Eusebius Book 2, Section 17

2.17.1

XVII. ὃν καὶ λόγος ἔχει κατὰ Κλαύδιον ἐπὶ τῆς ῾Ρώμης εἰς ὁμιλίαν ἐλθεῖν Πέτρῳ, τοῖς ἐκεῖσε τότε κηρύττοντι. καὶ οὐκ ἀπεικὸς ἂν εἴη τοῦτό γε, ἐπεὶ καὶ ὅ φαμεν αὐτὸ σύγγραμμα, εἰς ὕστερον καὶ μετὰ χρόνους αὐτῷ πεπονημένον, σαφῶς τοὺς εἰς ἔτι νῦν καὶ εἰς ἡμᾶς πεφυλαγμένους τῆς ἐκκλησίας περιέχει κανόνας· ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν βίον τῶν παρ’ ἡμῖν ἀσκητῶν ὡς ἔνι μάλιστα ἀκριβέστατα ἱστορῶν, γένοιτ’ ἄν ἔκδηλος οὐκ εἰδὼς μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀποδεχόμενος ἐκθειάζων τε καὶ σεμνύνων τοὺς κατ’ αὐτὸν ἀποστολικοὺς ἄνδρας, ἐξ Ἑβραίων, ὡς ἔοικε, γεγονότας ταύτῃ τε ἰουδαϊκώτερον τῶν παλαιῶν ἔτι τὰ πλεῖατα διατηροῦντας ἐθῶν. πρῶτόν γέ τοι τὸ μηθὲν πέρα τῆς ἀληθείας οἴκοθεν καὶ ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ προαθήσειν οἷς ἱστορήσειν ἔμελλεν, ἀπ’· ιαχυρισάμενος ἐν ᾧ ἐπέγραφεν λόγῳ Περὶ βίου θεωρητικοῦ ἢ ἱκετῶν, θεραπευτὰς αὐτοὺς καὶ τὰς σὺν αὐτοῖς γυναῖκας θεραπευτρίδας ἀποκαλεῖσθαί φησιν, τὰς αἰτίας ἐπειπὼν τῆς τοιᾶσδε προσρήσεως, ἤτοι παρὰ τὸ τὰς φυχὰς τῶν προσιόντων αὐτοῖς τῶν ἀπὸ κακίας παθῶν ἰατρῶν δίκην ἀπαλλάττοντας ἀκεῖσθαι καὶ θεραπεύειν, ἢ τῆς περὶ τὸ θεῖον καθαρᾶς καὶ εἰλικρινοῦς θεραπείας τε καὶ θρησκείας ἕνεκα. εἴτ’ οὗν ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ ταύτην αὐτοῖς ἐπιτέθειται τὴν προαηγορίαν, οἰκείως ἐπιγραφὰς τῷ τρόπῳ τῶν ἀνδρῶν τοὔνομα, εἴτε καὶ ὄντως τοῦτ’ αὐτοὺς ἐκάλουν κατ’ ἀρχὰς οἱ πρῶτοι, μηδαμῶς τῆς χριστιανῶν πω προσ- ρήαεως ἀνὰ πάντα τόπον ἐπιπεφημισμένης, οὔ τί πω διατείνεσθαι ἀναγκαῖον· ὅμως δ' οὑν ὲν πρώτοις τὴν ἀπόταξιν αὐτοῖς τῆς οὐσίας μαρτυρεῖ, φάσκων ἀρχομένους φιλοσοφεῖν ἐξίστασθαι τοῖς ταξαμένους τῶν ὑπαρχόντων, ἔπειτα πάσαις ἀπο- ταξαμένους ταῖς τοῦ βίου φροντίσιν, ἔξω τειχῶν προελθόντας, ἐν μοναγρίοις καὶ κήποις τὰς δια- τριβὰς ποιεῖαθαι, τὰς ἐκ τῶν ἀνομοίων ἐπιμιξίας ἀλυσιτελεῖς καὶ βλαβερὰς εὖ εἰδότας, τῶν κατ’ ἐκεῖνο καιροῦ τοῦθ’ , ὡς εἰκός, ἐπιτελούντων, ἐκθύμῳ καὶ θερμοτάτη πίστει τὸν προφητικὸν ζηλοῦν ἀσκούντων βίον. καὶ γὰρ οὗν κἀν ταῖς ὁμολογουμέναις τῶν ἀποατόλων Πράξεσιν ἐμ· φέρεται ὅτι δὴ πάντες οἱ τῶν ἀποατόλων γνώριμοι τὰ κτήματα καὶ τὰς ὑπάρξεις διαπιπράσκοντες ἐμέριζον ἅπασιν καθ᾿ ὃ ἄν τις χρείαν εἶχεν, ὡς μηδὲ εἶναί τινα ἐνδεῆ παρ᾿ αὐτοῖς· ὅσοι γοῦν κτήτορες χωρίων ἢ οἰκιῶν ὑπῆρχον, ὡς ὁ λόγος φησίν, πωλοῦντες ἔφερον τὰς τιμὰς τῶν πιπρασκομένων, ἐτίθεσάν τε παρὰ τοὺς πόδας τῶν ἀποστόλων, ὥστε διαδίδοσθαι ἑκάστῳ καθ᾿ ὅτι ἄν τις χρείαν εἶχεν.

