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95-637: The Sächsische Weltchronik ("Saxon World Chronicle") is a universal history written in German prose. It is not clear in which regional form of German the original was written. Of the twenty-four surviving manuscripts, ten are in Low German , nine in High German and five in Central German . These can be divided into three recensions , the earliest dated to 1229 and the latest to 1277. The 98-line verse prologue

190-470: A hadith (tradition, saying) from the book's compiler back to a witness of the event. A philosophical attempt to work out a universal history according to a natural plan directed to achieving the civic union of the human race must be regarded as possible and, indeed, as contributing to this end of Nature According to Hughes-Warrington (2005), John Knox 's 1558 The First Blast of the Trumpet Against

285-520: A device to his soldiers' shields, but unlike Lactantius and subsequent Christian tradition, Eusebius does not date the events to October 312 and does not connect Constantine's vision and dream-vision with the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. Before he compiled his church history, Eusebius edited a collection of martyrdoms of the earlier period and a biography of Pamphilus. The martyrology has not survived as

380-463: A different sort had to be prepared. Lastly, Eusebius wrote eulogies in praise of Constantine. To all this activity must be added numerous writings of a miscellaneous nature, addresses, letters, and the like, and exegetical works that extended over the whole of his life and that include both commentaries and an important treatise on the location of biblical place names and the distances between these cities. Pamphilus and Eusebius occupied themselves with

475-780: A feast day on February 29 according to the official calendar of Saints created by Corbishop Rajan Achen. Eusebius was long venerated in the Roman Catholic Church. Bishop J. B. Lightfoot writes in his entry for St. Eusebius in Henry Wace 's Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature to the End of the Sixth Century AD, with an Account of Principal Sects and Heresies (1911) that "in the Martyrologium Romanum itself he held his place for centuries" and in "Gallican service-books

570-483: A great deal of which Origen knew of firsthand from his extensive travels, from the library and writings of Origen. On his deathbed, Origen had made a bequest of his private library to the Christian community in the city. Together with the books of his patron Ambrosius , Origen's library (including the original manuscripts of his works ) formed the core of the collection that Pamphilus established. Pamphilus also managed

665-592: A history with a definite natural plan for creatures that have no plan of their own. In the 20th century Austrian academic Ernst Gombrich wrote Eine kurze Weltgeschichte für junge Leser (" A short history of the world for young readers ")(1935, pub.1936) in German shortly before fleeing Vienna and settling in Britain. This aimed to be a universal history written using only words and concepts that children could understand. It spans from prehistoric people to World War I. Although it

760-545: A long delay it was translated into English by Gombrich and his assistant as A Little History of the World , updated slightly. ″With the mingling of peoples on our tiny planet, it becomes more and more necessary for us to respect and tolerate each other, not least because technological advances are bringing us closer and closer together.″ Eusebius of Caesarea Eusebius of Caesarea ( c.  AD 260/265  – 30 May AD 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilius ,

855-472: A more limited geographical range as it approaches those times. They usually have a theological component and are often structured around the ideas of the six ages of the world or the four empires from the Book of Daniel . According to Kathleen Biddick (2013), universal histories in Christian medieval Europe are 'those medieval histories which take as their subject the theme of salvation history from creation up to

950-475: A particular topic in order to express his view of what the "world order" should be: what the world Knox lived in ought to be like. An early European project was the Universal History of George Sale and others, written in the mid-18th century. Christian writers as late as Bossuet in his Discours sur l'histoire universelle ( Discourse on Universal History ) were still reflecting on and continuing

1045-464: A phrase often rendered into Latin as " in hoc signo vinces ". In a dream that night "the Christ of God appeared to him with the sign which had appeared in the sky, and urged him to make himself a copy of the sign which had appeared in the sky, and to use this as a protection against the attacks of the enemy." Eusebius relates that this happened "on a campaign he [Constantine] was conducting somewhere". It

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1140-465: A revelatory dream on the eve of battle. Eusebius's work of that time, his Church History , also makes no mention of the vision. The Arch of Constantine, constructed in AD 315, neither depicts a vision nor any Christian insignia in its depiction of the battle. In his posthumous biography of Constantine, Eusebius agrees with Lactantius that Constantine received instructions in a dream to apply a Christian symbol as

