[Origen],[1] also [called] Adamantius,[2] was a most illustrious man and consummately trained[3] in all fields of knowledge. He became a disciple of the philosopher Ammonius, surnamed Saccas,[4] who possessed the loftiest competence in philosophy. Consequently, his knowledge of philosophic thought was bolstered greatly by his teacher,[5] for Origen was constantly immersed in Plato, and in the works of Numenius[6] and Cronius,[7] Apollophanes,[8] Longinus,[9] Moderatus, [10] and Nicomachus.[11] He also devoted himself to the writings of the luminaries among the Pythagoreans. So too, he read the books of Chaeremon[12] and the Stoic thinker Cornutus,[13] from whom he learned allegorical technique[14] integral to interpreting the Greek mysteries. He had an altogether remarkable knowledge of philosophical doctrines, not only secular[15] but sacred: especially ours; that is, Christian doctrine.
What indeed can be said about the blessed nature of that near-immortal?[16] For this man had such command of dialectics, geometry, mathematics, grammar, and rhetoric, as well as the doctrines of all philosophical systems that he attracted thoroughly devoted disciples, explaining to them -- system by system -- the many intricacies and interrelationships pertaining to each.[17] Even Porphyry,[18] the raving anti-Christian, mentions Origen and his genius: "But this kind of absurdity is attributable to a man whom I, in fact, met when I was still quite young. He was very famous and is still so because of the works he left behind. I refer[19] to Origen, whose renown is trumpeted loudly among teachers in these disciplines. And this testimony about the man is the same from foreigners and, notably, from detractors." These things were said by Porphyry in the third book of his writings against the Christians.[20] Although truthful about the man's training, a blatant lie about the rest (for what wouldn't an anti-Christian maniac[21] be capable of?) where he says that Origen defected from the Greeks and Ammonius veered from a God-fearing life to that of a heathen. But enough of such talk; rather, on to illuminating Origen's superb command of Greek learning.[22] As to this acumen, he writes the following in a certain letter defending himself against those who faulted him for his zeal in these matters: "As I was devoted to the word of God, and because the fame of our expertise was spreading widely, sometimes heretics and sometimes those skilled in Greek thought, especially philosophy, would come to me. It seemed appropriate to examine the doctrines of the heretics and the claims made by these philosophers to speak the truth."[23] Just so did he write in defense of his training.
During this period, even Mamaea,[24] the mother of the Roman emperor Alexander, met and conversed with Origen in Antioch, and was instructed by him in the Word. The start of his Commentaries on divine Scripture dates to that time, after Ambrose[25] in particular urged him to undertake this enterprise not only through endless prodding and appeals to the man but with the provision of unlimited resources. Thus, more than seven stenographers were on call to take his dictation, shift-changing with one another at designated intervals; and no fewer were the number of copyists, along with young women skilled in penning a final text. Ambrose supplied abundant resources to meet all their needs. Far beyond that, he imbued Origen with exceeding enthusiasm through his own study of God's pronouncements,[26] and a zeal which gave Origen special inspiration in preparing his Commentaries. Moreover, Origen directed such diligence toward divine Scripture that he made a thorough study of Hebrew -- contrary to the proclivity of his times.[27]
So too, along side the translations rendered by the Seventy,[28] he arrayed other versions to fashion a single work. I am referring to the versions of Aquila of Pontus and Theodotion and Symmachus,[29] a member of the Ebionites[30] (a sect whose heresy is in believing Christ a mere man). These Ebionites prepared a recension of the Gospel of Matthew,[31] through which they rabidly assert their ideology. In like manner, he arrayed the fifth, sixth, and seventh versions.[32] From the history of Eusebius Pamphili concerning Origen.
Origen subjected the divine words to such meticulous scrutiny that he personally gathered only original manuscripts in the actual Hebrew; tracked down versions by other translators besides the Seventy; and apart from the war-horse translations of Aquila and Symmachus and Theodotion, discovered certain others -- from what nooks I do not know -- but which, although having disappeared long ago, he managed to track down and uncover. Moreover, in the Hexapla[33] text of Psalms, he inserted, after these four well-known versions, not only a fifth but also a sixth and a seventh translation. Regarding one of which he remarks that it was found at Jericho in a large storage jar.[34] Gathering them into a single work, he subsected them into clauses, comparing and contrasting one with another, and with the Hebrew text itself. He has left us copies of the Hexapla (as it is called), and prepared separately a version that contains Aquila and Symmachus and Theodotion together with the Seventy in the Tetrapla.[35]
Having commented on every aspect of canonical Scripture, he left behind such a vast and pervasive body of work that from it would be derived thereafter the foundation for all teachings of the Church. So much so that the theologian Gregory,[36] pronounced: "Origen is the whetstone of us all." He provided a great service not only to our Church but to those outside it, heretics as well as philosophers, taught by him virtually the entire panoply of learning -- secular philosophy in addition to things sacred. For he would introduce to the study of philosophy all whom he saw to be adept, imbuing them with geometry and arithmetic, and the other basic subjects. Then he would usher them on to philosophical systems, presenting these doctrines in detail, each element so adroitly that by this time he was heralded as an eminent philosopher, even among the Greeks themselves.
Witness to his prowess in these endeavors are the Greek philosophers themselves who flourished in his day, in whose treatises we find frequent mention of the man -- sometimes dedicating the work to him, sometimes submitting their own work to his judgment, as to a master.
While Origen was in the course of his usual tasks at Caesarea, not only did many locals call upon him for instruction, but streams of foreigners left their homelands seeking his guidance. Especially renown among them we note Theodorus, who was the very man famous in our day as the bishop Gregory Thaumaturgus,[37] and his brother Athenodorus. Although they were passionately devoted to Greek and Roman scholarship, Origen stirred in them a love of divine philosophy and persuaded them to give up their former devotion in favor of rigorous theological study.[38] After studying five full years, they made such great progress in divine matters that, although still young, both were considered deserving of the episcopate over the Pontic[39] churches.
During this period, the Commentaries on Isaiah and likewise those on Ezekiel were being composed by Origen. As to these works, there are thirty volumes on the third part of Isaiah up to the vision of the beasts in the wilderness,[40] and twenty-five on Ezekiel, which were the only ones he wrote on the entire work of this prophet. He was sixty years old[41] when he completed these labors -- concerning which the blessed martyr Pamphilus devoted his life in witness.[42] His Commentaries on the Gospel of John indicate that he composed the first five parts while still in Alexandria; however, only twenty-two volumes of this treatise, which encompassed the entire Gospel, have survived. He also composed twelve commentaries on Genesis, commentaries on the first twenty-five Psalms, and on Lamentations as well. Moreover, there are those works entitled On the Resurrection[43] and First Principles.[44] He also wrote compilations called the Stromateis,[45] ten in number, which he composed during the reign of Alexander.
In his discourse on the first Psalm, Origen presented a catalogue of the holy books that comprise the Old Testament, commenting in effect: "It must be clearly understood that there are twenty-two canonical books, as the Jews attest, matching the number of letters in their alphabet."[46] So he adds, saying: "These are the twenty-two books according to the Jews: Genesis or Barhsiq,[47] which means 'In the beginning', and the subsequent sequence."
Origen remained a clarion voice up to the period of Gallus and Volusianus;[48] that is, until be was sixty-nine years of age.[49] He enjoyed final sleep in Tyre, where he was also interred. His father Leonides had been perfected by martydom through Christ.[50]