Perspective

Eusebius's perspective is that of a 4th century Christian strongly committed to his faith and representing it in the best light possible. As a result, his history cannot be seen as objective. Its biases are not even subtle, rather they are easy to detect. First, Eusebius affirms all the core Christian doctrines of his day (some of the current ones had yet to be articulated). He begins Book One with an extended praise of God and a detailed attempt to vindicate the claim that Jesus is the Messiah.

He is biased against the Jews but not because of race. He is fine with Christian Jews, or Jews not directly involved in the persecution and murder of Jesus. He believes the Jews of the 1st century were brutally persecuted, killed and dispersed because they crucified Christ. He also believes God judged the Christian churches because of their internal dissension...