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XVII. Tradition says that he came to Rome in the time of Claudius to speak to Peter, who was at that time preaching to those there. This would, indeed, be not improbable, since the treatise to which we refer, composed by him many years later, obviously contains the rules of the Church which are still observed in our own time. Moreover, from his very accurate description of the life of our ascetics it will be plain that he not only knew but welcomed, reverenced, and recognized the divine mission of the apostolic men of his day, who were, it appears, of Hebrew origin, and thus still preserved most of the ancient customs in a strictly Jewish manner. In the first place he promises not to go beyond the truth in any detail or to add anything of his own invention to what he was going to relate in the treatise which he entitled On the Contemplative Life or Suppliants. He then says that they and the women with them were called Therapeutae and Therapeutrides, and enters upon the reason for such a name. It was given either because, like physicians, they relieve from the passions of evil the souls of those who come to them and so cure and heal them, or because of their pure and sincere service and worship of the Divine. Thus it is not necessary to discuss at length whether he gave them this description of himself, naturally adapting the name to their manner of life, or whether the first ones really called themselves this from the beginning, since the title of Christian had not yet become well known everywhere. At any rate he bears witness especially to their abandonment of property, and states that when they begin to follow philosophy they give up their possessions to their relations, and then, having bade farewell to all the cares of life, go outside the walls to make their dwellings in deserts and gardens, for they are well aware that intercourse with those of another way is unprofitable and harmful, and it was the practice at that time, so it seems, of those who were thus initiated to emulate the life of the prophets in zealous and warm faith. For even in the canonical Acts of the Apostles it is related that all the acquaintances of the Apostles sold their goods and possessions and divided them to all according as anyone had need, so that none was in want among them; and as many as were possessors of lands or houses, so the story says, sold them and brought the price of what had been sold and laid it at the feet of the Apostles, so that it might be divided to each according as any had need.

