Origen, one of the most distinguished of the Fathers of the early Christian Church, a Christian scholar and theologian, was born, probably at Alexandria, about 182; and died at Caesarea not later than 251.
His full name was apparently Origenes Adamantius; and he received from his father, Leonides, thorough instruction in the Bible and in elementary studies. But in 202 the outbreak of the persecution of Septimius Severus robbed Origen of his father, whom he sought to follow in martyrdom, being prevented only by a ruse of his mother. The death of Leonides left the family of nine impoverished, their property being confiscated. Origen, however, was taken under the protection of a woman of wealth and standing; but as her household already included a heretic named Paul, the strictly orthodox Origen seems to have remained with her but a short time.
Since his father's teaching enabled him also to give elementary instruction, he revived, in 203, the catechetical school at Alexandria[?], whose last teacher, Clement of Alexandria, was apparently driven out by the persecution. But the persecution still raged, and the young teacher unceasingly visited the prisoners, attended the courts, and comforted the condemned, himself preserved from harm as if by a miracle. His fame and the number of his pupils increased rapidly, so that Demetrius, bishop of Alexandria, made him restrict himself to instruction in Christian doctrine alone.
Origen, to be entirely independent, sold his library for a sum which netted him a daily income of 4 obols (about twelve cents) on which he lived by exercising the utmost frugality. Teaching throughout the day, he devoted the greater part of the night to the study of the Bible and lived a life of rigid asceticism. This he carried to such an extent that, fearing that his position as a teacher of women as well as men might give ground for scandal to the heathen, he followed literally Matthew 19:12 and castrated himself, partly influenced, too, by his belief that the Christian must follow the words of his Master without reserve. Later in life, however, he saw reason to judge differently concerning his extreme act.
During the reign of emperor Caracalla, about 211-212, Origen paid a brief visit to Rome, but the relative laxity during the pontificate of Zephyrinus seems to have disillusioned him, and on his return to Alexandria he resumed his teaching with zeal increased by the contrast. But the school had far outgrown the strength of a single man; the catechumens pressed eagerly for elementary instruction, and the baptized sought for interpretation of the Bible. Under these circumstances, Origen entrusted the teaching of the catechumens to Heraclas, the brother of the martyr Plutarch, his first pupil.
His own interests became more and more centered in exegesis, and he accordingly studied
Hebrew, though there is no certain knowledge concerning his instructor in that language. From about this period (212-213) dates Origen's acquaintance with Ambrose of Alexandria, whom he was instrumental in converting from Valentianism[?] to orthodoxy. Later (about 218) Ambrose, a man of wealth, made a formal agreement with Origen to promulgate his writings, and all the subsequent works of Origen (except his sermons, which were not expressly prepared for publication) were dedicated to Ambrose.
In 213 or 214, Origen visited Arabia at the request of the prefect, who wished to have an interview with him; and Origen accordingly spent a brief time in Petra, after which he returned to Alexandria. In the following year (215), a popular uprising at Alexandria caused Caracalla to let his soldiers plunder the city, shut the schools, and expel all foreigners. The latter measure caused Ambrose to take refuge in Caesarea, where he seems to have made his permanent home; and Origen, who felt that the turmoil hindered his activity as a teacher and imperilled his safety, left Egypt, apparently going with Ambrose to Caesarea, where he spent some time. Here, in conformity with local usage based on Jewish custom, Origen, though not ordained, preached and interpreted the Scriptures at the request of the bishops Alexander of Jerusalem and Theoctistus of Caesarea. When, however, the confusion in Alexandria subsided, Demetrius recalled Origen, probably in 216.
Of Origen's activity during the next decade little is known, but it was obviously devoted to teaching and writing. The latter was rendered the more easy for him by Ambrose, who provided him with more than seven stenographers to take dictation in relays, as many scribes to prepare long-hand copies, and a number of girls to multiply the copies. At the request of Ambrose, he now began a huge commentary on the Bible, beginning with John, and continuing with Genesis, Psalms 1-25, and Lamentations, besides brief exegeses of selected texts (forming the ten books of his Stromateis), two books on the resurrection, and the work "On First Principles."
About 230, Origen entered on the fateful journey which was to compel him to give up his work at Alexandria and embittered the next years of his life. Sent to Greece on some ecclesiastical mission,
He paid a visit to Caesarea, where he was heartily welcomed and was ordained a priest, that no further cause for criticism might be given Demetrius, who had strongly disapproved his preaching before ordination while at Caesarea.
