Sophia Scriptura

On Prayer 28.8

Origen · On Prayer · ca. 233–234 · Caesarea · Read in context

Summary: Everyone can forgive sins committed against himself; but only one who has received the Spirit, like the apostles, can forgive what God forgives and retain incurable sins.

Greek text · Koetschau 2:379–380

ὁ δὲ Λουκᾶς εἰπών· „ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν“ (ἐπεὶ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα ὀφειλόντων ἡμῶν καὶ μὴ ἀποδιδόντων συνίσταται) τὸ αὐτὸ λέγει τῷ Ματθαίῳ, ὅστις οὐκ ἔοικε χώραν διδόναι τῷ βουλομένῳ μετανοοῦσιν ἀφιέναι τοῖς ὀφείλουσι μόνον, λέγων ὑπὸ τοῦ σωτῆρος νενομοθετῆσθαι τὸ ἡμᾶς δεῖν ἐν τῇ εὐχῇ προστιθέναι· „καὶ γὰρ αὐτοὶ ἀφίεμεν παντὶ ὀφείλοντι ἡμῖν.“ πάντες μέντοι γε ἐξουσίαν (ἔχομεν) ἀφιέναι τὰ εἰς ἡμᾶς ἡμαρτημένα· ὅπερ δῆλόν ἐστιν ἔκ τε τοῦ „ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀφίεμεν τοῖς ὀφειλέταις ἡμῶν“ καὶ ἔκ τοῦ „καὶ γὰρ αὐτοὶ ἀφίεμεν παντὶ ὀφείλοντι ἡμῖν.“ ὁ δὲ ἐμπνευσθεὶς ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ὡς οἱ ἀπόστολοι καὶ „ἀπὸ τῶν καρπῶν“ γινώσκεσθαι δυνάμενος, ὡς χωρήσας τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον καὶ γενόμενος πνευματικὸς τῷ ὑπὸ τοῦ πνεύματος ἄγεσθαι τρόπον υἱοῦ θεοῦ ἐφʼ ἕκαστον τῶν κατὰ λόγον πρακτέων, ἀφίησιν ἃ ἐὰν ἀφῇ ὁ θεὸς καὶ κρατεῖ τὰ ἀνίατα τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων, ὑπηρετῶν ὥσπερ οἱ προφῆται ἐν τῷ λέγειν οὐ τὰ ἴδια ἀλλὰ τὰ τοῦ θείου βουλήματος τῷ θεῷ οὕτω καὶ αὐτὸς τῷ μόνῳ ἐξουσίαν ἔχοντι ἀφιέναι θεῷ.

English · Claude translation

And Luke, in saying, “Forgive us our sins” (since sins consist in our owing and not paying), says the same as Matthew; and he seems not to give room to anyone who wishes to forgive only debtors who repent, since he says that the Savior laid down that we must add in the prayer, “for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.” All of us, indeed, have power to forgive the sins committed against us; which is clear both from “as we also forgive our debtors” and from “for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.” But the one who has been breathed upon by Jesus, as the apostles were, and can be known “by his fruits,” as one who has received the Holy Spirit and become spiritual by being led by the Spirit, like a son of God, in each thing that is to be done according to reason, forgives whatever God forgives and retains the incurable sins, serving God, who alone has power to forgive, just as the prophets served him in speaking not their own words but those of the divine will.

About this passage

Source
Koetschau 2:379–380 · Paul Koetschau, ed., Origenes Werke 2: Buch V–VIII gegen Celsus, Die Schrift vom Gebet, GCS 3 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1899), 297–403 · Greek text: P. Koetschau, Origenes Werke 2 (GCS 3, 1899), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library and published by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in Koetschau, GCS 3. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.
Translation
Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Koetschau, GCS 3; made independently of existing English translations. No public-domain English translation exists; reviewed against the Greek.
Scripture
Topics
Prayer, Church office

Notes

Translation notes

  • The quotations and allusions are Luke 11:4, Matt 6:12, John 20:22, Matt 7:16, Rom 8:14, and 1 Cor 2:15. Origen links the power to forgive sins to spiritual gifts rather than to office alone; see also 28.9–10.

Cite this passage

Origen, Or. 28.8 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/28/8/).

Plain text
Origen, Or. 28.8 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/28/8/).

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