Church History (Book 6 – Book 7)

Church History

continued

Chapter 41

The Martyrs in Alexandria.

2 In his letter to Fabian, bishop of Antioch, the same Dionysius describes the contests of those who died as martyrs in Alexandria under Decius. He writes: “The persecution among us did not begin with the emperor’s decree. It began a whole year earlier. A prophet and contriver of evils for this city, whoever he was, got in ahead of the decree. He stirred up the crowds of pagans against us and fanned their native superstition into flame. Provoked by him and given free rein to commit wickedness, they decided that the only true devotion in their religion was to murder us. 4 “First they seized an old man named Metras. They ordered him to speak blasphemous words, and when he refused, they beat his body with clubs and stabbed his face and eyes with sharp reeds. Then they took him out to the suburb and stoned him. Next they led a believing woman named Quinta to their idol temple and tried to force her to worship. When she turned away in disgust, they tied her feet and dragged her through the whole city over the rough paving stones, bashing her against the millstones and whipping her at the same time. Then they took her to the same place and stoned her to death.

6 “Then all of them together rushed to the homes of the godly. Each group hurried to drag out any whom they knew, and they robbed and plundered them. They stole the more valuable goods, but the cheaper things and anything made of wood they threw about and burned in the streets, so that the city looked as if an enemy had captured it. The brothers gave way and withdrew, and, like those Paul spoke of, they accepted the seizure of their property with joy. I do not know of anyone, except perhaps one who fell into their hands, who up to this point denied the Lord.^[207] [Hebrews 10:34] 8 They also caught that most admirable aged virgin, Apollonia. They struck her on the jaws and knocked out all her teeth. Then they built a pyre in front of the city and threatened to burn her alive unless she would join them in shouting their blasphemous slogans. She asked for a brief delay, and when they let her go, she leaped eagerly into the fire and was burned to death. They also found Serapion at home. They tortured him cruelly, broke every joint in his body, and threw him headlong from the upper floor. There was no road, no highway, no alley open to us, either by night or by day. Always and everywhere everyone was shouting that anyone who would not chant their blasphemous words must be dragged away and burned.

10 This raged on in this way for a long time. Then strife and civil war overtook those wretched people and turned their cruelty against one another instead of us. We got a little relief, since their anger toward us was occupied elsewhere. But very soon word came that the reign that had been kinder to us was changing, and great fear of the threat against us grew. And then the decree arrived, almost exactly like that most terrible thing the Lord foretold, one that would, if possible, cause even the elect to stumble.^[208] [Matthew 24:24] 11 All of them cowered in fear. Many of the more prominent people came forward at once. Others, who held public positions, were led by their official duties. Others were dragged along by those around them. They were called by name and went up to the unclean and unholy sacrifices. Some were pale and trembling, as if they were not going to sacrifice but to be sacrificed themselves as victims and offerings to the idols. The crowd standing around mocked them, and it was plain that they were cowards in every way, afraid both to die and to sacrifice.

13 Others ran to the altars more eagerly, boldly insisting that they had never been Christians even before. Of these the Lord’s prediction is most true, that they will be saved with difficulty. Of the rest, some followed one or the other of these groups, some fled, and some were arrested. Of the arrested, some went as far as chains and prison, and some, after being shut up for several days, denied the faith even before they came to trial. Others endured torture for a while and then gave way in the end. 15 But the firm and blessed pillars of the Lord were strengthened by him. They received power and endurance equal and fitting to the strong faith in them, and became admirable witnesses of his kingdom. The first of these was Julian, a man with gout who could neither stand nor walk. He was brought in with two others who carried him. One of them denied the Lord immediately. The other, named Cronion and nicknamed Eunus, and the old man Julian himself, confessed the Lord. They were set on camels and carried high up through the whole city, which is very large, as you know, and were whipped as they went. In the end, with the whole crowd pressing around them, they were burned in a fire of quicklime.^[209]

17 As they were being led away, a soldier stood by them and opposed those who were jeering. When the crowd shouted against him, he was brought forward. This was Besas, a most courageous fighter for God, who had distinguished himself in the great war for godliness, and he was beheaded. Another man, a Libyan by birth, truly named Macar (“Blessed”) and blessed in fact, was strongly urged by the judge to deny the faith. He would not be moved, and he was burned alive. After them Epimachus and Alexander, who had stayed in chains for a long time and endured countless pains, scrapers and whips, were also consumed in a fire of quicklime. 18 With them were four women. One was Ammonarion, a holy virgin. The judge tortured her very stubbornly and for a long time, because she had declared beforehand that she would say nothing that he demanded. She proved her declaration true and was led away. The others were Mercuria, a most venerable old woman, and Dionysia, a mother of many children, who did not love her children more than the Lord. The governor was ashamed to go on torturing to no purpose and to be defeated by women, so they were put to death by the sword without going through any torture. For their champion Ammonarion had taken the tortures on behalf of them all. [Matthew 10:37]

20 Three Egyptians, Heron, Ater and Isidorus, were handed over, and with them a boy of about fifteen named Dioscorus. The judge first tried to deceive the boy with words, thinking he was easy to lead astray. Then he tried to force him, thinking he would give way easily. But Dioscorus neither yielded nor was persuaded. The judge tore the others savagely with scourges, and when they held out, he gave them over to the fire. But Dioscorus had spoken so brilliantly in public and answered the judge’s own questions so wisely that the judge marveled at him and let him go. He said he was granting him time to repent because of his youth. And now this man, so worthy of God, is with us. He has been kept for a longer struggle and a more lasting contest. 22 A certain Nemesion, also an Egyptian, was falsely accused of being a companion of robbers. He cleared himself of this charge, which was utterly foreign to him, before the centurion. But then he was reported as a Christian and was brought in chains before the governor. That most unjust man inflicted on him twice the tortures and scourgings he gave the robbers, and then burned him between the robbers. So the blessed man was honored by being made like Christ. A whole squad of soldiers, Ammon, Zeno, Ptolemy and Ingenes, and with them an old man, Theophilus, were standing before the tribunal. Someone was being tried as a Christian and was already leaning toward denying the faith. These men, standing by, ground their teeth, signaled with their faces, stretched out their hands, and made gestures with their bodies.

23 Everyone turned to look at them. But before anyone could lay hands on them, they ran ahead up to the platform, saying that they were Christians. The governor and his assessors were seized with fear. Those on trial appeared full of courage about what they would suffer, while the judges shrank back in fear. These men then marched out from the court in triumph and exulted in their witness, as God led them in glorious triumph. [2 Corinthians 2:14]

Chapter 42

Others of Whom Dionysius Gives an Account.

2 “Very many others in cities and villages were torn to pieces by the pagans. I will mention one as an example. Ischyrion was employed for wages as the steward of one of the rulers. His employer ordered him to sacrifice. When he refused, the man abused him. When he stayed firm, the man heaped insults on him. When he still held out, the man took a very large staff, thrust it through his bowels and entrails, and killed him. Why should I speak of the multitude who wandered in deserts and mountains and perished from hunger, thirst, cold, disease, robbers and wild beasts? The survivors among them are witnesses to their choice and their victory. But I will set down one deed from among these to make the point clear. [Hebrews 11:38] 4 Chaeremon was a very old man, bishop of the city called Nilus. He fled to the Arabian mountain with his wife and never came back. The brothers searched thoroughly but could never find them again, neither them nor their bodies. Many others in that same Arabian mountain were enslaved by Saracens. Some were ransomed, though only barely and at great cost. Others have not been ransomed even to this day. I have not told these things for nothing, brother. I want you to know how many and how terrible were the things that happened among us. Those who have experienced more of them would know still more.”

5 Then, a little later, he continues: “Now the divine martyrs among us, who are now seated beside Christ, sharers in his kingdom, partners in his judgment and judging with him, took up some of the fallen brothers who had become liable to the charge of sacrificing. They saw their turning back and their repentance, and judged that it could be acceptable to him who does not at all desire the death of the sinner but rather his repentance. So after testing that repentance, they welcomed them, gathered them in, and stood by them. They shared prayers and meals with them.^[210] [Ezekiel 33:11] 6 “What counsel do you give us then, brothers, about these people? What must we do? Shall we agree with the martyrs and share their mind, keep their judgment and their act of grace, and be kind to those they pitied? Or shall we treat their judgment as unjust, set ourselves up as examiners of their opinion, grieve their kindness, and overturn the arrangement?” Dionysius fittingly put these questions, raising the matter of those who had grown weak in the time of the persecution.

Chapter 43

Novatus, His Manner of Life and His Heresy.

