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ORIGENES ADAMANTIUS was a native of Alexandria. He was brought up with great care by his father, Leonides, who was a Christian, and instructed in Greek literature and philosophy, as well as in the doctrines of the Church. Clement at that time presided over the Christian school, and Origen was his pupil. His father perished in an outbreak against the Christians, which occurred at the beginning of the century; and the family were reduced to great poverty.
Clement retreating at this time from Alexandria, Origen, now in his 19th year, took his place as master of the Christian school; his lectures were numerously attended. This alone is a proof that the persecution which still continued was not general or extremely severe; indeed, Origen, speaking of this and other outbreaks, expressly says that the number of those who suffered was not great. He himself, though frequently visiting the Christian prisoners, was not singled out for attack. Nor can this be attributed to weakness: for he practiced extreme austerities, even to the point of literal observance of the advice to practice self-mutilation for the Gospel's sake.
With the exception of a short journey to Rome, he remained at Alexandria till his forty-fifth year, teaching sacred and profane science and literature, and studying Hebrew, with a view of producing a critical edition of the Scriptures. Owing to dissensions with Demetrius, the bishop of Alexandria, he left that city for Palestine, and finally settled at Cæsarea, where, notwithstanding the protests of Demetrius, he was ordained a priest by the Bishop of Jerusalem. Here he pursued his studies, and gathered round him many illustrious disciples. Gregory Thaumaturge, one of them, has described the course of scientific and philosophic teaching which he went through before studying Christian theology. Origen had friendly interviews with Mamæa, the mother of Alexander Severus, and with the Emperor Philip and his wife Severa. Under Decius he was imprisoned, but was ultimately released. He is said to have died at Tyre in 253 A.D.
His principal works are his Commentaries on Scripture, his Principles of Christian Doctrine, and his refutation of an attack on Christianity by Celsus, an Epicurean philosopher. The Principles, known to us mainly by a Latin translation, which avowedly left out some heterodox passages, are deeply penetrated with Platonism. The habit of taking words for things made it easy to pass from Wisdom or Spirit of God to belief in the Persons of the Trinity. Eternity of punishment, implying the ultimate triumph of evil, Origen could not accept. Sin brought its own punishment; and purgation through a long course of suffering would be the final issue. Not merely sinful men but fallen angels would ultimately regain the state of purity and blessedness. "For God governs souls not with reference to the fifty years of the present life, but with reference to an illimitable age" (bk. iii. ch. 1).
Notable also is Origen's protest against literal interpretations of the Bible. It is not needful, he says, to suppose that the world was literally created in six days, or that Jesus was actually taken by the Devil to the summit of a mountain, and the kingdoms of the world are shown to him. These things are to be interpreted spiritually (bk. iv. ch. 2).
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| This biography is
reprinted from The New Calendar of Great Men. Ed. Frederic
Harrison. London: Macmillan and Co., 1920. |
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