Origen

Origen (c.185–c.254), biblical critic, theologian, and spiritual writer. Born in Egypt, he was brought up as a Christian and recognized by Demetrius, Bp. of Alexandria, as head of the Catechetical School (q.v.). When trouble broke out in Alexandria in 215, he went to Palestine; his preaching here as a layman was regarded as a breach of Alexandrian ecclesiastical discipline and he was recalled. In 230 he went to Palestine again and was ordained priest by the bishops who had invited him to preach on his previous visit. In consequence Demetrius deprived him of his chair and deposed him from the priesthood. Origen went to Caesarea (231), where he established a school which became famous. In 250, in the Decian persecution, he was imprisoned and tortured.

Origen wrote much, but many of his works have perished and most of the others survive only in fragments or in Latin translation. His main work on biblical criticism was his ‘Hexapla’ (q.v.). He also wrote commentaries on most Books of the Bible and many homilies. The original Greek of some of these was recovered in the 20th cent. His chief theological work is the De Principiis, which covers a wide range of doctrinal topics. His two ascetical works, ‘Exhortation to Martyrdom’ and ‘On Prayer’, were much read in antiquity. He also wrote an apologetic work against Celsus (q.v.).

As a biblical scholar, Origen recognized a triple sense—literal, moral, and allegorical—of which he favoured the last. The point of departure of his doctrinal teaching was faith in the unity of God. This unity in its fullest sense is understood of God the Father, and for Origen the Son is divine only in a lesser sense than the Father. His philosophical speculations led him into audacious thought, though it is not always clear that he held as certain the propositions he expressed. He affirmed that creation was eternal. He maintained that all spirits were created equal, but through the exercise of their free will they developed in hierarchical order and some fell into sin and so became demons or souls imprisoned in bodies. Death does not finally decide the fate of the soul, which may turn into a demon or an angel. This ascent and descent goes on until the final Apocatastasis (q.v.), when all creatures, even the devil, will be saved.