2 Novatus, a presbyter of the church at Rome, was puffed up with arrogance against these fallen brethren. He claimed there was no longer any hope of salvation for them, not even if they did everything that belongs to genuine conversion and pure confession. So he became the founder of a sect of his own, whose members, swollen with their own reasoning, call themselves the “Pure” (Cathari). A very large synod was therefore held at Rome. There were sixty bishops, and even more presbyters and deacons. In the other provinces the local pastors also deliberated separately about what should be done. All agreed on this decision: Novatus and those who had been puffed up with him, along with any who chose to approve this man’s brother-hating and utterly inhuman opinion, were to be counted as outsiders to the church. But those brethren who had fallen into the misfortune were to be healed and treated with the medicines of repentance.^[211]

3 Letters of Cornelius, bishop of Rome, have come down to us, addressed to Fabius of the church at Antioch. They report on the Roman synod and on what all those in Italy, Africa and the regions there decided. Other letters have also reached us, written in the Roman (Latin) language, from Cyprian and those with him in Africa. These show that they too agreed that those who had been put to the test should receive help. They also agreed that the leader of the heresy, and all who were led away with him, should rightly be excluded by public notice from the catholic church. 5 Another letter of Cornelius was attached to these, about what the synod had resolved. There was yet another about the actions of Novatus. Nothing prevents me from quoting parts of it, so that readers of this work may know about him. To inform Fabius what sort of man Novatus had been in his conduct, Cornelius writes these very words: “But I want you to know that this admirable man had long desired the office of bishop. He kept this reckless ambition hidden within himself, and used the confessors who had been with him from the beginning as a cover for his own folly.

6 “Maximus, one of our presbyters, and Urbanus, who twice won the highest glory through confession, and Sidonius, and Celerinus (a man who endured every torture with the greatest steadfastness through God’s mercy, strengthened the weakness of his flesh by the power of his faith, and so utterly defeated the adversary): these men observed him closely and caught him out in his cunning and his shifting about, his perjuries and lies, his refusal of fellowship and his wolfish friendship. They came back to the holy church. In the presence of many bishops, presbyters and a great number of lay people, they declared all his tricks and wicked deeds, which he had long kept concealed within himself. They did this with weeping and repentance, because they had trusted this deceitful and malicious beast and for a short time had been cut off from the church.” 8 A little later he says: “Beloved brother, it is beyond description how great a change we saw come over him in a short time. This most distinguished man, who guaranteed with fearful oaths that he did not seek the office of bishop at all, suddenly appears as a bishop, as if flung into our midst by some stage machine. This teacher of doctrine, this champion of church knowledge, tried to tear away and snatch for himself a bishopric that had not been given him from above. He chose two companions who had despaired of their own salvation, and sent them to a small and very remote part of Italy. There they were to deceive three bishops, simple country men, by a made-up story. He insisted and strongly maintained that these bishops must come to Rome quickly, supposedly so that any division that had arisen could be settled with their mediation, together with other bishops.^[212]

10 “When they arrived, being, as I said, quite simple men where the schemes and tricks of wicked men are concerned, they were shut in by some men of his own sort who had been posted for the purpose. At the tenth hour, when they were drunk and sick from drinking, he forced them to give him the episcopate by a sham and worthless laying on of hands. He claims this office, which did not belong to him, by plot and cunning. Not long after, one of these bishops came back to the church, weeping and confessing his sin. We received him into communion as a layman, with all the people present pleading for him. As for the other bishops, we ordained successors and sent them to the places where those men had been.” 12 So this “champion of the Gospel” did not know that there must be only one bishop in a catholic church. Yet he was well aware (how could he not be?) that in that church there were forty-six presbyters, seven deacons, seven subdeacons, forty-two acolytes, and fifty-two exorcists, readers and doorkeepers together, and more than fifteen hundred widows and needy people. The grace and kindness of the Master feeds them all. Yet not even this great and necessary body in the church, nor the large and growing number, by God’s providence rich in members, nor the huge, countless people, could turn him back from such a course. Neither did it call him back to the church, nor did it shame him out of his rash and desperate attempt.

14 Then, after other matters, he adds this: “Come, let us go on to say what deeds or what manner of life gave him the confidence to lay claim to the bishopric. Was it that he had lived in the church from the beginning, had fought many battles for her, and had been in many great dangers for the sake of true religion? Not at all. The occasion of his coming to faith was Satan, who entered him and lived in him for a long time. Helped by the exorcists, he fell into a severe illness. Since he was thought to be all but dead, he was baptized by pouring, there on the bed where he lay, if one can say that such a man received baptism at all. 16 “Nor, when he recovered from his illness, did he receive the other things that one ought to receive according to the rule of the church, namely being sealed by the bishop. And since he did not receive these, how could he have received the Holy Spirit?” Again, a little later, he says: “In the time of persecution, out of cowardice and love of life, he denied that he was a presbyter. The deacons urged and begged him to come out of the little room where he had shut himself in, and to help the brothers as far as it is right and possible for a presbyter to help brothers in danger and in need of aid. But he was so far from obeying the deacons’ appeals that he went off in anger. He said he no longer wished to be a presbyter, for he was a lover of another philosophy.”

18 Passing over a few things, he again continues: “For this brilliant man abandoned the church of God. In that church, after he came to faith, he was counted worthy of the presbyterate by the favor of the bishop, who laid hands on him for the office of presbyter. The whole clergy opposed this, and many of the laity as well, since it was not permitted for anyone who had been baptized by pouring on a sickbed, as he was, to enter any clerical rank. But the bishop asked that he be allowed to ordain this one man alone.” Then he adds another thing, the worst of this man’s outrages, saying: “When he has made the offerings and is distributing to each person his share and handing it over, he forces the poor wretches to swear instead of giving a blessing. He holds the receiver’s hands in both of his own and will not let go until they swear, saying these words (for I will use his own): ‘Swear to me by the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ that you will never leave me and turn back to Cornelius.’^[213]

20 “And the miserable man does not taste it unless he first calls a curse down on himself. Instead of saying ‘Amen’ as he takes that bread, he says, ‘I will never return to Cornelius.’” After other things he says again: “Know now that he has been stripped and left desolate, as the brothers leave him every day and return to the church. Blessed Moses too, the martyr who recently gave among us a fine and wonderful witness, saw his boldness and folly while he was still in the world. He cut him off from communion, along with the five presbyters who had separated themselves from the church with him.” 22 At the end of the letter, Cornelius gives a list of the bishops who came to Rome and condemned the foolishness of Novatus. He notes their names together with the community each one led. He also mentions those who did not come to Rome but agreed by letter with the verdict of those just named, giving their names and the cities from which each sent his letter. This is what Cornelius wrote to Fabius, bishop of Antioch.^[214]

Chapter 44

Dionysius' Account of Serapion.

2 Dionysius of Alexandria also wrote to this same Fabius, who was leaning somewhat toward the schism. In his letter he discussed many other matters concerning repentance, and he described the struggles of those in Alexandria who had recently been martyrs. Along with the rest of his account he tells of a remarkable event, which I must also record here. It runs as follows: “I will set before you one example that happened among us. There was a certain Serapion among us, an aged believer. He had lived blamelessly for a long time, but he fell in the time of testing. He begged often, and no one paid attention to him, for he had sacrificed. Then he fell ill, and for three days in a row he lay speechless and unconscious. 4 “On the fourth day he recovered a little and called for his grandson, his daughter’s son. ‘How long, my child, are you going to keep me here?’ he said. ‘I beg you, hurry, and release me quickly. Call one of the presbyters for me.’ After saying this he became speechless again. The boy ran to the presbyter. But it was night, and the presbyter was ill, so he could not come. Now I had given an instruction that those departing this life should be released from their sin if they asked, and especially if they had begged for it earlier, so that they might depart with good hope. So the presbyter gave the boy a small piece of the Eucharist, telling him to moisten it and let it drip into the old man’s mouth.^[215]

6 “The boy came back carrying it. As he drew near, before he went in, Serapion revived again and said, ‘Have you come, child? The presbyter could not come, but you must quickly do what he commanded, and let me go.’ The boy moistened the bread and at the same time poured it into his mouth. The old man swallowed a little, and immediately gave up his spirit. Was he not plainly kept alive and made to wait until he was set free? His sin was wiped away, and he could be acknowledged for the many good things he had done.” This is what Dionysius says.

Chapter 45

An Epistle of Dionysius to Novatus.

Now let us see what the same Dionysius wrote to Novatus, who was then troubling the brotherhood at Rome. Novatus used some of the brothers as an excuse for his break and schism, claiming that they had forced him into it. See how Dionysius writes to him: “Dionysius to his brother Novatus, greetings. If, as you say, you were led on against your will, you will prove it by withdrawing willingly. One ought to suffer anything at all rather than split the church of God. Martyrdom to avoid causing a schism is no less glorious than martyrdom to avoid idolatry, and in my opinion it is greater. In the one case a man bears witness for his own single soul; in the other, for the whole church. Even now, if you could persuade or compel the brothers to come to agreement, your achievement will outweigh your fault. The fault will not be counted against you, and the achievement will be praised. But if you cannot prevail over those who refuse, then at any rate save your own soul. I pray that you may be well, holding fast to peace in the Lord.” This is what he wrote to Novatus.^[216]

Chapter 46

Other Epistles of Dionysius.

