8.1.1
Ι. Ὅσης μὲν καὶ ὁποίας πρὸ τοῦ καθ’ ἡμᾶς διωγμοῦ δόξης ὁμοῦ καὶ παρρησίας ὁ διὰ Χριστοῦ τῷ βίῳ κατηγγελμένος τῆς εἰς τὸν τῶν ὅλων θεὸν εὐσεβείας λόγος παρὰ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις, τε καὶ βαρβάροις, ἠξίωτο, μεῖξον ἢ καθ’ ἡμᾶς ἐπαξίως διηγήσασθαι· τεκμήρια δ’ ἂν γένοιτο τῶν κρατούντων αἱ περὶ τοὺς ἡμετέρους δεξιώσεις, οἷς καὶ τὰς τῶν ἐθνῶν ἐνεχείριζον ἡγεμονίας, τῆς περὶ τὸ θύειν ἀγωνίας κατὰ πολλὴν ἢν ἀπέσῳζον περὶ τὸ δόγμα φιλίαν αὐτοὺς ἀπαλλάττοντες . τί δεῖ περὶ τῶν κατὰ τοὺς βασιλικοὺς λέγειν οἴκους καὶ τῶν ἐπὶ πᾶσιν ἀρχόντων; οἳ τοῖς οἰκείοις εἰς πρόσωπον ἐπὶ τῷ θείῳ παρρησιαζομένοις λόγῳ τε καὶ βίῳ συνεχώρουν, γαμεταῖς καὶ παισὶ καὶ οἰκέταις, μόνον οὐχὶ καὶ ἐγκαυχᾶσθαι ἐπὶ τῇ παρρησίᾳ τῆς πίστεως ἐπιτρέποντες· οὓς ἐξόχως καὶ μᾶλλον τῶν συνθεραπόντων ἀποδεκτοὺς ἡγοῦντο οἷος ἐκεῖνος ἢν Δωρόθεος, πάντων αὐτοῖς εὐνούστατός τε καὶ πιστότατος καὶ τούτων ἕνεκα διαφερόντως παρὰ τοὺς ἐν ἀρχαῖς καὶ ἡγεμονίαις ἐντιμότατος, ὅ τε σὺν αὐτῷ περιβόητος Γοργόνιος καὶ ὅσοι τῆς αὐτῆς ὁμοίως τούτοις ἠξίωντο διὰ τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον τιμῆς· οἵας τε καὶ τοὺς καθ’ ἑκάστην ἐκκλησίαν ἄρχοντας παρὰ πᾶσιν ἐπιτρόποις καὶ ἡγεμόσιν ἀποδοχῆς ἦν ὁρᾶν ἐξιουμένους. πῶς δ’ ἂν τις διαγράψειεν τὰς μυριάνδρους ἐκείνας ἐπισυναγωγὰς καὶ τὰ πλήθη τῶν κατὰ πᾶσαν πόλιν ἀθροισμάτων τάς τε ἐπισήμους ἐν τοῖς προσευκτηρίοις συνδρομάς ; ὧν δὴ ἕνεκα μηδαμῶς ἔτι τοῖς πάλαι οἰκοδομήμασιν ἀρκούμενοι, εὐρείας εἰς πλάτος ἀνὰ πάσας τὰς πόλεις ἐκ θεμελίων ἀνίστων ἐκκλησίας. ταῦτα δὲ τοῖς χρόνοις προιόντα ὁσημέραι τε εἰς αὔξην καὶ μέγεθος ἐπιδιδόντα οὐδεὶς ἀνεῖργεν φθόνος οὐδέ τις δαίμων πονηρὸς οἷός τε ἢν βασκαίνειν οὐδ’ ἀνθρώπων ἐπιβουλαῖς κωλύειν, ἐς δάον ἢ θεία καὶ οὐράνιος χεὶρ ἔσκεπέν τε καὶ ἐφρούρει, οἷα δὴ ἄξιον ὄντα, τὸν ἑαυτῆς λαόν.
