Socrates of Constantinople, Church History 1.8.34-1.8.40

https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/473

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. In this famous passage, Socrates describes the difficult position of Eusebius bishop of Caesarea at the Council of Nicaea in the summer of 325 C.E., where he was slow to accept the principle of consubstantiality. In June of 325, Eusebius wrote a long letter of explanation to his congregation at Caesarea, which Socrates quotes in full (Church History 1.8.35-1.8.54). In the first section of the letter, Eusebius aims to give his people an accurate account of the two versions of the Nicene Creed and quotes the first, which received Constantine’s approval.

Text

(34) … Ἔστι δὲ αὐτὰ τοῦ Εὐσεβίου τὰ γραφέντα κατὰ λέξιν τάδε·(35) “Τὰ περὶ τῆς ἐκκλησιαστικῆς πίστεως πραγματευθέντα κατὰ τὴν μεγάλην σύνοδον τὴν ἐν Νικαίᾳ συγκροτηθεῖσαν εἰκὸς μὲν καὶ ὑμᾶς, ἀγαπητοί, καὶ ἄλλοθεν μεμαθηκέναι, τῆς φήμης προτρέχειν εἰωθυίας τὸν περὶ τῶν πραττομένων ἀκριβῆ λόγον. (36) Ἀλλ’ ἵνα μὴ ἐκ μόνης τοιαύτης ἀκοῆς τὰ τῆς ἀληθείας ἑτεροίως ὑμῖν ἀπαγγέλληται, ἀναγκαίως διεπεμψάμεθα ὑμῖν πρῶτον μὲν τὴν ὑφ’ ἡμῶν προτεθεῖσαν περὶ τῆς πίστεως γραφὴν, ἔπειτα τὴν δευτέραν, ἣν ταῖς ἡμετέραις φωναῖς προσθήκας ἐπιβαλόντες ἐκδεδώκασιν. (37) Τὸ μὲν οὖν παρ’ ἡμῶν γράμμα, ἐπὶ παρουσίᾳ τοῦ θεοφιλεστάτου ἡμῶν βασιλέως ἀναγνωσθὲν εὖ τε ἔχειν καὶ δοκίμως ἀποφανθέν, τοῦτον ἔχει τὸν τρόπον·Καθὼς παρελάβομεν παρὰ τῶν πρὸ ἡμῶν ἐπισκόπων καὶ ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ κατηχήσει καὶ ὅτε τὸ λουτρὸν ἐλαμβάνομεν, καὶ καθὼς ἀπὸ τῶν θείων γραφῶν μεμαθήκαμεν, καὶ ὡς ἐν τῷ πρεσβυτερίῳ καὶ ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ ἐπισκοπῇ ἐπιστεύομέν τε καὶ ἐδιδάσκομεν, οὕτως καὶ νῦν πιστεύοντες τὴν ἡμετέραν πίστιν ὑμῖν προσαναφέρομεν. (38) Ἔστιν δὲ αὕτη· ‘πιστεύομεν εἰς ἕνα Θεὸν πατέρα παντοκράτορα, τὸν τῶν ἁπάντων ὁρατῶν τε καὶ ἀοράτων ποιητήν, καὶ εἰς ἕνα κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ λόγον, θεὸν ἐκ θεοῦ, φῶς ἐκ φωτός, ζωὴν ἐκ ζωῆς, υἱὸν μονογενῆ, ‘πρωτότοκον πάσης κτίσεως,᾽ πρὸ πάντων τῶν αἰώνων ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς γεγεννημένον· ‘δι’ οὗ καὶ ἐγένετο τὰ πάντα,’ τὸν διὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν σωτηρίαν σαρκωθέντα καὶ ἐν ἀνθρώποις πολιτευσάμενον καὶ παθόντα καὶ ἀναστάντα τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ καὶ ἀνελθόντα πρὸς τὸν πατέρα καὶ ἥξοντα πάλιν ἐν δόξῃ κρῖναι ζῶντας καὶ νεκρούς. (39) Πιστεύομεν καὶ εἰς ἓν πνεῦμα ἅγιον, τούτων ἕκαστον εἶναι καὶ ὑπάρχειν πιστεύοντες, πατέρα ἀληθῶς πατέρα καὶ υἱὸν ἀληθῶς υἱὸν καὶ πνεῦμα ἅγιον ἀληθῶς πνεῦμα ἅγιον, καθὼς καὶ ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν ἀποστέλλων εἰς τὸ κήρυγμα τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ μαθητὰς εἶπεν· ‘πορευθέντες μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, βαπτίζοντες αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος.’ (40) Περὶ ὧν καὶ διαβεβαιούμεθα οὕτως ἔχειν καὶ οὕτως φρονεῖν καὶ πάλαι οὕτως ἐσχηκέναι καὶ μέχρι θανάτου ὑπὲρ ταύτης ἐνίστασθαι τῆς πίστεως, ἀναθεματίζοντες πᾶσαν ἄθεον αἵρεσιν. Ταῦτα ἀπὸ καρδίας καὶ ψυχῆς πάντα πεφρονηκέναι, ἐξ οὗπερ ἴσμεν ἑαυτούς, καὶ νῦν φρονεῖν τε καὶ λέγειν ἐξ ἀληθείας ἐπὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ παντοκράτορος καὶ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ μαρτυρόμεθα, δεικνύναι ἔχοντες δι’ ἀποδείξεων καὶ πείθειν ὑμᾶς, ὅτι καὶ τοὺς παρεληλυθότας χρόνους οὕτως ἐπιστεύομέν τε καὶ ἐκηρύσσομεν ὁμοίως.1