2 Dionysius also wrote a letter to the believers in Egypt on repentance. In it he set out his judgment about those who had fallen away, and he described the different degrees of offenses. There is also a private letter of his on repentance addressed to Conon, who was bishop of the diocese of Hermopolis, and another letter of encouragement to his own flock at Alexandria. Among these is also the one written to Origen on martyrdom. He wrote to the brothers at Laodicea, whose bishop was Thelymidres, and likewise a letter on repentance to the brothers in Armenia, whose bishop was Merozanes.^[217] 4 In addition to all these, he wrote to Cornelius of Rome after receiving his letter against Novatus. In it he says that Helenus, bishop of Tarsus in Cilicia, and the others with him, Firmilian in Cappadocia and Theoctistus in Palestine, had urged him to come to the synod at Antioch, where some people were trying to strengthen the schism of Novatus. He also writes that he had been told that Fabius had fallen asleep, and that Demetrianus had been appointed his successor in the bishopric of Antioch. He also writes about the bishop of Jerusalem, saying in these very words: “For the blessed Alexander was put in prison, and he went to his rest in blessedness.”^[218]

5 Next to this letter there is another letter of Dionysius to the church in Rome, a “diaconal” one, sent by the hand of Hippolytus. He also composed another to the same people on peace, and likewise one on repentance. Again he wrote another to the confessors there who still agreed with the opinion of Novatus. To these same people he wrote two more after they had turned back to the Church. He also wrote to many others by letter, and he has left these writings with many kinds of benefit for those who still study his words diligently.

Book 7

Greeting

In this seventh book of the Church History, the great bishop of Alexandria, Dionysius, will again work alongside us in his own words. In the letters he left, he sets out one by one the events of his own time. My account will begin from here.

Chapter 1

The Wickedness of Decius and Gallus.

Decius ruled for less than two full years. He was killed at once, together with his sons, and Gallus succeeded him. At this time Origen died, having lived seventy years less one. Dionysius, writing to Hermammon about Gallus, says this: “But Gallus did not recognize the evil of Decius, nor did he look ahead to see what had brought Decius down. He stumbled on the same stone, though it lay right before his eyes. His reign was going well and affairs were turning out as he wished, yet he drove out the holy men who were praying to God for his peace and health. So along with them he persecuted the prayers they were making for him.” That is what is said about Gallus.

Chapter 2

The Bishops of Rome in Those Times.

In the city of Rome, Cornelius held the episcopate for about three years, and Lucius was appointed to succeed him. Lucius lived less than eight full months and at his death passed the office on to Stephen. To Stephen Dionysius wrote the first of his letters about baptism. A serious question had been raised at that time: whether people returning from any heresy at all should be cleansed by washing. The long-established custom in such cases had been to use only prayer with the laying on of hands.

Chapter 3

Cyprian, and the Bishops with Him, First Taught that It Was Necessary to Purify by Baptism Those Converted from Heresy.

Cyprian, the shepherd of the church at Carthage, was the first of the leaders of that time to hold that such people should not be received in any other way than by first being cleansed from their error through washing. But Stephen thought that no innovation should be introduced contrary to the tradition that had prevailed from the beginning, and he was very angry about this.

Chapter 4

The Epistles Which Dionysius Wrote an This Subject.

Dionysius wrote to Stephen at great length about this matter. Toward the end he reports that the persecution had eased, that the churches everywhere had turned away from the innovation of Novatus, and that they had regained peace among themselves. He writes as follows:

Chapter 5

The Peace Following the Persecution.

1 “But know now, brother, that the churches which were formerly divided have been united throughout the East and even farther. All who preside over churches everywhere are of one mind. They rejoice exceedingly at the peace that has come beyond all expectation. Demetrianus is in Antioch, Theoctistus in Caesarea, Mazabanes in Aelia, Marinus in Tyre (Alexander having fallen asleep), and Heliodorus in Laodicea (Thelymidres having passed to his rest). Helenus is in Tarsus with all the churches of Cilicia, and Firmilianus is over all Cappadocia. I have named only the more prominent bishops, so that I do not make my letter long or my words heavy. 3 “As for the whole of Syria and Arabia, which you help whenever there is need and to which you have now written, and Mesopotamia, Pontus and Bithynia, in short everyone everywhere is rejoicing in harmony and brotherly love, and they are glorifying God.” So far Dionysius. Stephen completed his service after two years, and Xystus succeeded him. To Xystus Dionysius wrote a second letter about baptism. In it he sets out the opinion and judgment of Stephen and of the other bishops, and he says this about Stephen:

5 “Stephen had written earlier about Helenus and Firmilianus and all those from Cilicia and Galatia and all the neighboring nations beyond. He said that he would not be in fellowship with them either, for this same reason: because, he says, they baptize heretics again. But consider how serious the matter is. For decisions have in fact been made on this subject in the very largest councils of bishops, as I learn. They decided that those who come over from heresy should first be taught, and then be washed and cleansed from the filth of the old and unclean leaven. I wrote to Stephen, begging him about all these things. [1 Corinthians 5:7] 6 And after other matters he says: “I also wrote to our beloved fellow presbyters Dionysius and Philemon. They had earlier voted with Stephen, and they are now writing to me about these same matters. I wrote to them briefly at first, and now at greater length.” So much for the controversy mentioned above.

Chapter 6

The Heresy of Sabellius.

In the same letter he also points out the heretics who follow Sabellius, who were becoming widespread in his day. He says: “Concerning the teaching now stirred up in Ptolemais of the Pentapolis, which is impious and full of blasphemy against the almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and full of unbelief toward his only-begotten Son, the firstborn of all creation, the Word who became man, and shows no perception of the Holy Spirit: brothers came to me from both sides, bringing written statements and ready to discuss the matter. I wrote some letters, as well as I could with God’s help, setting out the teaching in a more instructive way. I have sent you copies of them.” [Colossians 1:15]

Chapter 7

The Abominable Error of the Heretics; The Divine Vision of Dianysius; And the Ecclesiastical Canon Which He Received.

2 In the third letter on baptism, which the same Dionysius wrote to Philemon, the presbyter at Rome, he sets down these words: “I have read the writings and the traditions of the heretics. For a short time I defiled my soul with their utterly foul thoughts, but I gained this benefit from them: I refuted them in my own mind, and I loathed them far more. One of the brothers among the presbyters tried to hold me back. He was afraid that I would be mixed up in the mire of their wickedness and that my own soul would be ruined. I saw that he was speaking the truth. But a vision sent from God came to me and strengthened me. 4 A word came to me and commanded me plainly: ‘Read everything that comes into your hands. You are able to set each thing right and to test it, and this was the cause of your faith from the beginning.’ I accepted the vision, because it agrees with the apostolic saying to the stronger: ‘Be approved money-changers.’” Then, after saying some things about all the heresies, he adds: “I received this rule and pattern from our blessed father Heraclas. Some people came over from the heresies. They had left the church, or rather had not really left it, but seemed to attend the assemblies, and then were reported as going to hear one of the teachers of a different doctrine. He drove them out of the church, and though they pleaded with him, he would not receive them until they had openly declared everything they had heard from their opponents. Then he admitted them, and did not require another baptism of them, for they had received the holy baptism from him earlier.”

5 Again, after discussing the question at length, he adds: “I have also learned that this practice was not introduced just now by the people in Africa. Long ago, under the bishops before us, in the most populous churches and in the councils of the brothers, at Iconium and Synnada and among many others, this was the decision. I cannot bear to overturn their decisions and throw them into strife and quarrelling. For it says, ‘You shall not move your neighbor’s boundaries, which your fathers set.’” [Deuteronomy 19:14] 6 His fourth letter on baptism was written to Dionysius of Rome. Dionysius was then a presbyter, but not long afterward he received the office of bishop there. From this letter we can see how the Alexandrian Dionysius bore witness that this man was learned and admirable. After other matters, he mentions the followers of Novatus and writes to him as follows:

Chapter 8

The Heterodoxy of Navatus.

“We are right to hate Novatian. He has torn the church apart, and has drawn some of the brothers into impiety and blasphemy. He has brought in a most unholy teaching about God, and he slanders our most kind Lord Jesus Christ as merciless. On top of all this, he rejects the holy washing, overturns the faith and confession that come before it, and drives the Holy Spirit completely away from them, if there was any hope that the Spirit would remain with them or return to them.”^[219]

Chapter 9

The Ungodly Baptism of the Heretics.

