Eusebius Book 2, Section 1

2.1.1

Ι. Πρῶτος τοιγαροῦν εἰς τὴν ἀποστολὴν ἀντὶ τοῦ προδότου Ἰούδα κληροῦται Ματθίας, εἷς καὶ αὐτός, ὡς δεδήλωται, τῶν τοῦ κυρίου γενόμενος μαθητῶν. καθίστανται δὲ δι’ εὐχῆς καὶ χειρῶν ἐπιθέσεως τῶν ἀποστόλων εἰς διακονίαν ἕνεκα τοῦ κοινοῦ ἄνδρες δεδοκιμασμένοι, τὸν ἀριθμὸν ἑπτά, οἱ ἀμφὶ τὸν Στέφανον. ὃς καὶ πρῶτος μετὰ τὸν κύριον ἅμα τῇ χειροτονίᾳ, ὥσπερ εἰς αὐτὸ τοῦτο προαχθείς, λίθοις εἰς θάνατον πρὸς τῶν κυριοκτόνων βάλλεται, καὶ ταύτῃ πρῷ· τος τὸν αὐτῷ φερώνυμον τῶν ἀξιονίκων τοῦ Χριστοῦ μαρτύρων ἀποφέρεται στέφανον.

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I. Matthias was the first to be chosen to the Apostolate instead of the traitor Judas. As has been shown, he had himself been one of the Lord's disciples. For the administration of the common fund, tried men, seven in number, by Stephen, were appointed to the ministry by prayer and the laying on of the Apostles' hands. And Stephen was first after his Lord not only in ordination, but, as though he had been put forward for this very purpose, also in that he was stoned to death by the Lord's murderers, and so was the first to carry off the crown, implied by his name, which was gained by the martyrs of Christ found worthy of victory.

2.1.2

Τότε δῆτα καὶ Ἰάκωβον, τὸν τοῦ κυρίου λελόμενον ἀδελφόν, ὅτι δὴ καὶ οὗτος τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ ἐνόμαστο παῖς, τοῦ δὲ χριστοῦ πατὴρ ὁ Ἰωαήφ, ᾧ μνηστευθεῖσα ἡ παρθένος, πρὶν ἢ συνελθεῖν αὐτούς, εὑρέθη ἐν γαστρὶ ἔχουσα ἐκ πνεύματος ἁγίου, ὡς ἡ ἱερὰ τῶν εὐαγγελίων διδάσκει γραφή· τοῦτον δὴ οὖν αὐτὸν Ἰάκωβον, ὃν καὶ δίκαιον ἐπίκλην οἱ πάλαι δι’ ἀρετῆς ἐκάλουν προτερήματα, πρῶτον ἱστοροῦσιν τῆς ἐν ἐγχειρισθῆναι ἐκκλησίας τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς ἐγχειρισθῆναι θρόνον· Κλήμης ἐν ἕκτῳ τῶν Ὑποτυπώσεων γράφων ὧδε παρίστησιν “ Πέτρον γάρ φηαιν καὶ Ἰάκωβον καὶ Ἰωάννην μετὰ τὴν ἀνάληψιν τοῦ σωτῆρος, ὡς ἂν καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ σωτῆρος προτετιμημένους, μὴ ἐπιδικάζεσθαι δόξης, ἀλλὰ Ἰάκωβον τὸν δίκαιον ἐπίσκοπον τῶν Ἱεροσολύμων ἐλέσθαι.” ὁ δ’ αὐτὸς ἐν ἑβδόμῳ τῆς αὐτῆς ὑποθέσεως ἔτι καὶ ταῦτα περὶ αὐτοῦ φηαιν ἴ’ Ἰακώβῳ τῷ δικαίῳ καὶ Ἰωάννη καὶ Πέτρῳ μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν παρέδωκεν τὴν γνῶσιν ὁ κύριος, οὗτοι τοῖς λοιποῖς ἀποστόλοις παρέδωκαν, οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ ἀπόστολοι τοῖς ἑβδομήκοντα· ὧν εἷς ἢν καὶ Βαρνάβας. δύο δὲ γεγόνασιν Ἰάκωβοι, εἷς ὁ δίκαιος, ὁ κατὰ τοῦ πτερυγίου βληθεὶς καὶ ὑπὸ γναφέως ξύλῳ πληγεὶς εἰς θάνατον, ἕτερος δὲ ὁ καρατομηθείς.”