2.17.2

Τὰ παραπλήσια δὲ τούτοις μαρτυρήσας τοῖς δηλουμένοις ὁ Φίλων συλλαβαῖς αὐταῖς ἐπιφέρει λέγων· “ πολλαχοῦ μὲν οὗν τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐστὶν τὸ γένος· ἔδει γὰρ ἀγαθοῦ τελείου μετασχεῖν καὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα καὶ τὴν βάρβαρον· πλεονάζει δ᾿ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ καθ᾿ ἕκαστον τῶν ἐπικαλουμένων νομῶν καὶ μάλιστα περὶ τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρειαν. οἱ δὲ πανταχόθεν ἄριστοι, καθάπερ εἰς πατρίδα θεραπευτῶν, ἀποικίαν στέλλονται πρός τι χωρίον ἐπιτηδειότατον, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ὑπὲρ λίμνης Μαρείας κείμενον ἐπὶ γεωλόφου χθαμαλωτέρου, σφόδρα εὐκαίρως ἀσφαΛείας τε ἕνεκα καὶ ἀέρος εὐκρασίας. ” εἶθ᾿ ἑξῆς τὰς οἰκήσεις αὐτῶν ὁποῖαί τινες ἦσαν διαγραφὰς, περὶ τῶν κατὰ χώραν ἐκκλησιῶν ταῦτά φησιν· “ ἐν ἑκάστη δὲ οἰκίᾳ ἐστὶν οἴκημα ἱερὸν ὃ καλεῖται σεμνεῖον καὶ μοναστήριον, ἐν ᾧ μονούμενοι τὰ τοῦ σεμνοῦ βίου μυστήρια τελοῦνται, μηδὲν εἰσκομίζοντες, μὴ ποτόν, μὴ σιτίον, μηδέ τι τῶν ἄλλων ὅσα πρὸς τὰς τοῦ σώματος χρείας ἀναγκαῖα, ἀλλὰ νόμους καὶ λόγια θεσπισθέντα διὰ προφητῶν καὶ ὕμνους καὶ τἄλλα οἷς ἐπιστήμη καὶ εὐσέβεια συναύξονται καὶ τελειοῦνται.”

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To practices like those which have been related Philo bears witness and continues in the following words: “The race is found in many places in the world, for it was right that both Greece and barbarism should share in perfect good, but it abounds in Egypt in each of the so-called nomes and especially around Alexandria. The noblest from every region send a colony to a district well suited for their purpose, as though it were the land of the Therapeutae. This district is situated above Lake Mareia, on a low hill, very convenient for its safety and the temperateness of the climate.” He then goes on to describe the nature of their dwellings, and says this about the churches in various districts: “In each house there is a sacred dwelling which is called a sanctum and monastery, in which, living alone, they celebrate the mysteries of the sacred life, and bring nothing into it, either drink or food or any of the other things necessary for bodily needs, but law and inspired oracles given by the prophets and hymns and other things by which knowledge and religion are increased and perfected.” And further on he says: The whole period from dawn to eve is for them a religious exercise; they study the sacred scriptures and expound their national philosophy by allegory, for they regard the literal interpretation as symbolic of a concealed reality indicated in what is beneath the surface. They have also some writings of men of old, who were the founders of their sect, who left many memorials of the meaning allegorically expounded, which they use as models and copy their method of treatment.

2.17.3

Καὶ μεθ᾿ ἕτερά φησιν·

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This seems to have been said by a man who had listened to their expositions of the sacred scriptures, and it is perhaps probable that the writings of men of old, which he says were found among them, were the Gospels, the writings of the Apostles, and some expositions of prophets after the manner of the ancients, such as are in the Epistle to the Hebrews and many other of the epistles of Paul. He then goes on to write thus about their composition of new psalms: “So that they not only contemplate but make songs and hymns to God in all kinds of metres and melodies, though they perforce arrange them in the more sacred measures.”

2.17.4

“Τὸ δ᾿ ἐξ ἑωθινοῦ μέχρις ἑσπέρας διάστημα σύμπαν αὐτοῖς ἐατιν ἄσκηαις. ἐντυγχάνοντες τοῖς ἱεροῖς γράμμααιν φιλοαοφοῦαιν τὴν πάτριον φιλοσοφίαν ἀλληγοροῦντες , ἐπειδὴ σύμβολα τὰ τῆς ῥητῆς ἑρμηνείας νομίζουσιν ἀπ’ ὁ κε ἀποκεκρυμμένης φύαεως, ἐν ὑπονοίαις δηλουμένης . ἔστι δ’ αὐτοῖς καὶ συγγράμματα παλαιῶν ἀνδρῶν, οἳ τῆς αὐτῶν ἀρχηγέται γενόμενοι, πολλὰ μνημεῖα τῆς ἐν τοῖς ἀλληγορουμένοις ἰδέας ἀπέλιπον, οἷς καθάπερ τισὶν ἀρχετύποις χρώμενοι μιμοῦνται τῆς προαιρέσεως τὸν τρόπον.”

