Origen

Lore & Background

Origen was born in Alexandria to Leonides, a professor of literature and devout Christian who was later martyred. After his father's execution and the confiscation of family property, Origen became responsible for his eight siblings. At age eighteen, he was appointed as a catechist at the Catechetical School of Alexandria, adopting an ascetic lifestyle. He later converted Ambrose from Valentinian Gnosticism, who became his patron, providing a house, secretaries, and copyists that enabled Origen's massive literary output. Origen founded the Christian School of Caesarea, teaching logic, cosmology, natural history, and theology. Almost all information about his life comes from Eusebius's Ecclesiastical History, written nearly fifty years after Origen's death, which scholars consider unreliable in parts. Eusebius's claim that Origen castrated himself as a young man is disputed, as Origen never mentions it in his writings and later condemned literal interpretation of the relevant biblical verse. Origen produced the Hexapla, the first critical edition of the Hebrew Bible, containing the Hebrew text, four Greek translations, and a Greek transliteration in parallel columns. He wrote hundreds of sermons covering almost the entire Bible, interpreting many passages allegorically. He was the first to propose the ransom theory of atonement in fully developed form and contributed significantly to Trinitarian theology. He defended free will and advocated Christian pacifism, and speculated that all people might eventually attain salvation, though he maintained this was only speculation.

Reader's Guide

Origen's significance lies in his vast and foundational contributions to Christian theology, despite later controversy over his orthodoxy. His treatise On the First Principles systematically laid out Christian theology and became a foundation for later theological writings. Contra Celsum remains one of the most influential works of early Christian apologetics. The Hexapla was a landmark in biblical textual criticism. His teachings were especially influential in the East, with Athanasius of Alexandria and the three Cappadocian Fathers among his devoted followers. However, argument over the orthodoxy of his teachings spawned the First Origenist Crisis in the late fourth century, with Epiphanius of Salamis and Jerome attacking him, while Tyrannius Rufinus and John of Jerusalem defended him. The Church rejected his teachings on the pre-existence of souls. Despite this, Origen is considered by some Christian groups to be a Church Father and is widely regarded as one of the most influential Christian theologians.

Did You Know?

• He produced the Hexapla, the first critical edition of the Hebrew Bible, with six columns of text.
• He was the first to propose the ransom theory of atonement in its fully developed form.
• Almost all information about his life comes from Eusebius, who wrote nearly fifty years after Origen's death and relied on unreliable hearsay.