But Demetrius, taking this well-meant
act as an infringement of his rights, was
furious, for not only was Origen under
his jurisdiction, but, if Eastern sources may be
believed, Demetrius had been the first to introduce
episcopal ordination in Egypt. The metropolitan
accordingly convened a synod of bishops and
presbyters which banished Origen from Alexandria, while
a second synod declared his ordination invalid.
Origen accordingly fled from Alexandria in 231,
and made his permanent home in Caesarea. A
series of attacks on him seems to have emanated
from Alexandria, whether for his self-castration (a
capital crime in Roman law) or for alleged
heterodoxy is unknown; but at all events these
fulminations were heeded only at Rome, while Palestine,
Phoenicia, Arabia, and Achaia paid no attention to
them.
At Alexandria Heraclas became head of
Origen's school, and shortly afterward, on the death
of Demetrius, was consecrated bishop. At Caesarea
Origen was joyfully received, and was also the guest
of Firmilian, bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, and
of the empress-dowager, Julia Mammaea[?], at Antioch.
The former also visited him at Caesarea, where
Origen, deeply loved by his pupils, preached and
taught dialectics, physics, ethics, and metaphysics;
thus laying his foundation for the crowning theme
of theology.
He accordingly sought to set forth
all the science of the time from the Christian point
of view, and to elevate Christianity to a theory of
the universe compatible with Hellenism. In 235,
with the accession of Maximinus, a persecution
raged; and for two years Origen is said, though on
somewhat doubtful authority, to have remained
concealed in the house of a certain Juliana in
Casarea of Cappadocia.
Little is known of the last twenty years of Origen's life. He preached regularly on Wednesdays and Fridays, and later daily. He evidently, however, developed an extraordinary literary productivity, broken by occasional journeys; one of which, to Athens during some unknown year, was of sufficient length to allow him time for research.
After his return from Athens, he
succeeded in converting Beryllus, bishop of Bostra,
from his adoptianistic views to the Orthodox faith;
yet in these very years (about 240) probably
occurred the attacks on Origen's own orthodoxy
which compelled him to defend himself in writing
to Pope Fabian (236-250) and
many bishops. Neither the source nor the object
of these attacks is known, though the latter may
have been connected with Novatianism[?].
After his conversion of
Beryllus, however, his aid was frequently invoked
against heresies. Thus, when the doctrine was
promulgated in Arabia that the soul died and
decayed with the body, being restored to life
only at the resurrection, appeal was made to
Origen, who journeyed to Arabia, and by his
preaching reclaimed the erring.
In 250
persecutions of the Church broke out anew, and this time
Origen did not escape. He was tortured, pilloried,
and bound hand and foot to the block for days
without yielding. These tortures seem to have
resulted in his death. A later legend, recounted
by Jerome (De viris illustribus, chapter 54 and numerous itineraries place
his death and burial at Tyre, but to this little value
can be attached.
According to Epiphanius (Haer., lxiv.
63) Origen wrote about 6,000 works (i.e., rolls
or chapters). A list was given by Eusebius in his
lost life of Pamphilus (Hist. eccl., VI., xxxii. 3;
Eng. transl., NPNF, 2 ser., i. 277), which was
apparently known to Jerome (Epist.
ad Paulam, NPNF, vi. 46). These
fall into four classes: text
criticism; exegesis; systematic, practical,
and apologetic theology; and letters;
besides certain spurious works.
By far the most
important work of Origen on textual criticism was
the Hexapla. With Origen's great text-critical work a closer
acquaintance is afforded by the discovery of an
original fragment. By this work he thought to
establish a basis for the study of the Old
Testament, that should be adequate to scientific
demands. As a sample of the execution of the work,
a page is offered.
(Public domain image from the Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religion
Full size (http://www.wikipedia.com/images/uploads/origen-hexapla.png))
Of the fate of the Hexapla nothing is known. The
Milan discovery proves that at least some
individual parts existed much longer than was supposed
up to that time. The references to the Hexapla
by later manuscripts and authors obtain therefore
a greater significance than hitherto. The Tetrapla
was an abbreviation of the former in which Origen
placed only the translations (Aquila, Symmachus,
Theodotion, and the Septuagint) in parallels. He
was likewise keenly conscious of the textual
difficulties in the manuscripts of the New Testament,
although he never wrote definitely on this subject.