1235-405: A school that was similar to (or perhaps a re-establishment of ) that of Origen. He was compared to Demetrius of Phalerum —as well as to another (evidently, learnèd) scholar by the name of "Pisistratus" —for Pamphilus had gathered Bibles "from all parts of the world". Like his model Origen, Pamphilus maintained close contact with his students. Eusebius, in his history of the persecutions, alludes to

1330-576: A synoptical table so that it might be easier to find the pericopes that belong together. These canon tables or "Eusebian canons" remained in use throughout the Middle Ages, and illuminated manuscript versions are important for the study of early medieval art, as they are the most elaborately decorated pages of many Gospel books . Eusebius detailed in Epistula ad Carpianum how to use his canons. The Chronicle ( Παντοδαπὴ Ἱστορία ( Pantodape historia ))

1425-570: A time labored in behalf of the Arian heresy, coming to the council of Nicæa, inspired by the Holy Spirit, followed the decision of the Fathers, and thereafter up to the time of his death lived in a most holy manner in the orthodox faith. Lesson 2 . He was, moreover, very zealous in the study of the sacred Scriptures, and along with Pamphilus the martyr was a most diligent investigator of sacred literature. At

1520-585: A universal calendar of events from the Creation to, again, Eusebius's own time. He completed the first editions of the Ecclesiastical History and Chronicle before 300. Eusebius succeeded Agapius as Bishop of Caesarea soon after 313 and was called on by Arius who had been excommunicated by his bishop Alexander of Alexandria . An episcopal council in Caesarea pronounced Arius blameless. Eusebius enjoyed

1615-400: A universal history because of its comprehensive chronology—from the creation of humankind to the death of Julius Caesar a year before the poet's birth. In Leipzig are preserved five fragments dating to the 2nd century AD and coming from a world chronicle. Its author is unknown, but was perhaps a Christian. Later, universal history provided an influential lens on the rise of Christianity in

1710-415: A whole, but it has been preserved almost completely in parts. It contained: Of the life of Pamphilus, only a fragment survives. A work on the martyrs of Palestine in the time of Diocletian was composed after 311; numerous fragments are scattered in legendaries which have yet to be collected. The life of Constantine was compiled after the death of the emperor and the election of his sons as Augusti (337). It

1805-588: A work ' Quaestiones ad Stephanum et Marinum , On the Differences of the Gospels (including solutions). This was written for the purpose of harmonizing the contradictions in the reports of the different Evangelists. This work was recently (2011) translated into the English language by David J. Miller and Adam C. McCollum and was published under the name Eusebius of Caesarea: Gospel Problems and Solutions . The original work

1900-569: Is always in High German. The Weltchronik is the oldest historical work in German prose. The Kaiserchronik is earlier, but in verse. The Weltchronik of Rudolf von Ems is contemporary, but also verse. Ludwig Weiland, who made a critical edition for the Monumenta Germaniae Historica in 1877, gave it the conventional title by which it is most commonly known. The first edition was prepared by Hans Ferdinand Massmann in 1857, but

1995-511: Is currently a widely accepted hypothesis in historical circles, the central purpose of Gregory's writing is still a topic of hot debate. The first Christian world chronicle was written in Greek around 221CE by Julius Africanus , who has been called "the undisputed father of the tradition". The Chronica of Eusebius of Caesarea ( c.  275 –339) contained in its second book an innovative set of concordance tables ( Chronici canones ) that for

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2090-512: Is divided into two parts. The first part, the Chronography ( Χρονογραφία ( Chronographia )), gives an epitome of universal history from the sources, arranged according to nations. The second part, the Canons ( Χρονικοὶ Κανόνες ( Chronikoi kanones )), furnishes a synchronism of the historical material in parallel columns, the equivalent of a parallel timeline. The work as a whole has been lost in

2185-459: Is good which is according to nature. Every rational soul has naturally a good free-will, formed for the choice of what is good. But when a man acts wrongly, nature is not to be blamed; for what is wrong, takes place not according to nature, but contrary to nature, it being the work of choice, and not of nature. A letter Eusebius is supposed to have written to Constantine 's daughter Constantina , refusing to fulfill her request for images of Christ,

2280-583: Is more a rhetorical eulogy on the emperor than a history but is of great value on account of numerous documents incorporated into it. To the class of apologetic and dogmatic works belong: A number of writings, belonging in this category, have been entirely lost. All of the exegetical works of Eusebius have suffered damage in transmission. The majority of them are known to us only from long portions quoted in Byzantine catena-commentaries. However these portions are very extensive. Extant are: Eusebius also wrote

