The spell of the logos : Origen’s exegetic pedagogy in the contemporary debate regarding logocentrism

If, as Origen believed. humanity`s hope for salvation has been answered by a divine Word, whose coming into the world has unfolded history according to a messianic intrigue, Origen`s messianic reading of world history as a soteriological discourse should not come as a surprise. How does Origen refer to this discourse? As a speech that spells the coming Word, this discourse would have to be soteriological in its very mording, it would have to happen soteriologically. The Word`s historical unfolding would have to be approached as a gospel, a good-news or a revelatory speech event, which, literally, spells salvation. Receiving this messianic Word would necessarily imply the believer`s application to the study of the Bible as Gospel. The task of this study is twofold. In addition to offering a detailed analysis of Origen`s understanding of exegesis as a liturgical attending to the Word`s evangelic advent in the Bible (a sort of textual redoubling of the incarmation), it also addresses a recent concern regarding the totalizing potential of Origen`s Logos-centered reading of history as evangelic or Christian. One may indeed wonder whether Origen`s exegetical spelling of the Word as universal Gospel can prevent the silencing of the speech of, let us say the Greek or the jew outside of Christianity? Ultimately, one may wonder whether it is possible to dissociate Origen`s Christian understanding of the Bible-incarnate Word from the totalizing rigor of a universalist metaphysics and what would be the consequences of such an attempt Frontmatter 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 7 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 13 ABBREVIATIONS AND TRANSLATIONS 17 I. SPELLING SALVATION. SPEECH ADDRESS AS MESSIANIC ADVENT 19 II. SPIRITUAL LEAVENING AS THE GRAND SCENARIO OF ORIGENS EXEGETICAL PEDAGOGY 61 III. EMMAUS AND BEYOND. THE GROWTH OF THE KINGDOM DOCUMENTED BY THE DOXOLOGICAL GESTURES POSTURES AND FEELINGS OF A PRIESTLY HOMILIST 139 IV. DISPUTING EMMAUS 219 ENDNOTES 317 BIBLIOGRAPHY 479 GRAPHS AND TABLES 507 [9781463216283 - The Spell of the Logos] SUBJECT INDEX 525 ANCIENT AUTHOR INDEX 563 MODEN AUTHOR INDEX 565 BIBLICAL REFERENCES INDEX 569 The,Spell,of,the,Logos A recent concern regarding the totalizing potential of Origen`s Logos-centered reading of history as evangelic or Christian. One may indeed wonder whether Origen`s exegetical spelling of the Word as universal Gospel can prevent the silencing of the speech of, let us say the Greek or the Jew outside of Christianity? Ultimately, one may wonder whether it is possible to dissociate Origen`s Christian understanding of the Bible-incarnate Word from the totalizing rigor of a universalist metaphysics and what would be the consequences of such an attempt --Book Jacket

Origen's construal of the Bible as a textual incarnation of the Word encourages an assimilationist interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures as a proto-Christian gospel. Although in partial agreement with this thesis, this study suggests a non-assimilationist reading of Origen's biblical exegesis.