Socrates of Constantinople, Church History 3.23.36-3.23.39
https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/453
Context
Socrates of Constantinople, the “Scholastic,” was an otherwise unknown
historian of the early 5th century. He wrote his account of the Church from 305 to 439
to continue Eusebius of Caesarea, adopting a particular perspective on the relationship
between Imperial and ecclesiastical authority. Toward the end of his long account of the
emperor Julian, Socrates begins by quoting from Libanius that he rejected Christian
writings on the divinity of Jesus Christ as “ridiculous and nonsensical” (γέλωτα … καὶ
φλήναφον), and that in doing so he was more wise than the Neoplatonist and infamous
anti-Christian Porphyry of Tyre (Speech 18.178). In this passage later in
his evaluation of Julian’s positions against the Christians, Socrates asserts how
Porphyry rejected Christianity and turned to blasphemous writing out of disdain,
following a violent assault on him by Christians at Caesarea. This is one of the few,
and the earliest, references to Porphyry’s apostasy. The otherwise unrecorded attack
must have occurred early in Porphyry’s life, probably the 250s, before his departure to
study and practice at Athens and Rome.
Text
(36) Φαίνεται δὴ διὰ τούτων ὁ βασιλεὺς ὑπόνοιαν ἔχειν περὶ τῶν θείων
γραφῶν, ὡς εἴησαν λόγοι μυστικοὶ ἀπόρρητόν τινα θεωρίαν ἔχοντες· ἀγανακτεῖ δὲ ἐφ’ οἷς μὴ
καὶ πάντες τὴν αὐτὴν περὶ τούτων ὑπόνοιαν ἔχουσι, καὶ κατατρέχει τῶν ἐν Χριστιανοῖς
ἁπλούστερον δεχομένων τὰ λόγια. (37) Οὐκ ἔδει δὲ τοσοῦτον καταδραμεῖν τῆς ἁπλότητος τῶν
πολλῶν οὐδὲ τυφωθῆναι δι’ ἐκείνους κατὰ τῶν ἱερῶν γραμμάτων οὐδὲ μισῆσαι καὶ
ἀποστραφῆναι τὰ καλῶς αὐτοῖς νοούμενα, ὅτι μὴ πάντες αὐτὰ ἐνόουν ὡς αὐτὸς ἐβούλετο. (38)
Νῦν δέ, ὡς ἔοικε, τὰ αὐτὰ Πορφυρίῳ πέπονθεν· ἐκεῖνος μὲν γὰρ πληγὰς ἐν
Καισαρείᾳ τῆς Παλαιστίνης ὑπό τινων Χριστιανῶν εἰληφὼς καὶ μὴ
ἐνεγκὼν τὴν ὀργὴν ἐκ μελαγχολίας τὸν μὲν Χριστιανισμὸν κατέλειπε, μίσει δὲ τῶν
τυπτησάντων αὐτὸν εἰς τὸ βλάσφημα κατὰ Χριστιανῶν γράφειν ἐξέπεσεν, ὡς αὐτὸν Εὐσέβιος ὁ
Παμφίλου ἐξήλεγξεν, ἀνασκευάσας τοὺς λόγους αὐτοῦ. (39) Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς πρὸς τοὺς ἰδιώτας
ὑπεροπτικῶς {κατὰ} τῶν Χριστιανῶν ἐσχηκὼς ἐκ τοῦ αὐτοῦ πάθους εἰς τὴν Πορφυρίου
βλασφημίαν ἀπέκλινεν. Ἀμφότεροι οὖν ἑκουσίως δυσσεβήσαντες ἐν γνώσει ἁμαρτίας τὸ
ἐπιτίμιον ἔχουσιν.1
Textual Note
Ed. Hussey and Bright 1893 with ref. to Hansen 1995Translation
(36) From these words it is clear that the emperor (Julian)
entertained the notion concerning the divine Scriptures that they are mystical
discourses, containing some abstruse meaning. He is also bothered because all men do not
form the same opinion of them, and inveighs against those Christians who accept the
words in a more literal sense. (37) But it was not necessary (for him) to rail so
vehemently against the simplicity of the multitude; nor on their account to behave so
arrogantly towards the sacred Scriptures; nor to despise and turn away from those things
that others correctly understood, because they all did not understand these things as he
himself wanted (them to). (38) But now, so it seems, he has suffered a disgust similar
to that which affected Porphyry. After he was beaten by some Christians at
Caesarea Palestinae and he could not endure their wrath, out
of bad temper he abandoned Christianity, and out of hatred for those who beat him he
fell to writing blasphemy against the Christians, just as Eusebius Pamphili has
condemned him after dismantling his writings. (39) The emperor (Julian), having been so
contemptuous toward the Christians in the presence of common people, he was inclined to
Porphyry’s blasphemy out of the same disgust. Since they both willingly acted with
impiety, they suffer the consequences in their knowledge of sin.2
Translation Note
Adapted from Zenos 1890 and Périchon and Maraval 2004-2007Works Cited
- 1 Socrates of Constantinople, Ecclesiastical History, According to the Text of Hussey, ed. Robert Hussey and William Bright, 2nd ed. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1893), bk: 3, ch: 23.36-23.39.
- 2 Socrates of Constantinople, Socrates: Church History from A.D. 305-439, in Socrates, Sozomenus: Church Histories., trans. Andrew C Zenos, repr. of American ed., A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Churhc. Second Series 2 (New York: Christian Literature Publishing, 1890), 1–178, p: 93.
Additional Bibliography
- Socrates of Constantinople, Kirchengeschichte, ed. Günther Christian Hansen, Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten Jahrhunderte n.F. 1 (Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1995), bk: 3, ch: 23.36-23.39.
- Socrates of Constantinople, Socrate de Constantinople: Histoire ecclésiastique, trans. Pierre Périchon and Pierre Maraval, 4 vols., Sources chrétiennes 477, 493, 505, 506 (Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 2004), vol: 2, p: 342-345.
How to Cite This Entry
Joseph L. Rife, “Socrates of Constantinople, Church History 3.23.36-3.23.39,” in Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, entry published June 30, 2023, https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/453.
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Bibliography:
Joseph L. Rife, “Socrates of Constantinople, Church History 3.23.36-3.23.39.” In Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, edited by Joseph L. Rife., edited by Joseph L. Rife. Caesarea City and Port Exploration Project, 2023. Entry published June 30, 2023. https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/453.About this Entry
Entry Title: Socrates of Constantinople, Church History 3.23.36-3.23.39
Authorial and Editorial Responsibility:
- Joseph L. Rife, general editor, Vanderbilt University
- Joseph L. Rife, editor, Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia
- David A. Michelson, Daniel L. Schwartz, and William L. Potter, technical editor, “Socrates of Constantinople, Church History 3.23.36-3.23.39”
- Joseph L. Rife, entry contributor, “Socrates of Constantinople, Church History 3.23.36-3.23.39”
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- Testimonium edited by Joseph L. Rife
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- Testimonium translated by Joseph L. Rife
- Testimonium transcribed by Joseph L. Rife
- Testimonium identified by Joseph L. Rife
- Editorial review by Joseph L. Rife
- Testimonium edited by Joseph L. Rife
- TEI record created by Joseph L. Rife
- Testimonium translated by Joseph L. Rife
- Testimonium transcribed by Joseph L. Rife
- Testimonium identified by Joseph L. Rife
- Editorial review by Joseph L. Rife