2375-411: Is shaped by its author's European perspective - for example with emphasis on European colonialism - it attempts to cover global human history, taking one region and era at a time, and includes descriptions of the beliefs of many major world religions. Gombrich was convinced that an intelligent child could understand even seemingly complicated ideas in history, if they were put into intelligible terms. After

2470-431: Is sometimes considered a fragment of a universal history. Graeme Dunphy (2010) described medieval European Christian universal histories as follows: The key features of the Christian world chronicle, which would be valid throughout the Middle Ages, had therefore become firmly established by late antiquity. The chronicle begins with a divine act of creation and reflects a providential view of history throughout: history

2565-620: Is that homoousios came straight from Constantine's Hermetic background. As can be clearly seen in the Poimandres , and even more clearly in an inscription mentioned exclusively in the Theosophia , in the theological language of Egyptian paganism the word homoousios meant that the Nous-Father and the Logos-Son, who are two distinct beings, share the same perfection of the divine nature. However,

2660-496: Is the cause of all beings. But he is not merely a cause; in him everything good is included, from him all life originates, and he is the source of all virtue. God sent Christ into the world that it may partake of the blessings included in the essence of God. Eusebius expressly distinguishes the Son as distinct from Father as a ray is also distinct from its source the sun. Eusebius held that men were sinners by their own free choice and not by

2755-524: Is the story of an active God. History is linear and the chronicle is arranged strictly chronologically. There is a sense of decline and decay as the world becomes older, but also a belief in redemption. Though individual events are not always evaluated, there is an underlying assumption that historical facts teach spiritual truths. The patterns of four empires and six ages can be used — but rarely both together — to divide history up into manageable sections. The medieval universal chronicle thus traces history from

2850-448: Is there any evidence of a normal, well-established Christian use of the term homoousios in its strictly Trinitarian meaning. Having once excluded any relationship of the Nicene homoousios with the Christian tradition, it becomes legitimate to propose a new explanation, based on an analysis of two pagan documents which have so far never been taken into account. The main thesis of this paper

2945-419: Is unclear from Eusebius's description whether the shields were marked with a Christian cross or with a chi-rho , a staurogram , or another similar symbol. The Latin text De mortibus persecutorum contains an early account of the 28 October 312 Battle of the Milvian Bridge written by Lactantius probably in 313, the year following the battle. Lactantius does not mention a vision in the sky but describes

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3040-464: Is worst, deserving of blame and punishment, because he has by his own motion neglected the natural law, and becoming the origin and fountain of wickedness, and misusing himself, not from any extraneous necessity, but from free will and judgment. The fault is in him who chooses, not in God. For God has not made nature or the substance of the soul bad; for he who is good can make nothing but what is good. Everything

3135-510: The Gospel of Matthew ; and many of Origen's own writings. Marginal comments in extant manuscripts note that Pamphilus and his friends and pupils, including Eusebius, corrected and revised much of the biblical text in their library. Their efforts made the hexaplaric Septuagint text increasingly popular in Syria and Palestine. Soon after joining Pamphilus's school, Eusebius started helping his master expand

3230-614: The Hebrew Bible , which from the point of view of its redactors in the 5th century BC presents a history of humankind from creation to the Flood , and from there a history of the Israelites down to the present . The Seder Olam is a 2nd-century CE rabbinic interpretation of this chronology. In Greco-Roman antiquity , the first universal history was written by Ephorus (405–330 BCE). This work has been lost, but its influence can be seen in

3325-644: The medieval Islamic world (13th century), universal history in this vein was taken up by Muslim historians such as Tarikh-i Jahangushay-i Juvaini ("The History of The World Conqueror") by Ala'iddin Ata-Malik Juvayni , Jami' al-tawarikh ("Compendium of Chronicles") by Rashid-al-Din Hamadani (now held at the University of Edinburgh ) and the Muqaddimah by Ibn Khaldun. Universal histories included two forms:

3420-464: The ta'rikh 'ala al-sinin was organised by annual entries and thus annalistic , while the ta'rikh 'ala al-khulafa was organised by the reigns of caliphs . The History of the Prophets and Kings ( Tārīkh al-Rusul wa al-Mulūk ) of al-Tabari is a prime example of the latter, in which a major role was played for the last time by isnads . An isnad was, ideally, an unbroken chain of transmitters of