2 His fifth letter was written to Xystus, bishop of the Romans. After saying much against the heretics, he tells of an incident that happened in his time: “Brother, I truly need advice, and I ask for your judgment. Something has come to me, and I am afraid I may be making a mistake. One of the brothers who meet with us was considered a believer. He had been a member of the congregation for a long time, since before my ordination, and I think even before the appointment of the blessed Heraclas. He was present with some who had just been baptized, and he heard the questions and answers. He came to me weeping and lamenting over himself, and fell at my feet. He confessed, and swore, that the baptism he had received among the heretics was not like this one and had nothing in common with it, because that baptism was full of impiety and blasphemy.”^[220]

4 He said that his soul was now deeply pierced, and that he no longer dared to lift his eyes to God, because he had begun from those unholy words and deeds. For this reason he begged to receive this wholly pure cleansing, and acceptance, and grace. I did not dare to do this. I told him that his long fellowship with us was enough. He had heard the thanksgiving and joined in saying the Amen. He had stood at the table and held out his hands to receive the holy food. He had received it, and for a good while had shared in the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. I would not dare to undo all that and start him over from the beginning. Instead I urged him to take courage, and to come to the sharing of the holy things with firm faith and a good conscience.^[221]

6 “But he does not stop mourning. He shudders at the thought of coming to the table, and even when urged, he can hardly bring himself to stand with us at the prayers.” Besides what has been quoted, there is another letter of the same man on baptism. It was sent in his own name and that of the church he led, to Xystus and the church at Rome. In it he extends the discussion of the question at hand with a long argument. After this there is also another letter of his, to Dionysius of Rome, concerning Lucian. So much for these.

Chapter 10

Valerian and the Persecution Under Him.

3 Gallus and his associates held power for not even two full years before they were removed. Valerian then took over the rule together with his son. What Dionysius says about this, we can learn from his letter to Hermammon, where he tells it this way: “It is likewise revealed to John: ‘And there was given to him,’ he says, ‘a mouth speaking great things and blasphemy, and authority was given to him, and forty-two months.’ Both can be marveled at in the case of Valerian. Above all, one should consider how things stood with him before this: how gentle and friendly he was toward the people of God. None of the emperors before him was so kindly and favorably disposed toward them, not even those said to have become openly Christians. At the beginning of his reign he showed plainly that he welcomed them as his own, with the warmest affection. His whole household was full of God-fearing people, and it was a church of God.”^[222] [Revelation 13:5]

4 “But the teacher and synagogue-leader of the Egyptian magicians persuaded him to get rid of them. He ordered that the pure and holy men be killed and hunted down, since they were rivals and obstacles to those utterly defiled and detestable enchanters. (For these holy men are able, and always were, merely by being present and seen, merely by breathing and speaking, to scatter the plots of the accursed demons.) He urged the emperor to carry out unclean initiations, abominable sorceries, and sacrifices that gave no favorable omens. He told him to slaughter wretched boys, to offer up the children of unhappy fathers, to cut open the bodies of newborn babies, and to hack and carve up God’s creatures, as though by these things they would gain good fortune.”^[223] 6 To this he adds: “Macrianus, then, has paid them a fine thank-offering for the kingdom he hoped for. He was said to be in charge of the emperor’s general accounts, yet he had no sensible or general thought in his mind. Instead he fell under the prophetic curse that says, ‘Woe to those who prophesy from their own heart and do not see the whole.’ For he did not grasp God’s providence over all, and he did not look ahead to the judgment of the One who is before all, through all, and over all. So he became an enemy of God’s universal church. He cut himself off from God’s mercy and made himself a stranger to it. He drove himself as far as he could from his own salvation, and in this he proved his own name true.”^[224] [Ephesians 4:6]

8 And again, after other things, he says: “Valerian was led on to these acts by this man, and was handed over to insults and shame, in keeping with what was said to Isaiah: ‘These have chosen their own ways and their abominations, which their soul desired. And I will choose their mockeries, and I will pay them back for their sins.’ But this man was madly set on the kingdom, though he was unworthy of it. Because of his crippled body he could not put on the royal robes himself. So he put forward his two sons, who took on their father’s sins. In their case the saying God spoke is plainly fulfilled: ‘repaying the sins of fathers on the children, to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me.’” [Isaiah 66:3-4; Exodus 20:5] 9 “For he threw his own wicked desires, in which he had succeeded, onto the heads of his sons. He wiped off onto them his own wickedness and his hatred toward God.” That is what Dionysius says about Valerian.

Chapter 11

The Events Which Happened at This Time to Dionysius and Those in Egypt.

2 Now the persecution that raged so fiercely in Valerian’s time, and what Dionysius endured along with others because of his devotion to the God of the universe, his own words will show. He wrote them to Germanus, a bishop of his day who was trying to slander him. He states it this way: “I run the risk of falling into great folly and real senselessness, since I am forced to tell of God’s wonderful dealing with us. But it is said that ‘it is good to keep a king’s secret, but glorious to reveal the works of God.’ So I will meet the attack of Germanus head on.^[225] 4 “I went to Aemilianus, and I did not go alone. My fellow presbyter Maximus went with me, and the deacons Faustus, Eusebius and Chaeremon. One of the brothers who was visiting from Rome also went in with us. Aemilianus did not begin by telling me, ‘Do not hold assemblies.’ That would have been pointless for him, since he was going straight to the last point by way of the first. His concern was not that others should stop meeting, but that we ourselves should not be Christians. He ordered me to give that up, thinking that if I changed, the others would follow me.

6 “My answer was fitting, and not long: ‘One must obey God rather than men.’ I declared plainly that I worship the God who alone is, and no other, and that I would never change or stop being a Christian. At that he ordered us to go away to a village near the desert called Cephro. But hear the very words spoken on both sides, as they were recorded. When Dionysius, Faustus, Maximus, Marcellus and Chaeremon were brought in, Aemilianus, who was governing, said: ‘I have already spoken to you, without any written record, about the kindness our lords have shown you.^[226] [Acts 5:29] 8 ‘They have given you the chance to save yourselves, if you are willing to turn to what is natural, to worship the gods who preserve their empire, and to forget those who are contrary to nature. What do you say to this? I do not expect you to be ungrateful for their kindness, since they are urging you toward something better.’ Dionysius answered: ‘Not everyone worships all the gods. Each group worships those whom they believe in. We worship and revere the one God, the Maker of all things, who put the empire into the hands of the most God-beloved emperors Valerian and Gallienus. We pray to him constantly for their empire, that it may stand unshaken.’

10 Aemilianus, who was governing, said to them: ‘But who prevents you from worshiping him as well, if he is a god, along with the gods who are gods by nature? You were ordered to worship gods, and gods whom everyone knows.’ Dionysius answered: ‘We worship no other.’ Aemilianus said to them: ‘I see that you are both ungrateful and insensible to the gentleness of our emperors. For that reason you will not stay in this city. You will be sent to the region of Libya, to a place called Cephro. I have chosen this place by order of our emperors. It will not be allowed, either to you or to anyone else, to hold meetings or to enter the so-called cemeteries. 12 If anyone is found not to have gone to the place I have ordered, or is caught in any meeting, he will bring danger on himself. The proper punishment will not be lacking. Go, then, where you have been ordered.’ He pressed me to leave even though I was sick, and did not give me even one day’s delay. What time, then, did I still have to hold a meeting or not hold one?” Then, after some other things, he says: “But we did not give up the visible assembly with the Lord either. I gathered the believers in the city with greater zeal, as though I were with them, ‘absent in body, but present in spirit,’ so to speak. And in Cephro a large church came to live with us in exile, some of the brothers following from the city, and others joining us from Egypt.^[227] [Colossians 2:5; 1 Corinthians 5:3]

14 And there God opened a door for the word to us. At first we were persecuted and stoned, but later not a few of the Gentiles abandoned their idols and turned to God. They had never received the word before, and it was then, through us, that it was first sown among them. It was as if God had brought us to them for this purpose, and then, when we had finished this service, he took us away again. Aemilianus wanted to move us to rougher places, more “Libyan” as he thought. He ordered the believers from everywhere to flow together to the Mareotic district, and he assigned villages to each group throughout the countryside. But he ordered us to be placed more by the road, so that we would be seized first. Clearly he was arranging and preparing things so that whenever he wished to make arrests, he would have everyone easy to catch.^[228] [1 Corinthians 16:9; Colossians 4:3]

16 When I was ordered to go to Cephro, I did not know where the place was. I had hardly even heard its name before. Even so, I set out cheerfully and without anxiety. But when I was told that I was to move my camp to the district of Colluthion, those who were present know how I took it. Here I will accuse myself. At first I was vexed and very angry. These places were better known and more familiar to us, but people said the area was empty of brothers and serious men, and that it was exposed to the disturbances of travelers and the raids of robbers. 18 But I was comforted when the brothers reminded me that it was nearer the city. Cephro had brought us a great deal of contact with the brothers from Egypt, so that we could hold wider gatherings there. In the new place, the city being closer, we would more often enjoy the sight of those who are truly beloved, closest and dearest to us. They would come and rest, and as in suburbs farther out, there would be meetings by groups. And so it turned out. Then, after other matters, Eusebius says that Dionysius writes again about what happened to him: “Germanus prides himself on his many confessions. He has many things to say that happened to himself. But how many sentences, confiscations, proscriptions, seizures of property, surrenders of rank, disregard for worldly glory, contempt for the praises of governors and councillors, and patient endurance of the threats of opponents, of outcries, dangers, persecutions, wandering, distress and every kind of tribulation can he count in our case? I suffered such things under Decius and Sabinus, and I am suffering them even now under Aemilianus.

