The Historical Veracity of Abgar’s Narrative in Eusebius of Caesarea’s Works
Abstract
In this article, we analyze the supposed correspondence between Jesus and King Abgar V of Edessa, present in the work Ecclesiastical History by Eusebius of Caesarea. From its beginnings, the legend enjoyed great fame due to the consideration of the faithful that it was one of the few existing testimonies about a text written by Jesus himself. This fact caused that this tradition be translated into many languages and received several different influences, which undoubtedly favored their development and survival over time. Despite the numerous studies on its popularity and on the various existing versions, the origin of this legend remains unclear and is far from reaching an academic consensus. Therefore, in this paper, the different perspectives on the beginning of this tradition are studied, analyzing those theories that focus on to suggest that the work is an invention of the author, but also looking for some historical nuance that could serve as inspiration for Eusebius of Caesarea.
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