The History of the Church: From Christ to Constantine

The first surviving history of the Christian Church is well served by this translation and commentary. Eusebius has the occasional dry passage, but his perspective as a Christian writing about Christians in first three centuries of the Roman Empire more than make up for this.

For my latest history fix, I decided to go way back to the first 300 years after Christ. (Of course, having received this book for Christmas influenced this decision somewhat.) It was interesting and amusing to read about the first centuries of the Christian Church, reading of controversies and heresies that have been revived almost 20 centuries later. Once, Eusebius gets to the years of his life, however, and speaks of the persecutions that some faced, I was reminded that American Christians, at least, live in a very different world.
--J.

This was a very readable translation with helpful commentary. As I am only somewhat interested in early church history, it did end up being more information than I could absorb. My main takeaways were a more vivid picture of the persecution of the Christians and the subsequent appreciation for the work of Constantine.

Absolutely essential reading for those interested in the development of early Christianity up to the 4th century, since it's the first full historical narrative written from the Christian point of view. The glossary in this new edition titled "Who's Who in Eusebius" is practical and helpful for keeping track of the numerous historical figures mentioned in these pages—I wish I'd had recourse to it the first time I read through this book as a student.

This work is included as a foundational historical source on the early Christian Church’s development from Christ’s era to the age of Constantine. Written by Eusebius — an early Christian bishop and historian — it provides readers with firsthand insight into the struggles, leadership, heresies, and growth of the early Church. It is not a doctrinal manual, so readers should pair it with Catholic Church history texts and Magisterial resources for balanced understanding within Catholic teaching.

Eusebius is a scholar, I learnt a lot of new things from this book. I am encouraged by the Early Church fathers especially Origen. It seems that the Early Christians had to face internal threats (heresies), external threats (ridicule, persecution), this is simply too much to Handle but God blessed them. The persecutions in the Roman empire is appalling. There's depth details about persecution especially during Diocletian Era, I could not digest a lot. I wish the Christians today would read this and teach their children. All the Church fathers had written polemics, defended the Christian claims during their Era. The Questions today faced by the Church are nothing great compared to their Era. Overall, a Great book, Eusebius taught me how show more the Early Bishops were, they were scholars, preachers, philosophers. show less

Eusebius is a scholar, I learnt a lot of new things from this book. I am encouraged by the Early Church fathers especially Origen. It seems that the Early Christians had to face internal threats (heresies), external threats (ridicule, persecution), this is simply too much to Handle but God blessed them. The persecutions in the Roman empire is appalling. There's depth details about persecution especially during Diocletian Era, I could not digest a lot. I wish the Christians today would read this and teach their children. All the Church fathers had written polemics, defended the Christian claims during their Era. The Questions today faced by the Church are nothing great compared to their Era. Overall, a Great book, Eusebius taught me how show more the Early Bishops were, they were scholars, preachers, philosophers. show less