3515-692: The textual criticism of the Septuagint text of the Old Testament and especially of the New Testament . An edition of the Septuagint seems to have been already prepared by Origen , which, according to Jerome , was revised and circulated by Eusebius and Pamphilus. For an easier survey of the material of the four Evangelists, Eusebius divided his edition of the New Testament into paragraphs and provided it with

3610-725: The Gospel , Preparations for the Gospel and On Discrepancies between the Gospels , studies of the biblical text. His work Onomasticon is an early geographical lexicon of places in the Holy Land mentioned in the Bible. As "Father of Church History " (not to be confused with the title of Church Father ), he produced the Ecclesiastical History , On the Life of Pamphilus , the Chronicle and On

3705-626: The Grand Historian . Although his generation was the first in China to discover the existence of kingdoms in Central Asia and India , his work did not attempt to cover the history of these regions. The 11th-century Zizhi Tongjian of Sima Guang is sometimes considered the first of the chronologically arranged universal histories produced in China. The 15th-century Indo-Persian Ma'athir-i-Mahmud Shahi , written by 'Abd al-Husayn Tuni (died 1489),

3800-597: The Martyrs . He also produced a biographical work on Constantine the Great , the first Christian Roman emperor , who was Augustus between AD 306 and AD 337. Little is known about the life of Eusebius. His successor at the See of Caesarea, Acacius , wrote a Life of Eusebius , a work that has since been lost. Eusebius's own surviving works probably only represent a small portion of his total output. Beyond notices in his extant writings,

3895-526: The Medieval West include the Chronicon universale usque ad annum 741 , Christherre-Chronik , Helinand of Froidmont (c. 1160—after 1229), Jans der Enikel , Matthew Paris (c. 1200–1259), Ranulf Higdon (c. 1280–1363), Rudolf von Ems , Sigebert of Gembloux (c. 1030–1112), Otto von Freising (c. 1114–1158), and Vincent of Beauvais (c. 1190–1264?). The tradition of universal history can even be seen in

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3990-462: The Monstruous Regiment of Women represented 'a universal history of female monarchs '. Knox wrote it in order to argue that women should never be allowed to reign, because that is 'repugnant to nature, contumelious to God , a thing most contrary to his revealed will and approved ordinance, and... the subversion of good order, or all equity and justice.' He was thus writing a history about

4085-552: The Roman Empire in such works as Eusebius 's Ecclesiastical History , Augustine 's City of God , and Orosius ' History Against the Pagans . During the Han dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE) of China , Sima Qian (145–86 BC) was the first Chinese historian to attempt a universal history—from the earliest mythological origins of his civilization to his present day —in his Records of

4180-518: The ambitions of Polybius (203–120 BC) and Diodorus ( fl. 1st century BC) to give comprehensive accounts of their worlds. Herodotus ' History is the earliest surviving member of the Greco-Roman world-historical tradition, although under some definitions of universal history it does not qualify as universal because it reflects no attempt to describe an overall direction of history or a principle or set of principles governing or underlying it. Polybius

4275-565: The assumption that the original work was Low German—has been abandoned. The author employed at least thirty-six different Latin chronicles in his research. The most important were the Chronicle of Frutolf of Michelsberg , the continuation of the same by Ekkehard of Aura and the Annales Palidenses . Universal history (genre) Siegfried of Ballhausen was the first to use the title Historia universalis (universal history) in 1304. A project of Universal history may be seen in

4370-420: The beginning of the world up to the present and was an especially popular genre of historiography in medieval Europe. The universal chronicle differs from the ordinary chronicle in its much broader chronological and geographical scope, giving, in principle, a continuous linear account of the progress of world history from the creation of the world up to the author's own times, but in practice often narrowing down to

4465-505: The birth of Eusebius to some point between AD 260 and 265. He was most likely born in or around Caesarea Maritima . Nothing is known about his parents. He was baptized and instructed in the city, and lived in Syria Palaestina in 296, when Diocletian 's army passed through the region (in the Life of Constantine , Eusebius recalls seeing Constantine traveling with the army). Eusebius

4560-399: The contention. Through the activities of the theologian Origen (185/6–254) and the school of his follower Pamphilus (later 3rd century – 309), Caesarea became a center of Christian learning. Origen was largely responsible for the collection of usage information, or which churches were using which gospels, regarding the texts which became the New Testament . The information used to create

