The Philocalia of Origen

by Origen

The Philocalia of Origen is a collection of writings by the early Christian theologian Origen, compiled by two Byzantine monks in the 4th century. The book consists of 27 chapters, each containing excerpts from Origen's works on various topics, including theology, philosophy, and spiritual discipline. The texts are written in a style that blends biblical exegesis with philosophical inquiry and contemplative prayer. Origen's ideas on the nature of God, the soul, and the afterlife are explored in depth, as are his teachings on asceticism and the pursuit of spiritual perfection. The Philocalia of Origen is considered an important work in the history of Christian thought, and has influenced many later theologians and mystics.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

Genres: Christianity, Theology, Religion

Paperback

First published January 1, 360

About the author

Origen of Alexandria (c. 184 – c. 253), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an early Christian scholar, ascetic, and theologian who was born and spent the first half of his career in Alexandria. He was a prolific writer who wrote roughly 2,000 treatises in multiple branches of theology, including textual criticism, biblical exegesis and biblical hermeneutics, homiletics, and spirituality. He was one of the most influential figures in early Christian theology, apologetics, and asceticism. He has been described as "the greatest genius the early church ever produced".

Reviews

[Erick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've liked Origen for some time. I don't agree with all of his theories, but he was, without question in my mind, the greatest of the Ante-Nicene Fathers. I always get a little perturbed when he is treated with contempt by other Christians--usually by people who have spent very little time actually studying him. His profound influence cannot be denied by anyone who is well acquainted with church history and theology. The man was prolific and inspired.

The Philocalia is a somewhat thematic compendium of Origen's thought. It was compiled by the Cappadocians Gregory Nazianzen and Basil the Great. I am probably going to be seen as biased since my greatest theological influences are primarily Alexandrian and Cappadocian, but this book would serve as a great introduction to Origen.

Some of the issues that Origen addresses here are hermeneutics, fatalistic determinism, the use of biblical allegory, the unity of the Bible, theodicy; also various gnostic and philosophical beliefs regarding the Bible, God and evil.
I have to say that I was quite impressed with Origen's refutation of the Gnostic and Platonist demonizing of matter. I had not read this before and it is very similar to my issues with Plotinus that I raised in my review to the Enneads. I highly recommend reading it. This portion is actually found in Eusebius and attributed to a certain Maximus, but it is claimed to be simply a word for word reiteration of Origen's points found in his work against Marcion.

I also was impressed with his refutation of fatalistic determinism. I have often thought, and said, that there are very few false theologies that are altogether new in the church. The Valentinian Gnostics held a form of Predestinationism that is quite similar to Calvinism. Indeed, they used the same proof texts from the New Testament to support it; and Origen's refutations hold good against Calvinism as well. Origen repeats some of the same criticisms I have had towards Calvinism, e.g. it makes God responsible for evil and compromises His Goodness, makes human beings guiltless, etc.

I have to say that Origen's appeal to allegory does attempt to gloss over the more difficult theological problems of the Old Testament, but overall I agree with his positions.

A good portion of this book comes from Origen's work Against Celsus, but there are enough novel textual sources to make this worth getting, even if someone already owns the Ante-Nicene ten volume set.