XVII.

 

Rufinus, presbyter of the church at Aquileia, was not the least among the doctors of the church and had a fine talent for elegant translation from Greek into Latin. In this way he opened to the Latins the greater part of the Greek literature, translating the works of Basil of Cæsarea in Cappadocia, Gregory of Nazianzus, that most eloquent man, the Recognitions of Clement of Rome, the Church history of Eusebius of Cæsarea in Palestine, the Sentences of Xystus, the Sentences of Evagrius and the work of Pamphilus Martyr Against the mathematicians.

Among all those read by the Latins, these which have prefatory matter, have been translated by Rufinus, but those which are without a prologue have been translated by someone else who did not choose to write a prologue. Not all of Origen, moreover, is his work, for also Jerome translated some which are identified by his prologue. On his own account, the same Rufinus, ever through the grace of God published the Creed so excellent that other creeds are regarded as of no account in comparison.

He also wrote in a threefold sense, that is, the historical, moral, and mystical sense, on Jacob's blessing on the patriarchs. He wrote also many letters exhorting to fear of God, among which those which he addressed to Proba are preeminent. He added also a tenth and eleventh book to the ecclesiastical history which we have said was written by Eusebius and translated by him. Moreover, he responded to a detractor of his works, in two volumes, arguing and proving that he exercised his talent with the aid of the Lord and in the sight of God, for the good of the church, while he, on the other hand, incited by jealousy had taken to polemics.

 

(trans. by E. Cushing Richardson, changed by J. Szafranowski)