Origen?

[mystified]

In the past few years Origen has been quoted frequently. Last week, Pope Benedict XVI referred to him as a doctor of the Church. Apparently he was pretty orthodox, so I’m asking on this forum, trusting that a moderator will move it if it has a better fit elsewhere.
Who was this man? Other doctors of the Church are recognized as saints, but I’'ve never seen Origen called a saint.

 

[Ahimsa]

In the past few years Origen has been quoted frequently. Last week, Pope Benedict XVI referred to him as a doctor of the Church. Apparently he was pretty orthodox, so I’m asking on this forum, trusting that a moderator will move it if it has a better fit elsewhere.
Who was this man? Other doctors of the Church are recognized as saints, but I’'ve never seen Origen called a saint.

Origen was an early Church Father. He was neither a saint or a doctor of the Church, because he was too speculative in his writings. For instance, he speculated that all beings would be restored to God.

 

[Danny_1]

I was asking myself a similiar question a while ago, but then I found out he is not a saint in the Catholic Church because he believed in the heresy of “apocatastasis” - that is, at the end of ages, everyone, including Satan and those in hell would be reunited with God and ultimately saved.

 

[Greg27]

Origen was a very great man of the Early Church, though he was condemned later by the Ecunemical Councils for several ideas attributed to him.

These include the notion of universalism (all in hell will be saved), the notion that human bodies are a ‘prison’ of sorts for the fallen soul, errors relating to the Trinity (the Logos was subordinate to the Father), and reincarnation.

Origen got a lot of these ideas from Platonic Philosophy, but Origen also was a towering genius who helped establish Christian mysticism, biblical interpretation, scientific analysis of the Bible and its languages, and philosophical and systematic theology. Origen also wrote extensive commentaries on the Bible as well as long apologetic works against Gnostics and Pagan critics of Christianity.

In my view we should give Origen a lot of leeway since when he speculated on these things, they were not formally laid down as official Church doctrine. Also, some of his ideas were extended by some of his followers, such as Evagrius of Pontus, in unhealthy directions.

A very good survey of Origen is given in a book by Danielou, and also in Bernard McGinn’s ‘A history of Christian mysticism’ - Volume 1.

 

[chevalier]

For all I know, Origen is not a Father. Similarly, not a doctor. According to my information, Pope Benedict pointed out the fact and said it was for a reason.

 

[Steve_M]

Origen got a lot of these ideas from Platonic Philosophy, but Origen also was a towering genius who helped establish Christian mysticism, biblical interpretation, scientific analysis of the Bible and its languages, and philosophical and systematic theology. Origen also wrote extensive commentaries on the Bible as well as long apologetic works against Gnostics and Pagan critics of Christianity.

He wrote so much, that during the Christological debates, his writings were used by both sides. Remember, as Greg points out, he was very early in the Christian era, and he was one of the first of the Christian philosophers. When he was writing, some ideas he was writing about weren’t fully understood at the time.

 

[Mintaka]

Sometimes Origen has been considered a Father, sometimes not. It’s a tricky question.

Origen always made a point of saying that he didn’t mean to contradict anything the Church taught, and that he’d abandon his own ideas if he were told by the Church that they were wrong. So he was no heretic.

Origen will probably never be canonized, but he lived a saintly life and suffered for the Faith. Origen taught some ideas which were later determined to be heretical, at least as developed by later “followers”; but Origen died in communion with the Church. He is not a super-authoritative teacher like the undisputed Fathers, but he is authoritative. Also, as the Pope pointed out, he was the genius who followed up his teacher, St. Clement of Alexandria, in discovering the fusion of Greek philosophy and Christian teaching which created theology; also, he taught us how to read scripture in several different senses. (He learned the hard way by making himself a eunuch for the kingdom of Heaven with a knife, and then discovering he’d been too literalist.)

Without Origen, many of the forums here wouldn’t exist.

So he’s maybe not a canonized saint kind of saint (especially since the Church doesn’t want to encourage repeats of the whole eunuch thing!) , but we need to listen to him; and we have good reason to hope that he is in Heaven with the Lord.