Eusebius of Caesarea · a new plain-English translation from the Greek
TOC| Chapter headings of the fifth book. 1. The opening recalls Easter, and how the Word of God, though he benefited all people in many ways, was plotted against by those he benefited. 2. An address to the church and to the hearers, asking them to bear with the speaker and to correct his faults. 3. That God is Father of the Word, and that the same God is also Maker of creation, and that the things that exist could not have held together if their causes were different. 4. On the error of idol worship. 5. That Christ, the Son of God, made all things that exist and fixed for each the measure of its being. 6. On fate: that the doctrine of fate is shown to be false both from human laws and from the laws of creation, whose parts move not at random but in order, and through that order display the bounds set by their Maker. 7. That where things lie beyond our grasp we must glorify the wisdom of the Maker, and not assign the cause to anything else or to chance movement. 8. That God supplies people with what they need in abundance, but with what serves pleasure in moderation, each to the advantage of those who enjoy it. 9. On the philosophers, who through wanting to know everything went astray in their opinions, some of whom even came into danger; and on the doctrines of Plato. 10. On those who scorn not only the doctrines of scripture but also those of philosophy, and that one must either believe the poets in everything or disbelieve them in everything. 11. On the coming of the Lord in the flesh: what it was and for what purposes it took place. 12. On those who did not recognize the mystery, and that their ignorance was willful; and what good things await those who did recognize it, above all those made perfect through confession. 13. That the difference among the parts of creation is necessary, and that the inclination toward good or evil belongs to human choice, so that judgment too is necessary and reasonable. 14. That created nature stands infinitely removed from uncreated essence, yet a human being draws near to it by a life of virtue. 15. What the Savior taught and what wonders he worked, and how he benefited those who accepted him. 16. That the coming of Christ was foretold by the prophets, and took place for the overthrow of idols and of idolatrous cities. 17. On the wisdom of Moses, which was emulated by the wise men outside, and on Daniel and the three young men. 18. On the Erythraean Sibyl, who in an acrostic formed from the verses of her prophecy made known the Lord and his passion; the acrostic reads: Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior, Cross. 19. That the prophecy about the Savior was not fabricated by anyone in the church but belongs to the Erythraean Sibyl, whose books Cicero translated into Latin before the coming of Christ; and that Virgil mentions her and the birth from a virgin, celebrating the mystery in riddles for fear of those in power. 20. Further verses of Virgil Maro about Christ, with their interpretation, by which it is shown that the mystery was disclosed by the poet in riddles. 21. That these things cannot be said of a mere human being, and that those who disbelieve, through ignorance of true religion, do not even know the source of their own existence. 22. A thanksgiving to Christ, ascribing to him the emperor's victories and his other blessings, and a reproof of Maximin, the tyrant who turned against the Christians, who by the very scale of his persecution won still greater glory for true religion. 23. On the Christian way of life; that the divine delights in those who live in virtue, and that we must expect judgment and retribution. 24. On Decius, Valerian and Aurelian, who ended their lives wretchedly because of their persecution of the church. 25. On Diocletian, who gave up his rule in disgrace and was struck by lightning because of his persecution of the church. 26. That God is the cause of the emperor's piety, and that we must seek our successes from God and credit them to him, but ascribe our failures to our own negligence.
Cite a passage by its number: every paragraph here has its own anchor (for example https://openscriptorium.com/read/eusebius/029-constantine-s-oration-to-the-assembly-of-the-saints-contents#p1), and the bracketed reference numbers link the same way.
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