Read complete books and articles on: Origen

Origen - ôrˈĭjĭn, 185?–254?, Christian philosopher and scholar. His full name was Origines Adamantius, and he was born in Egypt, probably in Alexandria. When he was quite young, his father was martyred. At the age of 18, Origen became head of the catechetical school of Alexandria, where he had studied under Clement of Alexandria. In the 28 years of his labors in Alexandria, Origen became famed for his teaching (for which he accepted no money) and wrote prodigiously. A stern ascetic, he castrated himself out of zeal for purity. Hence he was not ordained a priest, but he was permitted to preach while on journeys to Rome, Caesarea, and Jerusalem. His interpretation of the Scriptures in preaching and lecturing won him wide acclaim. Later (c.230) the bishops of Jerusalem and Caesarea ordained him, but Demetrius, his own bishop, ordered him deposed and banished from Alexandria. In Caesarea, Origen founded (231) a new school that became even more illustrious than the one in Alexandria. Among his students was St. Gregory Thaumaturgus. In the persecution (c.250) of Decius, Origen was imprisoned, tortured, and pilloried; this experience probably caused his death some time after his release. Learned in Greek philosophy, he was a most erudite and profound biblical scholar as well. According to St. Jerome he wrote 800 works. Extant are letters, apologies, and exegeses. His critical edition of the Bible, the Hexapla, is famous in the history of textual criticism; this was a parallel edition of six Hebrew and two Greek versions. None of these remains in its original form. Origen's system of theology is given in his De principiis [on first principles], known through a Latin version of Rufinus. The chief of his apologies is Contra Celsum [against Celsus]. Origen attempted to synthesize the fundamental principles of Greek philosophy, particularly those of Neoplatonism and Stoicism, with the Christianity of creed and Scripture so as to prove the Christian view of the universe to be compatible with Greek thought. Before St. Augustine, Origen was the most influential theologian in the church. His threefold plan of interpreting Scripture (literal, ethical, and allegorical) influenced subsequent exegetical works. In spite of Origen's fame as an apologist for Christianity, there was question as to his orthodoxy. His somewhat recondite blending of pagan philosophy with Christian theology led to his condemnation by Justinian in the Monophysite controversy. There is good reason to believe that he was often the victim of misquotation and unfair interpretation.

See G. W. Butterworth, tr., Origen on First Principles (1936); R. B. Tollinton, tr., Selections from the Commentaries and Homilies of Origen (1929); G. E. Caspary, Politics and Exegesis: Origen and the Two Swords (1979); J. W. Trigg, Origen: The Bible and Philosophy in the Third Century Church (1983).

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14 of the Best Books and Articles on: Origen

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

Early Christian Thought and the Classical Tradition: Studies in Justin, Clement, and Origen » Read Now
by Henry Chadwick. 176 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library

This enlightening study examines the relationship of the early Christians to the classical tradition. Based on the work of the Christian thinkers, Justine, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen, and existing pagan criticism of the Church, the book illustrates how rejection of the classical tradition...
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This enlightening study examines the relationship of the early Christians to the classical tradition. Based on the work of the Christian thinkers, Justine, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen, and existing pagan criticism of the Church, the book illustrates how rejection of the classical tradition combined with profound acceptance of its humanism were synthesized by the early Church.
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2.

The Charismatic Intellectual: Origen's Understanding of Religious Leadership, in Church History » Read Now
by Joseph W. Trigg. 15 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library

...The Charismatic Intellectual: Origens Understanding of Religious Leadership JOSEPH W. TRIGG Origens vocabulary is quite definitely that of...Harl, over twenty years ago...
3.

Origen, Ezekiel's Merkabah, and the Ascension of Moses, in Church History » Read Now
by David J. Halperin. 15 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library

...Origen, Ezekiels Merkabah, and the Ascension of Moses DAVID J. HALPERIN The issue of Origens relations with contemporary Judaism has attracted considerable...the past...
4.

Apocatastasis in Patristic Theology, in Theological Studies » Read Now
by John R. Sachs. 24 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Philosophy, Entire Library

...great Alexandrian theologians, Clement and Origen, and on the Cappadocians, Gregory of Nazianzus...Nyssa. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA Although Origen counts as the chief...
5.

Origen » Read Now
by Origen. 293 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library

...MYSTICAL ARK, BOOK THREE OF THE TRINITY ORIGEN AN EXHORTATION TO MARTYRDOM, PRAYER...I wanted to portray the presence of Origen in the midst of the crumbling Roman...
6.

