Eusebius Of Caesarea Against Paganism

Dealing with the subject of apologetics and polemics against the pagans in Eusebius of Caesarea (c. 260-340), this volume discusses his response to the vigorous political, cultural and religious campaign launched against Christianity in his time. The first part of the book examines the background for Eusebius' apologetic enterprise and his early apologetic writings. The second and main part of the study analyzes major topics in Eusebius' great two-part apologetic work, the Praeparatio Evangelica and the Demonstratio Evangelica, such as the concept of Christian prehistory, prophecy and miracles. The last part deals with Eusebius' tactics and rhetoric and the place of Porphyry - the outstanding pagan polemicist against Christianity - in Eusebius' work. This part closes with a discussion of Eusebius' final apologetic statement in his work The Theophany, reflecting already the recent triumph of Christianity. Review: '...a careful work marked by a detailed knowledge of the primary sources...This study will be a useful library acquisition and will appeal to students interested in Eusebius of caesarea dn in the history of Christian apologetics.' Kelley McCarthy Spoerl, Journal of Early Christian Studies. Author Biography: Aryeh Kofsky, Ph.D. (1991) in Comparative Religion, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, is Lecturer of comparative religion at the University of Haifa. He recently co-edited and contributed to Sharing the Sacred: Religious Contacts and Conflicts in the Holy Land (Jerusalem, 1998).