Rufinus the Presbyter

Rufinus, presbyter of the church at Aquileia, was not the least among the teachers of the church, and he had a fine talent for elegant translation from Greek into Latin. In this way he opened the greater part of Greek literature to the Latin-speaking church. He translated the works of Basil of Caesarea in Cappadocia; of Gregory of Nazianzus, that most eloquent man; the Recognitions of Clement of Rome; the Church History of Eusebius of Caesarea in Palestine; the Sentences of Xystus; the Sentences of Evagrius; and the work of Pamphilus the martyr Against the Astrologers. Whatever of all these, as the Latins read them, has a preface was translated by Rufinus; those without a prologue were translated by someone else who did not choose to write one. Not all of Origen, however, is his work, for Jerome translated some, and these are identified by his prologue. [a]

On his own account the same Rufinus, always by the grace of God, published an Exposition of the Apostles’ Creed so excellent that other expositions are thought of no account beside it. He also wrote on Jacob’s blessing on the patriarchs in a threefold sense, that is, the historical, the moral and the mystical. He also wrote many letters urging the fear of God, among which those he addressed to Proba stand out. He also added a tenth and an eleventh book to the Church History which, as we have said, was written by Eusebius and translated by him. Moreover, in two volumes he answered a critic of his works, arguing and proving that he had used his talent with the Lord’s help and in the sight of God for the good of the church, while his critic, on the other hand, spurred by jealousy, had taken up controversy.