In his exegetical writings he frequently alludes to
the variant readings, but his habit of making rough
citations in his dictation, the verification being left
to the scribes, renders it impossible to deduce his
text from his commentaries.
The exegetical
writings of Origen fall into three classes: scholia, or
brief summaries of the meaning of difficult
passages; homilies; and "books," or commentaries
in the strict sense of the term. Jerome (ut sup.)
states that there were scholia on Leviticus, Psalms
i.-xv., Ecclesiastes, Isaiah, and part of John. The
Stromateis were of a similar character, and the
margin of Codex Athous, Laura, 184, contains
citations from this work on Rom. ix. 23; I Cor. vi.
14, vii. 31, 34, ix. 20-21, x. 9, besides a few other
fragments.
Homilies on almost the entire Bible
were prepared by Origen, these being taken down
after his sixtieth year as he preached. It is not
improbable that Origen gave no attention to
supervising the publication of his homilies, for only by
such a hypothesis can the numerous evidences of
carelessness in diction be explained. The exegesis
of the homilies was simpler than that of the
scientific commentaries, but nevertheless demanded no
mean degree of intelligence from the auditor.
Origen's chief aim was the practical exposition of
the text, verse by verse; and while in such barren
books as Leviticus and Numbers he sought to
allegorize, the wealth of material in the prophets
seldom rendered it necessary for him to seek
meanings deeper than the surface afforded. Whether the
sermons were delivered in series, or the homilies on
a single book were collected from various series, is
unknown. The homilies preserved are on Genesis
(17), Exodus (13), Leviticus (18), Numbers (28),
Joshua (16), Judges (9), I Sam. (2), Psalms xxxvi.-
xxviii. (9), Canticles (2), Isaiah (9), Jeremiah (7
Greek, 2 Latin, 12 Greek and Latin), Ezekiel (14),
and Luke (39).
The object of Origen's commentaries was to give
an exegesis that discriminated strictly against the
incidental, unimportant historical significance, in
favor of the deeper, hidden, spiritual truth. At the
same time, he neglected neither
philological nor geographical, historical
nor antiquarian material, to all of
which he devoted numerous excursuses.
In his commentary on John he
constantly considered the exegesis of the
Valentinian Heracleon (probably at the instance of
Ambrose), and in many other places he implied or
expressly cited Gnostic views and refuted them.
Unfortunately, only meager fragments of the
commentaries have survived. Besides the citations in
the Philocalia, which include fragments of the third
book of the commentary on Genesis, Ps. i., iv. 1,
the small commentary on Canticles, and the second
book of the large commentary on the same, the
twentieth book of the commentary on Ezekiel, and
the commentary on Hosea, and of the commentary
on John, only books i., ii., x., xiii., xx., xxviii.,
xxxii., and a fragment of xix. have been preserved.
The commentary on Romans is extant only in the
abbreviated version of Rufinus, and the eight books
preserved of the commentary on Matthew likewise
seem to be either a brief reworking or a rough
outline.
Codex Vaticanus, 1215, gives the division of
the twenty-five books of the commentary on
Ezekiel, and part of the arrangement of the
commentary on Isaiah (beginnings of books VI., VIII.,
XVI.; book X. extends from Isa. viii. 1 to ix. 7;
XI. from ix. 8, to x. 11; XII., from x. 12 to x. 23;
XIII. from x. 24 to xi. 9; XIV. from xi. 10 to xii.
6; XV. from xiii. 1 to xiii. 16; XXI. from xix. 1
to xix. 17; XXII. from xix. 18 to xx. 6; XXIII.
from xxi. 1 to xxi. 17; XXIV. from xxii. 1 to
xxii. 25; XXV. from xxiii. 1 to xxiii. 18; XXVI.
from xxiv. 1 to xxv. 12; XXVII. from xxvi. 1 to
xxvi. 15; XXVIII. from xxvi. 16 to xxvii. 11a;
XXIX. from xxvii. 11b to xxviii. 29; and XXX.
treats of xxix. 1 sqq.).
The Codex Athous Laura,
184, in like manner, gives the division of the fifteen
books of the commentary on Romans (except XI.
and XII.) and of the five books on Galatians, as
well as the extent of the commentaries on
Philippians and Corinthians (Romans: I. from i. 1 to i.