Homilies on Genesis and Exodus » Read Now
by Origen. 440 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library
7.

Alexandrian Christianity: Selected Translations of Clement and Origen with Introductions and Notes by John Ernest Leonard Oulton and Henry Chadwick » Read Now
by John Ernest Leonard Oulton, Henry Chadwick. 482 pgs.
8.

Homilies on Jeremiah: Homily on 1 Kings 28 » Read Now
by Origen. 364 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library
9.

Homilies on Luke: Fragments on Luke » Read Now
by Origen. 250 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library
10.

Christian Figural Reading and the Fashioning of Identity » Read Now
by John David Dawson. 302 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library

"David Dawson's "Christian Figural Reading is an elegant, deeply important and wonderfully complex book. Interweaving themes from early Christian scholarship, literary theory, and contemporary Christian thought, the text offers a challenge to scholars across a number of currently contested and...
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"David Dawson's "Christian Figural Reading is an elegant, deeply important and wonderfully complex book. Interweaving themes from early Christian scholarship, literary theory, and contemporary Christian thought, the text offers a challenge to scholars across a number of currently contested and fast-moving fields, demanding of us all that we rethink Biblical interpretation as 'the principal site of the tension between past and future.' The hero of the book is Origen: Dawson shows how the continual transformation of identity in the light of constant attention to the mysterious 'performance' of the divine in history is at the center of Origen's method. In the book's key twist Dawson argues that this Origenist process of figural reading can serve to reshape Christiansi understanding of their own engagement with Israel. Here Origen the promoter of fanciful and supercessionist Christian reading becomes the resource, beyond even Boyarin, Auerbach and Frei, for rethinking this most dangerous of intercultural engagements. Early Christian scholars, theologians, literary theorists, all will need to attend to Dawson's argument."--Lewis Ayres, Candler School of Theology, Emory University.
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11.

Canon and Text of the New Testament (Chap. 4 "The Age of Origen. 200-300") » Read Now
by Caspar Renae Gregory. 540 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library

...213 - 216 IV. THE AGE OF ORIGEN: 200-300 218 - 255 Books in...to 300, bears the stamp of the giant Origen, but brings with it many a valiant man...followed after the canon...
12.

Apologetics in the Roman Empire: Pagans, Jews, and Christians (Chap. 7 "Origen's Treatise Against Celsus") » Read Now
by Mark J. Edwards, Martin Goodman, Simon Price, Christopher Rowland. 315 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library

This book is the first to tackle the origins and purpose of literary religious apologetic in the first centuries of the Christian era by discussing, on their own terms, texts composed by pagan and Jewish authors as well as Christians. Previous studies of apologetic have focused primarily on the...
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This book is the first to tackle the origins and purpose of literary religious apologetic in the first centuries of the Christian era by discussing, on their own terms, texts composed by pagan and Jewish authors as well as Christians. Previous studies of apologetic have focused primarily on the Christian apologists of the second century. These, and other Christian authors, are represented also in this volume but, in addition, experts in the religious history of the pagan world, in Judaism, and in late antique philosophy examine very different literary traditions to see to what extent techniques and motifs were shared across the religious divide. Each contributor has investigated the probable audience, the literary milieu, and the specific social, political, and cultural circumstances which elicited each apologetic text. In many cases these questions lead on to the further issue of the relation between the readers addressed by the author and the actual readers, and the extent to which a defined literary genre of apologetic developed. These studies, ranging in time from the New Testament to the early fourth century, and including novel contributions by specialists in ancient history, Jewish history, ancient philosophy, the New Testament, and patristics, will put the study of ancient religious apologetic on to a new footing.
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13.

A History of the Church, Vol. 1 (includes "The School of Alexandria -- Origen" in Chap. 4) » Read Now
by Philip Hughes. 326 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, History, Entire Library

...IV. THE SCHISM OF NOVATIAN 108 V. ST. CYPRIAN AND ROME 112 VI. THE SCHOOL OF ALEXANDRIA -- ORIGEN 118 VII. MITHRAISM 128 VIII. THE MANICHEES 130 IX. DENIS OF ALEXANDRIA --...
14.

Byzantine Theology: Historical Trends and Doctrinal Themes » Read Now
by John Meyendorff. 244 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library

...at the service of Monophysitism or of Origenism. From the sixth century on, candidates...Christianity by Clement of Alexandria and by Origen. Neoplatonic thought had...