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He discusses many other points as well in the same book, but it seemed necessary to enumerate those by which the characteristics of the life of the Church are exhibited; but if anyone doubt that what has been said is peculiar to life according to the gospel, and think that it can be applied to others besides those indicated, let him be persuaded by the following words of Philo, in which he will find, if he be fair, indisputable testimony on this point. He writes thus: “Having laid down for the soul continence as a foundation, they build the other virtues on it. None of them would take food or drink before sunset, for they think that philosophy deserves the daylight and the necessities of the body darkness; for this reason they allot the day to the one, and a small part of the night to the others. Some of them neglect food for three days for the great love of knowledge dwelling in them, and some so delight and luxuriate in the banquet of doctrine, so richly and ungrudgingly presided over by wisdom, that they abstain for twice that time, and are accustomed scarcely to taste necessary food every six days.”

2.17.5

Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἔοικεν εἰρῆσθαι τῷ ἀνδρὶ τὰς ἱερὰς ἐξηγουμένων αὐτῶν ἐπακροασαμένῳ γραφάς, τάχα δ’ εἰκός, ἅ φηαιν ἀρχαίων παρ’ αὐτοῖς εἶναι συγγράμματα, εὐαγγέλια καὶ τὰς τῶν γραφὰς διηγήσεις τέ τινας κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς τῶν πάλαι προφητῶν ἑρμηνευτικάς, ὁποίας ἥ τε πρὸς Ἑβραίους καὶ ἄλλαι πλείους τοῦ Παύλου περιέχουσιν ἐπιστολαί, ταῦτ’ εἶναι. εἶτα πάλιν ἑξῆς περὶ τοῦ νέους αὐτοὺς ποιεῖσθαι φαλμοὺς οὕτως γράφει· “ ὥστ' οὐ θεωροῦσι μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ποιοῦσιν ᾄσματα καὶ ὕμνους εἰς τὸν θεὸν παντοίων μέτρων καὶ μελῶν ἀριθμοῖς σεμνοτέροις ἀναγκαίως χαράααοντες.”

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we think that these words of Philo are clear and indisputably refer to our communion. But if after this anyone obstinately deny it let him be converted from his scepticism and be persuaded by clearer indications, which cannot be found among any save only in the worship of Christians according to the Gospel. For Philo says that women belong also to those under discussion, and that most of them are aged virgins who kept their chastity from no compulsion, like some of the priestesses among the Greeks, but rather from voluntary opinion, from zeal and yearning for wisdom, with which they desired to live, and paid no attention to bodily pleasures, longing not for mortal but for immortal children, which only the soul that loves God is capable of bearing of itself. He then proceeds to expound this more clearly. “But the interpretations of the sacred scriptures are given them figuratively in allegories, for the whole law seems to these men to be like a living being; for a body it has the spoken precepts, but for a soul the invisible mind underlying the words; and it is this which this sect has begun especially to contemplate, so that in the mirror of the words it sees manifested surpassing beauty of thought."

