Does the Church include believers of different spiritual degrees?

Origen says, “There are in the Church certain ones who believe in God, have faith in God, and acquiesce in all the divine precepts. Furthermore, they are conscientious towards the servants of God and desire to serve them, for they also are fully ready and prepared for the furnishing of the Church or for the ministry. But in fact, they are completely disgusting in their actions and particular habit of life, wrapped up with vices and not wholly, “putting away the old self with its actions like the Gibeonites who ‘put on their old clothes, and their old and patched sandals’ …” (Josh. 9).”⁹⁵⁶

Origen finds a symbol for this classification among the believers in the organization that took place in carrying the tabernacle (Cf. Numbers 4). Aaron and his sons were tasked with covering the holy place and its tools, covered with the skin of a certain type of animal, or in purple and scarlet garments. Then comes the turn of the children of Kohath to carry it, but it was not lawful for them to touch any of the sacred things, or else they will surely die, nor do they have the right even to enter to watch the process of covering it lest they die. Also, in our church rites, there are some things that everyone must practice, although some do not understand them. For example, why do we bow down during prayer? Or why do we pray facing the east? It is not possible to explain this to everyone. Also, who can explain the transformation that happens in the Eucharist, or explain the meanings behind the liturgical texts and the rites used in baptism? Yet, even though we perform these things while veiled and hidden, we continue to perform them as our High Priest and his children handed them down to us.

Origen says that the Church includes believers of high spiritual level, as well as weak ones. The first group he calls “people,” and the second, “animals” figuratively: “The Church also has animals, as it says in the Psalms, ‘Lord, You preserve man and beast’ (Ps. 36:6). These, therefore, who are dedicated to the study of the word of God and of reasonable doctrine, are called men. But those who are living without such studies and do not want exercises of knowledge, but are nevertheless faithful, they are called animals, though, to be sure, clean ones. For just as some are men of God, so some are sheep of God.”⁹⁵⁷

John Daniélou says that Origen introduced a new concept of typology, which includes a comparison of the animals of the ark to those who are saved in the Church. The animals are distributed among many degrees of perfection, since not all people have the same merit and their progress in the faith is not equal, so was the case in the Ark, where talents were not given to all equally. This also appears in the Church. Although everyone shares the one faith, and the waters of baptism purified them all, they differ in their progress, so that everyone remains in his rank.⁹⁵⁸

956 Origen, Homilies on Joshua 10 (FOTC 105:110).

957 Origen, Homilies on Leviticus 3.3 (FOTC 83:57).

958 Jean Daniélou, From Shadows to Reality, Studies in the Biblical Typology of the Fathers , trans., W. Hibberd (London: Burns & Oates, 1960): p. 106.