Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Vol. 1 (Augustine: Confessions, Letters)

"master," and that Eusebius of Cæsarea calls Eusebius of Nicomedia "the great Eusebius," both of which expressions seem inconsistent with brotherhood. Lightfoot justly remarks that neither the argument itself nor the objections carry much weight. The term "brother" (original: "ἀδελφός") may well have been used to indicate merely theological or ecclesiastical association, while brotherhood would not exclude the formal expressions employed by each in speaking of the other. Of more weight is the fact that neither Eusebius himself nor any historian of that period refers to such a relationship, and also the unlikelihood that two members of one family would bear the same name.

From Eusebius' works, we gather that he must have received an extensive education in both secular philosophy and Biblical and theological science. Although his immense learning was doubtless the result of wide and varied reading continued throughout his life, it is highly probable that he acquired the taste for such study in his youth. We do not know who his early instructors were and therefore cannot estimate the degree of their influence. However, as he was a man who cherished deep admiration for those he considered great and good, and because he possessed an unusually acquisitive mind and a pliant disposition, we should naturally suppose that his instructors held significant influence over him and that his methods of study in later years were largely molded by their example and precept.

We see this exemplified to a remarkable degree in the influence exerted over him by Pamphilus, his dearest friend and the mentor of his early manhood. Certainly, this great bibliophile (lover of books) must have done much to strengthen Eusebius' natural appetite for omnivorous reading, and the opportunities afforded by his grand library were not lost. To the influence of Pamphilus, the devoted admirer and enthusiastic champion of Origen, was doubtless due much of the deep respect Eusebius showed for that illustrious Father—a respect to which we owe the delightful account of Origen in the sixth book of his Church History. To this influence, in part, antiquity was indebted for the elaborate Defense of Origen, composed by Pamphilus and himself, though it is unfortunately no longer extant. Eusebius certainly owed much to the companionship of that eager student and noble Christian hero, and he always recognized his indebtedness to him with deep gratitude.

The names of his earlier instructors, who were eminently successful in fostering his thirst for knowledge, are quite unknown. His abiding admiration for Plato, whom he always placed at the head of all philosophers, would lead us to think that he received at least part of his secular training from an ardent Platonist, while his intense interest in apologetics, which lasted throughout his life, seems to indicate the peculiar bent of his early Christian education. Trithemius concluded from a passage in his History (VII. 32) that Eusebius was a pupil of the learned Dorotheus of Antioch, and Valesius, Lightfoot, and others appear inclined to accept this conclusion. But, as Stroth remarks, all that Eusebius says is that he heard Dorotheus expound the Scriptures in the church; that is, he heard him preach. To conclude from this that he was a student of Dorotheus is quite unwarranted.

Stroth’s suggestion that he probably enjoyed the instruction of Meletius for seven years during the persecution rests upon no good ground; the passage he relies upon says only that Eusebius "observed Meletius well" during those seven years.

In Cæsarea, Eusebius was at one time a presbyter (priest/elder) of the church, as we may gather from his words in the epistle to that church, where, in speaking of the creed, he says, "As we believed and taught in the presbytery and in the episcopate itself." However, the attempt to fix the date of his ordination is quite vain.