20 “But where does Germanus appear in all this? What account is there of him? I am giving up this great foolishness into which I fall because of Germanus. For that reason I also leave the telling of each event to the brothers who know about it.” The same writer, in his letter to Domitius and Didymus, again mentions the events of the persecution, in these words: “Our own people are many and unknown to you, so it is needless to list them by name. But know that men and women, young and old, girls and elderly women, soldiers and private citizens, every race and every age, have won the contest and received their crowns. Some won through scourging and fire, others through the sword.^[229] 22 “For some of them, even a very long time did not prove enough to show them acceptable to the Lord. It seems the same is true of me, for the time up to now has not been enough. So he who says, ‘In an acceptable time I heard you, and in a day of salvation I helped you,’ has put me off until the time he knows is right. You have asked about our situation and want to be told how we are getting on. You have surely heard how we were led away as prisoners by a centurion and officers, with their soldiers and attendants. That was myself, Gaius, Faustus, Peter and Paul. Then some of the people of Mareotis came upon us, as we were unwilling and were not even following, and they dragged us off by force.^[230] [2 Corinthians 6:2]

24 “But now I, Gaius and Peter, left alone and cut off from the other brothers, are shut up in a desert, parched place in Libya, three days’ journey from Paraetonium.” A little further on he says: “In the city the presbyters Maximus, Dioscorus, Demetrius and Lucius have gone into hiding and visit the brothers unseen. (The more conspicuous ones in the world, Faustinus and Aquila, are wandering about in Egypt.) The deacons who were left after those who died in the sickness are Faustus, Eusebius and Chaeremon. God prepared Eusebius from the beginning to carry out earnestly the services for the confessors who were in the prisons. He also does the work, not without danger, of preparing the bodies of the perfected and blessed martyrs for burial.” 26 For to this day the governor does not let up. Some of those brought before him he puts to death, as I said, with cruelty. Others he tears apart with tortures, and others he wastes away in prisons and chains. He orders that no one go near them, and he searches to see whether anyone appears. Even so, God gives rest to those under pressure through the eagerness and persistence of the brothers.” So much for Dionysius. It should be known that Eusebius, whom he called a deacon, was a little later made bishop of the church of Laodicea in Syria. Maximus, whom he then called a presbyter, took over the ministry of the brothers in Alexandria after Dionysius. Faustus, who distinguished himself with them in that confession, was kept safe until our own persecution. Then, extremely old and full of days, he was beheaded in martyrdom in our own time and so finished his course. Such were the things that happened to Dionysius at that time.

Chapter 12

The Martyrs in Caesarea in Palestine.

During the persecution under Valerian just described, three men at Caesarea in Palestine shone in their confession of Christ and were adorned with divine martyrdom, becoming food for wild beasts. One was called Priscus, another Malchus, and the third was named Alexander. They say these men lived in the countryside. At first they reproached themselves as careless and indifferent. The time was handing out prizes to those eager for the heavenly longing, and they were neglecting to snatch the crown of martyrdom for themselves. So they resolved to go to Caesarea, went together before the judge, and met the end described above. They also report that in the same persecution and the same city a woman went through the same contest. The account has it that she belonged to the heresy of Marcion.

Chapter 13

The Peace Under Gallienus.

But Valerian did not remain long in slavery among the barbarians. His son became sole ruler and governed more sensibly. At once he ended the persecution against us by public proclamations. By a written reply he ordered the leaders of the word to carry out their customary duties in freedom. It reads as follows: “The Emperor Caesar Publius Licinius Gallienus, Pius, Felix, Augustus, to Dionysius, Pinnas, Demetrius, and the other bishops. I have ordered the benefit of my gift to be carried out through the whole world, so that people may withdraw from the places of worship. For this reason you also may use the copy of my reply, so that no one may trouble you. What you can lawfully do has already been granted by me for a long time. Therefore Aurelius Quirinius, who is in charge of this most important matter, will keep to this ordinance given by me.” I have set this out translated from the Latin language, to make it clearer. Another ordinance of the same emperor is also preserved, which he made to other bishops, allowing them to recover the sites of the so-called cemeteries.^[231]

Chapter 14

The Bishops that Flourished at that Time.

At this time Xystus still led the church of Rome. Demetrianus led the church of Antioch after Fabius. Firmilian led Caesarea in Cappadocia. Besides these, Gregory and his brother Athenodorus, pupils of Origen, led the churches of Pontus. At Caesarea in Palestine, Theoctistus died and Domnus took over the bishopric. He lived only a short time, and Theotecnus, our contemporary, was appointed his successor. He too belonged to Origen’s school. At Jerusalem, when Mazabanes died, Hymenaeus took the throne. He too was distinguished through very many years in our own time.

Chapter 15

The Martyrdom of Marinus at Caesarea.

2 In these times, when the churches had peace everywhere, Marinus at Caesarea in Palestine was beheaded for his witness to Christ. He was one of those honored with rank in the army, a man of distinction in birth and wealth. The reason was this. Among the Romans the vine-staff is a mark of honor, and those who receive it are said to become centurions. A post was vacant, and Marinus’s place in the order of rank called him to it. He was already about to take the honor when another man came forward before the tribunal. He accused Marinus, saying that under the ancient laws Marinus could not share in Roman rank, since he was a Christian and did not sacrifice to the emperors. The office, he said, fell to himself.^[232] 4 The judge, whose name was Achaeus, was stirred by this and first asked Marinus what his convictions were. When he saw that Marinus kept confessing that he was a Christian, he gave him three hours to think it over. After Marinus left the court, Theoctecnus, the bishop there, approached him, drew him aside in conversation, took him by the hand, and led him into the church. Standing with him inside, right at the sanctuary, he pulled back Marinus’s cloak a little and showed him the sword hanging at his side. At the same time he brought the Scripture of the divine Gospels and set it before him, telling him to choose whichever of the two he wished. Without hesitating, Marinus stretched out his right hand and took the divine Scripture. “Hold on, then,” Theotecnus said to him, “hold on to God. May you obtain what you have chosen, strengthened by him, and go in peace.”^[233]

5 As soon as Marinus returned from there, a herald was shouting and calling him to the court, for the set time had now run out. He stood before the tribunal and showed an even greater eagerness in his faith. Then he was led away immediately, just as he was, and was brought to his end by execution.

Chapter 16

Story in Regard to Astyrius.

Astyrius is also remembered there for his boldness, which was pleasing to God. He was a Roman senator, a favorite of the emperors, and known to everyone for his noble birth and wealth. He was present when the martyr was put to death. He put his shoulder under the body and lifted it onto a bright and costly robe. He carried it away, wrapped it very richly, and gave it a fitting burial. The friends of this man who have lived on to our own time tell many other stories about him,

Chapter 17

The Signs at Paneas of the Great Might of Our Saviour.

including this remarkable one. They say that at Caesarea Philippi, which the Phoenicians call Paneas, there are springs shown at the foot of the mountain called Panion, and that the Jordan pours out from them. On a certain feast day, they say, a sacrificial victim was thrown into these springs, and by the power of a demon it vanished in a marvelous way. What happened was a famous wonder to those who were present. Astyrius was once there at these proceedings. When he saw the crowds amazed at the sight, he pitied them for their delusion. Then he looked up to heaven and begged the God over all, through Christ, to expose the demon who was deceiving the people and to put an end to their being led astray. They say that when he prayed this, the sacrificed animal suddenly floated up on the surface of the springs. In this way the wonder left them, and no marvel ever happened at that place again.

Chapter 18

The Statue Which the Woman with an Issue of Blood Erected.

2 Since I have come to mention this city, I think I should not pass over an account that deserves to be remembered by those who come after us. They said that the woman with the flow of blood, whom we know from the holy Gospels to have been delivered from her sickness by our Savior, came from this place. They said her house is shown in the city, and that marvelous memorials of the Savior’s kindness to her still remain. For at the gates of her house, on a high stone, stands a bronze figure of a woman kneeling with her hands stretched out in front of her, like someone pleading. Facing it is another figure of the same material, a man standing upright, decently wrapped in a double cloak and stretching out his hand to the woman. At his feet, on the base itself, a strange kind of plant grows. It climbs up to the hem of the bronze cloak and is a remedy for every kind of disease.

4 They said this statue bore the likeness of Jesus. It has survived even to our own day, so that we saw it ourselves when we stayed in the city. It is not at all surprising that Gentiles who were long ago helped by our Savior did these things. We have also learned that likenesses of his apostles Paul and Peter, and of Christ himself, are preserved in painted pictures. This is natural, since the ancients were accustomed, in the Gentile manner and without much caution, to honor in this way those whom they regarded as saviors.^[234]

Chapter 19

The Episcopal Chair of James.

