Humanitext Reader

Eusebius of Caesarea · Letter to Flacillus §1

Dedication and Request for Review of the Refutation

Passage 1 of 1 · Greek

Summary

Eusebius's dedicatory letter to Flacillus of Antioch regarding his refutation of Marcellus. He mentions the errors of Marcellus's book, his own refutation of them, and requests Flacillus to review and correct his work.

§1## Τῷ τιμιωτάτῳ καὶ ἀγαπητῷ συλλειτουργῷ Φλακίλλῳ Εὐσέβιος ἐν κυρίῳ χαίρειν.
## To the most honorable and beloved fellow-minister Flacillus, Eusebius sends greeting in the Lord.
Εἰ πρὸς τὴν ἀδόλεσχον καὶ πολυεπῆ Μαρκέλλου γραφὴν τὰ παρ’ ἡμῶν ἐν βραχέσιν ἤρκεσεν, οὐ χρὴ θαυμάζειν· οὐ γὰρ δὴ πολλῶν ἔδει λόγων πρὸς ἀνατροπὴν τῶν αὐτόθεν καὶ τοῖς τυχοῦσιν κατεγνωσμένων.
If our brief response was sufficient against the wordy and loquacious writing of Marcellus, one ought not to wonder; for indeed many words were not needed for the overthrow of things which are self-evident and condemned even by ordinary people.
διὸ δὴ ἐν δυσὶ τοῖς πρώτοις μόνῃ τῇ παραθέσει τῶν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ῥημάτων χρησάμενος δίχα πάσης ἀντιρρήσεως ἐξ αὐτῶν τὸν κατ’ αὐτῶν ἔλεγχον φανερὸν ἐποιούμην.
Therefore, in the first two [books], employing only the juxtaposition of the man's words, without any refutation, I made the exposure against them manifest from [the words] themselves.
νυνὶ δὲ πρὸς ἐκείνῃ τῇ φώρᾳ καὶ τὴν ἀνατροπὴν τῶν αὐτῶν διὰ τριῶν τῶν μετὰ χεῖρας προσήγαγον.
But now, in addition to that exposure, I have also brought forward the overthrow of those same [doctrines] through the three [books] now in hand.
ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἕν τι διωλύγιον καὶ πολυπλανὲς σύγγραμμα συντάξας τοῦτό φησιν πεποιηκέναι "(Nr. 115) διὰ τὸ ἕνα γνωρίζειν θεόν," μή πη λάθῃ τῷ υἱῷ τοῦ θεοῦ χώραν διδοὺς ὑποστάσεως διελὼν τὴν γραφήν.
For he, having composed a certain single immense and highly misleading treatise, says that he has done this "(Nr. 115) in order to acknowledge one God," lest he should inadvertently give place to a hypostasis for the Son of God by dividing the Scripture.
ἡμεῖς δὲ τὴν παναγίαν καὶ τρισμακαρίαν τιμῶντες τριάδα ἐν τοσούτοις τὴν πᾶσαν ὑπόθεσιν συνειλήφαμεν, φεισάμενοι μὲν πολυλογίας, ἐν ἐπιτόμοις δὲ καὶ βραχέσιν τὴν ἀληθῆ παραστήσαντες θεολογίαν.
But we, honoring the all-holy and thrice-blessed Trinity, have encompassed the entire subject within this many [books], avoiding wordiness, but presenting the true theology in concise and brief summaries.
εἰ μὲν οὖν αὐταρκῶς ἔχει τὰ γραφέντα, κρίνειας ἂν αὐτὸς ἐντυγχάνων· εἰ δέ τινα λείποι, καὶ ταῦτα 〈ἂν〉 ἀναπληρώσειας, δηλαδὴ [ἃ δὴ] ἀδελφὸς ἀδελφοῦ τὰ ὑστερήματα, εἴ που καὶ θεραπείας δέοιτο, δι’ ἐπανορθώσεως ἐξιώμενος.
Therefore, whether what has been written is sufficient, you yourself will judge as you read; but if anything should be lacking, you would also supply these, clearly as a brother healing a brother's deficiencies, if indeed they should need any remedy, through correction.
Ἔρρωσθαί σε καὶ μνημονεύειν μου τῷ κυρίῳ διὰ παντὸς εὔχομαι.
I pray that you are well and that you always remember me in the Lord.

Notes

  1. §1ἐν δυσὶ τοῖς πρώτοις — The neuter plural noun "books" (`βιβλίοις`) is omitted, meaning "in the first two books." Similarly, the subsequent phrase `διὰ τριῶν τῶν μετὰ χεῖρας` means "through the three books now in hand" (referring to *De Ecclesiastica Theologia*).
  2. §1τοῖς τυχοῦσιν — The dative plural of the aorist active participle of `τυγχάνω` with the article `τοῖς` is an idiomatic expression meaning "ordinary people" or "the first comers." It functions here as a dative of agent or dative of judgment with the passive participle `κατεγνωσμένων`.
  3. §1μή πη λάθῃ... διδοὺς — The subjunctive verb `λάθῃ` (from `λανθάνω`) accompanied by the supplementary participle `διδοὺς` expresses doing something unawares or inadvertently. Here it describes Marcellus's fear of "inadvertently giving a place of hypostasis to the Son of God by dividing the Scripture."

Cite this passage

Eusebius of Caesarea, Letter to Flacillus §1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg2018.tlg008.humanitext-grc1:1

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