|
HOME | GREEK LANGUAGE | LIBRARIES | BLOG | HELP | SEARCH | FREEWARE | BOOKSTORE |
|
|
Translated by Frederick Crombie.
Origen Resources OnLine & in Print
|
128 Pages
Page 114
3. But perhaps this question is asked, If it be the understanding which prays and sings with the spirit, and if it be the same which receives both perfection and salvation, how is it that Peter says, "Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls?" [2198] If the soul neither prays nor sings with the spirit, how shall it hope for salvation? or when it attains to blessedness, shall it be no longer called a soul? [2199] Let us see if perhaps an answer may be given in this way, that as the Saviour came to save what was lost, that which formerly was said to be lost is not lost when it is saved; so also, perhaps, this which is saved is called a soul, and when it has been placed in a state of salvation will receive a name from the Word that denotes its more perfect condition. But it appears to some that this also may be added, that as the thing which was lost undoubtedly existed before it was lost, at which time it was something else than destroyed, so also will be the case when it is no longer in a ruined condition. In like manner also, the soul which is said to have perished will appear to have been something at one time, when as yet it had not perished, and on that account would be termed soul, and being again freed from destruction, it may become a second time what it was before it perished, and be called a soul. But from the very signification of the name soul which the Greek word conveys, it has appeared to a few curious inquirers that a meaning of no small importance may be suggested. For in sacred language God is called a fire, as when Scripture says," Our God is a consuming fire." [2200] Respecting the substance of the angels also it speaks as follows: "Who maketh His angels spirits, and His ministers a burning fire;" [2201] and in another place, "The angel of the Lord appeared in a flame of fire in the bush." [2202] We have, moreover, received a commandment to be "fervent in spirit;" [2203] by which expression undoubtedly the Word of God is shown to be hot and fiery. The prophet Jeremiah also hears from Him, who gave him his answers, "Behold, I have given My words into thy mouth a fire." [2204] As God, then, is a fire, and the angels a flame of fire, and all the saints are fervent in spirit, so, on the contrary, those who have fallen away from the love of God are undoubtedly said to have cooled in their affection for Him, and to have become cold.
[2198] 1 Pet. i. 9.
[2199] These words are found in Jerome's Epistle to Avitus, and, literally translated, are as follows: "Whence infinite caution is to be employed, lest perchance, after souls have obtained salvation and come to the blessed life, they should cease to be souls. For as our Lord and Saviour came to seek and to save what was lost, that it might cease to be lost; so the soul which was lost, and for whose salvation the Lord came, shall, when it has been saved, cease for a soul. This point in like manner must be examined, whether, as that which has been lost was at one time not lost, and a time will come when it will be no longer lost; so also at some time a soul may not have been a soul, and a time may be when it will by no means continue to be a soul." A portion of the above is also found, in the original Greek, in the Emperor Justinian's Letter to Menas, Patriarch of Constantinople.
[2200] Deut. iv. 24.
[2201] Ps. civ. 4; cf. Heb. i. 7.
[2202] Ex. iii. 2.
[2203] Rom. xii. 11.
[2204] Cf. Jer. i. 9. The word "fire" is found neither in the Hebrew nor in the Septuagint.
Reference address : https://ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/fathers/origen/principia.asp?pg=114
