On Prayer 26.6
Summary: Whoever sins is “earth” and whoever does God's will is “heaven”; the petition asks that God's will transform all that is earthly until everything becomes heaven.
Greek text · Koetschau 2:362–363
καὶ τάχα λέγων δεῖν εὔχεσθαι ὁ σωτὴρ ἡμῶν, ἵνα γένηται „τὸ θέλημα“ τοῦ πατρὸς „ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ“ οὕτως „καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς, “ οὐ πάντως περὶ τῶν ἐν τόπῳ τῆς „γῆς“ κελεύει γίνεσθαι τὰς εὐχὰς, ὅπως ὁμοιωθῶσι τοῖς ἐν τόπῳ οὖσιν οὐρανίῳ· ἀλλʼ ἔστιν αὐτῷ ἡ πρόσταξις τῆς εὐχῆς, βουλομένῳ ὁμοιωθῆναι πάντα τὰ „ἐπὶ γῆς, “ τουτέστι τὰ χείρονα καὶ τοῖς γηΐνοις ᾠκειωμένα, τοῖς κρείττοσι καὶ ἔχουσι „τὸ πολίτευμα ἐν οὐρανοῖς, “ πᾶσι γενομένοις οὐρανῷ. ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἁμαρτάνων, ὅπου ποτʼ ἂν ᾖ, ἐστὶ „γῆ, “ εἰς τὴν συγγενῆ, ἐὰν μὴ μετανοῇ, ἐσόμενός πῃ· ὁ δὲ ποιῶν „τὸ θέλημα“ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ μὴ παρακούων τῶν σωτηρίων πνευματικῶν νόμων οὐρανός ἐστιν. εἴτε οὖν „γῆ“ ἔτι ἐσμὲν διὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, εὐχώμεθα καὶ ἐφʼ ἡμᾶς οὕτω „τὸ θέλημα“ τοῦ θεοῦ διατεῖναι διορθωτικῶς, ὥσπερ ἔφθακεν ἐπὶ τοὺς πρὸ ἡμῶν γενομένους οὐρανὸν ἢ ὄντας οὐρανόν· εἴτε μὴ γῆ ἀλλʼ οὐρανὸς ἤδη λελογίσμεθα τῷ θεῷ, ἀξιώσωμεν, ἵνα καὶ „ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς“ ὁμοίως „τῷ οὐρανῷ, “ λέγω δὲ ἐπὶ τῶν χειρόνων, πληρωθῇ „τὸ θέλημα“ τοῦ θεοῦ εἰς τὴν, ἵνʼ οὕτως εἴπω, οὐρανοποίησιν αὐτῆς, ὥστε μηκέτι ποτὲ εἶναι γῆν ἀλλὰ πάντα γενέσθαι οὐρανόν. ἐὰν γὰρ ὡς „ἐν οὐρανῷ“ κατὰ τὰ ἡρμηνευμένα „τὸ θέλημα“ τοῦ θεοῦ οὕτω γένηται „καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς, “ ἡ γῆ οὐ μενεῖ γῆ· ὡς (εἰ λέγοιμι ἐπὶ ἄλλου παραδείγματος σαφέστερον) ἐὰν, ὥσπερ γεγένηται „τὸ θέλημα“ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπὶ τοὺς σώφρονας, οὕτω γένηται καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀκολάστους, οἱ ἀκόλαστοι σώφρονες ἔσονται, ἢ ὡς γεγένηται „τὸ θέλημα“ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπὶ τοὺς δικαίους, ἐὰν οὕτω γένηται καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀδίκους, οἱ ἄδικοι δίκαιοι ἔσονται· διὰ τοῦτο ἐὰν, ὡς „ἐν οὐρανῷ“ γεγένηται „τὸ θέλημα“ τοῦ θεοῦ, γένηται „καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς, “ ἐσόμεθα πάντες οὐρανὸς, τῆς μὴ ὠφελούσης σαρκὸς καὶ συγγενοῦς αὐτῇ αἵματος μὴ δυναμένων κληρονομεῖν „βασιλείαν θεοῦ.“ κληρονομεῖν δʼ ἂν λεχθησομένων, ἐὰν μεταβάλωσιν ἀπὸ σαρκὸς καὶ γῆς καὶ χοῦ καὶ αἵματος ἐπὶ τὴν οὐράνιον οὐσίαν.
English · Claude translation
And perhaps, when our Savior says we must pray that the Father's “will” be done “as in heaven” so “also on earth,” he is not at all commanding that prayers be made for those in the place of the “earth,” that they may be made like those in the heavenly place; rather, the command to pray is his, wishing all things “on earth,” that is, the worse things and those akin to earthly things, to be made like the better things and those that have their “citizenship in heaven,” all having become heaven. For the one who sins, wherever he may be, is “earth,” and unless he repents he will somehow come to be in what is akin to him; but the one who does “the will” of God and does not disobey the saving spiritual laws is heaven. Whether, then, we are still “earth” because of sin, let us pray that “the will” of God may extend to us too, to set us right, as it has reached those before us who have become heaven or are heaven; or whether we are already reckoned by God not earth but heaven, let us ask that “on the earth” too, as “in heaven”—I mean on the worse things—“the will” of God may be fulfilled, for what I may call its heavenly transformation, so that there may no longer be any earth, but all may become heaven. For if, as “in heaven,” according to the interpretation given, “the will” of God is done “also on earth,” the earth will not remain earth. So (to put it more clearly by another example), if, as “the will” of God has been done in the self-controlled, so it is done also in the licentious, the licentious will be self-controlled; or, as “the will” of God has been done in the righteous, if it is done so also in the unrighteous, the unrighteous will be righteous. Therefore, if, as “the will” of God has been done “in heaven,” it is done “also on earth,” we shall all be heaven; since flesh, which does not profit, and blood, akin to it, cannot inherit “the kingdom of God,” but could be said to inherit it if they change from flesh and earth and dust and blood to the heavenly substance.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations and allusions are Matt 6:10, Phil 3:20, Gen 3:19, John 6:63, and 1 Cor 15:50. That flesh and blood could inherit the kingdom if changed into a heavenly substance reflects Origen's teaching on the spiritual resurrection body (On First Principles 2.10–11; 3.6).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray punctuation mark in the digital text): ἐν· τόπῳ → ἐν τόπῳ.
Cite this passage
Origen, Or. 26.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/26/6/).
Plain text
Origen, Or. 26.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/26/6/).
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