The throne of James is also there. He was the first to receive the bishopric of the church of Jerusalem from the Savior himself and the apostles, and the divine writings record that he was called the brother of Christ. The brothers there who have cared for it in succession have kept it safe to this day. They show everyone plainly how much reverence, because of their love for God, both the people of old and the people of our own day have kept and still keep for holy men. So much for this.

Chapter 20

The Festal Epistles of Dionysius, in Which He Also Gives a Paschal Canon.

Besides the letters already mentioned, Dionysius at this time also composed the Festal Letters that are still in circulation. In these he gives somewhat festive and celebratory discourses on the feast of the Passover. He addressed one to Flavius, and another to Domitius and Didymus. In this second one he also sets out a rule based on an eight-year cycle, arguing that the Passover feast should not be kept at any time other than after the spring equinox. Besides these he wrote another letter to his fellow presbyters in Alexandria, and also various letters to others. He wrote all these while the persecution was still going on.^[235]

Chapter 21

The Occurrences at Alexandria.

2 Peace was just about to come when he returned to Alexandria. But sedition and war broke out there again, and he could not oversee all the brothers in the city, who were divided between the two sides of the conflict. So at the feast of the Passover he again spoke to them by letter, like a man living abroad, though he was in Alexandria itself. Later he wrote another festal letter to Hierax, a bishop of the Egyptian churches, and in it he mentions the civil strife of the Alexandrians in his time. He says: “Why should I wonder that it is hard for me to speak even by letter with those who live farther away, when even to talk with myself and take counsel with my own soul has become impossible? 4 “I need to send letters to my own heart, to the brothers who share my dwelling and my soul, citizens of the same church. Yet how to send them seems impossible. It would be easier for someone to cross not only beyond the border but even from east to west than to travel from Alexandria to Alexandria itself. The road through the very middle of the city is more untrodden and impassable than that vast trackless desert which Israel crossed in two generations. And our calm, waveless harbors have become an image of the sea which was split and walled up for them and which they crossed on horseback, and in whose roadway the Egyptians were drowned. For often, from the killings carried out in them, the harbors have looked like a Red Sea. [Exodus 14:22]

6 “The river that flows past the city has sometimes appeared drier than the waterless desert, more parched than the one Israel was crossing when they became so thirsty that they cried out against Moses. Then drink flowed for them out of the sheer rock from him who alone does wonders. At other times it has overflowed so much that it flooded the whole surrounding country, the roads and the fields, and threatened to bring back the rush of water that came in the time of Noah. And it always runs down defiled with blood, murders and drownings, as it was for Pharaoh under Moses, when it turned into blood and began to stink. [Exodus 17:6; Exodus 7:20-21] 8 “What other water could there be to cleanse the water that cleanses everything? How could the vast ocean, which men cannot cross, if it were poured in, wash away this bitter sea? Or how could the great river that flows out of Eden, if it channeled the four heads into which it divides into the single one of the Geon, wash away this filth? Or when will the air, clouded by evil vapors from every side, ever become clear? For such are the vapors from the land, the winds from the sea, the breezes from the rivers and the mists rising from the harbors, that the dews are the foul fluids of corpses rotting in all the elements beneath us. [Genesis 2:10-14]

9 “And then people are amazed and puzzled where the constant plagues come from, where the terrible diseases come from, where all kinds of deaths come from, why such varied and great destruction of men. They ask why this very great city no longer holds as many inhabitants as it once did, from small children up to those of the greatest age, including those it used to call hardy old men. In those days, men from forty to seventy years old were so much more numerous that their number cannot now be made up, even though those from fourteen to eighty have been added to the list for the public grain allowance. And those who look youngest have become, as it were, the same age as the oldest of former times. 10 “Yet they see the human race on earth always shrinking and being used up, and they do not tremble, though its complete disappearance is growing and advancing.”

Chapter 22

The Pestilence Which Came Upon Them.

2 After this a plague broke out in the middle of the war, and as the feast drew near, Dionysius again addressed the brothers by letter, pointing out the sufferings of the calamity in these words: “To other people the present might not seem a time for a festival. Indeed, neither this time nor any other is a festival time for them. That is true not only of sorrowful times, but even of times they might think most joyful. Now everything is mourning, everyone is grieving, and wailing echoes through the city every day because of the multitude of the dead and the dying.^[236] 4 “As it is written of the firstborn of the Egyptians, so now there has been a great cry. For there is no house in which someone is not dead. And I wish that were all! For many terrible things happened even before this. First they drove us out. Though we were persecuted and put to death by everyone, even then we kept the feast. Every place of our affliction became a festival ground for us: field, desert, ship, inn, prison. But the perfected martyrs kept the most radiant feast of all, feasting in heaven. [Exodus 12:30]

6 “After this came war and famine. We went through these together with the pagans. But we alone endured the injuries they did to us, and we also shared in the effects of what they did to one another and suffered. And again we rejoiced in the peace of Christ, which he gave to us alone. Then both we and they had a very brief breathing space, and this disease fell upon us. To them it was more fearful than any fear and more grievous than any calamity. As one of their own writers said, it was the one thing that proved stronger than everyone’s hope. For us it was not like that. It was a training and a test, no less than the other troubles. For it did not hold back even from us, but it struck the pagans in great numbers.^[237] 7 Further on he adds: “Most of our brothers, through their overflowing love and brotherly affection, did not spare themselves. They held on to one another and visited the sick without taking precautions. They served them constantly and cared for them in Christ, and they departed this life with them most gladly. They were filled with the suffering of others, drew the sickness upon themselves from their neighbors, and took on their pains willingly. Many who nursed others and restored them to health died themselves, having transferred the others’ death to themselves. In this way they made real, in deed, the common saying that always seems to be mere politeness: they departed as the ‘offscouring’ of the others.^[238] [1 Corinthians 4:13]

9 “In this way the best of our brothers departed from life. Some were presbyters and deacons, and some were people from the congregation who were highly praised. This kind of death, which came through great devotion and strong faith, seemed to fall nothing short of martyrdom. They would take the bodies of the saints in open hands and into their laps. They closed their eyes and mouths, carried them on their shoulders and laid them out, clung to them and embraced them, and made them ready with washings and wrappings. Soon afterward they received the same treatment themselves, since the survivors were always following those who had gone before. 11 “The pagans did exactly the opposite. They pushed away those who began to fall sick and ran from their dearest friends. They threw them into the roads half dead and tossed out the dead unburied like refuse. They were trying to avoid the spread of death and any sharing in it, but with all their schemes they could not easily escape it.” After this letter, when peace had come to those in the city, he again wrote a festal letter to the brothers in Egypt, and after it he composed various others. One of his letters is also in circulation On the Sabbath, and another On Exercise.

12 In a letter to Hermammon and the brothers in Egypt, he went through many other things about the wickedness of Decius and those after him, and he mentions the peace under Gallienus.

Chapter 23

The Reign of Gallienus.

2 But nothing is like hearing his own words on these matters, which run something like this: “That man betrayed one of the emperors before him and attacked the other. He was quickly wiped out, root and branch, with his whole family. But Gallienus was proclaimed and acknowledged by all as an old emperor and a new one at once, since he was first and was still there after those others. For it is as was said to the prophet Isaiah: ‘Behold, the things from the beginning have come, and new things will now arise.’ A cloud may slip under the rays of the sun and for a little while cover it with shadow, appearing in its place. Then the cloud passes by or dissolves, and the sun that had risen before shines out again. In the same way Macrianus put himself forward and drew close to the reigning power of Gallienus. Now he is no more, since he never really was, while the other is just as he was before.^[239] [Isaiah 42:9]

4 It is as though the empire has shed its old age and been cleansed of its former wickedness. Now it blooms with fuller strength, is seen and heard of farther away, and reaches everywhere.” Next he marks the time at which he was writing this, in these words: “Again it occurs to me to look at the days of the imperial years. I see that the most ungodly men, though once famous, have soon become nameless. But the holier and more God-loving emperor has passed the seventh year and is now completing the ninth, in which we shall keep the feast.”

Chapter 24

Nepos and His Schism.

3 Besides all this, he also took pains to write two books On the Promises. The occasion was Nepos, a bishop of the Egyptian churches. Nepos taught that the promises made to the saints in the divine Scriptures should be fulfilled in a more Jewish way. He supposed that there would be a thousand years of bodily luxury on this earth. Thinking he could support his own opinion from the Revelation of John, he wrote a work on the subject and titled it Refutation of the Allegorists. Dionysius argues against him in his books On the Promises. In the first he sets out his own view of the doctrine. In the second he deals with the Revelation of John. There, mentioning Nepos near the beginning, he writes about him as follows: 4 “Now they bring forward a certain work of Nepos, on which they rely heavily, as though it proved beyond dispute that Christ’s kingdom will be on earth. In many other respects I accept and love Nepos: for his faith, his hard work, his devotion to the study of the Scriptures, and his abundant psalmody, in which many of the brethren are cheered even to this day. I hold the man in great respect, all the more because he has already fallen asleep. But the truth is dear to us and must be honored above all. We should praise and agree freely when something is said rightly, but we should examine and correct anything that does not appear to be soundly written.”

