Palestinian biblical scholar, historian & influential church politician who preserved important information about the development of early Christianity up through the reign of Constantine. Eusebius became prominent after the martyrdom of His mentor Pamphilus (310 CE), a leader of the school of Origen at Caesarea Maritima (Palestine). In 313 CE, at the end of the great persecution of Christians initiated by Diocletian (303 CE), Eusebius was elected bishop of Caesarea. His ten book Ecclesiastical History was the first chronicle of the development of Christianity since 100 CE.

In 318 CE Eusebius tried to mediate the christological dispute between Alexander, the bishop of Alexandria, & his presbyter Arius. As a result, he was branded an Arian sympathizer when Arius was excommunicated (325 CE). After the council of Nicea, Eusebius rallied opponents of the Nicene creed by pointing out that the term homoousios ("same being") used to describe the Son's relation to the Father was a non-scriptural term that had been branded heretical by the church council that condemned Sabellius. Centuries after Eusebius' death, the second ecumenical council of Nicea (787 CE) condemned him for being "double-minded."

But as an annalist Eusebius remains an important authority. For he quoted more than 100 passages from early Christian works that were later lost, including statements by Papias & Clement of Alexandria about the composition of the gospels (Eccles. Hist. 3.39 & 6.14). Aside from cataloging the works of his predecessors and citing their opinions, however, Eusebius' only original contribution to the problem of the relationship of the gospels was a feeble attempt to reconcile the one year synoptic chronology with John's portrayal of a public career for Jesus spanning several Passovers:

Thus, by writing his gospel, John gives us things that Christ did before the Baptist was thrown into prison. The remaining three gospel writers mention things that were done after John was locked up in the dungeon. And anyone who understands this can no longer suppose that the gospels are at odds with one another. For the gospel according to John contains the first acts of Christ, but the rest of the gospels contain the record of what he did at the end of the period (Eccles. Hist. 3.23.18).

While this may sound plausible in the abstract, it hardly accounts for the numerous discrepancies between the synoptic & Johannine records of the same incidents.

Other On-line Resources

• Eusebius of Caesarea: Church History - hypertext English translation of Eusebius' masterpiece from Nicene & Post-Nicene Fathers (posted by New Advent).

• Eusebius Pamphilius - complete digitized text of Nicene & Post-Nicene Fathers vol 2(posted by Christian Classics Ethereal Library).

• Eusebius of Caesarea - biographical survey of Eusebius' life & works (Wikipedia).

• Eusebius of Caesarea - F. J. Bacchus' 1909 essay in the Catholic Encyclopedia (posted by New Advent).