Let no one suspect that we hold that Scripture does not contain real history, or that the precepts of the Law are not to be observed to the letter, or that what is written of the Savior did not happen in reality...Much more numerous are the truly historical passages than those which are to be taken in the purely spiritual sense.
Origen, On First Principles in George Montague, Understanding the Bible, 35
Showing posts with label Origen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Origen. Show all posts
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Origen
The man who was going down is Adam. Jerusalem is paradise, and Jericho is the world. The robbers are hostile powers. The priest is the Law, the Levite is the prophets, and the Samaritan is Christ. The wounds are disobedience, the beast is the Lord’s body, the [inn], which accepts all who wish to enter, is the Church…The manager of the [inn] is the head of the Church, to whom its care has been entrusted. And the fact that the Samaritan promises he will return represents the Savior’s second coming.
His interpretation of the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Origen, Homily 34.3, Joseph T. Lienhard, trans., Origen: Homilies on Mark, Fragments on Mark (1996), 138.
His interpretation of the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Origen, Homily 34.3, Joseph T. Lienhard, trans., Origen: Homilies on Mark, Fragments on Mark (1996), 138.
Origen
The infants of Babylon, which means “confusion,” are the confused thoughts caused by evil which have just been implanted and are growing up in the soul. The man who takes hold of them, so that he breaks their heads by the firmness and solidity of the Word, is dashing the infants of Babylon against the rock.
His interpretation of Psalms 137:8-9 from Against Celsus 7.22 in Dan McCartney, Let the Reader Understand (Bridge Point, 1994), 89.
His interpretation of Psalms 137:8-9 from Against Celsus 7.22 in Dan McCartney, Let the Reader Understand (Bridge Point, 1994), 89.
Origen (d. 254)
Assumption 1: Scripture is divinely inspired. Therefore:
1. Its legal precepts are superior
2. It is powerful in changing lives
3. Biblical prophecy comes true
4. Like Jesus, the Bible is divine but in human form
5. The Bible contains hidden secrets
Assumption 2: Scripture should be interpreted according to its nature. Therefore:
1. Not every text has a literal meaning, but every text does have a spiritual meaning.
2. The spiritual meaning is not always plain or easily understood.
3. Scripture has a threefold meaning, a body (literal meaning), a soul (a psychical meaning relating to the will), and a spirit (spiritual meaning which speaks of Christ).
4. The problems in Scripture are there to hinder us from being too enamored of the literal meaning.
From his On First Principles in Dan McCartney, Let the Reader Understand (Bridge Point, 1994), 88.
1. Its legal precepts are superior
2. It is powerful in changing lives
3. Biblical prophecy comes true
4. Like Jesus, the Bible is divine but in human form
5. The Bible contains hidden secrets
Assumption 2: Scripture should be interpreted according to its nature. Therefore:
1. Not every text has a literal meaning, but every text does have a spiritual meaning.
2. The spiritual meaning is not always plain or easily understood.
3. Scripture has a threefold meaning, a body (literal meaning), a soul (a psychical meaning relating to the will), and a spirit (spiritual meaning which speaks of Christ).
4. The problems in Scripture are there to hinder us from being too enamored of the literal meaning.
From his On First Principles in Dan McCartney, Let the Reader Understand (Bridge Point, 1994), 88.
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