they take to be applicable not to the flesh, but to this soul, which is properly the soul of the flesh. From these words, moreover, they endeavour notwithstanding to make good the declaration in Leviticus: “The life of all flesh is the blood thereof.”! For, from the circumstance that it is the diffusion of the blood throughout the whole flesh which produces life in the flesh, they assert that this soul, which is said to be the life of all flesh, is contained in the blood. This statement, moreover, that the flesh struggles against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; and the further statement, that “ the life of all flesh is the blood thereof,” is, according to these writers, simply calling the wisdom of the flesh by another name, because it is a kind of material spirit, which is not subject to the law of God, nor can be so, because it has earthly wishes and bodily desires. And it is with respect to this that they think the apostle uttered the words: “I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.”? And if one were to object to them that these words were spoken of the nature of the body, which indeed, agreeably to the peculiarity of its nature, is dead, but is said to have sensibility, or wisdom,® which is hostile to God, or which struggles against the spirit; or if one were to say that, in a certain degree, the flesh itself was possessed of a voice, which should cry out against the endurance of hunger, or thirst, or cold, or of any discomfort arising either from abundance or poverty, —they would endeavour to weaken and impair the force of such [arguments], by showing that there were many other mental perturbations* which derive their origin in no respect from the flesh, and yet against which the spirit strugeles, such as ambition, avarice, emulation, envy, pride, and others like these; and seeing that with these the human mind or spirit wages a kind of contest, they lay down as the cause of all these evils, nothing else than this corporal soul, as it were, of which we have spoken above, and which is generated from the seed by a process of traducianism. I Ley. xvii. 14. 2 Rom. vii. 23. § Sensum vel sapientiam. * Passiones anime.
t ——, a ee nd, ad: Cwar, Iv. | ORIGEN DE PRINCIPIS. 247 They are accustomed also to adduce, in support of their assertion, the declaration of the apostle, ‘Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, fornication, unclean- ness, lasciviousness, idolatry, poisonings,' hatred, contentions, emulations, wrath, quarrelling, dissensions, heresies, sects, envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and the like;”? asserting that all these do not derive their origin from the habits or pleasures of the flesh, so that all such movements are to be regarded as inherent in that substance which has not a soul, i.e. the flesh. The declaration, moreover, “ For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men among you according to the flesh are called,’* would seem to require to be understood as if there were one kind of wisdom, carnal and material, and another according to the spirit, the former of which cannot indeed be called wisdom, unless there be a soul of the flesh, which is wise in respect of what is called carnal wisdom. And in addition to these passages they adduce the following: “Since the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, so that we cannot do the things that we would.”* What are these things now respect- ing which he says, “that we cannot do the things that we would?” It is certain, they reply, that the spirit cannot be intended; for the will of the spirit suffers no hindrance. But neither can the flesh be meant, because if it has not a soul of its own, neither can it assuredly possess a will. It remains, then, that the will of this soul be intended which is capable of having a will of its own, and which certainly is opposed to the will of the spirit. And if this be the case, it is established that the will of the soul is something intermediate between the flesh and the spirit, undoubtedly obeying and serving that one of the two which it has elected to obey. And if it yield itself up to the pleasures of the flesh, it renders men carnal; but when it unites itself with the spirit, it produces men of the spirit, and who on that account are termed spiritual. And this seems to be the meaning of the apostle in the words, “ But ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit.””
948 ORIGEN DE PRINCIPIIS. [Book 11.
We have accordingly to ascertain what is this very will [intermediate] between flesh and spirit, besides that will which is said to belong to the flesh or the spirit. For it is held as certain, that everything which is said to be a work of the spirit is [a product of] the will of the spirit, and every- thing that is called a work of the flesh [proceeds from] the will of the flesh. What else then, besides these, is that will of the soul which receives a separate name,’ and which will, the apostle being opposed to our executing, says: “ Ye can- not do the things that ye would?” By this it would seem to be intended, that it ought to adhere to neither of these two, z.e. to neither flesh nor spirit. But some one will say, that as it is better for the soul to execute its own will than that of the flesh; so, on the other hand, it is better to do the will of the spirit than its own will. How, then, does the apostle say, “that ye cannot do the things that ye would?” Because in that contest which is waged between flesh and spirit, the spirit is by no means certain of victory, it being manifest that in very many individuals the flesh has the mastery.
