By some the churches which had been destroyed were rebuilt others erected new ones still more spacious and magnificent. He appointed Christians to be governors of the provinces, ordering honour to be shown to the priests, and threatening with death those who dared to insult them. He enacted laws prohibiting sacrifices to idols, and commanding churches4 to be erected. This was established for her by Constantine, a prince deserving of all praise, whose calling, like that of the divine Apostle, was not of men, nor by man, but from heaven. Īfter the overthrow of the wicked and impious tyrants, Maxentius, Maximinus, and Licinius, the surge which those destroyers, like hurricanes, had roused was hushed to sleep the whirlwinds were checked, and the Church henceforward began to enjoy a settled calm. I shall begin my history from the period at which his terminates3. Trusting, however, in the bounty of the Giver of all good, I enter upon a task beyond my own strength.Įusebius of Palestine2 has written a history of the Church from the time of the holy Apostles to the reign of Constantine, the prince beloved of God. But when I compare my own powers with the magnitude of the undertaking, I shrink from attempting it. For this cause too I have been frequently urged by friends to undertake this work. For this reason I too shall attempt to record in writing events in ecclesiastical history hitherto omitted, deeming it indeed not right to look on without an effort while oblivion robs1 noble deeds and useful stories of their due fame. Historians substitute books for panels, bright description for pigments, and thus render the memory of past events both stronger and more permanent, for the painter’s art is ruined by time. Prologue.-Design of the History.Ĥ8 When artists paint on panels and on walls the events of ancient history, they alike delight the eye, and keep bright for many a year the memory of the past. The Ecclesiastical History of Theodoret - Book I. Fathers' Historical writings 47 Fathers' Historical writings 47

Jupiter hell cease and desist