Socrates Scholasticus
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Socrates Scholasticus (380-439), also known as Socrates of Constantinople, was a 5th-century Greek Christian church historian, a contemporary of Sozomen and Theodoret. He is the author of a Historia Ecclesiastica (“Church History”, Ἐκκλησιαστική Ἱστορία) which covers the history of late ancient Christianity during the years 305 to 439. The purpose of the history is to continue the work of Eusebius of Caesarea (1.1). It relates in simple Greek language what the Church experienced from the days of Constantine to the writer’s time. Ecclesiastical dissensions occupy the foreground, for when the Church is at peace, there is nothing for the church historian to relate (7.48.7). Socrates’ account is in many respects well-balanced. He is careful not to use hyperbolic titles when referring to prominent personalities in the church and the government and even criticizes Eusebius for his excessive praises to Emperor Constantine the Great in his Vita Constantini. The Historia Ecclesiastica is one of the few sources of information about Hypatia, the female mathematician and philosopher of Alexandria, who was brutally murdered by a mob. Socrates unequivocally condemns the actions of the mob, declaring, “Surely nothing can be farther from the spirit of Christianity than the allowance of massacres, fights, and transactions of that sort.”
Writings:
- Historia Ecclesiastica
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Quotes and Excerpts:
“When the Novatianists separated themselves from the Church because they did not want to communicate with those who had lapsed during the persecution in the time of Decius, the bishops added to the ecclesiastical institutes the presbyter in charge of repentance, so that those who had sinned after Baptism might confess their sins before this appointed presbyter. This rule prevails until the present time among all the other sects. Only those minded to the homoousios, and the Novatianists, like-minded with them according to faith, have set aside the office of the presbyter penitentiary.” -Historia Ecclesiastica, 5: 19 (Written 439 A.D.)
“A certain woman of the nobility came to the presbyter penitentiary and confessed in succession the sins which she had committed after Baptism. The presbyter instructed the woman to fast and to pray ceaselessly, so that with her confession she might also have some works to show, worthy of repentance.” -Historia Ecclesiastica, 5: 19 (Written 439 A.D.)
“Nestorius had an associate whom he had brought from Antioch, a priest named Anastasius; he had the highest esteem for this man and consulted him in his most important affairs. When this Anastasius was preaching one day in the Church, he said, ‘Let no one call Mary Theotokos: for Mary was only a woman ; and it is impossible that God be born of a woman.’ These words created a great sensation, and troubled many both of the clergy and the laity. Up to this point they had been taught to acknowledge Christ as God, and by no means to separate his humanity from his divinity.” -Historia Ecclesiastica, 7: 32 (Written 439 A.D.)
“While great offense was taken in the Church… Nestorius, eager to establish Anastasius’ proposition -for he did not wish to have the man esteemed so highly by him found guilty of blasphemy- delivered several public discourses on the subject, in which he assumed a controversial attitude and totally rejected the title of Theotokos…. the discussion that ensued divided the Church. It was like people fighting in the dark, all parties uttering the most confused and contradictory assertions.” -Historia Ecclesiastica, 7: 32 (Written 439 A.D.)
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