But since the subject of discussion on which we have entered is one of great profundity, which it is necessary to consider in all its bearings,’ let us see whether some such point as this may not be determined: that as it is better for the soul to follow the spirit when the latter has overcome the flesh, so also, if it seem to be a worse course for the former to follow the flesh in its strugeles against the spirit, 1The text here is very obscure, and has given some trouble to commentators. The words are: ‘ Que ergo ista est preter hac volunias anime que extrinsecus nominatur,” ete. Redepenning understands * extrinsecus” ag meaning ‘* svorsim,” “ insuper,” and refers to a note of Origen upon the Mpisile to the Romans (tom. 1. p. £66): “ Et ideireo extrinsecus eam (animam, corporis et spiritus mentione facta, Rom. i. 3, 4) apostolus non nominat, sed carncm tantum vel spiritum,” ete. Schnitzer supposes that in the Greek the words were, T§; iw xarougeeyns, where:Zw is to be taken in the sense of xazw, so that the expression would mean ‘ anima inferior.”
2 In quai necesse cst ex singulis quibusque partibus que possunt moveri discutere.
— eee Cuar. 1Vv.] ORIGEN DE PRINCIPUS. 249 when the latter would recall the soul to its influence, it may nevertheless appear a more advantageous procedure for the soul to be under the mastery of the fiecsh than. to remain under the power of its own will. For, since it is said to be neither hot nor cold, but to continue in a sort of tepid con- dition, it will find conversion a slow and somewhat difficult undertaking. If indeed it clung to the flesh, then, satiated at lensth, and filled with those very evils which it suffers from the vices of the flesh, and wearied as it were by the heavy burdens of luxury and lust, it may sometimes be con- verted with greater ease and rapidity from the filthiness of matter to a desire for heavenly things, and [to a taste for] spiritual graces. And the apostle must be supposed to have said, that “the spirit contends against the flesh, and the flesh against the spirit, so that we cannot do the things that we would” (those things, undoubtedly, which are designated as being beyond the will of the spirit, and the will of the flesh), meaning (as if we were to express it in other words) that it is better for a man to be either in a state of virtue or in one of wickedness, than in neither of these; but that the soul, before its conversion to the spirit, and its union with it,’ appears during its adherence to the body, and its meditation of carnal things, to be neither in a good condition nor in a manifestly bad one, but resembles, so to speak, an animal. It is better, however, for it, if possible, to be rendered spiritual throuch adherence to the spirit; but if that cannot be done, it is more expedient for it to follow even the wickedness of the flesh, than, placed under the influence of its own will, to retain ’ the position of an irrational animal.
These points we have now discussed, in our desire to con- sider each individual opinion, at greater length than we intended, that those views might not be supposed to have escaped our notice which are generally brought forward by those who inguire whether there is within us any other soul than this heavenly and rational one, which is naturally opposed to the latter, and is called either the flesh, or the wisdom of the flesh, or the soul of the flesh.
’ Priuzsquam—unum efficiatur cum eo. 1 250 ORIGEN DE PRINCIPIIS. [ Book 111.
4, Let us now see what answer is usually returned to these statements by those who maintain that there is in us one movement, and one life, proceeding from one and the same soul, both the salvation and the destruction of which are ascribed to itself as a result of its own actions. And, in the first place, let us notice of what nature those commotions' of the soul are which we suffer, when we feel ourselves in- wardly drawn in different directions; when there arises a kind of contest of thoughts in our hearts, and certain pro- babilities are suggested us, agreeably to which we lean now to this side, now to that, and by which we are sometimes convicted of error, and sometimes approve of our acts.’ It is nothing remarkable, however, to say of wicked spirits, that they have a varying and conflicting judgment, and one out of harmony with itself, since such is found to be the case in all men, whenever, in deliberating upon an uncertain event, counsel is taken, and men consider and consult what is to be chosen as the better and more useful course. It is not therefore surprising that, if two probabilities meet, and suggest opposite views, they should drag the mind in con- trary directions. For example, if a man be Ied by reflection to believe and to fear God, it cannot then be said that the flesh contends against the spirit; but, amidst the uncertainty of what may be true and advantageous, the mind is drawn in opposite directions. So, also, when it is supposed that the flesh provokes to the indulgence of lust, but better counsels oppose allurements of that kind, we are not to suppose that it is one life which is resisting another, but that it is the tendency of the nature of the body, which is eager to empty out and cleanse the places filled with seminal moisture; as, in like manner, it is not to be supposed that it is any oppos- ing power, or the life of another soul, which excites within us the appetite of thirst, and impels us to drink, or which causes us to feel hunger, and drives us to satisfy it. But as- it is by the natural movements of the body that food and ? Passiones.
* Quibus nune quidem arguimur, nunc vero nosmet ipsos amplec- timur.
