Eusebius liest die Apostelgeschichte

This article examines how the bishop and church historian Eusebius of Caesarea deals with the text of Acts and how he judges, absorbs and creatively transforms the historiographical concept of Luke in his »church history«. In this connection the author examines the unique positions of these two different concepts, the one by Luke and the other one by Eusebius, and their perceptions by scholarly Christians in antiquity. In contrast to the assumption that the »church history« of Eusebius is deeply inspired by the book of Acts, the author argues that Eusebius »only« uses the work of Luke as one of many sources, which – despite its significance within the canon – catches only his interest when it is able to legitimate statements of pagan and Jewish historiographers. Against the background of both works concept as an accounts of salvific history, this article investigates to what extend Luke's work might has influenced Eusebius literary and theologically.