When one approaches such a prolific thinker and author as Origen of Alexandria, it can be difficult to know where to begin. Does one begin with his systematic treatises? Or does one approach him from his exegetical works? Or, perhaps, would it be best to start with his polemics (especially his polemic against Celsus)? Or, rather, should one approach such a topic through biography, for context’s sake?

And then, one runs into other problems. The first is translation: which Origen is the right Origen? Should we pursue the remarks made about Origen from orthodox writers, such as Jerome of Jerusalem and Theophilus of Alexandria? Or, rather, should we pursue this doctor of the church through writers who are more sympathetic to his cause, such as Evagrius Ponticus, Didymus the Blind, John of Jerusalem, and Rufinus of Aquileia? Can we, after so much controversy, as well as much editing and tampering with the text, even reach the voice of the real Origen anymore? Or are we left only with the Origen of fiction, biased and deformed past the place of recognition?

Where we come down on these questions will determine the scope (and perhaps profundity) of our examination of Origen and his writings. To ignore them would be, at the very least, negligence, and, at the most, academic dishonesty. Therefore, in this paper, I would like to attempt to sketch some preliminary thoughts concerning how I hope to approach Origen and Origenism.

Especially in historical theology, history is seen as an anchoring point from which we may understand the fathers of the church and their thoughts and writings. And so, I make it my custom to deal first with the history, and then with how writings fit into that history. And I am not ready to make an acception with Origen. Therefore, first, we should examine the context in which Origen thought, so that we might better understand the context of these thoughts.

Origen Adamantius was born in the city of Alexandria in year 185 c.e. His parents were Alexandrian Christians, who provided him with a standard Hellenistic education, accompanied by a concentrated study of the holy scriptures. In 202 c.e., his father was martyred during the outbreak of persecution legislated by the Roman Emperor Septimus Severus, who had attempted forcing the Christian Church into syncretistic behavior with their pagan neighbors. According to Eusebius of Caesarea in his Ecclesial History, Origen, a young man of merely seventeen years of age, wished to be martyred with his father, and was only prevented from doing so when his mother hid his clothes from him in protest.

His father’s death left Origen and the rest of his family in severe poverty. Their property was confiscated (as was per usual for those who engaged in treasonous activities against the state), and Origen was taken under the care of a wealthy patroness. However, since her household also included a heretic name Paul, according to Eusebius Origen’s time there was brief.

Septimus Severus’ syncretistic policy did not just have ramifications for Origen and his family of nine- apparently, they had also proved to close Clement of Alexandria’s catechetical school. Furthermore, the policies targeted Christian converts, hurting those who were the newest to the Christian faith. It was these two problems which Origen hoped to remedy early on in his career.

In 203 c.e., Origen reopened the catechetical school in Alexandria. There’s some debate as to whether or not Clement actually had an established ecclesial institution, however this is certainly the status of Origen’s school. His able teaching, coupled with his concern for the persecuted converts in the city, resulted in the school being extremely popular- so popular that it incurred the jealousy of Demetrius of Alexandria, the city’s bishop. Demetrius, also displeased with Origen’s love of the liberal arts, demanded that he limit his teachings to being concerned with Christian doctrine alone.

It is during this time that our doctor of the church devoted himself to intense asceticism and study of the bible. During the day, he would devote himself to teaching; during the night, he would study the holy scriptures. In order to finance his educational institution independently (and as a type for St. Jerome), he sold his library of pagan books and lived on the money they earned him. And all the while, his popularity as a teacher and theologian in Alexandria was increasing.

Around 211, Origen took a trip to Rome, where the Bishop Zephyrinus was head of the churches. Excited to see the rigorous ascetic training that was happening at one of the oldest Christian Churches, Origen was severely disappointed with his visit. Zephyrinus was not promoting the ascetic vision as intensely as Origen may have liked- rather, it seemed to Origen that Zephyrinus was rather promoting a type of Christian moral laxity. He returned once again to Alexandria, zealous to make his catechetical school an example for the bishop to follow. However, the problem was, he had too many students, and too many of them were still needing to be taught the rudimentary basics of the Christian faith. And so, Origen entrusted the teaching of catechumens to Heraclas, his first pupil.

Also around that time (aprox. 212), Origen aided in converting Ambrose of Alexandria, a wealthy Valentinian. In six years’ time, Ambrose became Origen’s patron, sponsoring his study and writing from then to the rest of his life. His focus shifted to exegesis, and he accordingly studied Hebrew.

In 215, however, catastrophe struck the city of Alexandria yet again. The inhabitants of Alexandria, unimpressed by their current Roman Emperor, Caracalla (that is, Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus Augustus), produced a satire mocking his bloody rise to power (he murdered his brother) and other qualities about the emperor which the polis thought of as erratic and undesirable.