7; II. from i. 8 to i. 25; III. from i. 26 to ii. 11;
IV. from ii. 12 to iii. 15; V. from iii. 16 to iii. 31;
VI. from iv. 1 to v. 7; VII. from v. 8 to v. 16;
VIII. from v. 17 to vi. 15; IX. from vi. 16 to viii.
8; X. from viii. 9 to viii. 39; XIII. from xi. 13 to
xii. 15; XIV. from xii. 16 to xiv. 10; XV. from
xiv. 11 to the end; Galatians: I. from i. 1 to ii.
2; II. from ii. 3 to iii. 4; III. from iii. 5 to iv. 5;
IV. from iv. 6 to v. 5; and V. from v. 6 to vi. 18;
the commentary on Philippians extended to iv. 1;
and on Ephesians to iv. 13).
Among the systematic, practical, and apologetic
writings of Origen, mention should first be made of
his work "On First Principles," perhaps written
for his more advanced pupils at
Alexandria and probably composed
between 212 and 215. It is extant only
in the free translation of Rufinus,
except for fragments of the third and
fourth books preserved in the Philocalia.,
and smaller citations in Justinian's
letter to Mennas.
In the first
book the author considers God, the Logos[?], the Holy
Ghost, reason, and the angels; in the second the
world and man (including the incarnation of the
Logos, the soul, free will, and eschatology); in the
third, the doctrine of sin and redemption; and in
the fourth, the Scriptures; the whole being
concluded with a resume of the entire system. The
work is noteworthy as the first endeavor to present
Christianity as a complete theory of the universe,
and was designed to remove the difficulties felt by
many Christians concerning the essential bases of
their faith.
Earlier in date than this treatise were
the two books on the resurrection (now lost, a fate
which has also befallen two dialogues on the same
theme) dedicated to Ambrose. After his removal
to Caesarea, Origen wrote the works, still extant,
"On Prayer," "On Martyrdom," and "Against
Celsus." The first of these was written shortly
before 235 (or possibly before 230), and, after an
introduction on the object, necessity, and advantage
of prayer, ends with an exegesis of the Lord's
Prayer, concluding with remarks on the position,
place, and attitude to be assumed during prayer,
as well as on the classes of prayer.
The persecution of Maximinus was the occasion of the
composition of the "On Martyrdom," which is preserved
in the "Exhortation to Martyrdom." In it, Origen
warns against any trifling with idolatry and
emphasizes the duty of suffering martyrdom
manfully; while in the second part he explains the
meaning of martyrdom. The eight books against
Celsus[?] were written in 248 in reply to the
polemic of that pagan philosopher against
Christianity.
Eusebius had a collection of more than one
hundred letters of Origen (Hist. eccl., VI., xxxvi. 3;
Eng. transl. NPNF, 2 ser. i. 278-279), and the list
of Jerome speaks of several books of his epistles.
Except for a few fragments, only a short letter to
Gregory Thaumaturgus[?] and the epistle to
Sextus Julius Africanus (defending the authenticity of the Greek
additions to the book of Daniel) have been preserved.
For forgeries of the writings of Origen made in his
lifetime cf. Rufinus, De adulteratione librorum Origenis.
The Dialogus de recta in Deum fide, the
Philosophumena of Hippolytus, and the
Commentary on Job by Julian of Halicarnassus[?]
have also been ascribed to him.
Origen, trained in the school of Clement and by his father, was essentially a Platonist with occasional traces of Stoic philosophy. He was thus a pronounced idealist, regarding all things temporal and material as insignificant and indifferent,
the only real and eternal things being comprised in the idea. He therefore regards as the purely ideal center of this spiritual
and eternal world, God, the pure reason, whose
creative powers call into being the world with
matter as the necessary substratum.
Likewise Platonic
is the doctrine that those spirits capable of
knowing supreme reason, but imprisoned in the body in
this world, will rise after death to divinity, being
purified by fire. In his attempt to amalgamate the
system evolved by Greek thought with
Christianity, Origen found his predecessors in the
Platonizing Philo of Alexandria and even in the Gnostics. His exegesis does not differ generally from that of Heracleon,
but in the canon of the New Testament and in the
tradition of the Church, Origen possessed a check
which kept him from the excesses of Gnostic
exegesis.
