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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