Eusebius’ Church History 13

Study Guide Questions for Book 5.7-5.16

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Virtues/Vices/Great Ideas: (Find them in the Text)

Truth vs. Deception

Grammar Questions: (The Information of the Text)

1. According to Irenaeus what kind of miraculous spiritual gifts were still at work among Christians in his day?

2. According to Irenaeus, what was the occasion and/or details surrounding the writing of each of the four Gospels?

3. According to Irenaeus, when was the Gospel of John written?

4. What did Ptolemy do to ensure that the 70 elders translated the Hebrew Scriptures faithfully for him?

5. For what things was Pantaenus best known?

6. According to Apollinarius, why was he initially hesitant to “write a treatise against the sect named after Miltiades?”

7. What finally led to the excommunication of the Montanists?

8. According to Apollinarius, what was rumored to have been the fate of Montanus and his prophetesses?

9. What prophecy of the Montanist prophetess, Maximilla, clearly failed to come to pass?

10. What did the Montanists claim to have as evidence in favor of their legitimacy (even though Apollinarius denied it as a valid proof)?

Logic Questions: (Interpreting, Comparing/Contrasting, Reasoning)

1. What might we infer about the false teachers and heretics from the fact that the faithful Christians by contrast were said to have freely ministered “for the benefit of the heathen” because they had “freely received from God?”

2. Isaiah 7:14 says “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” The Hebrew word translated as “virgin” can also legitimately be translated as “young woman.” The Septuagint translates the Hebrew word in question into Greek as parthenos (παρθένος) which definitely means “virgin.” Why might Irenaeus have taken pains to show that it was 70 Hebrew elders who translated the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek?

3. In the section where it speaks of Marcion introducing “two sources,” the issue at hand is whether good and evil come from the same (single) source or from two different sources. What did Rhodo mean when he said Marcion’s solution was “a simple solution” but that it was also “baldly…without proof?”

Rhetoric Questions: (The Analysis of Ideas in the Text)

1. Is God the source of evil? If not, from whence did evil come? Explain your answer carefully and defend it with reason and Scripture.

Theological Analysis: (Sola Scriptura)

1. Read 1 John 2:18-27. How does this passage help clarify what it means for someone to be an “anti-Christ?” What does it mean?

2. Read 1 Corinthians 14:26-40. How would this passage of Scripture be important when it comes to rebuking the heretical group known as the Montanists?