Various Fragments · §1 · Eustathius of Antioch

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

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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.

The 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

Fragmenta varia 88 Τὸ μὴ μόνον ἄνθρωπον, ἀλλὰ καὶ Θεόν, καθὼς καὶ Ἱερεμίας ὁ προφήτης λέγει· οὗτος ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, οὐ λογισθήσεται ἕτερος πρὸς αὐτόν. Ἐξεῦρε πᾶσαν ὁδὸν ἐπιστήμης καὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτὴν Ἰακὼβ τῶι παιδὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ Ἰσραὴλ τῶι ἠγαπημένωι ὑπ' αὐτοῦ. Μετὰ ταῦτα ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ὤφθη καὶ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις συνανεστράφη. Πότε δὲ συνανεστράφη ἀνθρώποις, εἰ μὴ ὅτε συνεγεννήθη μετ' αὐτῶν ἐκ παρθένου καὶ συνενηπίασε καὶ συνηυξήθη καὶ συνέφαγε καὶ συνέπιε καὶ τὰ ἄλλα; 90 Εἰ γὰρ τὰς εὐχὰς ποιεῖσθαι δεῖ, φησίν, ὑπὲρ τῆς καθολικῆς Ἐκκλησίας τῆς ἀπὸ περάτων τῆς οἰκουμένης, πολλῷ μᾶλλον καὶ τὴν πρόνοιαν ὑπὲρ ἁπάσης αὐτῆς ἐπιδείκνυσθαι δεῖ καὶ ὁμοίως ἁπασῶν κήδεσθαι καὶ μεριμνᾶν πάσας.

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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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