Preparation for the Gospel by Eusebius of Caesarea

The Preparation for the Gospel is a major apologetic treatise in fifteen books by Eusebius of Caesarea, the early Christian bishop and historian. Composed in Koine Greek between approximately 313 and 324 CE, it constitutes the first part of a systematic two-part defence of Christianity, its companion being the "Proof of the Gospel." The work is addressed to educated pagans and Hellenized Jews, aiming first to refute pagan religions and philosophies before establishing the antiquity and superiority of Hebrew scripture as the true precursor to the Christian faith. The text survives largely intact in numerous Greek manuscripts. Its argument is constructed as an extensive scholarly compilation, featuring thousands of verbatim excerpts from a vast array of Greek, Phoenician, Egyptian, and Jewish sources. This method of citation preserves fragments from many ancient authors whose works are otherwise lost, rendering the Preparation for the Gospel an invaluable resource for classical philosophy and historiography. The treatise belongs to a specific historical moment, written after the end of the Great Persecution and during the reign of Constantine the Great. It was designed to furnish Christianity with a robust intellectual foundation appropriate for its new public role within the Roman Empire. Eusebius's vision of a Christian empire under divine pronoia, alongside his technique of employing pagan sources to argue for Christian truth, proved highly influential on subsequent theologians and historians.