2.17.6

Πόλλα μὲν οὖν καὶ ἄλλα περὶ ὧν ὁ λόγος, ἐν ταὐτῷ διέξειαιν, ἐκεῖνα δ’ ἀναγκαῖον ἐφάνη δεῖν ἀναλέξααθαι, δι’ ὧν τὰ χαρακτηριστικὰ τῆς ἐκκλησιαστικῆς ἀγωγῆς ὑποτίθεται. εἰ δέ τῳ μὴ δοκεῖ τὰ εἰρημένα ἴδια εἶναι τῆς κατὰ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον πολιτείας, δύνασθαι δὲ καὶ ἄλλοις παρὰ τοὺς δεδηλωμένους ἁρμόττειν, πειθέσθω κάν ἀπὸ τῶν ἑξῆς αὐτοῦ φωνῶν, ἐν αἷς ἀναμφήριστον, εἰ εὐγνωμονοίη, κομίσεται τὴν περὶ τοῦδε μαρτυρίαν. γράφει γὰρ ὧδε· "ἐγκράτειαν δ’ ὥαπερ τινὰ θεμέλιον προκαταβαλλόμενοι τῆ φυχῆ, τὰς ἄλλας ἐποικοδομοῦσιν ἀρετάς. σιτίον ἢ ποτὸν οὐδεὶς ἂν αὐτῶν προσενέγκαιτο πρὸ ἡλίου δύσεως, ἐπεὶ τὸ μὲν φιλοαοφεῖν ἄξιον φωτὸς κρίνουσιν εἶναι, ακότους δὲ τὰς τοῦ σώματος ἀνάγκας· ὅθεν τῷ μὲν ἡμέραν, ταῖς δὲ νυκτὸς βραχύ τι μέρος ἔνειμαν. ἔνιοι δὲ καὶ διὰ τριῶν ἡμερῶν ὑπομιμνῄσκονται τροφῆς, οἷς πλείων ὁ πόθος ἐπιατήμης ἐνίδρυται, τινὲς δὲ οὕτως ἐνευφραίνονται καὶ τρυφῶαιν ὑπὸ αοφίας ἐστιώμενοι πλουαίως καὶ ἀφθόνως τὰ δόγματα χορηγούσης, ὡς καὶ πρὸς διπλααίονα χρόνον ἀντέχειν καὶ μόγις δι’ ἓξ ἡμερῶν ἀπογεύεαθαι τροφῆς ἀναγκαίας, ἐθιαθέντες.”

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What need is there to add to this a description of their meetings, and of how the men live separately and the women separately in the same place, and of the customary exercises which are still celebrated among us, particularly those which we are accustomed to celebrate at the feast of the Passion of the Saviour by abstinence from food and vigils and attention to the word of God? The writer referred to has given in his own writing a description of this, which exactly agrees with the manner which is still observed by us and by us alone; he relates the vigils for the entire night of the great feast, and the exercises during them, and the hymns which we are accustomed to recite, and how while one sings regularly with cadence, the rest listen in silence and join in singing only the refrain of the hymns, and how on stated days they sleep on the ground on straw, how they completely refrain from wine, as he expressly states, and from all kinds of flesh, drinking only water and using salt and hyssop to season their bread. In addition to this he writes of the order of precedence of those who have been appointed to the service of the Church, both to the diaconate and to the supremacy of the episcopate at the head over all. Anyone who has a love of accurate knowledge of these things can learn from the narrative of the author quoted already, and it is plain to everyone that Philo perceived and described the first heralds of teaching according to the Gospel and the customs handed down from the beginning by the Apostles.

2.17.7

Ταύτας τοῦ Φίλωνος σαφεῖς καὶ ἀναντιρρήτους περὶ τῶν καθ’ ἡμᾶς ὑπάρχειν ἡγούμεθα λέξεις. εἰ δ’ ἐπὶ τούτοις ἀντιλέγων τις ἔτι σκληρύνοιτο, καὶ οὗτος ἀπαλλαττέαθω τῆς δυαπιατίας, ἐναργεστέραις πειθαρχῶν ἀποδείξεσιν , ἃς οὐ παρά τισιν ἢ μόνη τῆ Χριστιανῶν εὑρεῖν ἔνεατιν κατὰ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον θρῃσκείᾳ. φησὶν γὰρ τοῖς περὶ ὧν ὁ λόγος καὶ γυναῖκας αυνεῖναι, ὧν αἱ πλεῖαται γηρα- λέαι παρθένοι τυγχάνουσιν, τὴν ἁγνείαν οὐκ ἀνάγκη, καθάπερ ἔνιαι τῶν παρ’ Ἕλλησιν ἱερειῶν, φυλάξασαι μᾶλλον ἢ καθ’ ἑκούαιον γνώμην, διὰ ζῆλον καὶ πόθον σοφίας, ἧ συμβιοῦν σπουδάσασαι τῶν περὶ τὸ σῶμα ἡδονῶν ἠλόγησαν, οὐ θνητῶν ἐκγόνων, ἀλλ’ ἀθανάτων ὀρεχθεῖααι, ἃ μόνη τίκτειν ἀφ’ ἑαυτῆς οἵα τέ ἐστιν ἡ θεοφιλὴς φυχή. εἶθ’ ὑποκαταβάς, ἐμφαντικώτερον ἐκτίθε- τᾶι ταῦτα· “ αἱ δ’ ἐξηγήαεις τῶν ἱερῶν γραμμάτων γίνονται αὐτοῖς δι’ ὑπονοιῶν ἐν ἀλληγορίαις. ἅπα· ἄα γὰρ ἡ νομοθεαία δοκεῖ τοῖς ἀνδράσι τούτοις ἐοικέναι ζῴῳ καὶ σῶμα μὲν ἔχειν τὰς ῥητὰς δία· φυχὴν δὲ τὸν ἐναποκείμενον ταῖς λέξεαιν ἀόρατον νοῦν, ὃν ἤρξατο διαφερόντως ἡ οἰκία αὕτη θεωρεῖν, ὡς διὰ κατόπτρου τῶν ὀνομάτων κάλλη νοημάτων ἐμφαινόμενα κατ’· ιδοῦαα.”

