Search

This paper tries to collect what we know about Pamphilus of Caesarea's 'school', and to evaluate its impact on the development of Eusebius' work and thought. Pamphilus' school was a circle of friends, not an institution.The few members of the school, known thanks to the Martyrs of Palestine, were very different in terms of age and condition. Pamphilus' teaching is not precisely known. Eusebius suggests that he taught theology and Scripture. He also taught morals, but probably not in a theoretic form. Even if Eusebius often introduces Pamphilus and his pupils as «philosophers», there is no reason to think that Greek philosophy was taught by Eusebius' master, though this remains possible. The general impression is that, though Pamphilus probably intended to imitate Origen who founded a school in Caesarea around 233, the nature of his own teaching was, at least in part, very different from that of Origen. It is sure, however, that the circle venerated Origen and devoted a good deal of its time to search, defend and copy his whole work. It remains to be seen if the circle learnt Origen's thought alone, or also the thought of subsequent Alexandrian masters, such as Theognostus and Pierius, the teacher of Pamphilus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]