Origen (185-254) ***
In
his fusion of Greek thought with biblical exposition, Origen was the greatest
theologian of the early Greek Church. The famed Catechetical School at
Alexandria reached its zenith under his tutelage. The son of a martyr, he took
Matt. 19:12 literally and castrated himself in order to instruct his female
students without fear of scandal. At the request of a church sorely beset by a
multiplicity of deviant doctrines, he traveled widely and defended the orthodox
faith against pagans, Jews, and heretics. "His Against Celsus", a
response to a pagan treatise attacking Christianity, stands as a monument of
Christian apologetic.
His Fundamental Doctrines sets forth
Christian theology on a scale previously unknown to the church. He argued
powerfully for the inspiration and authority of Scripture. In his concern for biblical scholarship he
produced the Hexapla, an edition of the OT with Hebrew text, Greek transliteration,
and available Greek translations in parallel columns, a monumental work. He
held that certain cardinal principles were clearly laid out in Scripture, while
on other matters Christians were free to speculate.
Origen
affirmed God as Creator of all things, Christ as eternal Son and Word, and the
Holy Spirit, each member distinct from the others yet together forming a unity.
This Trinitarianism provided a basis for orthodox thinkers such as Athanasius,
Jerome, and the Cappadocians. On the other hand, he sometimes spoke of the Son
and Holy Spirit as subject to the Father, a view which led others into
subordinationism and ultimately Arianism.
He
died as a result of the Decian persecution. Though three centuries later, in
553, he was declared a heretic, by the Catholic Church, but then and again, the
Pope called all that were truly born again from above, a heretic! Origen must chiefly be remembered for the
power and understanding with which he developed, propounded, and defended the
major doctrines of the Bible.