Caracalla, who was already beginning to act erratically, took this very personally: upon his arrival to the city, he executed all of the wealthy people who had come out to meet him at the gate. He then unleashed his troops upon the city, leaving them to plunder and loot for several days. The schools were shut down. Foreigners were expelled. And, most personally effecting Origen, Ambrose fled to Caesarea, where he stayed for the rest of his life.

Origen, for his part, followed Ambrose to Caesarea, where he was convinced to preach by the bishops of Jersualem and Caesarea, despite not being ordained. The following year, though, disapproving of Origen’s intrusion on the pastoral office, Demetrius recalled him to his teaching position in Alexandria.

In Alexandria, Origen continued his exegetical work. Under the patronage of Ambrose, he began his work on writing commentaries for John, Genesis, and Lamentations. However, when forced to defend his hermeneutical system, he found it necessary to likewise write a systematic treatise, On First Principles, which would be subject to intense scrutiny during the subsequent Origenist controversies.

Eusebius relays that during this time, Demetrius sent Origen to Greece on some “pressing necessity” concerning certain “ecclesial affairs.” On his way, he passed through Palestine, where the bishop of Caesarea and, perhaps, Jerusalem, ordained him, so that his preaching might cause no more offense to Demetrius. However, the opposite resulted: Demetrius was so offended that his ecclesial authority had been undermined (Origen was ordained to work as a priest of Alexandria) that he called together two synods. The first banished him from Alexandria; the second declared his ordination invalid.

Origen accordingly fled to Caesarea, where he was on friendly terms with the bishop (and, for that matter, his patron, Ambrose). There he continued his work on his commentary on John, despite a continuous stream of literary attacks being produced from Alexandria concerning him. In 235, the persecutions of Maximus Thrax forced him to flee Palestine, taking refuge in Caesarea in Cappadocia.

The last twenty years of Origen’s life are shrouded in mystery. We know that after the death of Maximus, he returned to Caesarea in Palestine and continued teaching theology and philosophy there. He also had time for travel: once, to Athens (for research purposes), and another to Arabia (to combat the theory that souls die with the body at death). Furthermore, he was a constant bulwark against the gnostic dualists, both the Valentinians and the Marcionites, until his death in 253 c.e.

Origen, at the age of 66, could not escape the sudden outbreak of the Decian persecution in 250 c.e. Rather, he was tortured severely, so much so that he died of the wounds inflicted upon him in three years’ time. So ends Eusebius’ account of Origen’s life: he was born the son of a martyr, was raised an intellectual, lived as an apologist and an exegete, and died an almost-martyr’s death.

Now, there are reasons to be a bit skeptical about Eusebius’ accuracy in recounting the life of Origen. First of all, Eusebius did not know Origen personally: he was born seven years after Origen’s death. All of his information would have to be second hand, which is not entirely a bad thing (seeing as ecclesial histories tend to be much further removed from their subjects)- however, one should realize that Eusebius is getting his information from sources and not from his personal experience.

Along the same lines, we know that Eusebius most certainly had an agenda while writing his history. On the one hand, Church History is full of rhetorical flares meant to be appealing to the Christian Roman Emperor Constantine. However, Eusebius is not merely currying favor for favor’s sake. Rather, he is trying to get Constantine to take his side in the Arian Controversy. By 324, the Arian controversy was raging at its meanest. Bishops had already chosen sides, enemies had already been made, and the issues had already been muddied by the alien issues of personality and prestige.

When Eusebius had been made bishop of Caesarea in Palestine, Arius appealed to him against the bishop of Alexandria (as Origen had done against the Bishop Demetrius), who had accused Arius of heresy. Eusebius, hardly feeling any brotherly bonds between Alexandria and his own see, called a synod to examine Arius and found him blameless. It is around this time that he wrote his Church History, revealing the connection made by most people between Origen and the heretical bishop, Arius.

And so, we can also see Eusebius’ Church History as an attempt to clear Origen’s name. Origen, whose library Eusebius had inherited, could not have been the cause and architect of heresy- rather, he was the son of a martyr, an intellectual, an apologist, an exegete, and an almost-martyr. It should not have to be said, then, that we should read Eusebius’ account of Origen’s life cautiously, understanding that the author’s intention was to make his subject look good.

This will have to suffice for the life of Origen. Later polemics (especially those belonging to Theophilus of Alexandria) would add to this basic biography, claiming that Origen castrated himself (which was already mentioned by Eusebius) and that he sacrificed to an idol, however I think that it is safe to regard these remarks as mere exaggerations of situational necessity, not serious historical details. Hopefully, though, now that we have attempted to outline Origen’s life, a basic examination of his thought (and some of the problems that go with it) might follow at a later date.