Various Fragments

Name: Various Fragments
Author: Eustathius of Antioch

Fragmenta varia

Eustathius of Antioch (fl. c. 320–337 AD) · PG 18

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Contents4 passages

1The one who appeared is God, and the whole Church deserves equal care
2Not only human but also God
3The divine-human shared life with humans
4Providence for the whole catholic Church

Author

Eustathius of Antioch (fl. c. 320–337 AD) — Bishop of Antioch at the Council of Nicaea in 325 and a firm opponent of Arius. He was deposed a few years later and died in exile.

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About this text

Various Fragments attributed to Eustathius of Antioch.

Eustathius of Antioch (fl. c. 320–337) was a native of Side in Pamphylia who became bishop of Beroea and then patriarch of Antioch shortly before the Council of Nicaea. He was a zealous opponent of the Arians at that council and helped shape the Nicene Creed. Most of his many dogmatic and exegetical treatises have been lost, and what remains survives only as fragments.

The fragments translated here preserve arguments on the incarnation and on the care of the catholic Church, likely from anti-Arian or pastoral contexts. They are known through editions by Fabricius, Galland, Harles, Migne, Pitra, Martin, and others, with a modern critical edition by J.H. Declerck.

A reader will meet the prophet Jeremiah, whose words Eustathius quotes to argue that the one who appeared on earth and lived among human beings is not only human but also God. Eustathius insists that this figure was born from a virgin and shared infancy, growth, food, and drink. He also argues that if prayers must be made for the catholic Church throughout the whole world, then providence must care for the whole Church with concern for all its parts. The translation uses the name Jeremiah for the prophet and the term catholic Church for the Church spread throughout the world.

Printed text used

Translated from PG 18 (Greek)

This work has passed our source check. We made this study translation with AI help. No scholar has yet certified it as faithful and complete. Open Greek on any section to see the source text. It is not a critical edition.

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The one who appeared is God, and the whole Church deserves equal care§1

Eustathius opens by arguing from Jeremiah that the one who appeared on earth and lived among humans is not only human but also God, then turns to the duty of providential care for the whole catholic Church.

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1The one who appeared on earth and lived among human beings was not only human but also God, as Jeremiah the prophet says: “This is our God; no other will be reckoned beside him. He found out the whole way of knowledge and gave it to Jacob his child and to Israel, whom he loved. After this he was seen on earth and lived among human beings” (Jeremiah). When did he live among human beings, if not when he was born together with them from a virgin, shared infancy, grew up together, ate together, drank together, and shared the rest of human life?

For if prayers must be made, he says, for the catholic Church which is from the ends of the world, then all the more must providence be shown for the whole of it, and care and concern must be given equally to all its parts.

Greek · §1

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Not only human but also God§2

Eustathius opens a fragment by stating the claim he will defend: the one who appeared on earth is not only human but also God, as Jeremiah the prophet says.

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2The one who appeared on earth and lived among human beings is not only a human being but also God, just as Jeremiah the prophet also says: “This is our God; no other will be reckoned beside him” (Jeremiah).

Greek · §2

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The divine-human shared life with humans§3

Eustathius continues the quotation from Jeremiah, then presses its claim that this divine figure lived among human beings by asking when that shared life happened.

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3He found out the whole way of knowledge and gave it to Jacob his child and to Israel whom he loved (Baruch 3:36-38, appended to Jeremiah). After this he appeared on earth and lived among human beings. And when did he live among human beings, if not when he was born together with them from a virgin, shared infancy, grew up together with them, ate and drank with them, and shared all the rest of human life?

Greek · §3

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Providence for the whole catholic Church§4

Eustathius is arguing that if prayers must be made for the catholic Church spread across the world, then all the more must providential care be shown for the whole Church.

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4For if, he says, prayers must be made for the catholic Church that is from the ends of the world, then far more must providence be displayed for all of it, and one must care and be anxious for all of them equally.

Greek · §4

The Greek is on each section page: §4

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