Origen"The Paulist Press' determination to search out our own past with the highest standards of excellence in both scholarship and publishing is indeed a light shining at midnight." --Andrew Greeley Universal Press Syndicate Origen--An Exhortation to Martyrdom, Prayer, First Principles: Book IV, Prologue to the Commentary on the Song of Songs, Homily XXVII on Numbers translation and introduction by Rowan A. Greer preface by Hans Urs von Balthasar "Indeed, the soul is led by a heavenly love and desire when once the beauty and glory of the Word of God has been perceived; he falls in love with His splendor and by this receives from Him some dart and wound of love." Origen (c.-----254) Origen was born in Alexandria close to the end of the second century. His life spanned the turbulent years during the collapse of the Roman Empire. He sought to rescue and transform what was best of the Roman world and to translate the Christian spiritual quest into a language intelligible to the thoughtful and educated nonbeliever of his day. Origen is one of the first and most important of the Christian mystics, and many of the great themes of spiritual literature can be traced back to him. Von Balthasar, the eminent Swiss theologian, in his preface says of him, "As towering a figure as Augustine and Aquinas...his work is aglow with the fire of a Christian creativity which even in the greatest of his successors burned merely with a borrowed flame." The collected works in this volume represent the heart of Origen's spiritual vision. The translation and introduction is by Rowan A. Greer of the Yale Divinity School. + |
From inside the book
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Page xvi
... beginning and ending with what Origen wishes to say about the Christian life . A later volume in The Classics of Western Spirituality will place Origen's interpretation of Song of Songs in the context of other Christian and of Jewish ...
... beginning and ending with what Origen wishes to say about the Christian life . A later volume in The Classics of Western Spirituality will place Origen's interpretation of Song of Songs in the context of other Christian and of Jewish ...
Page 10
... Beginning , before time begins and matter comes into existence , his understanding of the rational creation must be described . For Origen God is essential goodness , and consequently He wills to have beings to whom He may convey His ...
... Beginning , before time begins and matter comes into existence , his understanding of the rational creation must be described . For Origen God is essential goodness , and consequently He wills to have beings to whom He may convey His ...
Page 11
... Beginning is one of a rich spiritual unity . The distinctions between Father , Son , and Spirit are not meant to divide the Godhead . And the fact that the rational natures ( or minds or souls ) are created does not prevent them from ...
... Beginning is one of a rich spiritual unity . The distinctions between Father , Son , and Spirit are not meant to divide the Godhead . And the fact that the rational natures ( or minds or souls ) are created does not prevent them from ...
Page 12
... beginning of the next grade . But these speculations must not be allowed to obscure the main point . The soul once fallen is on pilgrimage , and its destiny is to return to God . The two forces that operate to drive the souls back ...
... beginning of the next grade . But these speculations must not be allowed to obscure the main point . The soul once fallen is on pilgrimage , and its destiny is to return to God . The two forces that operate to drive the souls back ...
Page 16
... Beginning " and unfairly impose what is thought to be a philosophical logic upon his thought . Origen does not say that the End is the same as the Beginning . It is like the Beginning because the original harmony is restored . But the ...
... Beginning " and unfairly impose what is thought to be a philosophical logic upon his thought . Origen does not say that the End is the same as the Beginning . It is like the Beginning because the original harmony is restored . But the ...
Contents
41 | |
On Prayer | 81 |
Book IV | 171 |
The Prologue to the Commentary on The Song of Songs | 217 |
Homily XXVII on Numbers | 245 |
Indexes | 271 |
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Common terms and phrases
according affectionately loved affliction angels Apocatastasis Apostle become believe body bread called children of Israel Christ Christian Church commandment confession contemplation Contra Celsum corporeal death demons Deut Deuteronomy disciples earth earthly Egypt endurance everything evil example Father flesh follows forgive give given glory God the Father God's Gospel Gregory of Nyssa hand happen hear heart heaven heavenly Holy Spirit human Jerusalem Jesus John Judea king kingdom letter Lord loving affection Macc martyrdom meaning mind Moreover Moses mysteries Nevertheless nourished Origen passage Paul perfect person Philocalia Plotinus pray prayer prophet Prov Psalms receive righteous saints Savior says Scripture sins Solomon someone Song of Songs soul speak stages suppose teaching temptation theological things thought tion truth understand verse wisdom wish words worship written
Popular passages
Page 55 - Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? As it is written, For Thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Page 83 - So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your bro'ther, and then come and offer your gift.
Page 119 - But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Page 118 - Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Page 207 - He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation; for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities — all things were created through him and for him.
Page 101 - I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.
Page 139 - ... How can this man give us His flesh to eat?" 53 So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.
Page 64 - Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; "and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.
Page 138 - Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
Page 139 - I say to you unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.