Eusebius Book 4, Section 22

Passages / Book 4 / Section 22

4.22.1

XXII. Ὁ μὲν οὗν ‘ Ηγήσιππος ἐν πέντε τοῖς εἰς ἡμᾶς ἐΛθοῦσιν ὑπομνήμασν τῆς ἰδίας γνώμης τληρεστάτην μνήμην καταλέλοιπεν· ἐν οἷς δηλοῖ ὡς πέὀστπος ἐπισκόποις συμμίξειεν ἀποδημίαν στειλάμενος μέχρι Ῥώμης, καὶ ὡς ὅτι τὴν αὐτὴν παρὰ πάντων παρείληφεν διδασκαλίαν. ἀκοῦσαί γέ τοι πάρεστιν μετά τινα περὶ τῆς Κλήμεντο πρὸς Κορινθίους ἐπιστολῆς αὐτῷ εἰρημένα ἐπιλέγοντος ταῦτα · “ καὶ ἐπέμενεν ἡ ἐκκΛησία ἡ Κορινθίων ἐν τῷ ὀρθῷ λόγῳ μέχρι Πρίμου ἐπισκοπεύοντος ἐν Κορίνθῳ· οἷς συνέμιξα πλέων εἰς Ῥώμην καὶ συνδιέτριψα τοῖς Κορινθίοις ἡμέρας ἱκανάς, ἐν αἷς συνανεπάημεν τῷ ὀρθῷ λόγῳ· γενόμενος δὲ ἐν Ῥώμῃ, διαδοχὴν ἐποιησάμην μέχρις ’ Ἀνικήτου · οὗ διάκονος ἢν Ἐλεύθερος, καὶ παρὰ Ἀνικήτου διαδέχεται Σωτῆρ’, μεθ’ ὃν Ἐλεύθερος. ἐν ἑκάστη δὲ διαδοχῇ καὶ ἐν ἑκάστη πόλει οὕτως ἔχει ὡς ὁ νόμος κηρύσσει καὶ οἱ προφῆται καὶ ὁ κύριος.”

AI English cleanup, gpt-5.4-mini, 2026-05-24

XXII. Hegesippus has left a complete record of his own opinion in five treatises which have come down to us. In them he explains how, when travelling as far as Rome, he mingled with many bishops and that he found the same doctrine among them all. But it is well to listen to what he said after some remarks about the epistle of Clement to the Corinthians: “And the church of the Corinthians remained in the true doctrine until Primus was bishop of Corinth, and I conversed with them on my voyage to Rome, and spent some days with the Corinthians during which we were refreshed by the true word. When I was in Rome I recovered the list of the succession until Anicetus, whose deacon was Eleutherus; Soter succeeded Anicetus, and after him came Eleutherus. In each succession and in each city things are as the law, the prophets, and the Lord preach.”

4.22.2

Ὁ δ’ αὐτὸς καὶ τῶν κατ’ αὐτὸν αἰρέσεων τὰς ἀρχὰς ὑποτίθεται διὰ τούτων· “καὶ μετὰ τὸ μαρτυρῆσαι Ἰάκωβον τὸν δίκαιον, ὡς καὶ ὁ κύριος, ἐπὶ τῷ αὐτῷ λόγῳ, πάλιν ὁ ἐκ θείου αὐτοῦ Συμεὼν ὁ τοῦ Κλωπὰ καθίσταται ἐπίσκοπος, ὅν προέθεντο πάντες, ὄντα ἀνεψιὸν τοῦ κυρίου δεύτερον. διὰ τοῦτο ἐκάλουν τὴν ἐκκλησίαν παρθένον, οὔπω γὰρ ἔφθαρτο ἀκοαῖς ματαίαις· ἄρχεται δὲ ὁ Θεβουθις διὰ τὸ μὴ γενέσθαι αὐτὸν ἐπίσκοπον ὑποφθείρειν ἀπὸ τῶν ἑπτὰ αἱρέσεων, ὧν καὶ αὐτὸς ἦν, ἐν τῷ λαῷ, ἀφ’ ὧν Σίμων, ὅθεν Σιμωνιανοί, καὶ Κλείβιος, ὅθεν Κλεοβιηνοί, καὶ Δοσίθεος, ὅθεν Λοσιθιανοί, καὶ Γορθαῖος, ὅθεν Γοραθηνοί, καὶ Μασβωθεοι. ἀπὸ τούτων Μενανδριανισταὶ καὶ Μαρκιανισταὶ καὶ Καρποκρατιανοὶ καὶ Οὐαλεντινιανοὶ καὶ Βασιλειδιανοὶ καὶ Σατορνιλιανοὶ ἕκαστος ἰδίως καὶ ἑτεροίως ἰδίαν δόξαν παρεισηγάγοσαν, ἀπὸ τούτων ψευδόχριστοι, ψευδοπροφῆται, Ψευδα[΄οστολοι, οἵτινες ἐμἐρισαν τὴν ἕνωσιν τῆς ἐκκλησίας Φθοριμαίοις λόγοις κατὰ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ κατὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ.”

