11/16/20
Schaff, Philip. History of the Christian Church (The Complete Eight Volumes in One). Amazon Kindle Edition, 2014.
Volume 2, Ante-Nicene Christianity A.D. 100-325, “Chapter 13. Ecclesiastical Literature of the Ante-Nicene Age, and Biographical Sketches of the Church Fathers.” sec. 159-204.
§ 204. Eusebius, Lactantius, Hosius.
Schaff introduces Eusebius, Lactantius, and Hosius at the end of the period covered in volume two, though they will be dealt with at greater length in volume three. All three bridged the third and fourth centuries (Schaff 2014, loc. 33592, par. 3). Schaff describes them as cultured and eloquent. During this time he sees church history, especially in the West, as coming into its own.
The three leaders all saw the Diocletian persecution as well as the start of imperial patronage. They thus "carried the moral forces of the age of martyrdom into the age of victory" (Schaff 2014, loc. 33598, par. 4). All were close associates of Constantine. Schaff considers them to have been instrumental in shaping the mperor's view of Christianity (Schaff 2014, loc. 23605, par. 5).
Volume 2 of Schaff's Church History closes with a few pages of addenda and corrigenda, mainly additions to the literature reviews.
At this point, I will suspend my Monday blog posts on Church History, which have been walking through Schaff for quite a long time. My doctoral research needs to take some precedence. I'll continue Monday posts which will be based on chapters and articles I am reading for that work.