Textual Note

Ed. Hussey and Bright 1893 with ref. to Hansen 1995

Translation

(34) … Eusebius wrote the following things on the word (consubstantial [ὁμοούσιος]):(35) “O Beloved, you have probably learned about the transactions of the great council convened at Nicaea on the subject of the faith of the Church from another source, seeing as how rumor usually outruns the true account of what has taken place. (36) But lest from such a report alone you might form an incorrect estimate of the matter, we have deemed it necessary to send you first the text we proposed concerning the faith, and then second the text which they published after inserting additions in our own words. (37) The text from us, which was read in the presence of our most-loved-by-God emperor [Constantine] and declared to be excellent, went like this: ‘Just as we received it from the bishops before us and in our first catachesis and when we received baptism, and just as we have learned from the Holy Scriptures, and as we have believed and taught in the priesthood and even in the episcopate, so also now we believe and pronounce to you our faith. It is this:(38) ‘We believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible, and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God, God from God, Light from Light, Life from Life, the only-begotten Son, ‘first-born of all creation,’ born of the Father before all ages, ‘by whom also all things were made’; who for our salvation became incarnate, and lived among men, and suffered, and rose again on the third day, and ascended to the Father, and shall come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. (39) We believe also in one Holy Spirit. We believe that each of these exists and subsists: that the Father is truly Father, the Son truly Son, and the Holy Spirit truly Holy Spirit, just as also our Lord, when sending forth his disciples to preach the Gospel, said, ‘Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.’ (40) Concerning these points we have also confirmed that so we are and so we think, that we were so long ago, and that until death we will stand to defend this faith, anathematizing every godless heresy. That we have thought these things from our heart and soul ever since we knew ourselves, and that we think (them) today and speak truthfully, we testify in the presence of God the Almighty and of our Lord Jesus Christ. We can prove with evidence and persuade you that also in time gone by we have believed so and likewise preached.”2

Translation Note

Adapted from Zenos 1890 and Périchon and Maraval 2004-2007

Discussion Note

Eusebius (§§38-39) directly quotes “first-born of all creation,” “by whom also all things were made,” and “Go and teach…” from Colossians 1:15, John 1:13, and Matthew 28:19, while “will come in glory to judge the living and the dead” echoes 2 Timothy 4:1.

Works 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: 1, ch: 8.34-8.40.
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: 10-11.

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: 1, ch: 8.34-8.40.
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: 1, p: 102-107.

How to Cite This Entry

Joseph L. Rife, “Socrates of Constantinople, Church History 1.8.34-1.8.40,” in Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, entry published June 30, 2023, https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/473.

Bibliography:

Joseph L. Rife, “Socrates of Constantinople, Church History 1.8.34-1.8.40.” 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/473.

About this Entry

Entry Title: Socrates of Constantinople, Church History 1.8.34-1.8.40

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 1.8.34-1.8.40”
Joseph L. Rife, entry contributor, “Socrates of Constantinople, Church History 1.8.34-1.8.40”

Additional Credit:

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
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

Show full citation information...