4655-456: The council evidently did not force the insertion of the word and instead adopted a text related to the confession of Jerusalem. The role of Constantine remained uncertain during the council. Alternate views have suggested that Gibbon's dismissal of Eusebius is inappropriate: While many have shared Burckhardt's assessment, particularly with reference to the Life of Constantine , others, while not pretending to extol his merits, have acknowledged

4750-403: The days of the prophets of old, would take place at the coming of the Christ, which I will presently shew to have been fulfilled as never before in accordance with the predictions" ( Demonstratio Evangelica VIII). From a dogmatic point of view, Eusebius is related in his views to Origen . Like Origen, he started from the fundamental thought of the absolute sovereignty ( monarchia ) of God. God

4845-496: The early church due to Eusebius's access to materials now lost. Eusebius's Life of Constantine ( Vita Constantini ) is a eulogy or panegyric , and therefore its style and selection of facts are affected by its purpose, rendering it inadequate as a continuation of the Church History. As the historian Socrates Scholasticus said, at the opening of his history which was designed as a continuation of Eusebius, "Also in writing

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4940-503: The emperor himself had recounted to him that some time between the death of his father – the augustus Constantius – and his final battle against his rival Maxentius as augustus in the West, Constantine experienced a vision in which he and his soldiers beheld a Christian symbol, "a cross-shaped trophy formed from light", above the sun at midday. Attached to the symbol was the phrase "by this conquer" ( ἐν τούτῳ νίκα , en toútōi níka ),

5035-462: The fact that many of the Caesarean martyrs lived together, presumably under Pamphilus. Soon after Pamphilus settled in Caesarea ( c. 280s), he began teaching Eusebius, who was then somewhere between twenty and twenty-five. Because of his close relationship with his schoolmaster, Eusebius was sometimes called Eusebius Pamphili : "Eusebius, son of Pamphilus". The name may also indicate that Eusebius

5130-695: The favor of the Emperor Constantine . Because of this he was called upon to present the creed of his own church to the 318 attendees of the Council of Nicaea in 325. However, the anti-Arian creed from Palestine prevailed, becoming the basis for the Nicene Creed . The theological views of Arius, that taught the subordination of the Son to the Father , continued to be controversial. Eustathius of Antioch strongly opposed

5225-515: The first part of Eusebius's Chronicle , of which only a few fragments exist in Greek, has been preserved entirely in Armenian , though with lacunae. The Chronicle as preserved extends to the year 325. In his Church History or Ecclesiastical History , Eusebius wrote the first surviving history of the Christian Church as a chronologically ordered account, based on earlier sources, complete from

5320-472: The first time synchronized the several concurrent chronologies in use with different peoples. Eusebius' chronicle became known to the Latin West through the translation by Jerome ( c.  347 –420). Jerome also wrote a chronicle of his own, and the early chronicles of Isidore of Seville ( c.  560 –636) and Bede were highly influential, especially Bede's work on chronology. Together, these laid

5415-505: The following year, he was again summoned before a synod in Tyre at which Eusebius of Caesarea presided. Athanasius, foreseeing the result, went to Constantinople to bring his cause before the Emperor. Constantine called the bishops to his court, among them Eusebius. Athanasius was condemned and exiled at the end of 335. Eusebius remained in the Emperor's favour throughout this time and more than once

5510-583: The former category he includes evidence of Eusebius in several martyrologies and being entitled "Blessed" dating back to Victorius of Aquitaine . Valois includes both Usuardus and Notker , who list his feast as June 21 in the Roman Martyrology, and a Gallican breviary is included for June 21 that reads as follows: Of the holy Eusebius, bishop and confessor. Lesson 1 . Eusebius, bishop of Cæsarea in Palestine, on account of his friendship with Pamphilus

5605-593: The foundation for the Western universal chronicle tradition. From around 1100, universal histories increased in graphical complexity, usually adding a mappa mundi ("world map") in which the holy city of Jerusalem was presented as the centre of the world, tying together genealogies and timelines. The Fasciculus temporum ("Little bundles of time") by Werner Rolevinck was the first printed universal history, published in Cologne in 1474. The Nuremberg Chronicle (1493)

