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| Irenæus commended by the Witnesses in a Letter.
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Chapter
IV.—Irenæus commended by the
Witnesses in a Letter.
1. The
same witnesses also recommended Irenæus,1412
| 1412 On
Irenæus, see above, Bk. IV. chap. 21, note 9. |
who was already at that time a presbyter of the parish of Lyons, to the
above-mentioned bishop of Rome, saying many favorable things in regard
to him, as the following extract shows:
2. “We pray, father
Eleutherus, that you may rejoice in God in all things and always. We
have requested our brother and comrade Irenæus to carry this
letter to you, and we ask you to hold him in esteem, as zealous for the
covenant of Christ. For if we thought that office could confer
righteousness upon any one, we should commend him among the first as a
presbyter of the church, which is his position.”
3. Why should we transcribe the
catalogue of the witnesses given in the letter already mentioned, of
whom some were beheaded, others cast to the wild beasts, and others
fell asleep in prison, or give the number of confessors1413
| 1413 ὁμολογητῶν. Eusebius here uses the common technical term for
confessors; i.e. for those who had been faithful and had suffered in
persecution, but had not lost their lives. In the epistle of the
churches of Lyons and Vienne, the word ὁμόλογοι is used to denote the same persons (see above, chap. 2, note
6). | still surviving at that time? For whoever
desires can readily find the full account by consulting the letter
itself, which, as I have said, is recorded in our Collection of
Martyrdoms.1414
| 1414 Cf.
§2 of the Introduction to this book (Bk. V.). On Eusebius’
Collection of Martyrdoms, see above, p. 30. | Such were the events which happened
under Antoninus.1415
| 1415 i.e.
Antoninus Verus, whom Eusebius expressly distinguishes from Marcus
Aurelius at the beginning of the next chapter. See below, p. 390,
note. | E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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