Origen

Origen was the most learned Christian scholar of the third century: a teacher at Alexandria and later at Caesarea, a textual critic of the Old Testament (the Hexapla), and the author of commentaries and homilies on nearly every book of the Bible. His Against Celsus answers the most substantial pagan attack on Christianity; his On Prayer and Exhortation to Martyrdom are among the earliest Christian treatises on those subjects. He suffered torture in the persecution of Decius and died a few years later.

Dates

ca. 185 – ca. 253 (approximate)

See or city

Caesarea (Palestine)

Region

Palestine (born and first active at Alexandria, Egypt)

Also known as

Origen of Alexandria; Origenes Adamantius; Adamantius

Notes

Book 6 of Eusebius's Church History is the main source for his life: born at Alexandria to Christian parents, his father Leonides was martyred about 202; he taught at Alexandria, moved to Caesarea in Palestine about 234 after a conflict with Bishop Demetrius, and was tortured in the persecution of Decius (250–251), dying soon after at Tyre. Some of his views were condemned long after his death (Constantinople, 553), so much of his work survives only in Latin translation or in fragments.

Works

• On PrayerDe oratione · ca. 233–234 · CPG 1477 (unverified)
• Exhortation to MartyrdomExhortatio ad martyrium · 235 · CPG 1475 (unverified)
• Against CelsusContra Celsum · ca. 248 · CPG 1476 (unverified)
• Commentary on the Gospel of JohnCommentarii in evangelium Ioannis · ca. 230–248 · CPG 1453 (unverified) · translation in progress
• Homilies on JeremiahHomiliae in Ieremiam · ca. 240 · CPG 1438 (unverified) · translation in progress
• On the Witch of Endor (Homily on 1 Samuel 28)De engastrimytho · ca. 240 · CPG 1423 (unverified) · translation in progress