c. 185–253 CE · Christian theologian · textual scholar · head of the catechetical school
Origen
Ὠριγένης
In Alexandria: c. 203–231 CE
Led the catechetical school from about 203 until he left for Caesarea in 231/232. He compiled the Hexapla, six versions of the Old Testament in parallel columns, the greatest work of Alexandrian textual criticism applied to scripture, and wrote On First Principles. Porphyry says an Origen heard Ammonius Saccas; whether he is this Origen is disputed.
Their life and work
Eusebius gives his youth: his father Leonides was martyred in 202, and the boy, kept from following him only because his mother hid his clothes, supported the family by teaching grammar (Ecclesiastical History 6.2). He fell out with Bishop Demetrius and moved to Caesarea, where he taught for twenty years and built a library that Pamphilus and Eusebius later used. He died after torture in the persecution of Decius.
Eusebius's story that he castrated himself, reading Matthew 19.12 literally, is told by an admirer a century later and doubted by many modern scholars. Known: probable, disputed
Our device: Their emblem is a page in six columns. No portrait of any of these people survives. The emblems are our devices.
On the shelves
- Origen of Alexandria, On First Principles · c. 220–230 CE · Survives only in translation
- Origen of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of John · begun c. 231 CE in Alexandria; continued in Caesarea · Survives in large part
Moments
- c. 180–231 CE · Clement and Origen teach Known: attested
In the show
- The One, Nous & World Soul, episode 17, at 50 minutes 33 secondsTranscript“I believe he studied with ammonia sakus. I'm not 100% sure off the top of my head” (intended: Ammonius Saccas)Known: attested
Correction
- What was said
- Tertullian studied with Ammonius Saccas.
- What the sources say
- Tertullian wrote in Latin at Carthage and did not study with Ammonius. The Christian hearer of Ammonius whom Porphyry names is Origen.
Reference
- Eusebius, Church History 6.19.6
- Christian Mysticism · Chronology: Origen reads the SongOrigen reads the Song of Songs.Known: attested
- Christian Mysticism · Figures: OrigenKnown: attested
+ 4 more
Sources (4)
- Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 6.3; 6.16; 6.19.5–8
- H. Crouzel, Origen, trans. A. S. Worrall (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1989)
- Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 6.2; 6.8
- Origen, Commentary on Matthew 15.1–5