5700-451: The growing influence of Origen 's theology as the root of Arianism . Eusebius, an admirer of Origen, was reproached by Eustathius for deviating from the Nicene faith. Eusebius prevailed and Eustathius was deposed at a synod in Antioch . However, Athanasius of Alexandria became a more powerful opponent and in 334 he was summoned before a synod in Caesarea (which he refused to attend). In

5795-445: The historian is commemorated as a saint." However, Lightfoot notes that in "the revision of this Martyrology under Gregory XIII his name was struck out, and Eusebius of Samosata was substituted, under the mistaken idea that Caesarea had been substituted for Samosata by a mistake." The Roman Catholic author Henri Valois includes in his translations on Eusebius's writings testimonies of ancient authors in favor and against Eusebius; in

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5890-578: The history of the world as universal warfare between God and the Devil. A related idea is the division of history into popes and emperors, which became popular with the success of Martin of Troppau . In other cases, any obvious theme may be lacking. Some universal chronicles bear a more or less encyclopedic character, with many digressions on non-historical subjects, as is the case with the Chronicon of Helinand of Froidmont . Other notable universal chroniclers of

5985-414: The incarnation of Christ (and usually beyond to contemporary events).' She also identified "six or seven ages" into which universal histories were divided. Less commonly they may use the Augustinian idea of the tension between the heavenly and the earthly state, as depicted in the City of God , which plays a major role in Otto von Freising 's Historia de duabus civitatibus . Augustine's thesis depicts

6080-445: The irreplaceable value of his works which may principally reside in the copious quotations that they contain from other sources, often lost. The earliest recorded feast day of Eusebius is found in the earliest known Syrian Martyrology dating to the year 411 translated by William Wright . The Martyrology lists his feast day as May 30. Eusebius continues to be venerated as a Saint by the modern-day Syrian Orthodox Church as well, with

6175-409: The late-fourth-century Easter Letter , which declared accepted Christian writings, was probably based on the Ecclesiastical History [HE] of Eusebius of Caesarea, wherein he uses the information passed on to him by Origen to create both his list at HE 3:25 and Origen's list at HE 6:25. Eusebius got his information about what texts were accepted by the third-century churches throughout the known world,

6270-440: The library's collections and broaden access to its resources. At about this time Eusebius compiled a Collection of Ancient Martyrdoms , presumably for use as a general reference tool. In the 290s, Eusebius began work on his most important work, the Ecclesiastical History , a narrative history of the Church and Christian community from the Apostolic Age to Eusebius's own time. At about the same time, he worked on his Chronicle ,

6365-405: The life of Constantine, this same author has but slightly treated of matters regarding Arius , being more intent on the rhetorical finish of his composition and the praises of the emperor than on an accurate statement of facts." The work was unfinished at Eusebius's death. Some scholars have questioned the Eusebian authorship of this work. Writing after Constantine had died, Eusebius claimed that

6460-411: The major sources are the 5th-century ecclesiastical historians Socrates , Sozomen , and Theodoret , and the 4th-century Christian author Jerome . There are assorted notices of his activities in the writings of his contemporaries Athanasius , Arius , Eusebius of Nicomedia , and Alexander of Alexandria . Eusebius's pupil, Eusebius of Emesa , provides some incidental information. Most scholars date

6555-406: The martyr, took from him the surname of Pamphili; inasmuch as along with this same Pamphilus he was a most diligent investigator of sacred literature. The man indeed is very worthy of being remembered in these times, both for his skill in many things, and for his wonderful genius, and by both Gentiles and Christians he was held distinguished and most noble among philosophers. This man, after having for

6650-402: The martyrs of his own time and the past, and this led him to the history of the whole Church and finally to the history of the world, which, to him, was only a preparation for ecclesiastical history. Then followed the time of the Arian controversies, and dogmatic questions came into the foreground. Christianity at last found recognition by the State; and this brought new problems – apologies of

6745-460: The medieval tradition of universal history. In the 19th century, universal histories proliferated. Philosophers such as Kant , Herder , Schiller and Hegel , and political philosophers such as Marx and Herbert Spencer , presented general theories of history that shared essential characteristics with the Biblical account: they conceived of history as a coherent whole, governed by certain basic characteristics or immutable principles. Kant who

6840-565: The nation famous, firstly the kingship, secondly that of prophet, and lastly the high priesthood. The prophecies said that the abolition and complete destruction of all these three together would be the sign of the presence of the Christ. And that the proofs that the times had come, would lie in the ceasing of the Mosaic worship, the desolation of Jerusalem and its Temple, and the subjection of the whole Jewish race to its enemies. ...The holy oracles foretold that all these changes, which had not been made in

