An Alternate Theory of the History of Antiquity
The Historical Integrity of Eusebius of Caesarea
Web Publication by Mountain Man Graphics, Australia

"There is nothing new in the world
except the history you do not know".
--- Harry S. Truman
33rd US President (1945-1953).

Introduction

The alternate theory of christianity has as its basis the postulate that Eusebius wrote not history, but fiction. This postulate essentially makes the claim that Eusebius of Caesarea invented the history of christianity under sponsorship of the supreme imperial commander of the Roman Empire, Constantine I.

This Eusebian Fiction Postulate is deemed reasonable on the basis of an agglomerated series of opinions concerning Eusebius. This list of quotations is by no means complete, but should for the moment serve to substantiate the need to invoke the postulate.

Essentially the following compendium of opinion should be used to establish a rough gauge upon the measure, and the tolerance, of historical integrity in the historical literature authored by Eusebius.

I am always interested in expanding this list with relevant quotations, and electronic messages may be sent to Arius at the domain name of this site.

PRF Brown
EDITOR
MOUNTAIN MAN GRAPHICS

"How far it may be proper to use falsehood
as a medium for the benefit of those
who require to be deceived;"
--- Eusebius Pamphilus of Caesarea, (circa 324)
PE: Praeparatio Evangelica, Preparation for the Gospel,
The title of Chapter 31 of Book 12.

[note: In the following quotation, which is the text of the above headed chapter, Eusebius is quoting Plato, and the response to Plato. The text in italics represents the writings of Eusebius]
PLATO ‘BUT even if the case were not such as our argument has now proved it to be,
if a lawgiver, who is to be of ever so little use,
could have ventured to tell any falsehood at all to the young for their good,
is there any falsehood that he could have told more beneficial than this,
and better able to make them all do everything that is just,
not by compulsion but willingly?

‘Truth, O Stranger, is a noble and an enduring thing;
it seems, however, not easy to persuade men of it.’

[Eusebius] Now you may find in the Hebrew Scriptures
also thousands of such passages concerning God
as though He were jealous, or sleeping, or angry,
or subject to any other human passions,
which passages are adopted for the benefit
of those who need this mode of instruction.
--- Eusebius Pamphilus of Caesarea,
PE: Praeparatio Evangelica, Preparation for the Gospel
Text of Chapter 31, Book 12
(See Heading of Chapter above)

"The gravest of the ecclesiastical historians, Eusebius himself,
indirectly confesses that he has related what might rebound to the glory,
and that he has suppressed all that could tend to the disgrace, of religion.
Such an acknowledgment will naturally excite a suspicion
that a writer who has so openly violated one of the fundamental laws of history
has not paid a very strict regard to the observance of the other;
and the suspicion will derive additional credit from the character of Eusebius,
which was less tinctured with credulity, and more practiced in the arts of courts,
than that of almost any of his contemporaries".

--- Gibbon

"Perhaps, on some future occasion, I may examine
the historical character of Eusebius;
perhaps I may enquire, how far it appears
from his words and actions,
that the learned Bishop of Caesarea
was averse to the use of fraud,
when it was employed in the service of Religion."

--- Gibbon

"None ventured to go over the same ground again,
but left him sole possessor of the field
which he held by right of discovery and of conquest.

The most bitter of his theological adversaries
were forced to confess their obligations to him,
and to speak of his work with respect.

It is only necessary to reflect for a moment
what a blank would be left in our knowledge
of this most important chapter in all human history,
if the narrative of Eusebius were blotted out,
and we shall appreciate the enormous debt
of gratitude which we owe to him.

The little light which glimmered over the earliest
history of Christianity in medieval times
came ultimately from Eusebius alone,
coloured and distorted in its passage
through various media.

-- J.B. Lightfoot, Eusebius of Caesarea, (article. pp. 324-5),
Dictionary of Christian Biography: Literature, Sects and Doctrines,
ed. by William Smith and Henry Wace, Vol II.

"Eusebius studied Josephus diligently, and could thus masquerade as he, except when he used the word 'tribe' to describe the Christians. All the literature from the Ante-Nicene Fathers show they never used the word 'tribe' or 'race' with reference to the Christians, was [sic] either by the Fathers or when they quoted non-Christian writers. Tertullian, Pliny the Younger, Trajan, Rufinus--none use 'tribe' to refer to Christians. Eusebius is the first to start the practice."
--- Kerry Shirts, "Did Josephus Mention Jesus?"

"[Eusebius was] the first thoroughly dishonest historian of antiquity."
--- Jakob Burckhardt,
Swiss historian (1818-1897) [via Drews]

"The famous passage which we find in Josephus, about Jesus Christ, was never mentioned nor alluded to in any way whatever by any of the fathers of the first, second, or third centuries; nor until the time of Eusebius, ‘when it was first quoted by himself.’ The truth is, none of these fathers could quote or allude to a passage which did not exist in their times; but was to all points short of absolute certainty, forged and interpolated by Eusebius."
—-- Mitchell Logan,
Christian Mythology Unveiled (1842)

"[the fourth century was] the great age of literary forgery,
the extent of which has yet to be exposed"

...[and]...

