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Origen De
Principiis.
————————————
Preface.
1. All who believe
and are assured that grace and truth were obtained through Jesus
Christ, and who know Christ to be the truth, agreeably to His own
declaration, “I am the truth,”1915
derive the knowledge which incites men to a good and happy life from no
other source than from the very words and teaching of Christ. And
by the words of Christ we do not mean those only which He spake when He
became man and tabernacled in the flesh; for before that time, Christ,
the Word of God, was in Moses and the prophets. For without the
Word of God, how could they have been able to prophesy of Christ?
And were it not our purpose to confine the present treatise within the
limits of all attainable brevity, it would not be difficult to show, in
proof of this statement, out of the Holy Scriptures, how Moses or the
prophets both spake and performed all they did through being filled
with the Spirit of Christ. And therefore I think it sufficient to
quote this one testimony of Paul from the Epistle to the
Hebrews,1916
| 1916 [Here, and
frequently elsewhere (some two hundred times in all), Origen, in his
extant works, ascribes the authorship of the Epistle to the Hebrews to
St. Paul. Eusebius (Ecclesiastical History, vi. 25) quotes
Origen as saying, “My opinion is this: the thoughts are the
apostle’s; but the diction and phraseology belong to some one who
has recorded what the apostle said, and as one who noted down what his
master dictated. If, then, any Church considers this Epistle as
coming from Paul, let it be commended for this; for neither did those
ancient men deliver it as such without cause. But who it was that
committed the Epistle to writing, is known only to God.”
S.] | in which he
says: “By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused
to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to
suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures
of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches
than the treasures of the Egyptians.”1917
Moreover, that after His ascension
into heaven He spake in His apostles, is shown by Paul in these
words: “Or do you seek a proof of Christ who speaketh in
me?”1918
2. Since many, however, of those who profess
to believe in Christ differ from each other, not only in small and
trifling matters, but also on subjects of the highest importance, as,
e.g., regarding God, or the Lord Jesus Christ, or the Holy Spirit; and
not only regarding these, but also regarding others which are created
existences, viz., the powers1919
and the holy
virtues;1920
it seems on that
account necessary first of all to fix a definite limit and to lay down
an unmistakable rule regarding each one of these, and then to pass to
the investigation of other points. For as we ceased to seek for
truth (notwithstanding the professions of many among Greeks and
Barbarians to make it known) among all who claimed it for erroneous
opinions, after we had come to believe that Christ was the Son of God,
and were persuaded that we must learn it from Himself; so, seeing there
are many who think they hold the opinions of Christ, and yet some of
these think differently from their predecessors, yet as the teaching of
the Church, transmitted in orderly succession from the apostles, and
remaining in the Churches to the present day, is still preserved, that
alone is to be accepted as truth which differs in no respect from
ecclesiastical and apostolical tradition.
3. Now it ought to be known that the holy
apostles, in preaching the faith of Christ, delivered themselves with
the utmost clearness on certain points which they believed to be
necessary to every one, even to those who seemed somewhat dull in the
investigation of divine knowledge; leaving, however, the grounds of
their statements to be examined into by those who should deserve the
excellent gifts of the Spirit, and who, especially by means of the Holy
Spirit Himself, should obtain the gift of language, of wisdom, and of
knowledge: while on other subjects they merely stated the fact
that things were so, keeping silence as to the manner or origin of
their existence; clearly in order that the more zealous of their
successors, who should be lovers of wisdom, might have a subject of
exercise on which to display the fruit of their talents,—those
persons, I mean, who should prepare themselves to be fit and worthy
receivers of wisdom.
4. The
particular points1921
clearly delivered
in the teaching of the apostles are as follow:—
First, That there is one God, who created and
arranged all things, and who, when nothing existed, called all things
into being—God from the first creation and foundation of the
world—the God of all just men, of Adam, Abel, Seth, Enos, Enoch,
Noe, Sere, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the twelve patriarchs, Moses, and the
prophets; and that this God in the last days, as He had announced
beforehand by His prophets, sent our Lord Jesus Christ to call in the
first place Israel to Himself, and in the second place the Gentiles,
after the unfaithfulness of the people of Israel. This just and
good God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Himself gave the law and
the prophets, and the Gospels, being also the God of the apostles and
of the Old and New Testaments.