6935-485: The necessity of their natures. Eusebius said: The Creator of all things has impressed a natural law upon the soul of every man, as an assistant and ally in his conduct, pointing out to him the right way by this law; but, by the free liberty with which he is endowed, making the choice of what is best worthy of praise and acceptance, he has acted rightly, not by force, but from his own free-will, when he had it in his power to act otherwise, As, again, making him who chooses what

7030-465: The original Greek, but it may be reconstructed from later chronographists of the Byzantine school who made excerpts from the work, especially George Syncellus . The tables of the second part have been completely preserved in a Latin translation by Jerome, and both parts are still extant in an Armenian translation. The loss of the Greek originals has given the Armenian translation a special importance; thus,

7125-517: The painstaking labor of original research. Hence, much has been preserved, quoted by Eusebius, which otherwise would have been lost. The literary productions of Eusebius reflect on the whole the course of his life. At first, he occupied himself with works on biblical criticism under the influence of Pamphilus and probably of Dorotheus of Tyre of the School of Antioch . Afterward, the persecutions under Diocletian and Galerius directed his attention to

7220-604: The period of the Apostles to his own epoch. The time scheme correlated the history with the reigns of the Roman Emperors, and the scope was broad. Included were the bishops and other teachers of the Church, Christian relations with the Jews and those deemed heretical, and the Christian martyrs through 324. Although its accuracy and biases have been questioned, it remains an important source on

7315-488: The play of freedom of the human will in the large, we may be able to discern a regular movement in it, and that what seems complex and chaotic in the single individual may be seen from the standpoint of the human race as a whole to b a steady and progressive though slow evolution of the original endowment..Each individual and people, as if following some guiding trend, goes toward a natural but to each of them unknown goal...In keeping with this purpose, it might be possible to have

7410-609: The reign of Constantine (336). Most of Eusebius's letters are lost. His letters to Carpianus and Flacillus exist complete. Fragments of a letter to the empress Constantia also exists. Eusebius is fairly unusual in his preterist , or fulfilled, eschatological view. Saying "the Holy Scriptures foretell that there will be unmistakable signs of the Coming of Christ. Now there were among the Hebrews three outstanding offices of dignity, which made

7505-500: The remaining 20 city views were "imaginary", and were often reused in later universal chronicles to illustrate different cities. Around this time, the depictions of cities in universal chronicles also shifted away from the earlier focus on Jerusalem (sometimes even illustrated with "imaginary" city views) towards the European cities in which they were produced, thus displacing the centrality of Jerusalem in Christian universal histories. In

7600-696: The same time he has written many things, but especially the following books: The Præparatio Evangelica, the Ecclesiastical History, Against Porphyry, a very bitter enemy of the Christians; he has also composed Six Apologies in Behalf of Origen, a Life of Pamphilus the Martyr, from whom on account of friendship he took his surname, in three books; likewise very learned Commentaries on the hundred and fifty Psalms. Lesson 3 . Moreover, as we read, after having ascertained

7695-477: The sufferings of many holy martyrs in all the provinces, and the lives of confessors and virgins, he has written concerning these saints twenty books; while on account of these books therefore, and especially on account of his Præparatio Evangelica, he was held most distinguished among the Gentiles, because of his love of truth he contemned the ancestral worship of the gods. He has written also a Chronicle, extending from

7790-483: The word homoousios ( consubstantial ) "was inserted in the Nicene Creed solely by the personal order of Constantine." According to Eusebius of Caesarea, the word homoousios was inserted in the Nicene Creed solely by the personal order of Constantine. But this statement is highly problematic. It is very difficult to explain the seeming paradoxical fact that this word, along with the explanation given by Constantine,

7885-407: The works of Plato and to an extensive range of later philosophic works, largely from Middle Platonists from Philo to the late 2nd century. Whatever its secular contents, the primary aim of Origen and Pamphilus's school was to promote sacred learning. The library's biblical and theological contents were more impressive: Origen's Hexapla and Tetrapla ; a copy of the original Aramaic version of

7980-462: The works of medieval historians whose purpose may not have been to chronicle the ancient past, but nonetheless included it in a local history of more recent times. One such example is the History of Gregory of Tours (d. 594), where only the first of his ten books describes creation and ancient history, while the last six books focus on events in his own lifetime and region. While this reading of Gregory

