Eusebius and Gibbon

A few weeks ago I finished reading The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire vol. ii and Eusebius' book on Ecclesiastical History. He details the martyrdoms and sufferings prior to Constantine's conversion. The continuation of the ministry from the apostles through the church fathers who were discipled by them. How the documents became considered to be authentic or not for the New Testament. The myriad methods of torture and suffering, the names of those so honored and where they were from. Those who were tortured but did not die who were also labelled as heroes for their confessions. (By not denying the Lord under pain, they were called confessors.) Eusebius also details the differences of theology and wherein schools of thought arose, who supported or opposed them, and how that interacted -the authorized bishops of God with the rulers. It ends prior to the council of Nicea with an addendum reporting on what transpired there. The Rise and Fall also gave accounts of this, with much less detail, but went before and after-past the crusades to the Ottoman takeover of Constantinople and the desecration of the mighty cathedral of Santa Sophia into a mosque.

Details have long since eluded my short-term memory, and I would not suffer any to have to learn all of that. I direct those interested to those two classic tomes available from most any large library. However, as I read of the mighty stands for righteousness by the Alexandrian bishops and other priests, Athanasius and his predecessor Alexander, of the many before and after-though granting a few others such as Arius crept in with whom they were forced to debate, I had to grieve that so much of what shaped early church history was formulated in now Muslim lands. In Damascus, Antioch, Alexandria, the places listed in the Bible that are usually lesser known outside of there, mostly in Turkey, but Greece, Syria, Egypt, etc., etc. Gibbon covered the time past the first council, in fact of almost all of the councils. Augustine as well. So much was established in your lands before the gospel was brought to us.

It saddened me for you to not know your heritage. Perhaps it has been mentioned before, but a man from Cyrene helped carry the cross of Jesus. He was merely on a trip, and surely returned to testify of what he saw. Saint Augustine was from Hippo. Some list this as in Tunisia, others I believe said Algeria. He moved to several places on both sides of the sea. Whatever, the effect of his teaching reached across to Europe, was debated and studied in Rome, and other provinces around the Mediterranean. Without the faithfulness of your forebears, we would not have the testimony that we do. As my faith is a consequence of the missionary zeal and determination of those from your part of the world, thank you. And may it return to you that your lands not lose the content, just as missionaries from Africa now come to share the gospel in Europe and America to repay their debt to us.