Secondly, That Jesus Christ Himself, who
came (into the world), was born of the Father before all creatures;
that, after He had been the servant of the Father in the creation of
all things—“For by Him were all things made”1922
—He in the last times, divesting
Himself (of His glory), became a man, and was incarnate although God,
and while made a man remained the God which He was; that He assumed a
body like to our own, differing in this respect only, that it was born
of a virgin and of the Holy Spirit: that this Jesus Christ was
truly born, and did truly suffer, and did not endure this death common
(to man) in appearance only, but did truly die; that He did truly rise
from the dead; and that after His resurrection He conversed with His
disciples, and was taken up (into heaven).
Then, Thirdly, the apostles related that
the Holy Spirit was associated in honour and dignity with the Father
and the Son. But in His case it is not clearly distinguished
whether He is to be regarded as born or innate,1923
| 1923 Innatus. The
words which Rufinus has rendered “natus an innatus”
are rendered by Jerome in his Epistle to Avitus (94 alias
59), “factus an infectus.” Criticising
the errors in the first book of the Principles, he says:
“Origen declares the Holy Spirit to be third in dignity and
honour after the Father and the Son; and although professing ignorance
whether he were created or not (factus an infectus), he indicated
afterwards his opinion regarding him, maintaining that nothing was
uncreated except God the Father.” Jerome, no doubt,
read γενητὸς ἢ
ἀγένητος, and Rufinus
γεννητὸς ἢ
ἀγέννητος.—R. | or
also as a Son of God or not: for these are points which have to
be inquired into out of sacred Scripture according to the best of our
ability, and which demand careful investigation. And that this
Spirit inspired each one of the saints, whether prophets or apostles;
and that there was not one Spirit in the men of the old dispensation,
and another in those who were inspired at the advent of Christ, is most
clearly taught throughout the Churches.
5. After these points, also, the apostolic
teaching is that the soul, having a substance1924
and life of its own, shall, after its departure from the world, be
rewarded according to its deserts, being destined to obtain either an
inheritance of eternal life and blessedness, if its actions shall have
procured this for it, or to be delivered up to eternal fire and
punishments, if the guilt of its crimes shall have brought it down to
this: and also, that there is to be a time of resurrection from
the dead, when this body, which now “is sown in corruption, shall
rise in incorruption,” and that which “is sown in dishonour
will rise in glory.”1925
This also is
clearly defined in the teaching of the Church, that every rational soul
is possessed of free-will and volition; that it has a struggle to
maintain with the devil and his angels, and opposing
influences,1926
because they strive
to burden it with sins; but if we live rightly and wisely, we should
endeavour to shake ourselves free of a burden of that kind. From
which it follows, also, that we understand ourselves not to be subject
to necessity, so as to be compelled by all means, even against our
will, to do either good or evil. For if we are our own masters,
some influences perhaps may impel us to sin, and others help us to
salvation; we are not forced, however, by any necessity either to act
rightly or wrongly, which those persons think is the case who say that
the courses and movements of the stars are the cause of human actions,
not only of those which take place beyond the influence of the freedom
of the will, but also of those which are placed within our own
power. But with respect to the soul, whether it is derived from
the seed by a process of traducianism, so that the reason or substance
of it may be considered as placed in the seminal particles of the body
themselves, or whether it has any other beginning; and this beginning,
itself, whether it be by birth or not, or whether bestowed upon the
body from without or no, is not distinguished with sufficient clearness
in the teaching of the Church.
6. Regarding the devil and his angels, and the
opposing influences, the teaching of the Church has laid down that
these beings exist indeed; but what they are, or how they exist, it has
not explained with sufficient clearness. This opinion, however,
is held by most, that the devil was an angel, and that, having become
an apostate, he induced as many of the angels as possible to fall away
with himself, and these up to the present time are called his
angels.
7. This also is a part of the Church’s
teaching, that the world was made and took its beginning at a certain
time, and is to be destroyed on account of its wickedness. But
what existed before this world, or
what will exist after it, has not become certainly known to the many,
for there is no clear statement regarding it in the teaching of the
Church.
