2

Attulit haec Eusebius lib. v. Hist. cap. 28.Ex eodem Opere. I will therefore remind

many of the brethren of a thing that happened in our own time; which I think, if it had happened in Sodom, might perchance have admonished even them. There was a certain con- 131 fessor, Natalis, not long ago, but in our own times. He was once deceived by Asclepiodotus.Asclepiades.vid. notam and by another Theodotus, a certain banker; both of these were also disciples of Theodotus the tanner, who was the first to be excommunicated for this opinion, or rather, this folly, by Victor, who was then bishop, as I said. And Natalis was persuaded by them for a salary to be chosen bishop of this heresy, so that he would receive from them one hundred and fifty denarii a month. Being therefore with them, he was often admonished by the Lord through visions. For the merciful God and our Lord Jesus Christ, did not wish a witness to His own sufferings, having become outside the church, to perish. But since he paid little heed to the visions, being enticed both by the chief seat among them and by the sordid gain which destroys most men, at last he was scourged by holy angels, being tormented no small amount throughout the entire night; so that in the morning he arose, and having put on sackcloth, and having sprink- 132 ling himself with ashes, with much haste and tears he fell before Zephyrinus the bishop, rolling at the feet not only of those in the clergy, but also of the laity; and to move with tears the merciful church of the compassionate Christ; and having made much entreaty, and having shown the welts of the blows which he had received, he was with difficulty received into communion.

Attulit haec Eusebius ibid.Ex eodem Opere.1 They have fearlessly corrupted the divine Scriptures;

they have set aside the rule of the ancient faith; and they have ignored Christ; not seeking what the divine Scriptures say, but diligently practicing what form of syllogism may be found for the establishment of their impiety; and if someone proposes to them a saying of divine Scripture, they examine whether it can make a conjunctive or a disjunctive form of syllogism. And leaving the holy Scriptures of God, they practice geometry; as being of the earth and from the earth 133 speaking, and ignorant of Him who comes from above. Euclid, at any rate, is diligently studied in geometry by some of them; Aristotle and Theophrastus are admired; for Galen perhaps is even worshiped by some. But those who make use of the arts of the unbelievers for the opinion of their heresy, and who corrupt the simple faith of the divine Scriptures with the cunning of the impious; that they are not even near to faith, what need is there to say? Therefore they fearlessly laid their hands on the divine Scriptures, saying that they had corrected them. And that I do not say this falsely against them, whoever wishes can learn. For if anyone should wish to collect the copies of each of them and examine them against one another, he would find them differing greatly. At any rate, the copies of Asclepiades will be inconsistent with those of Theodotus. And it is easy to procure many, because their disciples have ambitiously written down what each of them calls their emendations, that is, their corruptions. Again, the copies of Hermophilus do not agree with these; 134 for those of Apollonides are not even consistent with themselves. For it is possible to compare the things prepared by them earlier with those later perverted again, and to find them greatly disagreeing. And of how great audacity this sin is, it is likely that not even they are ignorant. For either they do not believe that the divine Scriptures were spoken by the Holy Spirit, and are unbelievers; or they consider themselves to be wiser than the Holy Spirit; and what else are they but demon-possessed? For they cannot deny that the audacious deed is their own, since they are written in their own hand; and they did not receive such Scriptures from those by whom they were instructed; and they cannot show copies from which they transcribed them. And some of them did not even

2

Attulit haec Eusebius lib. v. Hist. cap. 28.Ex eodem Opere. Ὑπομνήσω γοῦν

πολλοὺς τῶν ἀδελφῶν πρᾶγμα ἑφ' ἡμῶν γενόμενον· ὃ νομίζω ὅτι εἰ ἐν Σοδόμοις ἐγεγόνει, τυχὸν ἂν κᾀκείνους ἐνουθέτησε. Νατάλιος ἦν τὶς ὁμο 131 λογητὴς οὐ πάλαι, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τῶν ἡμετέρων γενόμενος καιρῶν. οὗτος ἠπατήθη ποτὲ ὑπὸ Ἀσκληπιοδότου.Ἀσκληπιάδου.vid. notam καὶ ἑτέρου Θεοδότου τινὸς τραπεζίτου· ἦσαν καὶ οὗτοι ἄμφω Θεοδότου τοῦ σκυτέως μαθηταὶ, τοῦ πρώτου ἐπὶ ταύτῃ τῇ φρονήσει, μᾶλλον δὲ ἀφροσύνῃ, ἀφορισθέντος τῆς κοινωνίας ὑπὸ Βίκτορος ὡς ἔφην τοῦ τότε ἐπισκόπου. ἀνεπείσθη δὲ ὁ Νατάλιος ὑπ' αὐτῶν ἐπὶ σαλαρίῳ ἐπίσκοπος κληρωθῆναι ταύτης τῆς αἱρέσεως, ὥστε λαμβάνειν παρ' αὐτῶν μηνιαῖα δηνάρια ἑκατὸν πεντήκοντα. γενόμενος οὖν σὺν αὐτοῖς, δι' ὁραμάτων πολλάκις ἐνουθετεῖτο ὑπὸ τοῦ Κυρίου. ὁ γὰρ εὔσπλαγχνος Θεὸς καὶ Κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χρισ τὸς, οὐκ ἐβούλετο ἔξω ἐκκλησίας γενόμενον, ἀπολέσθαι μάρτυρα τῶν ἰδίων παθῶν. ἐπεὶ δὲ ῥαθυμότερον τοῖς ὁράμασι προσεῖχε, δελεαζόμενος τῇ τε παρ' αὐτοῖς πρωτοκαθεδρίᾳ, καὶ τῇ πλείστους ἀπολλυούσῃ αἰσχρο κερδείᾳ, τελευταῖον ὑπὸ ἁγίων ἀγγέλων ἐμαστιγώθη, δι' ὅλης τῆς νυκτὸς οὐ σμικρῶς αἰκισθείς· ὥστε ἕωθεν ἀναστῆναι, καὶ ἐνδυσάμενον σάκκον, καὶ σποδὸν κατα 132 πασάμενον, μετὰ πολλῆς σπουδῆς καὶ δακρύων προσ πεσεῖν Ζεφυρίνῳ τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ, κυλιόμενον ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας οὐ μόνον τῶν ἐν τῷ κλήρῳ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν λαϊκῶν· συγχέαι τε τοῖς δάκρυσι τὴν εὔσπλαγχνον ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ ἐλεήμονος Χριστοῦ· πολλῇ τε τῇ δεήσει χρησά μενον, δείξαντά τε τοὺς μώλωπας ὧν εἰλήφει πληγῶν, μόλις κοινωνηθῆναι.