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At that same time also James, who was called the brother of the Lord, inasmuch as the latter too was styled the child of Joseph, and Joseph was called the father of Christ, for the Virgin was betrothed to him when, before they came together, she was discovered to have conceived by the Holy Spirit, as the sacred writing of the Gospels teaches—this same James, to whom the men of old had also given the surname of Just for his excellence of virtue, is said to have been the first elected to the throne of the bishopric of the Church in Jerusalem. Clement, in the sixth book of the Hypotyposes, adduces the following: “Peter,” he says, “and James and John, after the Ascension of the Saviour, did not struggle for glory, because they had previously been given honour by the Saviour, but chose James the Just as bishop of Jerusalem.” The same writer in the seventh book of the same work says in addition this about him: “After the Resurrection the Lord gave the tradition of knowledge to James the Just and John and Peter; these gave it to the other Apostles, and the other Apostles to the seventy, of whom Barnabas also was one. Now there were two Jameses, one James the Just, who was thrown down from the pinnacle of the temple and beaten to death with a fuller's club, and the other he who was beheaded.”

2.1.3

Αὐτοῦ δὴ τοῦ δικαίου καὶ ὁ Παῦλος μνημονεύει γράφων “ἕτερον δὲ τῶν ἀποστόλων οὐκ εἶδον, εἰ μὴ Ἰάκωβον τὸν ἀδελφὸν τοῦ κυρίου.”

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At this time too the terms of our Saviour’s promise to the king of the Osrhoenians were receiving fulfilment. Thomas was divinely moved to send Thaddaeus to Edessa as herald and evangelist of the teaching concerning Christ, as we have shown just previously from the writing preserved there. When he reached the place Thaddaeus healed Abgar by the word of Christ, and amazed all the inhabitants by his strange miracles. By the mighty influence of his deeds he brought them to reverence the power of Christ, and made them disciples of the saving teaching. From that day to this the whole city of the Edessenes has been dedicated to the name of Christ, thus displaying no common proof of the beneficence of our Saviour to them. Let this suffice from the history of the ancients and let us pass again to the divine Scripture.

2.1.4

Ἐν τούτοις καὶ τὰ τῆς τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν πρὸς τὸν τῶν Ὀσροηνῶν βασιλέα τέλος ἐλάμβανεν ὑποαχέαεως. ὁ γοῦν Θωμᾶς τὸν Θαδδαῖον κινήσει θειοτέρᾳ ἐπὶ τὰ Ἔδεσαα κήρυκα καὶ εὐαγγελιστὴν τῆς περὶ τοῦ λτριστοῦ διδασκαλίας ἐκπέμπει, ὡς ἀπὸ τῆς εὑρεθείσης αὐτόθι γραφῆς μικρῷ πρόσθεν ἐδηλώααμεν· ὁ δὲ τοῖς τόποις ἐπιστάς, τόν τε Ἄβγαρον ἰᾶται τῷ χριατοῦ λόγῳ καὶ τοὺς αὐτόθι πάντας τοῖς τῶν θαυμάτων παραδόξοις ἐκπλήττει, ἱκανῶς τε αὐτοὺς τοῖς ἔργοις διαθεὶς καὶ ἐπὶ αέβας ἀγαγὼν τῆς τοῦ χριατοῦ δυνάμεως, μαθητὰς τῆς σωτηρίου διδασκαλίας κατεστήαατο, εἰς ἔτι τε νῦν ἐξ ἐκείνου ἢ πᾶσα τῶν Ἐδεααηνῶν πόλις τῇ Χριατοῦ προσανάκειται προσηγορίᾳ, οὐ τὸ τυχὸν ἐπιφερομένη δεῖγμα τῆς τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν καὶ εἰς αὐτοὺς εὐεργεσίας. καὶ ταῦτα δ᾿ ὡς ἐξ ἀρχαίων ἱστορίας εἰρήαθω· μετίωμεν δ᾿ αὖθις ἐπὶ τὴν θείαν γραφήν.