AI English cleanup, gpt-5.4-mini, 2026-05-27
I. It is beyond our powers to describe in a worthy manner the measure and nature of that honour as well as freedom which was accorded by all men, both Greeks and barbarians, before the persecution in our day, to that word of piety toward the God of the universe which had been proclaimed through Christ to the world. Yet proofs might be forthcoming in the favours granted by the rulers to our people: to whom they would even entrust the government of the provinces, freeing them from agony of mind as regards sacrificing, because of the great friendliness that they used to entertain for their doctrine. Why need one speak of those in the imperial palaces and of the supreme rulers, who allowed the members of their households — wives, children and servants — to practise openly to their face the divine word and conduct, and — one might say — permitted them even to boast of the freedom accorded to the faith? And these they used to regard with especial esteem and more favourably than their fellow-servants. Such a one was the famous Dorotheus, who surpassed all in his devotion and faithfulness to them, and for this reason was more highly honoured than men who held positions as rulers or governors. With him was the celebrated Gorgonius and all those who, like them, had been deemed worthy of the same honour because of the word of God. With what favour one might note that the rulers in every church were honoured by all procurators and governors! And how could one fully describe those assemblies thronged with countless men, and the multitudes that gathered together in every city, and the famed concourses in the places of prayer; by reason of which they were no longer satisfied with the buildings of olden time, and would erect from the foundations churches of spacious dimensions throughout all the cities? And as these things went forward with the times, and day by day increasingly grew mightier, no envy could stop them, nor was any evil spirit able to cast its spell or hinder them by human devices, so long as the divine and heavenly hand was sheltering and guarding, as a worthy object, its own people.
8.1.2
Ὡς δ’ ἐκ τῆς ἐπὶ πλέον ἐλευθερίας ἐπὶ χαυνότητα καὶ νωθρίαν τὰ καθ’ ἡμᾶς μετηλλάττετο, ἄλλων ἄλλοις διαφθονουμένων καὶ διαλοιδορουμένων καὶ μόνον οὐχὶ ἡμῶν αὐτῶν ἑαυτοῖς προσπολεμούντων ὅπλοις, εἰ οὕτω τύχοι, καὶ δόρασιν τοῖς διὰ λόγων ἀρχόντων τε ἄρχουσι προσρηγνύντων καὶ λαῶν ἐπὶ λαοὺς καταστασιαζόντων τῆς τε ὑποκρίσεως ἀφάτου καὶ τῆς εἰρωνείας ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ὅσον κακίας προιούσης, ἡ μὲν δὴ θεία κρίσις, οἷα φίλον αὐτῇ, πεφεισμένως, τῶν ἀθροισμάτων ἔτι συγκροτουμένων, μένων, ἠρέμα καὶ μετρίως τὴν αὐτῆς ἐπισκοπὴν ἀνεκίνει, ἐκ τῶν ἐν στρατείαις ἀδελφῶν καταρχομένου τοῦ διωγμοῦ· ὡς δ᾿ ἀνεπαισθήτως ἔχοντες οὐχ ὅπως εὐμενὲς καὶ ἵλεω καταστήσεσθαι τὸ θεῖον προυθυμούμεθα, οἷα δέ τινες ἄθεοι ἀφρόντιστα τιστα καὶ ἀνεπίσκοπα τὰ καθ᾿ ἡμᾶς ἡγούμενοι ἄλλας ἐπ᾿ ἄλλαις προσετίθεμεν κακίας οἵ τε δοκουντες ἡμῶν ποιμένες τὸν τῆς θεοσεβείας θεσμὸν παρωσάμενοι ταῖς πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἀνεφλέγοντο φιλονεικίαις, αὐτὰ δὴ ταῦτα μόνα, τὰς ἔριδας καὶ τὰς ἀπειλὰς τόν τε ζῆλον καὶ τὸ πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἔχθος τε καὶ μῖσος ἐπαύξοντες οἷά τε τυραννίδας τὰς φιλαρχίας ἐκθύμως διεκδικοῦντες, τότε δή, τότε κατὰ τὴν φάσκουσαν τοῦ Ἱερεμίου φωνὴν