Origen of Alexandria: The First All-Round Theologian Flashcards
What was Origen of Alexandria relation to martyrdom?
his father Leonides died a martyr
What was the conflict with bishop Demetrius about?
link between preaching and priesthood: officially only those ordained were allowed to preach
What did Origin established?
he had a foundation of school and library at Caesarea (later destroyed)
What problem occured with Origin’s writings?
Because he was seen as a heretic, many writings were lost or transmitted badly
Why was Origin important for biblical studies and asceticism
He was a true scholar
What is his famous work Hexapla about?
comparison of various Hebrew bibles with the LXX-versions
What was the Principiis about?
It was the first systematic exposition of Christian theology
A complex system in which a Platonizing story about the cosmological origin of souls figures as a kind of prologue/introduction to the biblical story
How was the Principiis constructed?
4 books:
* God and the heavenly realm
* Creation, the fall, salvation, eschatology
(Scripture)
* Free will and the restoration of all things
(apokatastasis pantoon)
* The Bible: exegesis/interpretation
What did Origin believe?
- reality is fundamentally spiritual
- God is spirit
- In the beginning, souls were created first
- however, the souls wandered off and fell into matter (bodies)
- this allowed embodied souls to undertake a journey of return to the divine, spiritual realm
- one soul remained faithful to God: the soul of Christ
- by cooling down, souls became connected to matter
- the liberation of souls is helped by Logos
- Logos is presented in the OT and appears in person in NT
- When the soul learns from Logos, it returns to God -> difficult process but all souls will return
- Free will is crucial
- the Bible must be read allegorically -> find the deeper, spiritual meaning
What were the controversies and condemnation around his work?
- low appreciation of matter
- historicity of NT/OT is not important
- free will: danger of history repeating itself
- possibility that the devil might be saved
- pre-existence of souls
- subordination of Christ
What was remarkable of Orgins work?
- he organizes many things in a threefold pattern
- members of his community are people of the flesh (those who are only able to understand Scripture in a literal sense); those who have advanced somewhat (dimension of psyche), those who are able to see things spiritually (according to the pneuma).
- so the three layered dimension of the scripture is also linked to a view of human beings (body, soul and spirit)
- also two fold pattern: letter and spirit
What was his relation to Marcion?
Allegory is needed as an answer to people like Marcion who were critical of the earthly (literal) character of Scripture, esp. the OT (immoral stories & anthropomorphic view of God).
What were other important works of Origin?
- Commentaries & sermons (oldest
collection) - Tractates: martyrdom, prayer
- Apology: Contra Celsum
- Hexapla
- De principiis / Peri archoon
