“Eusebius of Caesarea - Rain sent from Heaven in answer to Christian prayers - original Greek Text with English translation”
From Historia Ecclesiastica, 5. 5. Eusebius relates how a miracle happened in response to the prayers of Christians in the Roman army.
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Click on picture for more details. -------------- Relevant booksavailable at Amazon TEXTS & TRANSLATIONS
History of the Church Andrew Louth ed. ----- Cameron and Hall ----- -----
W. J. Ferrar -----
Eusebii Pamphili Evangelicae Praeparations, Tomus I (Greek Edition) -----
Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea - the Ecclesiastical History and the Martyrs of Palestine. Two Volumes ----- -----
Notley and Safrai ----- STUDIES Eusebius, Christianity and Judaism Harold W. Attridge ----- Constantine and Eusebius Timothy Barnes ----- Glenn Chesnut ----- Robert Grant ----- Eusebius of Caesarea Against Paganism Aryeh Kofsky ----- Eusebius of Caesarea and the Arian Crisis C. Luibheid ----- Christ as Mediator: A Study of the Theologies of Eusebius of Caesarea,
Marcellus of Ancyra, and Athanasius of Alexandria ----- Wallace-Hadrill
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1. It is reported that Marcus Aurelius Cæsar, brother of Antoninus, being about to engage in battle with the
Germans and Sarmatians, was in great trouble on account of his army
suffering from thirst. But the soldiers of the so-called Melitene
legion, through the faith which has given strength from that time to the
present, when they were drawn up before the enemy, kneeled on the ground, as
is our custom in prayer, and engaged in supplications to God. This was
indeed a strange sight to the enemy, but it is reported that a stranger
thing immediately followed. The lightning drove the enemy to flight and
destruction, but a shower refreshed the army of those who had called on God,
all of whom had been on the point of perishing with thirst. This story is
related by non-Christian writers who have been pleased to treat the times
referred to, and it has also been recorded by our own people. By those
historians who were strangers to the faith, the marvel is mentioned, but it
is not acknowledged as an answer to our prayers. But by our own people, as
friends of the truth, the occurrence is related in a simple and artless
manner. Among these is Apolinarius, who says that from that time the
legion through whose prayers the wonder took place received from the emperor
a title appropriate to the event, being called in the language of the Romans
the Thundering Legion. Tertullian is a trustworthy witness of these things.
In the Apology for the Faith, which he addressed to the Roman Senate, and
which work we have already mentioned, he confirms the history with
greater and stronger proofs. He writes that there are still extant
letters of the most intelligent Emperor Marcus in which he testifies
that his army, being on the point of perishing with thirst in Germany, was
saved by the prayers of the Christians. And he says also that this emperor
threatened death to those who brought accusation against us. He adds
further: “What kind of laws are those which impious, unjust, and cruel
persons use against us alone? which Vespasian, though he had conquered the
Jews, did not regard; which Trajan partially annulled, forbidding
Christians to be sought after; which neither Adrian, though
inquisitive in all matters, nor he who was called Pius sanctioned.” But
let any one treat these things as he chooses; we must pass on to what
followed. |
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Roman Army
Battle saved
Rain sent in answer to prayer
Melitene legion
Thundering Legion
Marcus Aurelius Caesar
battle with the Germans and Sarmatians
Antoninus Pius
Eusebius
Μελιτηνῆς
Κεραυνοβόλον
Κεραυνοβόλος
Μελιτηνῆς οὕτω καλουμένης λεγεῶνος
Original Greek text
Migne Greek Text
Patrologiae Graecae Cursus Completus
Patrologia Graeca
