Origen

• His friends and admirers described him as: - The Prince of the Bible Interpreters. - The Prince of Christian Philosophy. - The Teacher of Bishops. - There is no human mind that can absorb all what he wrote.
• He was born to a righteous Christian family. His father, Leonides, was a righteous scholar and saintly man who was martyred for his Christian faith during the

persecution of Septimius Severus, 202. While his father was in jail, Origen wrote encouraging him to face martyrdom.

• He rented libraries overnight to read their books. St. Jerome praised his love of reading and said that Origen read while eating, walking, resting, etc. Thus his knowledge extended beyond measures and his intellectual superiority was undisputed. He worked in teaching.
• When Pope Demetrius (12th Pope of Alexandria) heard of his fame, he appointed him dean of the School of Alexandria. He increased its fame and thought and became a teacher of many bishops and priests, as well as many men, women, young and old. First, he rented halls to hold the school, but when he was chased from one place to another, he held his lectures outdoors (in the open or beside the river).
• He was famous in allegorical interpretation. For example, his interpretation of the Song of Songs (differs from St. Basil’s school of literal interpretation). Dispute with the Church
• Pope Demetrius held a council that excommunicated Origen due to his: (a) theological mistakes; and (b) because he accepted priestly ordination in Palestine, not having been entitled to the priesthood since he had intentionally mutilated his body by castration.
• He spent the rest of his life in Palestine where he established a famous and significant theological school. Condemnations by Councils
• Pope Demetrius (188-232) called a synod which excommunicated Origen from the Church of Alexandria. A second synod in 231 deprived him of the priesthood. After Pope Demetrius’ death in232 he returned to Alexandria, but his successor Pope

• St. Epiphanius (ca. 315-403) stated that Origen had 6,000 manuscripts. He wrote in Greek. Some of his writings were translated to Latin during his life and some were translated after his death; e.g. Rufinus’ translation which contained many flaws. For example, the eternal subordination of the Son, as a derivative, is emphasized in a Greek fragment preserved in Justinian’s Epistle to Menas, which seems to be taken from De Principiis, I. ii. 13 where the translation of Rufinus has diverged widelyfrom the original in the interests

of orthodoxy.

• Mainly intellectual: Textual criticism, exegetic, apologetic, dogmatic, practical.
• Hexapla: 28-year study of the Bible manuscripts and translations:

1. The Hebrew text of the Bible.
2. The Greek pronunciation of the Hebrew text.
3. The Septuagint (ca. 250).
4. Simachos’ translation (end of 2nd century).
5. Aquilla’s translation (ca. 128).
6. Theodore’s translation (ca. 180).

• Interpretations of the five Books of Moses, the Song of Songs, Job, the Major and Minor Prophets, Joshua and Psalms.
• Against Celsus, the pagan philosopher: “Contra Celsus.”
• “The Principles” contained the majority of his flaws.
• On Prayer: part on the prayer in general; part on the Lord’s Prayer (Origen: Prayer, Exortation to Martyrdom; JJ O’Meara, trans., Ancient Christian Writers, No. (Newman Press, New York, 1954).
• On the Resurrection(Easter).
• Exhortation to Martyrdom. Theological Mistakes (Origenism) Subordination
• He was affected by the Greek philosophy; e.g. Plato in some of his mistakes. He thought of the Godhead as subsisting at different levels; there is, so to speak, a broadening down of deity from the apex of the divine hierarchy where the Father is the source, and descending in an order of participation and of functional subordination through Logos and Spirit to the archetypal ideas which are contained in the Logos, and so by the process of derivation to all spiritual and rational beings, the logikoi who, in so far as they participate in the Logos, may properly be called “gods.”