"not until the mass of inventions
labelled 'Eusebius' shall be exposed,
can the pretended references to Christians
in Pagan writers of the first three centuries
be recognized for the forgeries they are."

--- Edwin Johnson, "Antiqua Mater: A Study of Christian Origins"

"It is, I think, expedient to set forth to all mankind
the reasons by which I was convinced
that the fabrication of the Galilaeans
is a fiction of men composed by wickedness.

Though it has in it nothing divine,
by making full use of that part of the soul
which loves fable and is childish and foolish,
it has induced men to believe
that the monstrous tale is truth."

...[and, a little later ..]...

"The wretched Eusebius will have it
that poems in hexameters are to be found even among them,
and sets up a claim that the study of logic exists among the Hebrews,
since he has heard among the Hellenes the word they use for logic."

--- Emperor (360-363 CE) Flavius Claudius Julianus (the Apostate)
"Against the Galileans" remains of the 3 books,
excerpted from Cyril of Alexandria, Contra Julianum (1923)"

Ever since Jacob Burckhardt dismissed him as "the first thoroughly dishonest historian of antiquity," Eusebius has been an inviting target for students of the Constantinian era. At one time or another they have characterized him as:

• a political propagandist [1],
• a good courtier [2],
• the shrewd and worldly adviser of the Emperor Constantine [3],
• the great publicist of the first Christian emperor,[4]
• the first in a long succession of ecclesiastical politicians, [5]
• the herald of Byzantinism, [6]
• a political theologian, [7]
• a political metaphysician [8], and
• a caesaropapist. [9]

[1] Erik Peterson, Der Monotheismus als politisches Problem (Munich, 1951 ), p. 91;
[2] Henri Grégoire, "L'authenticité et l'historicité de la Vita Constantini attribuée ê Eusèbe de Césarée," Bulletin de l'Académie Royale de Belgique, Classe des Lettres, 39 ( 1953 ): 462-479, quoted in T. D. Barnes, Constantine and Eusebius (Cambridge, Mass., 1981 ), p. 401;
[3] Arnaldo Momigliano, "Pagan and Christian Historiography in the Fourth Century," in The Conflict between Paganism and Christianity in the Fourth Century, ed. A. Momigliano (Oxford, 1963 ), p. 85;
[4] Robert Markus, "The Roman Empire in Early Christian Historiography," The Downside Review 81 ( 1963 ): 343;
[5] Charles N. Cochrane, Christianity and Classical Culture (1940; reprint, Oxford, 1966 ), p. 183;
[6] Hendrik Berkhof, Die Theologie des Eusebius von Caesarea (Amsterdam, 1939 ), pp. 21-22;
[7] Hans Eger, "Kaiser und Kirche in der Geschichtstheologie Eusebs von Cäsarea", Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 38 ( 1939 ): 115;
[8] Per Beskow, Rex Gloriae. The Kingship of Christ in the Early Church (Uppsala, 1962 ), p. 318;
[9] J. M. Sansterre, "Eusèbe de Césarée et la naissance de la théorie 'césaropapiste,'" Byzantion 42 ( 1972 ): 593


It is obvious that these are not, in the main, neutral descriptions. Much traditional scholarship, sometimes with barely sup- pressed disdain, has regarded Eusebius as one who risked his orthodoxy and perhaps his character because of his zeal for the Constantinian establishment. Scholars have often observed, for example, that his literary works in defense of the new order depict Constantine and his reign in eschatological terms that rival and even supplant the Incarnation and Parousia in salvation history.

To be sure, this assessment relies on abundant documentation: in the Life of Constantine and in the Tricennial Oration, delivered on the thirtieth anniversary of Constantine's reign, as well as in other books, Eusebius gave an enthusiastic Christian endorsement

. Religion and Politics in the Writings of Eusebius:
Reassessing the First "Court Theologian"

--- MICHAEL J. HOLLERICH
Assistant professor of religious studies
in Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California.

Eusebius, the First History of the Church,
and the Earliest Complete Bibles

The first Christian scholar to engage in researching and writing a complete history of the Christian church, Eusebius of Caesarea, reveals the embarrassing complexity of the development of the Christian canon, despite his concerted attempt to cover this with a pro-orthodox account.

Two things must be known:

first, Eusebius was either a liar or hopelessly credulous
(see note. 6), and either way not a very good historian;

second, Eusebius rewrote his History of the Church at least five times
(cf. M 202, n. 29), in order to accommodate changing events, including
the ever-important Council of Nicea ...

Richard Carrier: The Formation of the New Testament Canon

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