He was, indeed, a rigid adherent of the Bible,
making no statement without adducing some
Scriptural basis. To him the Bible was divinely inspired,
as was proved both by the fulfilment of prophecy
and by the immediate impression which the
Scriptures made on him who read them. Since the
divine Logos spoke in the Scriptures, they were an
organic whole and on every occasion he combatted
the Gnostic tenet of the inferiority of the Old
Testament. He was aware of the discrepancies between
the Old and New Testaments and the contradictory
accounts, of the Gospels; but he considered these
only as inconsistencies that lend themselves to an
unspirituel historical exegesis according to the letter.
In his exegesis, Origen sought to discover the deeper
meaning implied in the Scriptures. One of his chief
methods was the translation of proper names,
which enabled him, like Philo, to find a deep
meaning even in every event of history (see EXEGESIS
OR HERMENEUTICS); but at the same time
he insisted on an exact grammatical
interpretation of the text as the basis of all exegesis.
A strict
adherent of the Church, Origen yet distinguished
sharply between the ideal and the empirical Church,
representing "a double church of men and angels,"
or, in Platonic phraseology, the lower church and
its celestial ideal. The ideal Church alone was the
Church of Christ, scattered over all the earth; the
other provided also a shelter for sinners. Holding
that the Church, as being in possession of the
mysteries, affords the only means of salvation, he was
indifferent to her external organization, although
he spoke sometimes of the office-bearers as the
pillars of the Church, and of their heavy duties and
responsibilities.
More important to him was the
idea borrowed from Plato of the grand division
between the great human multitude, capable of
sensual vision only, and those who know how to
comprehend the hidden meaning of Scripture and the
diverse mysteries; church organization being for
the former only.
It is doubtful whether Origen
possessed an obligatory creed; at any rate, such a
confession of faith was not a norm like the inspired
word of Scripture. The reason, illumined by the
divine Logos, which is able to search the secret
depths of the divine nature, remains as the only
source of knowledge.
Origen's conception of God is entirely abstract--
God is a perfect unity, invisible and incorporeal,
transcending all things material, and
therefore inconceivable and
incomprehensible. He is likewise
unchangeable, and transcends space and time.
But his power is limited by his
goodness, justice, and wisdom; and, though entirely
free from necessity, his goodness and omnipotence
constrained him to reveal himself.
This revelation,
the external self-emanation of God, is expressed by
Origen in various ways, the Logos being only one of
many. Revelation was the first creation of God
(cf. Prov. viii. 22), in order to afford creative
mediation between God and the world, such
mediation being necessary, because God, as changeless
unity, could not he the source of a multitudinous
creation.
The Logos is the rational creative
principle that permeates the universe. Since God
eternally manifests himself, the Logos is likewise
eternal. He forms a bridge between the created and
uncreated, and only through him, as the visible
representative of divine wisdom, can the inconceivable
and incorporeal God be known. Creation came into
existence only through the Logos, and God's
nearest approach to the world is the command to create.
While the Logos is substantially a unity, he
comprehends a multiplicity of concepts, so that Origen
terms him, in Platonic fashion, "essence of essences"
and "idea of ideas."
The defense of the unity of
God against the Gnostics led Origen to maintain the
subordination of the Logos to God, and the doctrine
of the eternal generation is later. Origen distinctly
emphasised the independence of the Logos as well
as the distinction from the being and substance of
God. The term "of the same substance with the
Father" was not employed. He is merely an image,
a reflex not to be compared with God; as one among
other "gods," of course first in rank.
