Cross and Creation: A Theological Introduction to Origen of Alexandria (Patristic Theology)

Even though the theology of Origen of Alexandria has shaped the Christian Tradition in almost every way, the controversies over his legacy have been seemingly endless. One major interpretative trend, for example, has suggested Origen's theology is really akin to the heterodox Gnostics against whom he wrote than the actual teaching of the Gospel, since he (supposedly) had a disdainful attitude towards Creation and ultimately saw little redemptive meaning in the Passion. In Cross and Creation: A Theological Introduction to Origen of Alexandria , Mark Therrien offers an original interpretation of Origen's theology. Focusing on some of Origen's most important works (especially On First Principles and the Commentary on John , but ultimately making reference to his writings more broadly), this book retrieves and examines some of the foundational pillars of Origen's theology through close readings and re-examinations of those texts. It examines eight of these theological foundations: God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, the end, the soul, the world, the cross, and deification. Moreover, by showing the connections between Origen's understanding of these foundational pillars, it also shows the coherence of his theology as a whole. Taken collectively, what emerges from these eight chapters is that two doctrines specially shape Origen's theology: Cross and Creation. As Therrien shows, Origen did not hold contempt for Creation. Rather, Origen thinks that Creation emerges from the very life of God as eternally foreknown and provided for in the person of Christ, the Wisdom of God the Father. Moreover, he also holds that, though fallen, Creation will be restored according to its original, eternal intention in God precisely through the Passion of Jesus Christ on the Cross. The Cross is thus not minimalized in Origen's theology; it is rather its very center. Contents Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction Re-reading Origen as a Scriptural Theologian A Note on the Textual Tradition of the Peri archōn 1. God Divine Incorporeality: Origen’s Teaching in Context Speaking of God: God’s Incorporeality and Doing Theology Chapter Summary 2. Christ Wisdom as Origen’s Preferred Epinoia for Christ “In Wisdom Hast Thou Made Them All”: Creation in Christ God’s Eternal Provision for His Creation Chapter Summary 3. The Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit as Creator? Creation and Eschatology Chapter Summary 4. The End The End as Return to the Beginning? Reevaluating Origen on “Preexistence” From Protology to Eschatology: Peri archōn 1.2 The Foundations of Origen’s Eschatology in the Commentary on John The Church as the End: Commentary on John Book 10 Ecclesial Diversity and Final Corporeality Chapter Summary 5. The Soul A Myth of Souls? The Ascetic Framework of Peri archōn 2.8 Origen’s First Treatment of the Soul at Peri archōn 1.1 Peri archōn 2.8: A Pauline Psychology Reading Paul through Peter: Origen’s Canonical Psychology From “Mind” to “Soul”: A Moral or Ontological Change? Is the Soul Fallen qua Soul? Origen on the Soul of Christ Chapter Summary 6. The World The Equivocity of World (Kosmos) in Origen’s Theology A Visible World from Things Unseen: Origen on the Katabolē The Fall of Lucifer as a “Beginning” of the World “Subjected in Hope”: The World’s Fulfillment in God Chapter Summary 7. The Cross How to Read Jesus: Origen on the “Gospel” Seeing the Lamb, Perceiving the Father The Cross as the Revelation of the God Who Is Love The Eternal Gospel: The Cross and the Apokatastasis Chapter Summary 8. Deification The Soul’s Union with the Word: Origen’s Early Speculations Freedom, Weakness, and the Cross: Later Developments The Deification of Jesus’s Soul in the Passion Chapter Summary Epilogue: Origen the Martyr Bibliography Index "Mark Therrien offers an original interpretation of Origen's theology. Focusing on some of Origen's most important works (especially On First Principles and the Commentary on John, but ultimately making reference to his writings more broadly), this book retrieves and examines some of the foundational pillars of Origen's theology through close readings and re-examinations of those texts. It examines eight of these theological foundations: God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, the end, the soul, the world, the cross, and deification. Moreover, by showing the connections between Origen's understanding of these foundational pillars, it also shows the coherence of his theology as a whole. Taken collectively, what emerges from these eight chapters is that two doctrines specially shape Origen's theology: Cross and Creation"-- Provided by publisher