest, was the will of God, that the ancestral friendship existing between us should remain unshaken; nay, rather should be warmer and stronger.
9. For we know well those blessed fathers who have trodden the way before us, with whom we shall soon be; 10 Pantaenus, the truly blessed man and master, and the holy Clement, my master and benefactor, and if there is any other like them, through whom I became acquainted with thee, the best in everything, my master and brother." 11
10. So much for these matters. But Adamantius, 12 --for this also was a name of Origen,--when Zephyrinus 13 was bishop of Rome, visited Rome, "desiring," as he himself somewhere says, "to see the most ancient church of Rome."
11. After a short stay there he returned to Alexandria. And he performed the duties of catechetical instruction there with great zeal; Demetrius, who was bishop there at that time, urging and even entreating him to work diligently for the benefit of the brethren. 14
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See the previous chapter, note 3. ↩
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On the Antilegomena of Eusebius, and on the New Testament canon in general, see Bk. III. chap. 25, note 1. ↩
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On the Epistle of Barnabas, see Bk. III. chap. 25, note 20. ↩
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On the Apocalypse of Peter, see Bk. III. chap. 3, note 9. ↩
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On the Epistle to the Hebrews, see above, Bk. III. chap. 3, note 17. ↩
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On the composition of the Gospel of Mark, see Bk. II. chap. 15, note 4, and with this statement of Clement as to Peter's attitude toward its composition, compare the words of Eusebius in §2 of that chapter, and see the note upon the passage (note 5). ↩
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ta somatik?. ↩
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See Bk. III. chap. 24, note 7. ↩
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Mentioned already in chaps. 8 and 11. ↩
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We see from this sentence that at the time of the writing of this epistle both Pantaenus and Clement were dead. The latter was still alive when Alexander wrote to the Antiochenes (see chap. 11), i.e. about the year 211 (see note 5 on that chapter). How much longer he lived we cannot tell. The epistle referred to here must of course have been written at any rate subsequent to the year 211, and hence while Alexander was bishop of Jerusalem. The expression "with whom we shall soon be" (pros hous met' oligon esometha) seems to imply that the epistle was written when Alexander and Origen were advanced in life, but this cannot be pressed. ↩
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It is from this passage that we gather that Alexander was a student of Clement's and a fellow-pupil of Origen's (see chap. 8, note 6, and chap. 2, note 1). The epistle does not state this directly, but the conclusion seems sufficiently obvious. ↩
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The name Adamantius ('Adam?ntios from ad?mas unconquerable,hence hard, adamantine) is said by Jerome (Ep. ad Paulam, §3; Migne's ed. Ep. XXXIII.) to have been given him on account of his untiring industry, by Photius (Cod. 118) on account of the invincible force of his arguments, and by Epiphanius (Haer. LXIV. 74) to have been vainly adopted by himself. But Eusebius' simple statement at this point looks rather as if Adamantius was a second name which belonged to Origen from the beginning, and had no reference to his character. We know that two names were very common in that age. This opinion is adopted by Tillemont, Redepenning, Westcott, and others, although many still hold the opposite view. Another name, Chalcenterus, given to him by Jerome in the epistle already referred to, was undoubtedly, as we can see from the context, applied to him by Jerome, because of his resemblance to Didymus of Alexandria (who bore that surname) in his immense industry as an author. ↩
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On Zephyrinus, bishop of Rome, see Bk. V. chap. 28, note 5. He was bishop from about 198, or 199, to 217. This gives considerable range for the date of Origen's visit to Rome, which we have no means of fixing with exactness. There is no reason for supposing that Eusebius is incorrect in putting it among the events occurring during Caracalla's reign (211-217). On the other hand, it must have taken place before the year 216, for in that year Origen went to Palestine (see chap. 19, note 23) and remained there some time. Whether Origen's visit was undertaken simply from the desire to see the church of Rome, as Eusebius says, or in connection with matters of business, we cannot tell. ↩
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On Demetrius' relations to Origen, see chap. 8, note 4. ↩
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Kirchengeschichte (BKV)