AI English cleanup, gpt-5.4-mini, 2026-05-24

The same writer also describes the beginnings of the heresies of his time as follows: “After James the Just had suffered martyrdom for the same reason as the Lord, Symeon, his cousin, the son of Clopas, was appointed bishop, whom they all proposed because he was a second cousin of the Lord. For this cause they called the Church virgin, for it had not yet been corrupted by vain messages; but Thebouthis, because he had not been made bishop, begins to corrupt it from the seven heresies, to which he belonged, among the people. Of these were Simon, whence the Simonians, and Cleobius, whence the Cleobians, and Dositheus, whence the Dosithians, and Gorthaeus, whence the Goratheni, and the Masbothei. From these come the Menandrianists and the Marcianists and the Carpocratians and the Valentinians and the Basilidians and the Saturnilians; each of these puts forward, in its own peculiar way, its own opinion, and from them come the false Christs, false prophets, and false apostles, who destroy the unity of the church by their poisonous doctrine against God and against his Christ.”

4.22.3

Ἔτι δ’ ὁ αὐτὸς καὶ τὰς πάλαι γεγενημένας παρὰ Ἰουδαίοις αἱρίσεις ἱστορεῖ λέγων· “ ἦσαν δὲ γνῶμαι διάφοροι ἐν τῆ περιτομὴ ἐν υἱοῖς Ἰσρανλιτῶν κατὰ τῆς φυλῆς Ἰούδα καὶ τοῦ χριστοῦ αὗται· Ἐσσαῖοι Γαλιλαῖοι Ἡμεροβαπτισταὶ μασβωθεοι Σαμαρεῖται Σαδδουκαῖοι Φαρισαῖοι.”

AI English cleanup, gpt-5.4-mini, 2026-05-24

The same writer also described the sects which once existed among the Jews as follows: “Now there were various opinions among the circumcision, among the children of Israel, against the tribe of Judah and the Messiah, as follows: Essenes, Galileans, Hemerobaptists, Masbothei, Samaritans, Sadducees, and Pharisees.”

4.22.4

Kαὶ ἕτερα δὲ πλεῖστα γράφει, ὧν ἐκ μέρους ἤδη πρότερον ἐμνημονεύσαμεν, οἰκείως τοῖς καιροῖς τὰς ἱστορίας παραθέμενοι, ἔκ τε τοῦ καθ’ Ἑβραίους εὐαγγελίου καὶ τοῦ Συριακοῦ καὶ ἰδίως ἐκ τῆς Ἑβραΐδος διαλέκτου τινὰ τίθησιν, ἐμφαίνων ἐξ Ἑβραίων ἑαυτὸν πεπιστευκύναι, καὶ ἄλλα δὲ ὡς ἐξ Ἰουδαικῆς ἀγράφου παραδόσεως μνημονεύει. οὐ Iren. 4, 20, 3 μόνος δὲ οὗτος, καὶ Εἰρήναιος δὲ καὶ ὁ πᾶς τῶν ἀρχαίων χορὸς πανάρετον Σοφίαν τὰς Σολομῶνος Παροιμίας ἐκάλουν. καὶ περὶ τῶν λεγομένων δὲ ἀποκρύφων διαλαμβάνων , ἐπὶ τῶν αὐτοῦ χρόνων πρός τινων αἱρετικῶν ἀναπεπλάσθαι τινὰ τούτων ἱστορεῖ. ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἐφ’ ἕτερον ἤδη μεταβατέον.

AI English cleanup, gpt-5.4-mini, 2026-05-24

He also wrote much more, from which we have already made some quotations, arranging the narratives chronologically, and he makes extracts from the Gospel according to the Hebrews, and from the Syriac, and particularly from the Hebrew language, showing that he had been converted from among the Hebrews, and he mentions points as coming from the unwritten tradition of the Jews. And not only he but also Irenaeus and the whole company of the ancients called the Proverbs the All-virtuous Wisdom. And in discussing the so-called Apocrypha, he relates that some of them were fabricated by certain heretics in his own time. But we must now pass on to another writer.