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On the martyrdom of Stephen there arose the first and greatest persecution of the Church in Jerusalem by the Jews. All the disciples, with the single exception of the Twelve, were scattered throughout Judaea and Samaria; some, as the divine scripture says, traversed as far as Phoenice, Cyprus, and Antioch, but they were not yet in a position to venture to transmit the word of faith to Gentiles, and announced it only to Jews. At that time Paul also was still ravaging the Church, entering into the houses of the faithful, dragging out men and women, and handing them over to prison. Philip, however, one of those who with Stephen had been already ordained to the diaconate, was among those who were scattered abroad, and went down to Samaria, where, filled with divine power, he was the first to preach the word to those there. So great was the grace of God, which worked with him, that even Simon Magus, with countless others, was captivated by his words. At that time Simon had obtained such fame by his magical power over his victims that he was held to be the Great Power of God; but even he was then so overwhelmed by the marvels wrought by Philip by divine power, that he submitted, and feigned faith in Christ even to the point of baptism. It is worthy of wonder that this is still done by those who continue his most unclean heresy to the present day, for following the method of their progenitor they attach themselves to the Church like a pestilential and scurfy disease, and ravage to the utmost all whom they are able to inoculate with the deadly and terrible poison hidden in them. Most of these, however, have already been driven out, as many as have been detected in their wickedness, just as Simon himself, when his real nature was detected by Peter, paid the proper punishment. While the saving word was daily progressing and growing, some providence brought from the land of the Ethiopians an officer of the queen of that land, for the nation, following ancestral customs, is still ruled by a woman. Tradition says that he, who was the first of the Gentiles to receive from Philip by revelation the mysteries of the divine word, and was the first-fruits of the faithful throughout the world, was also the first to return to his native land and preach the Gospel of the knowledge of the God of the universe and the sojourn of our Saviour which gives life to men, so that by him was actually fulfilled the prophecy which says, “Ethiopia shall stretch out her hand to God.” In addition to these Paul, the chosen vessel, neither of men nor through men but through revelation of Jesus Christ himself and God the Father who raised him from the dead, was appointed an Apostle, being vouchsafed this calling by a vision and the heavenly voice of revelation.