8. Then, finally, that the Scriptures were
written by the Spirit of God, and have a meaning, not such only as is
apparent at first sight, but also another, which escapes the notice of
most. For those (words) which are written are the forms of
certain mysteries,1927
and the images of
divine things. Respecting which there is one opinion throughout
the whole Church, that the whole law is indeed spiritual; but that the
spiritual meaning which the law conveys is not known to all, but to
those only on whom the grace of the Holy Spirit is bestowed in the word
of wisdom and knowledge.
The term ἀσώματον, i.e.,
incorporeal, is disused and unknown, not only in many other writings,
but also in our own Scriptures. And if any one should quote it to
us out of the little treatise entitled The Doctrine of
Peter,1928
| 1928 Eusebius (Hist.
Eccles., iii. c. 36), treating of Ignatius, quotes from his
Epistle to the Church of Smyrna as follows: “Writing to the
Smyrnæans, he (Ignatius) has employed words respecting Jesus, I
know not whence they are taken, to the following effect:
‘But I know and believe that He was seen after the resurrection;
and when He came to Peter and his companions, He said to them, Take and
handle Me, and see that I am not an incorporeal
spirit.’” Jerome, in his catalogue of ecclesiastical
writers, says the words are a quotation from the Gospel of the
Nazarenes, a work which he had recently translated. Origen here
quotes them, however, from The Doctrine of Peter, on which
Ruæus remarks that the words might be contained in both of these
apocryphal works. | in which the
Saviour seems to say to His disciples, “I am not an incorporeal
demon,”1929
I have to reply, in
the first place, that that work is not included among ecclesiastical
books; for we can show that it was not composed either by Peter or by
any other person inspired by the Spirit of God. But even if the
point were to be conceded, the word ἀσώματον there
does not convey the same meaning as is intended by Greek and Gentile
authors when incorporeal nature is discussed by philosophers. For
in the little treatise referred to he used the phrase
“incorporeal demon” to denote that that form or outline of
demoniacal body, whatever it is, does not resemble this gross and
visible body of ours; but, agreeably to the intention of the author of
the treatise, it must be understood to mean that He had not such a body
as demons have, which is naturally fine,1930
and thin as if formed of air (and for this reason is either considered
or called by many incorporeal), but that He had a solid and palpable
body. Now, according to human custom, everything which is not of
that nature is called by the simple or ignorant incorporeal; as if one
were to say that the air which we breathe was incorporeal, because it
is not a body of such a nature as can be grasped and held, or can offer
resistance to pressure.
9. We shall inquire, however, whether the thing
which Greek philosophers call ἀσώματον, or
“incorporeal,” is found in holy Scripture under another
name. For it is also to be a subject of investigation how God
himself is to be understood,—whether as corporeal, and formed
according to some shape, or of a different nature from bodies,—a
point which is not clearly indicated in our teaching. And the
same inquiries have to be made regarding Christ and the Holy Spirit, as
well as respecting every soul, and everything possessed of a rational
nature.
10. This also is a part of the teaching of
the Church, that there are certain angels of God, and certain good
influences, which are His servants in accomplishing the salvation of
men. When these, however, were created, or of what nature they
are, or how they exist, is not clearly stated. Regarding the sun,
moon, and stars, whether they are living beings or without life, there
is no distinct deliverance.1931
| 1931 [See note,
infra, at end of cap. vi. S.] |
Every one, therefore, must make use of elements
and foundations of this sort, according to the precept,
“Enlighten yourselves with the light of
knowledge,”1932
| 1932 Hos. x. 12. The words in the text are not the
rendering of the Authorized Version, but that of the Septuagint, which
has φωτίσατε
ἑαυτοῖς φῶς
γνώσεως. Where the
Masoretic text has תע“וְ (et tempus)
Origen evidently read תעַדַּ
(scientia), the similarity of Vau and Daleth
accounting for the error of the transcriber. | if he would desire
to form a connected series and body of truths agreeably to the reason
of all these things, that by clear and necessary statements he may
ascertain the truth regarding each individual topic, and form, as we
have said, one body of doctrine, by means of illustrations and
arguments,—either those which he has discovered in holy
Scripture, or which he has deduced by closely tracing out the
consequences and following a correct method.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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