The
Fathers of the Church spread the gospel of
Jesus Christ, defended the Church in apologetic writing and fought the many
heresies of the first six centuries of Christianity. These men, also called
Apostolic Fathers, gave special witness to the faith, some dying the death of a
martyr. Like Jesus who referred to Abraham as a spiritual father (Luke 16: 24)
and St. Paul, who referred to himself in the same terms (1 Corinthians 4: 15), the
Fathers were zealous for the word of God. Their writings are a testimony to the
faith of the early Church, yet many Christians are unfamiliar with the work of
Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp of Smyrna, Justin the Martyr,
Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen, Cyprian of Carthage, Athanasius, Ephraim, Cyril of
Jerusalem, Hilary of Poitiers or Gregory the Great to name of few of the early
Fathers. Periodically we will provide biographical information and examples of
the writing of these great men of faith. This page will focus on Origen.
Origen (185-253 A.D.)
Thanks to the great Church historian, Eusebius,
we know a great deal about Origen, who was born in Alexandria, Egypt about 185
A.D. in a Christian home. On the occasion of his father, St. Leonidas' martyrdom
at the hands of Emperor Septimius Severus in 202 A.D., his life was saved by his
mother who kept him from joining his father by hiding his clothes. Origen
succeeded Clement as the head of the Catechetical School at Alexandria, which
taught the faith to catechumens. He traveled to Rome in 212 A.D., where he met
St. Hippolytus, whose great treatise on The Apostolic Tradition was
written in 215 A.D. By that time Origen, who was a layman, was nevertheless
preaching in Caesarea, at the invitation of the Bishops of Caesarea and
Jerusalem. These same Bishops ordained him to the priesthood in 230 A.D. The
greatest scholar of Christian antiquity and the father of the homily, he wrote in excess of two thousand
works and some estimates are as high as six thousand. He was tortured and
imprisoned during the Decian persecution, probably at Caesarea, and died as a
result a few years later, about 253 or 254 A.D. Although considered orthodox
during his life, after his death disputes arose concerning his orthodoxy in
about 300 A.D., around 400 A.D. and again in 553 A.D., when he was may have been
condemned as a heretic at the fifth Ecumenical Council for the so-called "Three
Chapters" (propositions
anathematizing: (1) the
person and writings of
Theodore of Mopsuestia;
(2) certain writings of
Theodoret of Cyrus; (3)
the letter of
Ibas to Maris).
The Catholic Encyclopedia asks, "Were Origen and
Origenism
anathematized? Many learned writers
think so; an equal
number deny that they were condemned; most modern authorities are either
undecided or reply with reservations. What is certain is that
Popes
Vigilius,
Pelagius I (556-61),
Pelagius II (579-90),
Gregory the Great
(590-604), in treating of the fifth council deal only with the 'Three
Chapters,' make no mention of
Origenism, and speak as if they did not
know of its
condemnation." Before the council opened, which had been delayed by the
opposition of the
pope, the
bishops already assembled
at
Constantinople by order of the emperor, discussed a
form of Origenism that had practically nothing in common with
Origen, but which was held by one of the Origenist parties in
Palestine.
So it is likely that Origen has gotten an unfair
judgment in history for many. Origen was the first to write a manual of
dogmatic theology, entitled The Fundamental Doctrines. St. Jerome
accused him of heresy because of his statement concerning the Holy Spirit, of
whose origin He was uncertain, "whether or not He was born or even whether He is
or is not to be regarded as a Son of God . . ."(preface, 4, The Fundamental
Doctrines)
The Fundamental Doctrines
[between 220-230 A.D.]
469
[4, 2, 4(al 4, 1, 11)] "Each man, then, ought to have the meaning of Sacred
Scriptures inscribed in a three-fold manner upon his own soul. Thus, the simple
man may be edified as if by the flesh of the Scriptures--for so we named the
obvious sense. He that has ascended somewhat may be edified as if by the soul of
the Scriptures. The perfect man, again . . . may be edified by the spiritual
Law, which casts a shadow of the good things to come. For just as man consists
of body, soul, and spirit, so also does Scripture, which is the gift of God's
bounty for the salvation of men."
Homilies on Luke [about 233 A.D.]
