only known to us through Eusebius, while of several others he has preserved large portions not otherwise extant. He quotes not less than 21 works of Plato, and gives more than 50 quotations from the Laws alone. The impression produced by this mass of learning led Scaliger to call the work "divini commentarii," and Cave "opus profecto nobilissimum" (H. L. i. p. 178). An admirable ed. of the Preparatio was pub. in 1903 at the Oxford Press under the learned and accurate editorship of the late Dr. Gifford, with trans. and notes.
(11) The Praeparatio Ecclesiastica (Ἐκκλησιαστικὴ Προπαρασκευή) is not extant, nor is (12) the Demonstratio Ecclesiastica (Ἐκκλησιαστικὴ Ἀπόδειξις), but both are mentioned by Photius (Bibl. 11, 12.) The names suggest that these two works aimed at doing for the society what the Praeparatio and Demonstratio Evangelica do for the doctrines of which the society is the depositary.
(13) Two Books of Objection and Defence only known from Photius (Bibl. 13).
(14) The Divine Manifestation (Θεοφάνεια), in five books, was long supposed to be lost, but fragments of the Greek original were published by Mai from Vatican MSS. in his Script. Vet. Nov. Coll. i. (1831), viii. (1833), and in 1842 the work was printed entire in a Syriac version by Dr. S. Lee, who in 1843 pub. an Eng. trans. with intro and notes (Eusebius, bp. of Caesarea, on the Theophania, etc., Camb. 1843). By the aid of this version Mai (a.d. 1847) in his Bibl. Nov. Patr. iv. p. 310 (cf. p. 110) rearranged his Greek fragments.
The subject is, as the name Theophania suggests, the manifestation of God in the Incarnation of the Divine Word. The contents are: (i) An account of the subject and the recipients of the revelation. The doctrine of the Word of God is insisted upon, His person and working set forth. Polytheist and pantheist are alike at fault. The Word is essentially one. His relation to creation, and especially to man, and the pre-eminence, characteristics, destiny, and fall of man are dealt with. (ii) The necessity of the revelation. The human race was degraded by gross idolatry with its accompanying immoralities. The philosophers could not rescue it. Plato had the clearest sense of the truth, yet even he was greatly at fault. Meanwhile the demons of polytheism had maddened mankind, as shewn by human sacrifices and the prevalence of wars. The demons, too, had shewn their powerlessness; they could not defend their temples or foresee their overthrow. (iii) The proof of the revelation. Its excellency and power is seen in its effects. For this it was necessary that the Word should be incarnate, put to death, and rise again. The change which has come over mankind in consequence is set forth. (iv) The proof of the revelation, from the fulfilment of Christ's words—His prophecies respecting the extension of His kingdom, the trials of His church, the destinies of His servants, and the fate of the Jews. (v) The common heathen objection that Christ was a sorcerer and a deceiver, achieving His results by magic, is answered.
The place of writing of the Theophania is Caesarea (iv. 6), and it was plainly written after the triumph of Constantine and the restoration of peace to the church. The persecution is over, and the persecutors have met with their punishment (iii. 20, v. 52). Polytheism is fast waning, and Christianity is spreading everywhere (ii. 76, iii. 79).
(15) On the Numerous Progeny of the Ancients.—This lost treatise is mentioned in Praep. Ev. vii. 8. 29. It is doubtless the same work to which St. Basil refers (de Spir. Sanct. 29, Op. iii. p. 61) as Difficulties respecting the Polygamy of the Ancients. It would seem to have been an apologetic work, as it seems to have aimed at accounting for the polygamy of the patriarchs and the Jews generally, and reconciling it with the ascetic life, which in his own time was regarded as the true ideal of Christian teaching. This problem occurs again and again in his extant apologetic writings. In the reference in the Praeparatio Eusebius speaks of having discussed in this work the notices of the lives of the patriarchs and "their philosophic endurance and self-discipline," whether by way of direct narrative or of allegorical suggestion.
C. Critical and Exegetical—i.e. all works directed primarily to the criticism and elucidation of the Scriptures.
(16) Biblical Texts.—In his earlier years Eusebius was occupied in conjunction with Pamphilus in the production of correct Greek texts of the O.T. A notice of his later years shews him engaged in a similar work (V. C. iv. 36, 37). The emperor writes to Eusebius, asking him to provide 50 copies of the Scriptures for use in the churches of Constantinople, where the Christian population had largely multiplied. The manuscripts must be easily legible and handy for use, written on carefully prepared parchment, and transcribed by skilful caligraphers. He has already written, he adds, to the procurator-general (καθολικός) of the district (τῆς διοικήσεως), charging him to furnish Eusebius with the necessary appliances and has placed at his disposal two public waggons to convey the manuscripts, when complete, to the new metropolis. Eusebius executes the commission. The manuscripts were arranged, he tells us, in ternions and quaternions (τρισσὰ καὶ τετρασσά), and carefully prepared at great cost. The emperor wrote expressing his satisfaction with them.
(17) Sections and Canons, with the Letter to Carpianus Prefixed.—Eusebius explains the origin and method of these sections and canons in the prefatory letter. Ammonius of Alexandria (c. 220) had constructed a Harmony or Diatessaron of the Gospels. He took St. Matthew as his standard, and placed side by side with it the parallel passages from the other three. The work of Ammonius suggested to Eusebius the plan which he adopted, but Eusebius desired to preserve the continuity of all the narratives. He therefore divided each gospel separately into sections, which he numbered continuously, and constructed a table of ten canons, containing lists of passages: canon i, common to
