Origen’s De Principiis Book 3
Origen Adamantius, born around A.D. 185 in Alexandria to Christian parents, grew up learning Greek literature and, by his father Leonides’ prescription, memorized the Scriptures daily. At seventeen Leonides was martyred and were it not for his mother’s intervention Origen would have joined him. With the family property taken by the government, Origen provided for his mother and six brothers by teaching grammar and rhetoric. Due to his literary ability and the love which he showed to the martyrs, the Bishop in Alexandria appointed Origen at eighteen as master in the Catechetical School.
Through his life Origen spent much time devoted to scripture, living as an ascetic, and instructing others in Christianity. His was a speculative mind, and not being satisfied with the plain meaning of Scripture he approached the Holy Word with a spiritual and allegorical lens. At some point he became friends with a wealthy individual, Ambrosias, who provided Origen with the funds and scribes to produce and distribute what became over six thousand works. Because of the proliferation of his writings, his many students, and his success in bringing heretics back into the fold of God, Origen remains perhaps the most influential theologian of the pre-Nicene period.
Origen’s life was not without controversy. At one point, while a layman, he expounded the Scriptures to church leadership, angering Demetrius, Bishop of the Church in Alexandria. Another time he was given official office in the Church while passing through Palestine. This once again angered Dimetrius who, with the support of Church leadership and possibly due to the heterodox nature of some of Origen’s speculative views, excommunicated him from fellowship with the Church in Alexandria. He retired to Caesarea where he continued to write and teach until being imprisoned and tortured in 249 due to an outbreak of persecution. This weakened his body and he died several years later at 70 years of age.
This episode contains book three of Origen’s De Principiis, a collection of writings that explores the principles of Christian faith and practice, and attempts to develop a self-consistent understanding of the world. In this work, Origen explores the concept of free will. Given the Roman understanding of Fate described in Minucius Felix’s Octavius, it is perhaps no surprise that the Church needed to defend this position, as it found itself in a culture which accepted the idea that all lives were governed by the impersonal, uncaring Fates. In this context, the assertion that humans are free to believe in God and live a life of holy anticipation of eternal reward provides a powerful counterpoint to this distortion of God’s nature and creation.
Unfortunately, Origen’s defense of free will runs into the same basic problem many struggle with today; if God is truly sovereign, how can man be responsible? Origen’s solution may seem a bit unorthodox; he posits that souls had a prior existence and their behavior in some previous world determines whether they are saved or destroyed in this one. Relying on a fairly thin Scriptural warrant from Ecclesiasties, Origin posits that there were worlds before the one we see now and may be many more after.
I am not personally convinced that he held strongly to any of these peculiar beliefs, as his writings include numerous caveats and often leave it up to the reader to decide on which proposed model seems most correct. I certainly sympathize with the speculative mind, but Origen demonstrates the danger inherent with committing speculation to paper without strongly tying it to the Bible and the historic teaching of the Church. In his case though, it is important to remember that he was one of the first to walk this path of thought - I do not believe we should strongly condemn one who, as far as his writings are concerned, held to a full, trinitarian faith and valiantly strove to advance Christian thought.
And now, please enjoy this rendition of Origen’s De Principiis, book three.
If you would like to read more of the writings of the Early Christian Fathers, please visit ccel.org to view the full collection.
