Eusebius of Caesarea

[GBTWC]

is Eusebius of Caesarea considered a Saint in th EO church my understanding is that he opposed Athanasius at the council of NICEA?

 

[Andrew21091]

No, he is not a Saint in the Orthodox Church. He is considered a heretic because his theology was similar to that of Origen and he also held Arian beliefs.

 

[GBTWC]

But then are His historical writings discounted? I havnt read them but I did just recieve a eccesiastical History book that He authored so How much weight should I give it?

 

[Andrew21091]

I have not read any of his works so I cannot say.

 

[buzuxi02]

There is really nothing wrong with Eusebius works. He is not a saint of the EO as Andrew has said. He accepted the council of Nicea, but not neccesarily for what it taught, instead it was accepted for rejecting the extreme form of arianism. The extreme form of Arianism was the belief; "that there was a time when Christ was not". After Nicea, arians were not a monolithic group, there were divided into a few different factions, and some never considered themselves arians. Eusebius was one of these semi-arians. These semi-arian groups tended to reject the term homoousios, and many had personality clashes with St Athanasios.

 

[All4Christ]

Personally, I've never read his works for their spiritual content - but it does have a wealth of history that is very important. Also - if people are willing to use other sources as a history - even Jewish or secular - even if Eusebius was not fully Orthodox in belief - it is possible that it still might be helpful for certain specific circumstances. Beyond that - I'll let the others answer - I still am learning so much myself!

 

[Macarius]

His history of the Church has tremendous use as an historical witness to the early church, and much of what it says is useful to the Orthodox. However, he is not a saint and his writings do not carry the same weight as a saint's writings would.

 

[ProScribe]

is Eusebius of Caesarea considered a Saint in th EO church my understanding is that he opposed Athanasius at the council of NICEA?

No, a church historian in patristics.