Attulit haec Eusebius ibid.Ex eodem Opere.1 Γραφὰς μὲν θείας ἀφόβως

ῥεραδιουργήκασι· πίστεως δὲ ἀρχαίας κανόνα ἠθετήκασι· Χριστὸν δὲ ἠγνοήκασιν· οὐ τί αἱ θεῖαι λέγουσι γραφαὶ ζητοῦντες, ἀλλ' ὁποῖον σχῆμα συλλογισμοῦ εἰς τὴν τῆς ἀθεότητος εὑρεθῇ σύ στασιν, φιλοπόνως ἀσκοῦντες· κᾂν αὐτοῖς προτείνῃ τὶς ῥητὸν γραφῆς θεϊκῆς, ἐξετάζουσι πότερον συνημμένον ἢ διεζευγμένον δύναται ποιῆσαι σχῆμα συλλογισμοῦ. καταλιπόντες δὲ τὰς ἁγίας τοῦ Θεοῦ γραφὰς, γεωμετρίαν ἐπιτηδεύουσιν· ὡς ἂν ἐκ τῆς γῆς ὄντες καὶ ἐκ τῆς γῆς 133 λαλοῦντες, καὶ τὸν ἄνωθεν ἐρχόμενον ἀγνοοῦντες. Εὐ κλείδης γοῦν παρά τισιν αὐτῶν φιλοπόνως γεωμετρεῖται· Ἀριστοτέλης δὲ καὶ Θεόφραστος θαυμάζονται· Γαληνὸς γὰρ ἴσως ὑπό τινων καὶ προσκυνεῖται. οἱ δὲ ταῖς τῶν ἀπίστων τέχναις εἰς τὴν τῆς αἱρέσεως αὐτῶν γνώμην ἀποχρώμενοι, καὶ τῇ τῶν ἀθέων πανουργίᾳ τὴν ἁπλῆν τῶν θείων γραφῶν πίστιν καπηλεύοντες· ὅτι μηδὲ ἐγγὺς πίστεως ὑπάρχουσι, τί δεῖ καὶ λέγειν; διατοῦτο ταῖς θείαις γραφαῖς ἀφόβως ἐπέβαλον τὰς χεῖρας, λέγοντες αὐτὰς διωρθωκέναι. καὶ ὅτι τοῦτο μὴ καταψευδόμενος αὐτῶν λέγω, ὁ βουλόμενος δύναται μαθεῖν. εἰ γάρ τις θελήσει συγκομίσας αὐτῶν ἑκάστου τὰ ἀντίγραφα ἐξετάζειν πρὸς ἄλληλα, κατὰ πολὺ ἂν εὕροι διαφω νοῦντα. ἀσύμφωνα γοῦν ἔσται τὰ Ἀσκληπιάδου τοῖς Θεοδότου. πολλῶν δέ ἐστιν εὐπορῆσαι, διὰ τὸ φιλο τίμως ἐγγεγράφθαι τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτῶν τὰ ὑφ' ἑκάστου αὐτῶν ὡς αὐτοὶ καλοῦσι κατωρθωμένα, τουτέστιν ἠφα νισμένα. πάλιν δὲ τούτοις τὰ Ἑρμοφίλου οὐ συνᾴδει· 134 τὰ γὰρ Ἀπολλωνίδου οὐδὲ αὐτὰ ἑαυτοῖς ἐστὶ σύμφωνα. ἔνεστι γὰρ συγκρῖναι τὰ πρότερον ὑπ' αὐτῶν κατα σκευασθέντα, τοῖς ὕστερον πάλιν ἐπιδιαστραφεῖσι, καὶ εὑρεῖν καταπολὺ ἀπᾴδοντα. ὅσης δὲ τόλμης ἐστὶ τοῦτο τὸ ἁμάρτημα, εἰκὸς μηδὲ ἐκείνους ἀγνοεῖν. ἢ γὰρ οὐ πιστεύουσιν ἁγίῳ πνεύματι λελέχθαι τὰς θείας γραφὰς, καὶ εἰσὶν ἄπιστοι· ἢ ἑαυτοὺς ἡγοῦνται σοφωτέρους τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος ὑπάρχειν· καὶ τί ἕτερον ἢ δαιμονῶσιν; οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀρνήσασθαι δύνανται ἑαυτῶν εἶναι τὸ τόλ μημα, ὁπόταν καὶ τῇ αὐτῶν χειρὶ ᾖ γεγραμμένα· καὶ παρ' ὧν κατηχήθησαν μὴ τοιαύτας παρέλαβον τὰς γραφάς· καὶ δεῖξαι ἀντίγραφα, ὅθεν αὐτὰ μετεγράψαντο, μὴ ἔχωσιν. ἔνιοι δὲ αὐτῶν οὐδὲ