Fragments of a letter of Paulinus of Tyre
| Reference | Dok. 5; Urk. 9; CPG 2065 |
| Incipit | Ὥρα ἐπαναλαβόντα |
| Date | 319-320 |
| Ancient source | Eusebius, Contra Marcellum 1.4.18-20, 49-51 |
| Modern editions | GCS 14:21, 28; AW 3.1:12-13 |
The fragments from one or more letters of Paulinus of Tyre were cited in Marcellus of Ancyra’s Against Asterius. The latter work survives only in fragments preserved in Eusebius of Caesarea’s Against Marcellus. So our fragments are quotations within quotations. They do appear to be quotations from a single letter, though their order is less certain. Their dating is just as problematic, but Brennicke places them early, seemingly as parts of an answer to the previous letter (Urk. 4).
The text below is from the second edition of Klostermann and Hansen, Eusebius Werke, 4: Gegen Marcell (GCS 14, 2nd edition; Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1972), 21 (Nr. 32) , 28. The translation is our own by Glen Thompson.
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| Eusebius, Contra Marcellum 1.4.18-20 (Nr. 31) | |
| 18. [Οὐκ εὐαγγελικῆς ὑπομιμνήσκων διδασκαλίας ταῦτ᾽ἔγραψεν Παυλῖνος, ὁμολογῶν δὲ ἐνίους μὲν ἀφ ̓ ἑαυτῶν οὕτω κινεῖσθαι, ἐνίους δὲ ἐκ τῶν ἀναγνωσμάτων τῶν προειρημένων ἀνδρῶν το ῶτον ἦχθαι τὸν τρόπον. | 18. [Paulinus of Tyre wrote these things, without mentioning the gospel’s teaching. He confessed some things which they themselves had put forward, and others which they read in the writings of others who spoke in times past, sounding forth this sort of thing. |
| 19. εἶτα τέλος, ὥσπερ τινὰ κορωνίδα τῆς ἀποδείξεως ἐπάγων, ἐκ τῶν Ὠριγένους ῥητῶν τῇ ἑαυτοῦ ὑπέραψεν ἐπιστολῇ, ὡς μάλλον πεῖσαι δυναμένου παρὰ τοὺς εὐαγγελιστὰς καὶ τοὺς ἀποστόλους. ἔστιν δὲ τὰ ῥητὰ ταῦτα·] | 19. The result is that they furnish certain “proofs” from the words of Origen in a letter of his, rather than being persuaded by the Evangelists and Apostles. These are their words:] |
| ὥρα ἐπαναλαβόντα περὶ πατρὸς καὶ υἱοῦ καὶ ἁγίου πνεύματος, ὀλίγα τῶν τότε παραλελειμμένων διεξελθεῖν· περὶ πατρὸς ὡς ἀδιαίρετος ὤν καὶ ἀμέριστος υἱοῦ γίγνεται πατήρ, οὐ προβαλὼν αὐτόν, ὡς οἴονταί τινες. | It is time now when we are debating about the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, to set out a few points which were omitted then [in Origen’s day]. On the subject of the Father, he is Father as undivided and not imparting himself to the Son, not bringing him forth, as some people think. |
| 20. εἰ γὰρ πρόβλημά ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ γέννημα ἐξ αὐτοῦ, ὁποῖα τὰ τῶν ζώων γεννήματα, ἀνάγκη σῶμα εἶναι τὸν προβαλόντα καὶ τὸν προβεβλημένον. | For if the Son is an issue of the Father and a production from him, as are the productions of animals, then it is necessary that both the producer and the produced shall be a body…. |
| (Nr. 33) | |
| 49. [Τούτοις δὲ τοῖς ῥητοῖς καὶ ὁ τούτου πατὴρ πειθόμενος Παυλῆνος, ταὐτὰ λέγειν τε καὶ γράφειν οὐκ ὀκνεῖ,] | 2. [Later… with these words, he who is considered the father of this saying, Paulinus, was not ashamed to speak and to write.] |
| Ποτὲ μὲν δεύτερον θεὸν λέγων τὸν Χριστὸν καὶ τοῦτον ἀνθρωπικώτερον γεγενῆσθαι θεόν, ποτὲ δὲκτίσμα αὐτὸν εἶναι διοριζόμενος. … | Once he said that Christ was a second God, and that he had been begotten as a more human God, and another time he was defining him as a creation…. |
| 50. … Ἔπειτα διαβάλλει τὸν μακάριον ὡς θεοὺς πολλοὺς εἰρηκοτα, … | 3. …Then he [Marcellus] slanders the blessed [Paulinus] as though he had said there were many gods… |
| (Nr. 74) | |
| 51. … Ὅθεν τοίνυν μαθὼν καὶ ὁ Ἀστερίου πατὴρ Παυλῖνος νεωτέρους θεοὺς εἶναι ᾤετο. | 4. …And since he has learned this, Paulinus, the father of Asterius, thinks that they are younger gods… |
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