8075-504: Was a Greek Syro-Palestinian historian of Christianity , exegete , and Christian polemicist . In about AD 314 he became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima in the Roman province of Syria Palaestina . Together with Pamphilus , Eusebius was a scholar of the biblical canon and is regarded as one of the most learned Christians during late antiquity . He wrote the Demonstrations of

8170-401: Was accepted by the "Arian" Eusebius, whereas it has left no traces at all in the works of his opponents, the leaders of the anti-Arian party such as Alexander of Alexandria , Ossius of Cordova , Marcellus of Ancyra , and Eustathius of Antioch , who are usually considered Constantine's theological advisers and the strongest supporters of the council. Neither before nor during Constantine's time

8265-470: Was also translated into Syriac , and lengthy quotations exist in a catena in that language, and also in Arabic catenas. Eusebius also wrote treatises on the biblical past; these three treatises have been lost. They were: The addresses and sermons of Eusebius are mostly lost, but some have been preserved, e.g., a sermon on the consecration of the church in Tyre and an address on the thirtieth anniversary of

8360-518: Was another early printed universal history. By the mid-1480s, when Venetian printers controlled almost half of Europe's incunable production, they heavily promoted the inclusion of illustrations – the majority being city views – in universal chronicles. According to scholars, 32 out of the 52 city views in the Nuremberg Chronicle were "realistic" (depicting towns which really existed, and usually had their own printing presses before 1475), while

8455-599: Was based on only one manuscript. The manuscripts are classified into three recensions —A, B and C—and the oldest group (A) is entirely High German. Michael Menzel classifies a fifteenth-century manuscript from Wolfenbüttel as the Leittext . It was once thought that the Weltchronik might be the work of Eike of Repgow , the author of the Sachsenspiegel (a Low German work on law), but this hypothesis—which depended in part on

8550-658: Was exonerated with the explicit approval of the Emperor Constantine. After the Emperor's death ( c.  337 ), Eusebius wrote the Life of Constantine , an important historical work because of eyewitness accounts and the use of primary sources. Of the extensive literary activity of Eusebius, a relatively large portion has been preserved. Although posterity suspected him of Arianism , Eusebius had made himself indispensable by his method of authorship; his comprehensive and careful excerpts from original sources saved his successors

8645-517: Was made presbyter by Agapius of Caesarea . Some, like theologian and ecclesiastical historian John Henry Newman , understand Eusebius's statement that he had heard Dorotheus of Tyre "expound the Scriptures wisely in the Church" to indicate that Eusebius was Dorotheus's pupil while the priest was resident in Antioch; others, like the scholar D. S. Wallace-Hadrill, deem the phrase too ambiguous to support

8740-502: Was made Pamphilus' heir. Pamphilus gave Eusebius a strong admiration for the thought of Origen. Neither Pamphilus nor Eusebius knew Origen personally; Pamphilus probably picked up Origenist ideas during his studies under Pierius (nicknamed "Origen Junior" ) in Alexandria. Eusebius's Preparation for the Gospel bears witness to the literary tastes of Origen: Eusebius quotes no comedy, tragedy, or lyric poetry, but makes reference to all

8835-423: Was one of the earliest thinkers to use the term Universal History described its meaning in " Idea for a Universal History with a Cosmopolitan Purpose ": Whatever concept one may hold...concerning the freedom of the will, certainly its appearances, which are human actions, like every other natural event are determined by universal laws. However obscure their causes, history...permits us to hope that if we attend to

8930-696: Was quoted in the decrees (now lost) of the Iconoclast Council of Hieria in 754, and later quoted in part in the rebuttal of the Hieria decrees in the Second Council of Nicaea of 787, now the only source from which some of the text is known. The authenticity or authorship of the letter remains uncertain. In the June 2002 issue of the Church History journal, Pier Franco Beatrice reports that Eusebius testified that

9025-519: Was the first to attempt a universal history in this stricter sense of the term: For what gives my work its peculiar quality, and what is most remarkable in the present age, is this: Fortune has gained almost all the affairs of the world in one direction and has forced to incline towards one and the same end; a historian should likewise bring before his readers under one synoptic view the operations by which she has accomplished her general purpose (1:4:1-11). Metamorphoses by Ovid has been considered as

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