14. Kap. Die (Heilige) Schrift nach Klemens.
In den Hypotyposen gibt Klemens, um es kurz zu sagen, gedrängte Auslegungen der ganzen Bibel, ohne die S. 280 bestrittenen Schriften wie den Brief des Judas, die übrigen katholischen Briefe, den Brief des Barnabas und die sog. Petrusapokalypse zu übergehen. Den Hebräerbrief weist er Paulus zu, behauptet aber, er sei an die Hebräer in hebräischer Sprache geschrieben worden, Lukas habe den Brief sorgfältig übersetzt und dann an die Griechen weitergeleitet. Daher komme es, daß die Sprache dieses Briefes dieselbe Färbung zeige wie die der Apostelgeschichte. Daß dem Briefe nicht die Worte „Paulus, der Apostel“ vorgesetzt seien, habe seinen guten Grund, „Denn“ — so erklärt er — „da er an die Hebräer schrieb, die gegen ihn voreingenommen waren und ihn verdächtigten, so war es ganz begreiflich, daß er nicht schon am Anfange durch Nennung seines Namens abstieß.“ Sodann fügt Klemens bei: „Da ferner, wie der selige Presbyter sagte, der Herr als Apostel des Allmächtigen an die Hebräer gesandt worden war, so betitelt sich Paulus, als zu den Heiden gesandt, aus Bescheidenheit nicht als Apostel der Hebräer. Er unterläßt es aus Ehrfurcht vor dem Herrn und weil er, der Lehrer und Apostel der Heiden, über seinen Beruf hinaus an die Hebräer schrieb.“ In dem gleichen Werke teilt Klemens bezüglich der Reihenfolge der Evangelien eine Überlieferung mit, welche er von den alten Presbytern erhalten hatte. Dieselbe lautet: diejenigen Evangelien, welche die Genealogien enthalten, seien zuerst geschrieben worden. Das Evangelium nach Markus habe folgende Veranlassung gehabt. Nachdem Petrus in Rom öffentlich das Wort gepredigt und im Geiste das Evangelium verkündet hatte, sollen seine zahlreichen Zuhörer Markus gebeten haben, er möge, da er schon seit langem Petrus begleitet und seine Worte im Gedächtnis habe, seine Predigten niederschreiben. Markus habe willfahren und ihnen der Bitte entsprechend das Evangelium gegeben. Als Petrus davon erfuhr, habe er ihn durch ein mahnend Wort weder davon abgehalten noch dazu ermuntert. Zuletzt habe Johannes in der Erkenntnis, daß die mensch- S. 281 liche Natur in den Evangelien (bereits) behandelt sei, auf Veranlassung seiner Schüler und vom Geiste inspiriert ein geistiges Evangelium verfaßt. Soweit Klemens. Der erwähnte Alexander gedenkt in einem Briefe an Origenes sowohl des Klemens als auch des Pantänus und berichtet, daß beide Männer seine Freunde gewesen seien. Er schreibt: „Denn das ist, wie du weißt, der Wille Gottes, daß unsere seit den Vorfahren bestehende Freundschaft unverletzt bleibe, ja daß sie an Wärme und Festigkeit zunehme. In jenen heiligen Männern, die uns vorangegangen sind und bei denen wir bald wieder sein werden, nämlich in Pantänus, dem wahrhaft seligen Herrn, und in dem heiligen Klemens, der mein Herr und Wohltäter wurde, und in anderen etwaigen Männern dieser Art erkennen wir unsere Väter. Durch sie habe ich dich, meinen in jeder Beziehung trefflichsten Herrn und Bruder, kennengelernt.“ Soviel hierüber.
Adamantius — denn Origenes hatte auch diesen Namen — weilte unter Zephyrin, der damals die römische Kirche leitete, in Rom, wie er selbst irgendwo schreibt. Er sagt nämlich: „Ich wünschte die uralte Kirche der Römer zu sehen.“ Daselbst hielt er sich aber nicht lange auf. Er kehrte nach Alexandrien zurück und oblag hier mit allem Eifer dem gewohnten Unterrichte. Denn der dortige Bischof Demetrius munterte ihn damals noch auf und flehte ihn fast darum an, sich unverdrossen in den Dienst seiner Brüder zu stellen.