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Eusebius: "Master Forger". Or Not. Maybe.
#1
Thirdwoe stated, "How does Jay know for sure, Charles? What evidence does he show? Perhaps Eusebius is also a fictional character created by some other "Master Forger"."

Hello Thirdwoe, I truly hope you are in good health. Your comment above sounds awfully Hegelian - Be Careful...
Rather than gum up another thread as I am wont to do, I thought I would continue TWs question concerning the idea that "Eusebius" is a Forger and, by extension, "Hegisippus" was manufactured to simply provide an "Authority Name" for Eusebius to drop whenever he needed an "Authority" to back up whatever claim he was making at the time.
I cited:
Raskin, Jay, _The Evolution of Christs and Christianities_, Xlibris corporation, c. 2006. ISBN 1-41349791-8

Raskin begins by quoting Eusebius as giving 5 theses that will be propounded:
1." ...Eusebius just wishes to teach a moral lesson by demonstrating the moral and peaceful succession of the Apostles in the Church in contrast to the disorderly and violent succession of Emperors in contemporary Rome." p. 43 - 44.
2. "He will give an account "of the times which have elapsed from the days of our savior to our own". p. 43
3. "Eusebius will do his third action of relating the major events in the History of the Church". p. 43
4. "...to mention those who have governed and presided in the most prominent parishes." p. 43
5. "Eusebius tells us of his intention to mention, "those who in each generation have proclaimed the divine word either orally or in writing."

Raskin then analyzes Eusebius' works for contradictions and creations. He asserts that Eusebius created the church histories of Edessa" and "Jerusalem". Eusebius invented "James the Just" and asserted that "Clement" knew of 2 "James" characters and attempts to show that Clement's writings demonstrate knowledge of 2 "James" characters. Raskin shows that Clement's words were re-manufactured as it would not make sense for Clement to wait until Book 7 of a work to clear up an identity problem. Raskin then asserts that "Hegissippus" may be manufactured as well, although a note reads,"It is hard to know if Eusebius made up the text of Hegesippus or has drastically changed the text of a real historian to reflect his point of view. Since nobody else mentions Hesisippus before Eusebius and it is difficult to say if anybody ever read him after Eusebius, the more sober judgment for the moment is that he never existed. Eusebius is just taking text from other sources to create him."

Raskin then gets to the heart of his analysis. Eusebius has a Tell. There is a phrase, with variants of "in our times...", "even to this present", "...even until now" and "...to this day", etc. It is as if Eusebius cannot keep from using these phrases. He uses it in his own writings. Then, it begins showing up in odd ways in Josephus, Justin, "Hegisippus" and others.

One Hegisippus quote is revealing:
"...He has been called the Just by all from the time of our Savior to the present day: for there were many that bore that name.
"The phrase 'to the present day" is a bit odd here. Eusebius had just told us that Hegisippus lived "immediately after the Apostles". This would suggest the latter half of the first century. It is quite usual for nicknames to be applied to people after they die, so there is little point to saying it is still applied to the present day. It is only later that Eusebius tells us that Hegisippus really lived in the late second century. Thus this qualifies as a writer's trope for Eusebius."

And so on.
Much more there but the statement still stands: Beware of Eusebius!

CW
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