2.1.5

Γενομένου δῆτα ἐπὶ τῇ τοῦ Στεφάνου μαρτυρίᾳ πρώτου καὶ μεγίστου πρὸς αὐτῶν Ἰουδαίων κατὰ τῆς ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις ἐκκλησίας διωγμοῦ πάντων τε τῶν μαθητῶν πλὴν ὅτι μόνων τῶν δώδεκα ἀνὰ τὴν Ἰουδαίαν τε καὶ Σαμάρειαν διααπαρέντων , τινὲς, ᾖ φηαιν ἢ θεία γραφή, διελθόντες ἕως Φοινίκης καὶ Κύπρου καὶ᾿ Ἀντιοχείας οὔπω μὲν ἔθνεσιν οἷοί τε ἦσαν τοῦ τῆς πίστεως μεταδιδόναι λόγου τολμᾶν, μόνοις δὲ τοῦτον Ἰουδαίοις κατήγγελλον. τηνικαῦτα καὶ Παῦλος ἐλυμαίνετο εἰς ἔτι τότε τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, κατ᾿ οἴκους τῶν πιστῶν εἰσπορευόμενος σύρων τε ἄνδρας καὶ γυναῖκας καὶ εἰς φυλακὴν παραδιδούς. ἀλλὰ καὶ Φίλιππος, εἷς τῶν ἅμα Στεφάνῳ προχειριαθέντων εἰς τὴν διακονίαν, ἐν τοῖς διασπαρεῖαιν γενόμενος, κάτειαιν εἰς τὴν Σαμάρειαν, θείας τε ἔμπλεως δυνάμεως κηρύττει πρῶτος τοῖς αὐτόθι τὸν λόγον, τοσαύτη δ’ αὐτῷ θεία συνήργει χάρις, ὡς καὶ Σίμωνα τὸν μάγον μετὰ πλείστων ὅσων τοῖς αὐτοῦ λόγοις ἐλχθῆναι. ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον δ’ ὁ Σίμων βεβοημένος κατ’ ἐκεῖνο καιροῦ τῶν ἠπατημένων ἐκράτει γοητείᾳ, ὡς τὴν μεγάλην αὐτὸν ἡγεῖσθαι εἶναι δύναμιν τοῦ θεοῦ. τότε δ’ οὖν καὶ οὗτος τὰς ὑπὸ τοῦ φιλίππου δυνάμει θείᾳ τελουμένας καταπλαγεὶς παραδοξοποιίας, ὑποδύεται καὶ μέχρι λουτροῦ τὴν εἰς Χριστὸν πίστιν καθυποκρίνεται· ὃ καὶ θαυμάζειν ἄξιον εἰς δεῦρο γινόμενον πρὸς τῶν ἔτι καὶ νῦν τὴν ἀπ’ ἐκείνου μιαρωτάτην μετιόντων αἵρεσιν, οἳ τῇ τοῦ ἁφῶν προπάτορος μεθόδῳ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν λοιμώδους καὶ ψωραλέας νόσου δίκην ὑποδυόμενοι, τὰ μέγιστα λυμαίνονται τοὺς οἷς ἐναπομάξσαθαι οἷοί τε ἂν εἶεν τὸν ἐν αὐτοῖς ἀποκεκρυμμένον δυσαλθῆ καὶ χαλεπὸν ἰόν. ἤδη γέ τοι πλείους τούτων ἀπεώσθησαν, ὁποῖοί τινες εἶεν τὴν μοχθηρίαν ἁλόντες, ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ ὁ Σίμων αὐτὸς πρὸς τοῦ Πέτρου καταφωραθεὶς ὃς ἢν, τὴν προσήκουσαν ἔτισεν τιμωρίαν. ἀλλὰ γὰρ εἰς αὔξην ὁσημέραι προἰ·όντος τοῦ σωτηρίου κηρύγματος, οἰκονομία τις ἦγεν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς τῆς αὐτόθι βσαιλίδος, κατά τι πάτριον ἔθος ὑπὸ γυναικὸς τοῦ ἔθνους εἰς ἔτι νῦν βασιλευομένου, δυνάστην· ὃν πρῶτον ἐξ ἐθνῶν πρὸς τοῦ Φιλίππου δι’ ἐπιφανείας τὰ τοῦ θείου λόγου ὄργια μετασχόντα τῶν τε ἀνὰ τὴν οἰκουμένην πιστῶν ἀπαρχὴν γενόμενον, πρῶτον κατέχει λόγος ἐπὶ τὴν πάτριον παλινοστήσαντα γῆν εὐαγγελίσασθαι τὴν τοῦ τῶν θεοῦ θεοῦ γνῶσιν καὶ τὴν εἰς ἀνθρώπους τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἐπιδημίαν, ἔργῳ πληρωθείσης δι’ αὐτοῦ τῆς ἐπιδημίαν, προφθάσει χεῖρα αὐτῆς τῷ θεῷ ’’ περιεχούσης προφητείας. ἐπὶ τούτοις Παῦλος, τὸ τῆς ἐκλογῆς σκεῦος, οὐκ ἐξ ἀνθρώπων οὐδὲ δι’ ἀνθρώπων, δι’ ἀπολαλύψεως δ’ αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦ χριστοῦ καὶ θεοῦ πατρὸς τοῦ ἐγείραντος αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν, ἀπόστολος ἀναδείκνυται, δι’ ὀπτασίας καὶ τῆς κατὰ τὴν ἀπολάλυψιν οὐρανίου φωνῆς ἀξιωθεὶς τῆς κλήσεως.

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