Crap. tv. ] ORIGEN DE PRINCIPIIS. 251 drink are either desired or rejected,’ so also the natural seed, collected together in course of time in the various vessels, has an eager desire to be expelled and thrown away, and is so far from never being removed, save by the impulse of some ex- citing cause, that it is even sometimes spontaneously emitted. When, therefore, it is said that “the flesh struggles against the spirit,” these persons understand the expression to mean that habit or necessity, or the delights of the flesh, arouse a man, and withdraw him from divine and spiritual things. For, owing to the necessity of the body being drawn away, we are not allowed to have leisure for divine things, which are to be eternally advantageous. So again, the soul, devot- ing itself to divine and spiritual pursuits, and being united to the spirit, is said to fight against the flesh, by not permitting it to be relaxed by indulgence, and to become unsteady through the influence of those pleasures for which it feels a natural delight. In this way, also, they claim to understand the words, “ The wisdom of the flesh is hostile to God,”? not - that the flesh really has a soul, or a wisdom of its own. But as we are accustomed to say, by an abuse’ of language, that the earth is thirsty, and wishes to drink in water, this use of the word “ wishes” is not proper, but catachrestic,—as if we were to say again, that this house wants to be rebuilt,* and many other similar expressions; so also is the wisdom of thc flesh to be understood, or the expression, that “the flesh lusteth against the spirit.’ They generally connect with these the expression, “ The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.”* For what crics unto the Lord is not properly the blood which was shed; but the blood is said improperly to cry out, vengeance being demanded upon him who had shed it. The declaration also of the apostle, “1 see another Jaw in my members, warring against the law of my mind,”® they so understand as if he had said, That he who wishes to devote himself to the word of God is, on account of his bodily necessities and habits, which like a sort of law are ingrained in the body, distracted, and divided, 1 Fvacuantur. 2 Cf. Rom. viii. 2. 8 Abusive. 4 Recomponi vult. 5 Gen. iv. 10. © Rom. vii. 29.
252 ORIGEN DE PRINCIPIIS. [Book 11.
and impeded, lest, by devoting himself vigorously to the study of wisdom, he should be enabled to behold the divine mysteries.
5. With respect, however, to the following being ranked among the works of the flesh, viz. heresies, and envyings, and contentions, or other [vices], they so understand the passage, that the mind, being rendered grosser in feeling, from its yielding itself to the passions of the body, and being oppressed by the mass of its vices, and having no refined or spiritual feelings, is said to be made flesh, and derives its name from that in which it exhibits more vigour and force of will.’ They also make this further inquiry, “ Who will be found, or who will be said to be, the creator of this evil sense, called the sense of the flesh?” Because they defend the opinion that there is no other creator of soul and flesh than God. And if we were to assert that the good God created anything in His own creation that was hostile to Himself, it would appear to be a manifest absurdity. If, then, it is written, that “carnal wisdom is enmity against God,’”? and if this be declared to be a result of creation, God Tlimself will appear to have formed a nature hostile to lim- self, which cannot be subject to Ilim nor to His law, as if it were [supposed to be] an animal of which such qualities are predicated. And if this view be admitted, in what respect will it appear to differ from that of those who maintain that souls of different natures are created, which, according to their natures,’ are destined either to be lost or saved? But this is an opinion of the heretics alone, who, not being able to maintain the justice of God on grounds of piety, compose impious inventions of this kind. And now we have brought forward to the best of our ability, in the person of sels of the parties, what might be advanced by way of argument regarding the sev eral. views, and Jet the reader eieese out of then for himself that which he thinks ought to be preferred.
1 Plus studii vel propositi. 2 Rom. vill. 7. 3 Naturaliter.
Cuap. v. ] ORIGEN DE PRINCIPIIS. 209 CILAPTER V. THAT TITE WORLD TOOK ITS BEGINNING IN TIME.
1. AND now, since there is one of the articles of the church’? which is held principally in consequence of our belief in the truth of our sacred history, viz. that this world was created-and took its beginning at a certain time, and, in conformity to the cycle of time’ decreed to all things, is to be destroyed on account of its corruption, there seems no absurdity in re-discussing a few points connected with this subject. And so far, indeed, as the credibility of Scripture is concerned, the declarations on such a matter seem easy of proof. Even the heretics, although widely opposed on many other things, yet on this appear to be at one, yielding to the authority of Scripture.
Concerning, then, the creation of the world, what portion of Scripture can give us more information regarding it, than the account which Moses has transmitted respecting its origin? And although it comprehends matters of pro- founder significance than the mere historical narrative ap- pears to indicate, and contains very many things that are to be spiritually understood, and employs the letter, as a kind of veil, in treating of profound and mystical subjects; never- theless the language of the narrator shows that all visible things were created at a certain time. But with regard to the consummation of the world, Jacob is the first who gives any information, in addressing his children in the words: “Gather yourselves together unto me, ye sons of Jacob, that I may tell you what shall be in the last days,” or “after the last days.’* If, then, there be “last days,” or a period “succeeding the last days,” the days which had a beginning must necessarily come to an end. David, too, 1 De ecelesiasticis definitionibus unum.
