Origen

Origen
Origen as depicted c. 1160
Bornc. 185 AD
Alexandria, Province of Egypt, Roman Empire
Diedc. 253 AD (aged c. 69)
Probably Tyre, Phoenice, Roman Empire
RelativesLeonides of Alexandria (father)
Education
Alma materCatechetical School of Alexandria[1]
Philosophical work
EraAncient philosophy
Hellenistic philosophy
SchoolNeoplatonism
Alexandrian school
Main interests
Notable worksContra Celsum
On the First Principles
Hexapla
Notable ideas

Origen of Alexandria[a] (c. 185 – c. 253),[4] also known as Origen Adamantius,[b] was an early Christian scholar,[7] ascetic,[8] and theologian who was born and spent the first half of his career in Alexandria. He was a prolific writer who wrote roughly 2,000 treatises in multiple branches of theology, including textual criticism, biblical exegesis and hermeneutics, homiletics, and spirituality. He was one of the most influential and controversial figures in early Christian theology, apologetics, and asceticism.[8][9] He has been described by John Anthony McGuckin as "the greatest genius the early church ever produced".[10]

Origen founded the Christian School of Caesarea, where he taught logic, cosmology, natural history, and theology, and became regarded by the churches of Palestine and Arabia as the ultimate authority on all matters of theology. He was tortured for his faith during the Decian persecution in 250 and died three to four years later from his injuries.

Origen produced a massive quantity of writings because of the patronage of his close friend Ambrose of Alexandria, who provided him with a team of secretaries to copy his works, making him one of the most prolific writers in late antiquity. His treatise On the First Principles systematically laid out the principles of Christian theology and became the foundation for later theological writings.[11] He also authored Contra Celsum, the most influential work of early Christian apologetics.[12] Origen produced the Hexapla, the first critical edition of the Hebrew Bible, which contained the original Hebrew text, four different Greek translations, and a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew, all written in columns, side by side. He wrote hundreds of sermons covering almost the entire Bible, interpreting many passages as allegorical. Origen was the first to propose the ransom theory of atonement in its fully developed form, and he also significantly contributed to the development of the concept of the Trinity. Origen hoped that all people might eventually attain salvation but was always careful to maintain that this was only speculation. He defended free will and advocated Christian pacifism.

Origen is considered by some Christian groups to be a Church Father.[13][14][15][16] He is widely regarded as one of the most influential Christian theologians.[17] His teachings were especially influential in the east, with Athanasius of Alexandria and the three Cappadocian Fathers being among his most devoted followers.[18] Argument over the orthodoxy of Origen's teachings spawned the First Origenist Crisis in the late fourth century, in which he was attacked by Epiphanius of Salamis and Jerome but defended by Tyrannius Rufinus and John of Jerusalem. In 543, Emperor Justinian I condemned him as a heretic and ordered all his writings to be burned. The Second Council of Constantinople in 553 may have anathematized Origen, or it may have only condemned certain heretical teachings which claimed to be derived from Origen. The Church rejected his teachings on the pre-existence of souls.[19]

  1. ^ Itter (2009), pp. 9–10.
  2. ^ The Birth of Purgatory. University of Chicago Press. 1986-12-15. p. 52. ISBN 9780226470832. to say a few words about the two Greek "inventors" of Purgatory, Clement of Alexandria (d. prior to 215) and Origen
  3. ^ Prestige, G. L. (1940). "Origen: or, The Claims of Religious Intelligence" (PDF). Fathers and Heretics. Bampton Lectures. London: SPCK. p. 43. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 4 September 2009.
  4. ^ The New Catholic Encyclopedia (Detroit: Gale, 2003). ISBN 978-0-7876-4004-0
  5. ^ ἀδάμας. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project.
  6. ^ "adamant". Online Etymology Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2015-01-11. Retrieved 2014-08-20.
  7. ^ Wilken, Robert Louis (2013). "A Learned Faith: Origen of Alexandria". The First Thousand Years: A Global History of Christianity. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. pp. 55–64. ISBN 978-0-300-11884-1. JSTOR j.ctt32bd7m.10. LCCN 2012021755. S2CID 160590164. Archived from the original on 2021-04-15. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  8. ^ a b Richard Finn (2009). "Origen and his ascetic legacy". Origen and his ascetic legacy, in: Asceticism in the Graeco-Roman World. Cambridge University Press. pp. 100–130. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511609879.005. ISBN 9780511609879.
  9. ^ McGuckin 2004, pp. 25–26, 64.
  10. ^ McGuckin 2004, p. 25.
  11. ^ Olson 1999, p. 102.
  12. ^ Olson 1999, p. 101.
  13. ^ Grafton 2011, p. 222.
  14. ^ Runia, David T. (1995). Philo and the Church Fathers: A Collection of Papers. Leiden, Germany: E. J. Brill. p. 118. ISBN 978-90-04-10355-9. Archived from the original on 2021-11-07. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
  15. ^ Pope Benedict XVI 2007, pp. 24–27.
  16. ^ Litfin, Bryan M. (2016) [2007]. Getting to Know the Church Fathers: An Evangelical Introduction. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic. p. unpaginated. ISBN 978-1-4934-0478-0. Archived from the original on 2021-11-07. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
  17. ^ Olson 1999, p. 99.
  18. ^ Olson 1999, p. 100.
  19. ^ Patrides, C. A. (October–December 1967). "The salvation of Satan". Journal of the History of Ideas. 28 (4): 467–478. doi:10.2307/2708524. JSTOR 2708524.


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