The Writings of Origen, Vol. 1: De Principiis; Against Celsus, Book 1

7 raw HE name of the illustrious Origen comes before us 4) in this volume in connection with his works De Principiis, Epistola ad Africanum, and Contra Celsum. Of these, the first two have been given entire, while of the third we have been able at present only to give the first book. A full account of the life and writings of the author will be prefixed to our next volume of his works, Meanwhile, we restrict ourselves to a brief notice of the three which have been mentioned. It is in his treatise IIept ’Apywv, or, as it is commonly known under the Latin title, De Principiis, that Origen most fully develops his system, and brings out his peculiar principles. None of his works exposed him to so much animadversion in the ancient church as this. On it chiefly was based the charge of heresy which some vehemently pressed against him,—a charge from which even his firmest friends felt it no easy matter absolutely to defend him. The points on which it was held that he had plainly departed from the orthodox faith, were the four following :—First, That the souls of men had existed in a previous state, and that their imprisonment in material bodies was a punishment for sins which they had then committed. Second, That the human soul of Christ had also previously existed, and been united to the Divine nature before that incarnation of the Son of God which is related in the Gospels. Third, That our material bodies shall be transformed into absolutely ethereal Vili INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. ones at the resurrection; and fourth, That all men, and even devils, shall be finally restored through the mediation of Christ. His principles of interpreting Scripture are also brought out in this treatise ; and while not a little ingenuity is displayed in illustrating and maintaining them, the serious errors into which they might too easily lead will be at once perceived by the reader.…