2 Consummationem seculi.
* Gen. xlix. 1. The Vuleate has, “In diebus novissimis;” the Septuag. "Ex' iogarey tay yuscav;” the Musoretic text, nvnwa.
254 OhKIGEN DE PRINCIPIIS. [Book u1, declares: “ The heavens shall perish, but Thou shalt endure; yea, all of them shall wax old as doth a garment: as a vesture shalt Thou change them, and they shall be changed: but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall have noend.”? Our Lord and Saviour, indeed, in the words, “ He who made them at the beginning, made them male and female,”? Him- self bears witness that the world was created; and again, when Ile says, “ Teaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away,”* He points out that they are perishable, and must come to an end. The apostle, more- over, in declaring that “the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath sub- jected the same in hope, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God,”’* manifestly announces the end of the world; as he does also when he again says, “The fashion of this world passeth away.”” Now, by the expres- sion which he employs, “that the creature was made subject to vanity,” he shows that there was a beginning to this world: for if the creature were made subject to vanity on account vf some hope, it was certainly made subject from a cause; and seeing it was from a cause, it must necessarily have had a beginning: for, without some beginning, the creature could not be subject to vanity, nor could that [creature] hope to be freed from the bondage of corruption, which shad not begun to serve. But any one who chooses to search at his leisure, will find numerous other passages in holy Scripture in which the world is both said to have a beginning and to hope for an end.
2. Now, if there be any one who would here oppose either the authority or credibility of our Scriptures,° we would ask of him whether he asserts that God can, or cannot, compre- hend all things? To assert that He cannot, would mani- festly be an act of impiety. If then he answer, as he must, that God comprehends all things, it follows from the very 6 Auctoritate Scripture nostrae, vel fidci.
Cuap. v. | ORIGEN DE PRINCIPIS., 2090 fact of their being capable of comprehension, that they are understood to have a beginning and an end, seeing that which is altogether without any beginning cannot be at all com- prehended. For however far understanding may extend, so far is the faculty of comprehending illimitably withdrawn and removed when there is held to be no beginning.
3. But this is the objection which they generally raise: they say, “If the world had its beginning in time, what was God doing before the world began? For it is at once impious and absurd to say that the nature of God is inactive and immoveable, or to suppose that goodness at one time did not do good, and omnipotence at one time did not exercise its power.” Such is the objection which they are accustomed to make to our statement that this world had its beginning at a certain time, and that, agreeably to our belief in Scripture, we can calculate the years of its past duration. To these propositions I consider that none of the heretics can easily return an answer that will be in conformity with the nature of their opinions. But we can give a logical answer in accordance with the standard of religion,’ when we say that not then for the first time did God begin to work when He made this visible world; but as, after its destruction, there will be another world, so also we believe that others existed before the present came into being. And both of these posi- tions will be confirmed by the authority of holy Scripture. For that there will be another world after this, is taught by Isaiah, who says, “There will be a new heavens, and a new earth, which I shall make to abide in my sight, saith the Lord;”? and that before this world others also existed is shown by Ecclesiastes, in the words: “ What is that which hath been? Even that which shall be. And what is that which has been created? Even this which is to be created: and there is nothing altogether new under the sun. Who shall speak and declare, Lo, this is new? It hath already been in the ages which have been before us.”* By these 1 Regulam pictatis. 2 Cf. Isa. Ixvi. 22.
3 Cf. Eccles. i. 9. The text is in conformity with the Septuag.: Ti ro yeyovos; Avro ro yevyccpecvov. Kaiti to wexoiievov; Avro ro zoimbnoo- 256 OLIGEN DE PRINCIPIIS. [Boor 11.
testimonies it is established both that there were ages’ before our own, and that there will be others. after it. It is not, however, to be supposed that several worlds existed at once, but that, after the end of this present world, others will take their beginning; respecting which it is unnecessary to repeat each particular statement, seeing we have already done so in the preceding pages.
