1.10.1 Thus, when Maximinus—who alone remained among all the enemies of religion and who had shone forth as the worst of all—was indeed removed, the plans for the restoration of the churches from their foundations were resumed by the grace of the Almighty God. And the Word of Christ, shining forth to glorify the God of all, gained even greater freedom than it previously had.”

1.10.2 Eusebius Pamphili, the most noble of all writers, has compiled these events in the ninth book of his Church History. For by reproducing his works (as I mentioned earlier), and the works of others, I am composing this little book with few words, in order that with such very great haste I might proceed on this literary journey to the high, brilliant, holy and divine mountain of the apostolic and virtuous synod of the priests of God at Nicaea, recognizing especially that the prophet is seizing me by the hand and urging me forward.

1.10.3 “Come,” he says, “let us go up to the mountain of the LORD and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us his way, and we will walk in it. For the law will go out from Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.” [Micah 4:2 and Isaiah 2:3]

1.10.4 For truly that divine throng of orthodox priests of God was Zion and Jerusalem and the lofty mountain of the Lord and the house of the God of Jacob. For they were watched over by the Holy Spirit, and they showed through the prophetical, evangelical, and apostolic writings “concerning the Word of life,” [1 John 1:1] that is, the Son of God, that he was truly uncreated according to his divine nature and that he was not a creature (as Arius, that most ungodly fighter-against-God, blasphemously said of him). They also proved that he has the same nature [οὐσία] as the Father who begot him before the ages has, and that he is of the same substance [χρῆμα]. Likewise, they showed most clearly that the Holy Spirit is also of the same deity and nature [οὐσία] as the Father and the Son.

1.10.5 And truly a lofty mountain [ὄρος] of God from above, as the word plainly showed, was given to us from the Lord himself through the apostles. And now, this worshipful and holy standard [ὅρος] of the blameless faith has been made clear in written testimonies through his priests at Nicaea. And the Word, proceeding through the working of the grace of God, will make it even more clearly known to us.

1.10.6 But let us return to our stated purpose for our history of the church and take up again the events describing our God, who acted like a good emperor by supporting his people and destroying the tyrants through his servant, the God-loving Emperor Constantine. And through Constantine, God alone obtained peace for his churches throughout the world.

1.10.7 “Great is the LORD, who alone does great and unsearchable wonders, of which there is no number—the one who changes seasons and times, who removes and establishes kings, who raises the beggar from the earth and who lifts up the poor man from the dunghill. He has taken down rulers from their thrones and lifted up lowly ones. He has fed the hungry with good things, and he has sent the rich away empty, and he has shattered the arms of the arrogant. He is the wonder-worker, the performer of great deeds, the master of all, the maker of all the world, the Almighty, the absolutely good, the one and only God. In response, we send up a new song to him, the only one who does great wonders, for his mercy endures forever—to him who smites great kings and slays strong kings, for his mercy endures forever. For our LORD remembered us in our humiliation.

1.10.8 For all these things, let us never cease singing praises to the God of all and his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, whom with the Father is the cause of all good things for us, the author of our very knowledge of God, the teacher of godly reverence towards him, the destroyer of the ungodly, the tyrant-slayer, the corrector of life, and the Savior of those in despair. Let us all extol Jesus with one mouth and one heart.

1.10.9 Because, indeed, he alone, [being an absolutely good Son] just like the only absolutely good Father, according to his Father’s and his own and the Holy Spirit’s compassionate plan, provided for our salvation, while we were lying somewhere beneath in destruction. In great kindness he took on our nature, took on our sicknesses, and bore our diseases like some noble physician and attained salvation and life for the human race—both at that time and forever.”

1.10.10 And indeed, he who is the King of Kings and who always takes care of his own people armed his own beloved servant Constantine with godly reverence and faith as his weapons against the ungodly tyrants—Maxentius at Rome and Maximinus in the east. Through Constantine, he destroyed them both and thus restored cheerful and abundant prosperity to his own people.

 

Next Chapter – 1.11 Licinius’s evil ways

Previous Chapter – 1.9 The madness of the tyrant Maximinus in the east

Click here to read Book 1 in its entirety.

 

Created by NJ 4-18-17

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