ἐγνόφωσεν ἐν ὀργῇ αὐτοῦ κύριος τὴν θυγατέρα Σιὼν καὶ κατέρριψεν ἐξ οὐράνου δόξασμα Ἰσραὴλ οὐκ ἐμνήσθη τε ὑποποδίου ποδῶν αὐτοῦ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ὀργῆς αὐτοῦ· ἀλλὰ καὶ κατεπόντισεν κύριος πάντα τὰ ὡραῖα Ἰσραὴλ καὶ καθεῖλεν πάντας τοὺς φραγμοὺς αὐτοῦ, κατά τε τὰ ἐν Ψαλμοῖς προαὐτοῦ θεσπισθέντα κατέστρεφεν τὴν διαθήκην τοῦ δούλου καὶ ἐβεβήλωσεν εἰς γῆν διὰ τῆς τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν τὸ ἁγίασμα αὐτοῦ καὶ καθεῖλεν πάντας τοὺς φραγμοὺς αὐτοῦ, ἔθετο τὰ ὀχυρώματα αὐτοῦ δειλίαν· διήρπασάν τε τὰ πλήθη τοῦ λαοῦ πάντες οἱ διοδεύοντες ὁδόν, καὶ δὴ ἐπὶ τούτοις ὄνειδος ἐγενήθη τοῖς γείτοσιν αὐτοῦ. ὕψωσεν γὰρ τὴν δεξιὰν τῶν ἐχθρῶν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀπέστρεφεν τὴν βοήθειαν τῆς ῥομφαίας αὐτοῦ καὶ οὐκ ἀντελάβετο αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ· ἀλλὰ καὶ κατέλυσεν ἀπὸ καθαρισμοῦ αὐτὸν καὶ τὸν θρόνον αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν γῆν κατέρραξεν ἐσμίκρυνέν τε τὰς ἡμέρας τοῦ χρόνου αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσιν κατέχεεν αὐτοῦ αἰσχύνην.
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But when, as the result of greater freedom, a change to pride and sloth came over our affairs, we fell to envy and fierce railing against one another, warring upon ourselves, so to speak, as occasion offered, with weapons and spears formed of words; and rulers attacked rulers and laity formed factions against laity, while unspeakable hypocrisy and pretence pursued their evil course to the furthest end: until the divine judgment, with a sparing hand, as is its wont (for the assemblies were still crowded), quietly and moderately began to exercise its oversight, the persecution commencing with the brethren in the army. But when, in our blindness, we took not the least care to secure the goodwill and favour of the Deity, but, like some kind of atheists, regarded our affairs as escaped all heed and oversight, we went on adding one wickedness to another; and those accounted our pastors, casting aside the sanctions of the fear of God, were enflamed with mutual contentions, and did nothing else but add to strifes and threats, the jealousy, enmity and hatred that they used one to another, claiming with all vehemence the objects of their ambition as if they were a despot's spoils; then indeed, then according to the word spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord hath darkened the daughter of Zion in his anger, and hath cast down from heaven the glory of Israel; he hath not remembered his footstool in the day of his anger; but the Lord hath also swallowed up all the beauty of Israel and hath broken down all his hedges. And according to what has been foretold in the Psalms, he hath overthrown the covenant of his servant and profaned to the ground, through the destruction of the churches, his sanctuary and hath broken down all his hedges, he hath made his strongholds cowardice. All that pass by the way have spoiled the multitudes of the people, yea more, he hath become a reproach to his neighbours. For he hath exalted the right hand of his adversaries, hath turned back the help of his sword and hath not taken his part in the battle. But he hath also made his purification to cease, and hath cast his throne down to the ground, and hath shortened the days of his time and, last of all, he hath covered him with shame.