5 “If he were present and arguing his view by word of mouth alone, unwritten discussion would be enough. By question and answer we could persuade and reconcile those who disagree. But a written work has been published which some think very convincing. Some teachers regard the Law and the Prophets as nothing, neglect to follow the Gospels, and make light of the apostles’ letters. Meanwhile they promise that the teaching of this book is some great hidden mystery. They will not let our simpler brothers hold any lofty or grand thoughts about the glorious and truly divine appearing of our Lord, or about our resurrection from the dead, or our being gathered to him and made like him. Instead they persuade them to hope for small and mortal things in the kingdom of God, things like those we have now. Since this is so, we must also speak with our brother Nepos as if he were present.”

7 After other remarks he continues: “I went to the district of Arsinoë, where, as you know, this teaching had long been widespread. It had caused schisms and the falling away of whole churches. I called together the presbyters and teachers of the brothers in the villages, with any brothers who wished to attend, and urged them to examine the matter publicly. They brought me this book as though it were an unbeatable weapon and fortress. I sat with them for three days in a row, from dawn to evening, and tried to correct what was written in it.” 8 “There I greatly admired the steadiness, the love of truth, the quickness to follow an argument, and the good sense of the brothers. We made our questions, our objections, and our agreements in an orderly way and with fairness. We refused to cling stubbornly, at any cost, to opinions we had once held, even if they did not seem right. We did not shy away from objections, but as far as we could, we tried to stand on the matters before us and make them firm. Nor were we ashamed, if reason demanded it, to change our minds and agree. Rather, with a clear conscience, without pretense, and with hearts open before God, we accepted what was established by the proofs and teachings of the holy Scriptures.”

9 “In the end, the originator and leader of this teaching, a man called Coracion, in the hearing of all the brothers present, admitted to us and solemnly declared that he would no longer hold to it. He would not argue it, mention it, or teach it, since he had been thoroughly refuted by those who opposed him. And the other brothers who were present rejoiced at the conference, and at the gentleness and harmony shown toward everyone.”

Chapter 25

The Apocalypse of John.

2 Then, going on to the Apocalypse of John, Dionysius says this: “Some of those before us rejected the book and tried to overthrow it completely. They went through it chapter by chapter, declared it unintelligible and illogical, and said its title is false. They claim it is not John’s. They say it is not even a revelation, because it is wrapped in a thick, heavy veil of ignorance. They say that none of the apostles, and indeed none of the saints or anyone in the church, wrote it. Instead, they say, Cerinthus, who founded the heresy named after him, the Cerinthian, wanted a name people would trust for his own invention, so he attached it to the book. 4 “For this, they say, was the teaching of Cerinthus: that Christ’s kingdom would be on earth. He was a lover of the body and thoroughly fleshly, so he dreamed that the kingdom would consist of what he himself craved: the filling of the belly and of what lies below the belly, that is, food, drink and marriage. And to make these things sound more respectable, he added feasts, sacrifices and the slaughter of animals. But I would never dare to reject the book, since many of the brothers value it highly. I take it to be beyond my own understanding, and I suppose there is a hidden and more wonderful meaning in each part. For even if I do not understand it, I suspect that a deeper meaning lies in the words.

6 I do not measure and judge these things by my own reasoning. I give more place to faith, and I consider them too high for me to grasp. I do not reject what I have not understood; I am rather amazed that I did not see it.” After this, Dionysius examined the whole text of the Apocalypse and showed that it cannot be understood in its obvious sense. Then he goes on: “When the prophet has finished, one might say, the whole prophecy, he pronounces blessed those who keep it, and himself as well. For he says, ‘Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book, and I, John, am the one who sees and hears these things.’ [Revelation 22:7; Revelation 22:8] 8 “So I will not argue against his being called John, or against this writing being John’s. I agree that it is the work of some holy man, inspired by God. But I could not easily agree that he is the apostle, the son of Zebedee and brother of James, to whom belong the Gospel titled According to John and the catholic epistle. I judge from the character of each, from the style of the language, and from the way the book is carried out, that he is not the same man. For the evangelist nowhere writes his own name into the text or proclaims himself, either in the Gospel or in the epistle.

10 Going on, Dionysius says again: “John never speaks of himself, nor of another, in this way. But the writer of the Apocalypse puts himself forward right at the start: ‘The revelation of Jesus Christ, which he gave to show his servants quickly. And he made it known by sending it through his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to his testimony, to all that he saw.’ Then he also writes a letter: ‘John, to the seven churches in Asia: grace and peace to you.’ The evangelist, by contrast, did not put his name even at the head of the catholic epistle. He began plainly with the very mystery of the divine revelation: ‘What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our own eyes.’ It was for such a revelation that the Lord blessed Peter, saying, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal it to you, but my Father in heaven.’^[240] [Revelation 1:1-2; Revelation 1:4; 1 John 1:1; Matthew 16:17]

11 “Not even in the second and third letters that are attributed to John, though they are very short, is the name John put at the head. There the writer is called ‘the elder,’ without a name. But the author of the Apocalypse did not think it enough to name himself once and then tell the rest. He takes it up again: ‘I, John, your brother and partner in the suffering and kingdom and endurance of Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.’ And near the end he says: ‘Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book, and I, John, am the one who sees and hears these things.’” [Revelation 1:9; Revelation 22:7; Revelation 22:8; 2 John 1:1; 3 John 1:1] 13 So we must believe John when he says that he is the one who wrote these things. But which John he is, is unclear. He did not say that he was the disciple loved by the Lord, as the Gospel says in many places. He did not say he was the one who leaned back on the Lord’s breast, or the brother of James, or the one who saw and heard the Lord for himself. If he had wanted to identify himself clearly, he would have used one of these descriptions. He uses none of them. He calls himself our brother and fellow-sharer, a witness of Jesus, and blessed because he saw and heard the revelations.

15 I think there were many people with the same name as John the apostle. Out of love for him, and because they admired and wanted to imitate him, and wished to be loved by the Lord as he was, they took the same name. In the same way, the name Paul, and Peter too, is often given to the children of believers. In the Acts of the Apostles there is another John, called Mark, whom Barnabas and Paul took along with them. Of him the text says again, “And they also had John as their assistant.” I would not say that he is the one who wrote this book. It is not recorded that he went with them into Asia. What it says is that Paul and his company set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia, and that John left them and returned to Jerusalem. [Acts 13:5; Acts 13:13] 18 I think the author was some other John among those who lived in Asia, since they say there are two tombs in Ephesus, and each is said to be John’s. From the thoughts, the words, and the way they are put together, it is reasonable to suppose that this man is different from the apostle. The Gospel and the Epistle agree with each other, and they begin in a similar way. The one says, “In the beginning was the Word”; the other, “That which was from the beginning.” The one says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, glory as of an only-begotten from a father.” The other says the same thing with slight changes: “That which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked at, and our hands touched, concerning the Word of life, and the life was made visible.” [John 1:1; John 1:14; 1 John 1:1]

20 He sounds these notes at the start because he is arguing, as he makes clear in what follows, against those who claim that the Lord did not come in the flesh. That is why he carefully adds: “And we have seen and we bear witness, and we report to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made visible to us. What we have seen and heard we report to you also.” He holds to this and does not depart from his aims. He works through everything under the same main points and terms, and we have briefly recalled some of them. [1 John 1:2-3] 21 Anyone who reads attentively will find in both writings much about life and light, and about turning away from darkness. He will find truth, grace and joy again and again, along with the flesh and blood of the Lord, the judgment, the forgiveness of sins, God’s love toward us, and the commandment that we love one another. He will find that we must keep all the commandments, and he will find the exposure of the world, the devil and the antichrist. There is the promise of the Holy Spirit, the adoption by God, and the faith demanded of us throughout, and the Father and the Son appear everywhere. In short, by marking these features all the way through, one can see that the Gospel and the Epistle have one and the same character.

24 The Apocalypse is quite different from these and foreign to them. It does not touch them or come near them, and it has hardly a single syllable in common with them. The Epistle (I leave the Gospel aside) contains no mention or thought of the Apocalypse, and the Apocalypse contains none of the Epistle. Paul, by contrast, in his letters hinted at his own revelations, though he did not write them down separately. Further, we can also judge from the wording how the style of the Gospel and the Epistle differs from that of the Apocalypse.^[241] [2 Corinthians 12:1-4] 26 The Gospel and the Epistle are written not only without mistakes in Greek, but with real eloquence in their wording, their reasoning, and the arrangement of their style. They are very far from containing any foreign-sounding word, any grammatical blunder, or any common, uneducated expression. The author, it seems, had both kinds of speech, since the Lord had given him both the gift of knowledge and the gift of expression. I will not deny that the author of the other book saw a revelation and received knowledge and prophecy. But I see that his dialect and language are not accurate Greek. He uses foreign-sounding idioms, and in places even makes grammatical blunders.