[Hom. 1]
"The Church has four Gospels, but the heretics have many, including one
represented as According to the Egyptians and another According to
the Twelve Apostles. Even Basilides made bold to write a gospel, titled it
with his own name . . . I know a certain gospel called According to Thomas
and one According to Mathias. We have read many others too, rather than
seem to be ignorant of them, because of those who think they know something when
they are acquained with such things. But among all of these we approve none
others except those, the four only Gospels, which are received by the Church."
Homilies
on Exodus [after 244 A.D.]
[Hom. 5,
4] "Look at the great foundation of the Church, that most solid of rocks, upon
whom Christ built the Church! And what does the Lord say to him? 'O you of
little faith,' He says, 'why did you doubt!'"
[Hom.
13,3] "I wish to admonish you with examples from your religion. You are
accustomed to take part in the divine mysteries, so you know how, when you have
received the Body of the Lord, you reverently exercise every care lest a
particle of it fall, and lest anything of the consecrated gift perish. You
account yourselves guilty, and rightly do you so believe, if any of it be lost
through negligence. But if you observe such caution in keeping His Body, and
properly so, how is it that you think neglecting the word of God a lesser crime
than neglecting His Body?"
Homilies
on Numbers [after 244 A.D.]
[Hom. 7,
2] "Formerly there was Baptism, in an obscure way, in the cloud and in the
sea[Old Testament images from the Exodus]; now, however, in full view, there is
regeneration in water and in the Holy Spirit. Formerly, in an obscure way, there
was manna for food; now, however, in full view, there is the true food, the
Flesh of the Word of God, as He Himself says: 'My Flesh is truly food, and My
Blood is truly drink." [John 6:56]
[Hom. 2,4]
"First, there is that by which we are baptized unto the forgiveness of sins. A
second forgiveness is found in the suffering of martyrdom. A third is that which
given because of almsgiving . . . . In addition, to these there is also a
seventh, albeit hard and laborious: the remission of sins through penance, when
the sinner washes his pillow in tears, when his tears are day and night his
nourishment, and when he does not shrink from declaring his sins to a priest of
the Lord and from seeking medicine, after the manner of him who says, 'I said,
To the Lord I will accuse myself of my iniquity', and you forgave the disloyalty
of my heart.' [Psalm 31 (32): 5] In this way there is fulfilled that too, which
the Apostle James says: 'If, then, there is anyone sick, let him call the
presbyters of the Church, and let them impose hands upon him with oil in the
name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and if he be
in sins, they shall be forgiven him."
[Hom. 8,
3] "Every soul that is born into flesh is soiled by the filth of wickedness and
sin . . . . And if it should seem necessary to do so, there may be added to the
aforementioned considerations [quoting for example Job 14:4-5], the fact that in
the Church, Baptism is given for the remission of sins; and according to the
usage of the Church, Baptism is given even to infants. And indeed if there were
nothing in infants that required remission of sins and nothing in them pertinent
to forgiveness, the grace of Baptism would seem superflous."
Fragment
From Book 1: In Eusebius, History of the Church, Book 6, chapter 25
[Eusebius died in 336 A.D.]
[11, 14]
"That which is sanctified through the word of God and prayer does not of its
very nature sanctify him who avails himself of it. If this were the case, it
would sanctify even him who eats unworthily of the Bread of the Lord, and no one
would become infirm or weak on account of this food, nor would they fall asleep.
Paul indicated something of this kind in the saying, 'This is why many among you
are infirm and weak, and why many sleep"[1 Cor 11:30]. In regard to this Bread
of the Lord, therefore, there is advantage to him who avails himself of it,
when, with undefiled mind and pure conscience, he partakes of the Bread.
Therefore, either by not eating, that is, by not eating the Bread which has been
sanctified by the word of God and prayer [at Mass], do we suffer the loss of any
good thing; nor by eating do we gain the advantage of any good thing."
"These
things, indeed, are said of the typical and symbolic body; but much more might
be said about the Word Himself, who became flesh and true food, of which he that
eats shall live forever, no wicked person being able to eat it. For if it were
possible for him who continues in wickedness to eat of him who became flesh, the
Word and the living Bread, it would have been written that everyone who eats of
this Bread shall live forever."
Other Early Church Fathers and their Testimony