The activity of the Logos[?] was conceived by Origen in Platonic fashion, as the world soul, wherein God
manifested his omnipotence. His first creative act was the divine spirit, as an independent existence; and partial reflexes of the Logos were the created rational beings, who, as they had to revert to the perfect God as their background, must likewise be perfect; yet their perfection, unlike in kind with that of God, the Logos, and the divine spirit, had to be attained. The freedom of the will is an essential fact of the reason, notwithstanding the foreknowledge of God. The Logos, eternally creative, forms an endless series of finite, comprehensible worlds, which are mutually alternative. Combining the Stoic doctrine of a universe without beginning with the Biblical doctrine of the beginning and the end of the world, he conceived of the visible world as the stages of an eternal cosmic process, affording also an explanation of the diversity of human fortunes, rewards, and punishments. The material world, which at first had no place in this eternal spiritual progression, was due to the fall of the spirits from God, the first being the serpent, who was imprisoned in matter and body. The ultimate aim of God in the creation of matter out of nothing was not punishment, but the upraising of the fallen spirits. Man's accidental being is rooted in transitory matter, but his higher nature is formed in the image of the Creator. The soul is divided into the rational and the irrational, the latter being material and transitory, while the former, incorporeal and immaterial, possesses freedom of the will and the power to reascend to purer life. The strong ethical import of this cosmic process can not remain unnoticed. The return to original being through divine reason is the object of the entire cosmic process. Through the worlds which follow each other in eternal succession, the spirits are able to return to Paradise. God so ordered the universe that all individual acts work together toward one cosmic end which culminates in himself. Likewise as to Origen's anthropology, man conceived in the image of God is able by imitating God in good works to become like God, if he first recognizes his own weakness and trusts all to the divine goodness. He is aided by guardian angels, but more especially by the Logos who operates through saints and prophets in proportion to the constitution of these and man's capacity.
The culmination of this gradual revelation is the universal revelation of Christ. In Christ, God, hitherto manifest only as the Lord, appeared as the Father. The incarnation of the Logos[?], moreover, was necessary since otherwise he would not be
intelligible to sensual man; but the indwelling of the Logos remained a mystery, which could be represented only by the analogy of his indwelling in the saints; nor could Origen fully explain it. He speaks of a "remarkable body," and in his opinion that the mortal body of Jesus was transformed by God into an ethereal and divine body, Origen approximated the Docetism that he otherwise abhorred. His concept of the soul of Jesus is likewise uncertain and wavering. He proposes the question whether it was not originally perfect with God but, emanating from him, at his command assumed a material body. As he conceived matter as merely the universal limit of created spirits, so would it be impossible to state in what form the two were combined. He dismissed the solution by referring it to the mystery of the divine governance of the universe. More logically did he declare the material nature of the world to be merely an episode in the
spiritual process of development, whose end should be the annihilation of all matter and return to God, who should again be all in all. The doctrine of the resurrection of the body he upholds by the explanation that the Logos maintains the unity of man's existence by ever changing his body into new forms, thus preserving the unity and identity of personality in harmony with the tenet of an endless cosmic process. Origen's concept of the Logos allowed him to make no definite statement on the redemptive work of Jesus. Since sin was ultimately only negative as a lack of pure knowledge, the activity of Jesus was essentially example and instruction, and his human life was only incidental as contrasted with the immanent cosmic activity of the Logos. Origen regarded the death of Jesus as a sacrifice, paralleling it with other cases of self-sacrifice for the general good. On this, Origen's accord with the teachings of the Church was merely superficial.
His idealizing tendency to consider the spiritual alone as real, fundamental to his entire system, led him to combat the rude Chiliasm (see Christian eschatology) of a sensual beyond; yet he constrained himself from breaking entirely with the distinct celestial hopes and representations of Paradise prevalent in the Church. He represents a progressive purification of souls, until, cleansed of all clouds of evil, they should know the truth and God as the Son knew him, see God face to face, and attain a full possession of the Holy Spirit and union with God. The means of attainment of this end were described by Origen in different ways, the most important of which was his Platonic concept of a purifying fire which should cleanse the world of evil and thus lead to cosmic renovation. By a further spiritualization Origen could call God himself this consuming fire. In proportion as the souls were freed from sin and ignorance, the material world was to pass away, until, after endless eons, at the final end, God should be all in all, and the worlds and spitits should return to a knowledge of God.
In Origen the Christian Church had its first theologian in the highest sense of the term. Attaining the pinnacle of human speculation, his teaching was not merely theoretical, like that of his antagonists, the Gnostics, but was also imbued with an intense ethical power. To the multitude to whom his instruction was beyond grasp, he left mediating images and symbols, as well as the final goal of attainment. In Origen Christianity blended with the paganism in which lived the desire for truth and the longing after God. When he died, however, he left no pupil who could succeed him, nor was the church of his period able to become his heir, and thus, his knowledge was buried. Three centuries later his very name was stricken from the books of the Church; yet in the monasteries of the Greeks his influence still lived on, and the spiritual father of Greek monasticism was that same Origen at whose name the monks had shuddered.
Initial text from Schaff-Herzog Encyc of Religion
