Theological Term of the Week: Origen

Origen
An early Christian scholar and theologian, who “was a controverial figure in his own time and has continued to be so.”1 He lived from 185-254.

• From 2000 Years of Christ’s Power by N. H. Needham:

On the one hand, few Christian leaders from the patristic age can compare with Origen for his noble, humble, gentle character, or for his sheer depth and breadth of knowledge, both of Christian theology and pagan philosophy. On the other hand, Origen’s own theology gave rise to the most fierce disputes. He claimed that the Bible alone, not Plato or any pagan philosopher was inspired and that the Bible must be the basis of all Christian thinking. But in fact, Platonism greatly shaped and coloured Origen’s whole outlook. When he interpreted the Bible, he said it had three levels of meaning, which he called the body (the literal meaning), the soul (the moral or ethical meaning) and the spirit (the spiritual meaning). This scheme of interpretation sprang out of Origen’s threefold view of human nature, a view which may itself be rooted in Platonic philosophy. Origen regarded the literal meaning of the Bible as less important than its moral and spiritual meaning. This enabled him to build up his own theology in a way that did not tie it too closely to a literal understanding of the text.

Learn more:

1. Got Questions: Who was Origen of Alexandria?
2. Theopedia: Origen
3. Christian History Magazine: Origen: Friend or Foe? and Origen: Model or Heretic?
4. Christianity Today: Origen

Related terms:  

• Ambrose of Milan
• Apollinarius
• Athanasius
• Augustine of Hippo
• Basil of Caesarea
• Cappadocian fathers
• Columba
• Cyril of Alexandria
• Gregory of Nanzianzus
• Gregory of Nyssa
• Gregory the Great
• Hilary of Poitiers
• Irenaeus of Lyons
• Jerome
• John Chrysostom
• Justin Martyr
• Maximus the Confessor
• Monica
• Nestorius
• Patrick
• Pelagius
• Sabellius
• Tertullian
• Venerable Bede, The

Filed under Christian History

1From 2000 Years of Christ’s Power by N. R. Needham.

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Sunday's Hymn: I Greet Thee, Who My Great Redeemer Art

I greet thee, who my sure Redeemer art,
My only trust and Saviour of my heart,
Who pain didst undergo for my poor sake;
I pray thee from our hearts all cares to take.

Thou art the King of mercy and of grace,
Reigning omnipotent in every place:
So come, O King, and our whole being sway;
Shine on us with the light of thy pure day.

Thou art the life, by which alone we live,
And all our substance and our strength receive;
O comfort us in death’s approaching hour,
Strong-hearted then to face it by thy pow’r.

Thou hast the true and perfect gentleness,
No harshness hast thou and no bitterness:
Make us to taste the sweet grace found in thee
And ever stay in thy sweet unity.

Our hope is in no other save in thee;
Our faith is built upon thy promise free;
O grant to us such stronger hope and sure
That we can boldly conquer and endure.

—Attributed to John Calvin, but he probably didn’t write it.

Other hymns, worship songs, or quotes for this Sunday:

• Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Weary at The Happy Wonderer 

Theological Term of the Week: Tertullian

Tertullian
A native of Carthage who was the “first great Christian writer in the Latin language.”1 He lived from 160-255.

• From 2000 Years of Christ’s Power by N. H. Needham:

Tertullian was one of the most warlike spirits ever to enlist in the army of Christ; his hawkish, fire-breathing personality perfectly expressed the uncompromising hostility of the North-West African Church towards the pagan society of the Roman Empire. He was also a talented, many-sided theologian, with a gift for winging his piercing thoughts with bold, colourful and dazzling words. In the period 196-212, he produced a series of extremely important Christian writings … .

Learn more:

1. Got Questions: Who was Tertullian?
2. Theopedia: Tertullian
3. Christian Classics Ethereal Library: Tertullian
4. Gerald Bray: Holiness and the Will of God: Perspectives on the Theology of Tertullian
5. Gerald Bray: Tertullian and the Early Church (audio)
6. Michael Haykin: Tertullian and Constantine (audio)

Related terms:

• Ambrose of Milan
• Apollinarius
• Athanasius
• Augustine of Hippo
• Basil of Caesarea
• Cappadocian fathers
• Columba
• Cyril of Alexandria
• Gregory of Nanzianzus
• Gregory of Nyssa
• Gregory the Great
• Hilary of Poitiers
• Irenaeus of Lyons
• Jerome
• John Chrysostom
• Justin Martyr
• Maximus the Confessor
• Monica
• Nestorius
• Origen
• Patrick
• Pelagius
• Sabellius
• Venerable Bede, The

Filed under Christian History

1From 2000 Years of Christ’s Power by N. R. Needham.

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Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured as a Theological Term of the Week? Email your suggestion using the contact button in the navigation bar above. 

Clicking on the Theological Terms button will take you to an alphabetical list of all the theological terms.