4, This point, indeed, is not to be idly passed by, that'the holy Scriptures have called the creation of the world by a new and peculiar name, terming it cataBodn, which has been very improperly translated into Latin by “constitutio;” for in Greek xataBor) signifies rather “ dejicere,” i.e. to cast downwards,—a word which has been, as we have already remarked, improperly translated into Latin by the phrase “constitutio mundi,” as in the Gospel according to John, where the Saviour says, “ And there will be tribulation in those days, such as was not since the beginning of the world;””? in which passage cataPory is rendered by beginning (con- stidutio), which is to be understood as above explained. The apostle also, in the Epistle to the Ephesians, has employed the same language, saying, “ Who hath chosen us before the foundation of the world;”” and this foundation he calls cata- fox}, to be understood in the same sense as before. It secins worth while, then, to inquire what is meant by this new term; and I am, indeed, of opinion* that, as the end and consumpeevov. Kal ovx toriy wav wocclaroy ure roy yriov. “Og AwAZoES mal Fore “lée rovTo xeivoy tory, Gon vyeyousy ty Toig aicioiy TOig yevoLrives; aTO sempordsy nuuy.
4 The following is Jerome's version of this passage (Epistle to Avitus): ‘* A divine habitation, and a true rest above (apud superes), I think is to be understood, where rational creatures dwelt, and where, before their descent to a lower position, and removal from invisible to visible [worlds], and fall to earth, and need of gross bodies, they enjoyed a former blessedness. Whence God the Creator made for them bodies suitable to their humble position, and created this visible world, and sent into the world ministers for the salvation and correction of those who had fallen: of whom some were to obtain certain localities, and be subject to the necessities of the world; others were to discharze with care and attention the duties enjoiued upon them at all times, and which - ee eee ee aan Cir. v. | ORIGEN DE PRINCIPIIS. 207 sation of the saints will be in those [ages] which are not seen, and are eternal, we must conclude (as frequently pointed out in the preceding pages), from a contemplation of that very end, that rational creatures had also a similar beginning. And if they had a beginning such as the end for which they hope, they existed undoubtedly from the very beginning in those [ages] which are not seen, and are eternal. And if this is so, then there has been a descent from a higher to a lower condition, on the part not only of those souls who have deserved the change by the variety of their movements, but also on that of those who, in order to serve the while world, were brought down from those higher and invisible spheres to these lower and visible ones, although against their will— “Because the creature was subjected to vanity, not willingly, were known to God, the Arranger [of all things]. And of these, the stm, moon, and stars, which are called ‘creature’ by the apostle, received the more elevated places of the world. Which ‘creature’ was made subject to vanity, in that it was clothed with gross bodies, and was open to view; and yet was subject to vanity, not voluntarily, but because of the will of Tim who subjected the same in hope.” And again: *f While others, whom we believe to be angels, at different places and times, which the Arranger alone knows, serve the government of the world.” Anda little further on: ‘* Which order of thines is regu- lated by the providential government of the whole world; sume powers falling down from a loftier position, others gradually sinking to earth: some falling voluntarily, others being cast down against their will: come undertaking, of their own accord, the service of stretching ont tue hand to these who fall; others being compelled to persevere for so lony a time in the duty which they have undertaken.” And avain: ** Whence it follows that, on account of the various movements, various worlds also are created; and after this world which we now inhabit, there will be another greatly dissimilar. But no other being save God alone, the Creator of all things, can arrange the deserts [of all], both to the time to come and to that which preceded, suitably to the differing lapses and advances [of individuals], and to the rewards of virtues or the punishment of vices, both in the present and in the future, and in all [times], and to conduct them all again to one end: for He knows the causes why He allows some to enjoy their own will, and to fall from a higher rank to the lowest condition; and why He begins to visit others, and bring them back gradually, as if by giving them His hand, to their pristine state, and placing them in a lofty position” (Ruzus). ORIG. R 258 ORIGEN DE PRINCIPITS. [Book 1.
but because of him who subjected the same in hope;”! so that both sun, and moon, and stars, and angels might dis- charge their duty to the world, and to those souls which, on account of their excessive mental defects, stood in need of bodies of a grosser and more solid nature; and for the sake of those for whom this arrangement was necessary, this visible world was also called into being. From this it follows, that by the use of the word xata3on7}, a descent from a higher to a lower condition, shared by all in common, would scem to be pointed out. The hope indced of freedom is entertained by the whole of creation—of being liberated from the corrup- tion of slavery—when the sons of God, who either fell away or were scattered abroad,’ shall be gathered together into one, or when they shall have fulfilled their other duties in this world, which are known to God alone, the Disposer of all things. We are, indeed, to suppose that the world was created of such quality and capacity as to contain not only all those souls which it was determined should be trained in this world, but also all those powers which were prepared to attend, and serve, and assist them. Jor it is established by many declarations that all rational creatures are of one nature: on which ground alone could the justice of God in all Ilis dealines with them be defended, seeing every one has the reason in himself, why be has been placed in this or that rank in life.