INTRODUCTION

§ I. OBJECT AND OCCASION

The Demonstratio Evangelica (Ευαγγελικης Αποδειξεως δεκα λογοι) originally consisted of twenty books, of which only ten remain. It was the concluding portion of the complete work, which included the Praeparatio. At the beginning of the latter Eusebius stated his object to be "to shew the nature of Christianity to those who know not what it means"¹ the purpose of its pages was to give an answer to all reasonable questions both from Jewish or Greek inquirers about Christianity, and its relation to other religions. Thus the Praeparatio was intended to be "a guide, by occupying the place of elementary instruction and introduction, and suiting itself to our recent converts from among the heathen."²

The Demonstratio, Eusebius promises in the same passage, will go further. It will adapt itself "to those who have passed beyond this, and are already in a state prepared for the reception of the higher truths." It will "convey the exact knowledge of the most stringent proofs of God's mysterious dispensation in regard to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."³ All apologetics, no doubt, have a double object, to convince the unbeliever and to strengthen the faithful. And it would certainly be an error to discriminate the stress on either of these objects too sharply in the case of any particular work. It is true from Justin to Butler that evidential works circulate as widely (or indeed more widely) in the Church as manuals of teaching than in the world as weapons of defence. But we can recognize a difference of - x - emphasis in the tone and scope of apologetic works, dependent on the circumstances and environment of the age of their production, which inclines the balance perceptibly either in the direction of apology proper, or in that of dogmatic instruction. The Demonstratio then would seem to be of the latter class, rather than of the former. It is a manual of instruction for the faithful, rather than a challenge to the unbelieving.

This impression, however, must be balanced by the fact that certain sections of the argument seem to be deliberately planned to convince the unbeliever, notably where Eusebius restricts himself to unfolding the unique beauty of our Lord's Humanity in His Life and Work; and while reserving his "prophetic" arguments for the edification of the faithful, speaks of Him from the human and historic level, ως περι ανδρος κοινου, και τοις λοιποις παραπλησιου (102 b). Or when in the same book he constructs his powerful reductio ad absurdum of the suggestion that Christ was a wizard or a charlatan.

The studied statements at the opening of the whole work give then the impression that the central object of Eusebius, in relation to the circumstances of his time, differed materially from that of the earlier Apologists like Justin and Aristides. They provided a reasoned defence of Christianity for the consideration of the rulers of the heathen world, and endeavoured to meet the. subtle criticism of pagan philosophers with convincing force. He aims primarily at strengthening the convictions of those already convinced. He desires to provide a completer enlightenment for those who are already members of the Church of Christ.

Though certain passages both in the Praeparatio and the Demonstratio speak of pagan persecution in the present tense (Praep. Ev. 584 a, b, Dem. 82 c), and if the tense is pressed must have been written before the close of the Diocletian and Galerian Terror by the Edict of Milan, A.D. 312 (Eus., H.E. x. 5), other passages present the picture, frequent in the earlier apologies, of a Church at peace and developing in all parts of the Empire (Praep. Ev. 9 d, Dem. 103 c, 138 b). This discrepancy we will examine below. But assuming that the work appeared after the persecution it will be recognized that the moment was - xi - opportune for the publication of a book, "shewing what Christianity is to them that do not know," and for offering a deep and sound foundation for the faith of the half-convinced. For years the martyrs had been prominent in the world's eyes. The Church as a whole had been super naturally loyal. The future seemed to be with the no longer despised Christians. There must have been many thoughtful people ready to examine their claims, and to inquire into the secret of their constancy. Many again, conquered by the bright spectacle of their endurance, had already entered the Church's gate led chiefly by faith and hope, and were now ripe to sit at the feet of teachers who could philosophically unveil her heavenly knowledge.

Nor should we suppose that, though the Imperial Government had decided that the coercion of so powerful a mass of conviction was impossible, the prejudice of pagan priest hoods and of the leaders of philosophy was inclined to yield without every effort that criticism, ridicule, and conservative tradition could exert. Celsus had been followed as protagonist against Christianity by Porphyry, and it was against him that the polemical weapons of the Demonstratio were forged. Porphyry had a very intimate knowledge of the Christian faith. He had possibly been a convert (Soc., H.E. iii. 23) and a pupil of Origen (Eus., H.E. vi. 19). He had written a book, Contra Christianos, full of acute criticisms, some of which the mind of the later Church has justified and accepted. There are quotations from this work in Praep. Ev. 28 c, 29 b, 179 d, 237 a to 241 b; and allusions to Porphyry in Praep. Ev. 143 c, 144 b, 190 a; Dem. Ev. 134. The high level of the attack would account for the comprehensiveness, the massive learning, and the dignity of the rejoinder, which gathers together and sums up the labours of previous Apologists. But, as we shall see, Eusebius did not set out to refute the arguments of Porphyry point by point, as Origen dealt with Celsus, or Justin with the Jew Trypho. He preferred to confront followers of the acute critic with the fact of Christianity as a blessed and growing power. He aimed at showing the supernatural agreement of its Founder's life and death with the prophecies. He felt that on the flowing tide of divine power he could afford to disregard the eddying currents that ran impotently across it. Eusebius indeed wrote a - xi -i definite rejoinder to Porphyry, the kata_ Porfori/ou, a work in twenty-five books; this in all probability was later in his life.⁴ In this book it is quite likely that he attempted to meet the objections of Porphyry seriatim. His aim in the Demonstraiio was of a more general character.

To sum up, it was the cessation of persecution, the profound impression made on the educated and uneducated alike by the imperial change of front, the proud sense within the Church itself that its patience had triumphed, combined with the presence of the opposing criticism of the cultured, which may be said to have been the occasion for the great literary effort, which is called by Lightfoot "probably the most important apologetic work of the Early Church."⁵