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2.17.8

Τί δεῖ τούτοις ἐπιλέγειν τὰς ἐπὶ ταὐτὸν αυν· δ’ όδους καὶ τὰς ἴδιᾳ μὲν ἄνδρων, ἴδιᾳ ’δε γυναίκων ἐν ταὐτῷ διατριβὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξ ἔθους ἔτι καὶ νῦν πρὸς ἡμῶν ἐπιτελουμένας ἀακήαεις, ἃς δια- φερούσας κάτα τὴν του σωτηρίου πάθους ἑορτὴν ἐν ἀαιτίαις καὶ διανυκτερεύσεσιν προσοχαῖς τῶν θείων λόγων ἐκτελεῖν εἰώθαμεν, ἅπερ ἐπ’ : ἀκριβέατερον αὐτὸν ὃν καὶ εἰς δεῦρο τετήρηται παρὰ μόνοις ἡμῖν τρόπον ἐπιαημηνάμενος ὁ δηλωθεὶς ἀνὴρ τῇ ἰδίᾳ παρέδωκεν γραφῆ, τὰς τῆς μεγάλης ἑορτῆς παννυχίδας καὶ τὰς ἐν ταύταις ἀσκήαεις τούς τε λέγεσθαι εἰωθότας πρὸς ἡμῶν ὕμνους ἱατορῶν, καὶ ὡς ἑνὸς μετὰ κοσμίως ἐπιφάλλοντος οἱ λοιποὶ καθ’ ἡαυχίαν ἀκροώμενοι τῶν ὕμνων τὰ ἀκροτελεύτια συνεξηχοῦσιν, ὅπως τε κατὰ τὰς δεδηλωμένας ἡμέρας ἐπὶ ατιβάδων χαμευνοῦντες οἴνου μὲν τὸ παρά· πὰν, ὡς αὐτοῖς ῥήμασιν ἀνέγραφεν, οὐδ’ ἀπο- γεύονται, ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ τῶν ἐναίμων τινός, ὕδωρ δὲ μόνον αὐτοῖς ἐστι ποτόν, καὶ προαόφημα μετ’ ἄρτου ἅλες καὶ ὕσσωπον. πρὸς τούτοις γράφει τὸν τῆς προατααίας τρόπον τῶν τὰς ἐκκλησιαστικὰς λειτουργίας ἐγκεχειρισμένων διακονίας τε καὶ τὰς ἐπὶ πᾶσιν ἀνωτάτω τῆς ἐπιακοπῆς πρὸ- ἑδρίας. τούτων δ’ ὅτῳ πόθος ἔνεατι τῆς ἀκρὶ· ἐπιστάσεως , μάθοι ἂν ἐκ τῆς δηλωθείαης τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἱστορίας· ὅτι δὲ τοὺς πρώτους κήρυκας τῆς κατὰ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον διδασκαλίας τά τε αρχῆθεν πρὸς τῶν ἀποατόλων ἔθη παραδεδομένα καταλαβὼν ὁ Φίλων ταῦτ’ ἔγραφεν, παντί τῳ δῆλον.

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