|
HOME | GREEK LANGUAGE | LIBRARIES | BLOG | HELP | SEARCH | FREEWARE | BOOKSTORE |
|
|
By Frederick Crombie.
Origen Resources OnLine & in Print
|
17 Pages
Page 16
For further information upon the life and opinions of Origen, the reader may consult Redepenning's Origenes, 2 vols., Bonn, 1841, 1846; the articles in Herzog's Encyclopaedie and Wetzer's and Wette's Kirchen-Lexikon, by Kling and Hefele respectively; the brilliant sketch by Pressense in his Martyrs and Apologists; [1907] and the learned compilation of Huet, entitled Origeniana, to be found in the ninth volume of Migne's edition.
[In the Edinburgh series the foregoing Life was delayed till the appearance of the second volume. The earlier volume appeared with a preface, as follows:]--
The name of the illustrious Origen comes before us in this series in connection with his works De Principiis, Epistola ad Africanum, Epistola ad Gregorium, [1908] and the treatise Contra Celsum. [1909]
It is in his treatise Peri 'Archon, or, as it is commonly known under the Latin title, De Principiis, that most fully develops his system, and brings out his peculiar principles. None of his works exposed him to so much animadversion in the ancient Church as this. On it chiefly was based the charge of heresy which some vehemently pressed against him,--a charge from which even his firmest friends felt it no easy matter absolutely to defend him. The points on which it was held that he had plainly departed from the orthodox faith, were the four following: First, That the souls of men had existed in a previous state, and that their imprisonment in material bodies was a punishment for sins which they had then committed. Second, That the human soul of Christ had also previously existed, and been united to the Divine nature before that incarnation of the Son of God which is related in the Gospels. Third, That our material bodies shall be transformed into absolutely ethereal ones at the resurrection; and Fourth, That all men, and even devils, shall be finally restored through the mediation of Christ. His principles of interpreting Scripture are also brought out in this treatise; and while not a little ingenuity is displayed in illustrating and maintaining them, the serious errors into which they might too easily lead will be at once perceived by the reader.
[1907] Harwood's translation.
[1908] i.e., Thaumaturgus.
[1909] [The Messrs. Clark announced, in their original plan, that, of the manifold works of this great Father, only these specimens could be given.]
Reference address : https://ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/fathers/origen/introduction.asp?pg=16
