Origen: An Exhortation to Martyrdom, Prayer and Selected Works

The Classics of Western Spirituality

by Origen, Hans Urs von Balthasar (Foreword), Rowan A. Greer (Translator)

"The Paulist Press' determination to search out our own past with the highest standards of excellence in both scholarship and publishing is indeed a light shining at midnight." ―Andrew Greeley Universal Press Syndicate Origen―An Exhortation to Martyrdom, Prayer, First Book IV, Prologue to the Commentary on the Song of Songs, Homily XXVII on Numbers translation and introduction by Rowan A. Greer preface by Hans Urs von Balthasar "Indeed, the soul is led by a heavenly love and desire when once the beauty and glory of the Word of God has been perceived; he falls in love with His splendor and by this receives from Him some dart and wound of love." Origen (c.―---254) Origen was born in Alexandria close to the end of the second century. His life spanned the turbulent years during the collapse of the Roman Empire. He sought to rescue and transform what was best of the Roman world and to translate the Christian spiritual quest into a language intelligible to the thoughtful and educated nonbeliever of his day. Origen is one of the first and most important of the Christian mystics, and many of the great themes of spiritual literature can be traced back to him. Von Balthasar, the eminent Swiss theologian, in his preface says of him, "As towering a figure as Augustine and Aquinas...his work is aglow with the fire of a Christian creativity which even in the greatest of his successors burned merely with a borrowed flame." The collected works in this volume represent the heart of Origen's spiritual vision. The translation and introduction is by Rowan A. Greer of the Yale Divinity School. †

Genres: Religion, Theology, Philosophy, Christianity, Christian, Spirituality, Nonfiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published December 12, 1988

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

[Coyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's always interesting to go back and read the Patristics, especially that "inbetween" generation of Origen, Cyprian, Clement, and Tertullian. They're past the Apostolic age, where people like Clement (of Rome) and Polycarp were still around to give advice directly received from the Apostles, but not quite to the age of the theologians, when Athanasius, Ambrose, Jermoe, and Augustine start deeply thinking through Christian doctrine.
Origen particularly tends to shoot from the hip when writing and discussing Christian doctrine and texts, but this does make for interesting reading, especially when he gets going on allegories ("Neither should a human being, because he uses bread and other food suitable for him as nourishment, blame God for making snakes, which apparently supply food for deer", pg 246).
The biggest weaknesses of Origen are his over-allegorization and his left-over Platonism, which he never seems to get rid of. Yet, despite his weaknesses, he is an incredibly useful writer with good things to say that remain relevant to this day. For example, his discussion of the objections to praying are almost word-for-word the same objections which people use today against Calvinism and other strongly predestination-based varieties of Christianity. (Origen's answer is that a belief in the providence and election of God actually inspires prayer, as we see practically in every devotee of the doctrine.)
Overall, well worth the read.

Some great quotes from the book:
-"I am convinced that God stores up and keeps by Himself much greater visions than the sun, the moon, and the chorus of the stars have seen, indeed than the holy angels have seen, whom God made wind and a flame of fire... His purpose is to reveal them when the whole creation is set free from its bondage to the Enemy for the glorious liberty of the children of God." (50-51)
-"For the only way we can accept the command to 'pray constantly'... as referring to a real possiblity is by saying that the entire life of the saint taken as a whole is a single great prayer." (104)
-"It is clear that the one who prays that the kingdom of God may come prays that the kingdom of God may spring up in him, bear fruit, and be rightly perfected." (132)
-"Now the use of temptation is something like this. What our soul has received escapes everyone's knowledge but God's- even our own. But it becomes evident through temptations, so that we no longer escape the knowledge of what we are like." (160)
-"All malice toward any one of those who seem to have wronged [us we:] should put away as far as [we:] would wish God to put away His malice toward [us:]." (164)
-"Each person should organize his prayer according to these topics. This is what they are: In the beginning and the preface of the prayer sometihng having the force of praise should be said of God through Christ, who is praised with Him, and by the Holy Spirit, who is hymned with Him. After this each person should place general thanksgivings, bringing forward for thanksgiving the benefits given many people and those he has himself received from God. After thanksgiving it seems to me that he ought to blame himself bitterly before God for his own sins and then ask, first, for healing that he may be delivered from the habit that brings him to sin and, second, for forgiveness of the sins that have been committed. And after confession, the fourth topic that seems to me must be added is the request for great and heavenly things, both private and general, and concerning his household and his dearest. And, finally, the prayer should be concluded with a doxology of God through Christ in the Holy Spirit." (169)
-"Indeed, the soul is led by a heavenly love and desire when once the beauty and glory of the Word of God has been perceived, he falls in love with His splendor and by this receives from Him some dart and wound of love." (223)
-[Speaking of the parable of the Good Samaritan:] "Indeed, by nature we are all neighbors of one another; but by deeds of loving affection that person becomes a neighbor who can do good to the one who has no power. That is why our Savior was also made our neighbor, and He did not pass us by when we were lying half dead from the wounds inflicted by the robbers. Therefore, we must know that loving affection for God always strives toward God from whom it took its origin, and it has regard for the neighbor with whom it shows participation, since he was similarly created in incorruption." (227)
-"But we cannot say of the Holy Spirit's writings that there is anything useless or unnecessary in them, however much they appear obscure to some. What we ought rather to do is to turn the eyes of our mind toward Him who ordered this to be written and to ask of Him their meaning." (247)

[Ben Smitthimedhin · Rating 4 out of 5]

"For the only way we can accept the command to 'pray constantly'... as referring to a real possiblity is by saying that the entire life of the saint taken as a whole is a single great prayer."

A useful collection of Origen's main works. I found his "Exhortation to Martyrdom" to be very encouraging, especially in the place in my life where I've bought into a more comfortable Christianity. His commentaries on the book of Numbers and Song of Solomon were also fascinating. Although I'm still not sold on interpreting all of the OT allegorically/spiritually, Origen provided some good answers to the questions I've had about that method of interpretation.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Origen, and this is a decent collection of his works, but it is not where I would recommend someone start if they were encountering him for the first time. It contains his Exhortation to Martyrdom, a work on Prayer, one chapter from First Principles, the introduction to his commentary on Song of Songs, and a random homily from Numbers. It gives you a sense of the variety in his writings. There is a good mix of his philosophical, theological, and homiletical works.

The translation feels a little wooden at times, but it does provide access to some works that are harder to find access to. The main reason I would not suggest beginning with this work is because his homilies are where Origen truly shines. His pastoral heart comes through and you get to see him interrogate the Biblical text in ways that are fascinating and uniquely Origen. Personally, my appreciation for him only grew when I saw how he actually preached.

But, for those who want a tougher or more philosophical interaction with his work, this could be a good place to start.

[Taylor Swift Scholar · Rating 4 out of 5]

It turns out that combining Neoplatonism and the Bible is great fun! The treatise on Prayer didn't do much for me, but everything else was delightful. Some of the allegorical interpretations of the Bible are... er... very creative! Others don't require much of a stretch of imagination at all for someone who has grown up in a culture inundated with contemporary Christianity. Definitely the least boring Church Father.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know he's a heretic but some edifying gems in here and really interesting perspective.

[Robert Li]

May I ask whether this book is still under copyright protection or not? We'd like to translate it into Chinese. Thanks!