27 There is no need to list these here. I did not say this to mock him, so let no one think so. I said it only to set right the difference between the writings.

Chapter 26

The Epistles of Dionysius.

2 Besides these, many other letters of Dionysius survive. They include those against Sabellius, addressed to Ammon, bishop of the church at Berenice, and one to Telesphorus, one to Euphranor, and another to Ammon and Euporus. On the same subject he also composed four other writings, which he addressed to Dionysius of Rome. We also have more letters of his than these, and some lengthy discourses written in the form of letters. Among them are the books On Nature, addressed to his child Timothy, and one On Temptations, which he also dedicated to Euphranor.^[242] 3 In addition, writing to Basilides, bishop of the churches in the Pentapolis, he says that he had written an explanation of the beginning of Ecclesiastes. He also left us various other letters to this same man. That is all about Dionysius. Now that I have finished this account of these men, let me go on and set down for later readers what our own generation was like.

Chapter 27

Paul of Samosata, and the Heresy Introduced by Hint at Antioch.

After Xystus had led the church of Rome for eleven years, Dionysius, who had the same name as the Dionysius of Alexandria, succeeded him. About this time Demetrianus of Antioch died, and Paul of Samosata took over the bishopric. Paul held low and groveling views about Christ, contrary to the teaching of the Church, claiming that Christ was by nature an ordinary man. Dionysius of Alexandria was urged to come to the council, but he pleaded old age and bodily weakness and put off coming. He explained in a letter what he thought about the question under discussion. The other pastors of the churches gathered from one place and another, all hurrying to Antioch, as against a destroyer of Christ’s flock.

Chapter 28

The Illustrious Bishops of that Time.

1 The most distinguished of these were Firmilian, bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia; the brothers Gregory and Athenodorus, pastors of the churches in Pontus; Helenus of the church in Tarsus; and Nicomas of Iconium. There were also Hymenaeus of the church of Jerusalem, Theotecnus of the neighboring church of Caesarea, and Maximus, who led the brothers in Bostra with distinction. One could name countless others, together with presbyters and deacons, who were gathered in that city at the time for the same reason. But these were the most outstanding. 3 So they met together often and at various times, and at every session there were discussions and debates. Paul of Samosata’s party kept trying to cover up and hide his false teaching, while the others eagerly worked to expose it and bring his heresy and his blasphemy against Christ into the open. During this time Dionysius died, in the twelfth year of the reign of Gallienus, having held the bishopric of Alexandria for seventeen years. Maximus succeeded him.

4 Gallienus ruled for a full fifteen years and was followed by Claudius. After two years Claudius handed the rule over to Aurelian.

Chapter 29

Paul, Having Been Refuted by Malchion, a Presbyter from the Sophists, Was Excommunicated.

In Aurelian’s reign a final council was held, made up of a very large number of bishops. The leader of the heresy at Antioch was exposed, and all clearly condemned him for false teaching. He was cast out of the catholic church under heaven. It was Malchion above all who exposed him as he tried to hide his errors. Malchion was a learned and wise man, head of the Greek school of rhetoric at Antioch. Because of the genuine strength of his faith in Christ, he had also been made a presbyter of the church there. He held a debate with Paul while stenographers recorded it, and we know that this record is still in circulation. Malchion alone among them was able to expose this deceitful man, who concealed his real thoughts.^[243]

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Notes

[207] The allusion is to Hebrews 10:34 (joyfully accepting the plundering of one’s property). The Alexandrian tradition, which Dionysius follows, attributed Hebrews to Paul.

[208] The Lord’s saying alluded to is probably Matthew 24:24 (the elect being led astray, “if possible”). The change of reign refers to the emperor Philip being replaced by Decius.

[209] ἀσβέστῳ πυρί literally means “unquenched fire”, but ἄσβεστος can also mean quicklime, so “fire of quicklime” is an interpretation. μετέωροι means the men were lifted up on the camels as they were whipped.

[210] “Seated beside” (paredroi) means sitting as assessors or associates, as at a court. The wording echoes Ezekiel 18:23, 32, but Dionysius gives it in his own words.

[211] The Greek opens with the causal Ἐπειδήπερ (“Since…”), tying the passage back to the preceding account of the lapsed. “Cathari” (Καθαροί) means “the pure ones.”

[212] Manganon means a contrivance or machine, used for pulleys and siege engines. The phrase suggests a device that suddenly hurls or hoists someone into view, possibly a theatrical machine, but the exact device is uncertain.

[213] The “offerings” (prosphoras) are the eucharistic elements. The portion handed to each communicant is the consecrated bread, as the oath “by the body and blood” shows.

[214] Eusebius calls the man Novatus, while Latin writers such as Cyprian call him Novatian. They are the same person.

[215] “Eucharist” (literally “thanksgiving”) is the Greek word for the Lord’s Supper, here meaning the consecrated bread. “Released” translates a form of aphiesthai, a verb that can also mean “forgiven” or “absolved.”

[216] Greek “Novatus” is the form Eusebius uses here; the schismatic is usually known as Novatian.

[217] “Diocese” translates the Greek paroikia, the area under a bishop’s care.

[218] “Fallen asleep” is the common Christian expression for dying.

[219] Eusebius spells the name both “Novatus” and “Novatian.” The Greek here is “Novatian,” and he is the same man.

[220] Dionysius refers to his own ordination (χειροτονία) as bishop and to the appointment (κατάστασις) of the blessed Heraclas as bishop of Alexandria.

[221] The Greek says “a good conscience” (ἀγαθῆς συνειδήσεως), not “good hope.”

[222] The Greek says only “a son” (παιδί). Historically this was Gallienus. The quotation is Revelation 13:5, but in a form that differs somewhat from the standard text.

[223] The Greek verb ἀποσκευάσασθαι means “to get rid of” (the Christians), and the children are called ἀθλίους, “wretched.”

[224] The Greek word for “general” and “whole” (katholou) is the same word that gives us “catholic,” so Dionysius is playing on it. “Macrianus” resembles the Greek makros, “far,” which is probably the point of the remark about his name.

[225] The quotation about keeping a king’s secret echoes Tobit 12:7 (in the Apocrypha); Dionysius introduces it with “he says” and does not name his source.

[226] Dionysius quotes Acts 5:29, “One must obey God rather than men.”

[227] “Absent in body, but present in spirit” echoes 1 Corinthians 5:3.

[228] “Door for the word” echoes Colossians 4:3. “More Libyan” means wilder and more remote.

[229] The Greek of the first question about Germanus (“ποῦ δὲ Γερμανὸς νη;”) appears to be corrupt, so its exact wording is uncertain.

[230] The quotation is the Greek form of Isaiah 49:8, which Paul also uses in 2 Corinthians 6:2.

[231] The Greek says “Aurelius Kyrenios” (the older English has “Cyrenius”). The wording of the decree is obscure in Greek, and the clause about people withdrawing from the places of worship is hard to interpret.

[232] The Greek word klēma means a vine-branch or vine-staff, the badge of a Roman centurion’s office.

[233] The Greek names the bishop Theoteknos (Latinized Theotecnus), bishop of Caesarea, the same man as in 7.14.1. The Greek says he stood Marinus inside “at the sanctuary itself” (hagiasma).

[234] “Saviors” here is the ordinary Greek word for a deliverer or benefactor, not a claim about Christ. Eusebius is explaining that the Gentile custom was to honor benefactors with images.

[235] “Canon of eight years” means a table for calculating the date of Easter over an eight-year cycle. The older translation’s “epistle” is rendered “letter” throughout.

[236] The Greek participle (dialabousēs) means the plague “broke out in the midst of” or “intervened in” the war, not merely that it came after it.

[237] “Pagans” translates ethnē, “nations” or “Gentiles”, here meaning non-Christians. The verb rendered “shared in the effects” (paraupolausantes) normally means “to enjoy besides” or “to profit from”, used here with irony.

[238] “Offscouring” translates the Greek *peripsēma*, the same word Paul uses in 1 Corinthians 4:13. Dionysius calls it a common saying, and it was used as a humble, self-deprecating expression.

[239] “That man” is Macrianus, who is named later in the passage. The Isaiah quotation resembles Isaiah 42:9 in the Greek Old Testament, though the wording differs slightly.

[240] The words of the Lord to Peter are quoted from the Gospel; compare Matthew 16:17.

[241] Compare 2 Corinthians 12:1-4, where Paul speaks of “visions and revelations of the Lord” that he does not set out in full.

[242] Berenice (Greek Bernikē) is the city in Cyrenaica (Libya), now Benghazi.

[243] “Catholic” here means “universal,” the whole church throughout the world. The Greek phrase for Malchion’s school, “Hellēnikōn paideutēriōn,” means “Greek schools of learning.”