The literary legacy of Origen is as vast as the horizon of his mind—immense, intricate, and luminous with the restless energy of a soul devoted to divine truth. Prolific without being frivolous, he produced a body of work that shaped Christian scholarship for centuries, ranging across every branch of theology known to his day. His pen, like his life, was never idle; yet even his opponents confessed the breadth of his productivity, measuring it in the thousands. Much of what he wrote survives only in fragments, translations, or altered forms, yet the surviving corpus still bears the imprint of a genius who brought Scripture and doctrine into conversation with the deepest currents of philosophy and devotion.
The Scriptural Scholar: Critical and Exegetical Writings
Origen’s most numerous contributions were to the study of Scripture, divided into critical, exegetical, and hortatory works. Chief among his critical labors was the monumental Hexapla—a polyglot Old Testament on which he spent twenty-eight years. This “Sixfold” Bible contained:
1. The Hebrew text
2. The Hebrew transliterated into Greek characters
3. The Greek of Aquila
4. The Greek of Symmachus
5. The Septuagint
6. The Greek of Theodotion
To these, Origen appended in various sections two or three anonymous Greek versions, identified by Greek numerals. The order of the columns reflected increasing freedom from literalism. In the margins he employed an asterisk (*) to indicate additions or alterations and an obelos (÷) for suggested omissions, often accompanied by explanations of Hebrew names. A shorter Tetrapla contained only the four Greek versions of Aquila, Symmachus, the Septuagint, and Theodotion.
This colossal work, housed in the library of Caesarea, was still consulted in Jerome’s day, though it was never fully copied and was likely destroyed during the Saracen conquest in 653. Only fragments remain, collected first by Montfaucon (1714) and more thoroughly by Field (1875).
Origen’s exegetical writings embraced nearly all the books of both Testaments. They took three primary forms:
– Scholia—short notes for beginners on difficult passages (now lost except for scattered citations)
– Extended commentaries—scientific expositions for advanced study, some preserved in Greek, others in Rufinus’ Latin
– Homilies—extemporaneous sermons, mainly from his later life in Caesarea, preserved in Latin translations by Jerome and Rufinus, though heavily edited to conform with later orthodoxy
In these works, sublime insight often stood beside extravagant allegory. His commentaries could illuminate a text with rare brilliance, yet also wander into speculative interpretations far removed from the plain sense.
Defender of the Faith: Apologetic and Polemic Writings
Foremost among Origen’s apologetic works stands the eight-book Contra Celsum, composed near the end of his life (c. 248). It is a masterful and comprehensive defense of Christianity, answering the sophisticated criticisms of the pagan philosopher Celsus. Though Origen did not know Celsus’ exact date—placing him anywhere from Nero to Hadrian—modern scholarship situates him between AD 150 and 178. This work remains one of the crowning achievements of ancient apologetics, marked by breadth of learning and fairness of tone.
His many polemical treatises against heresies are lost, though their influence may be traced through the writings of later theologians.
Systematic Thought: Dogmatic Works
Origen was the first Christian thinker to attempt a complete system of theology. His youthful work De Principiis (“On First Principles”), surviving only in Rufinus’ altered Latin translation with a few Greek fragments, was composed in Alexandria. In four books it treated:
1. God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit
2. Creation, the Incarnation, resurrection, and judgment
3. Human freedom—defended passionately against Gnostic determinism
4. The inspiration, authority, and interpretation of Scripture—ending with a summary of Trinitarian teaching
While pioneering, this system also contained speculative elements shaped by his Platonic leanings, later retracted in part. His Stromata, modeled on Clement of Alexandria’s work of the same name, was both doctrinal and exegetical, but is now almost entirely lost. His treatise on the resurrection has also perished.
Guides for the Christian Life: Practical Works
Among Origen’s practical writings, two stand out:
– On Prayer, which includes a penetrating exposition of the Lord’s Prayer and notably omits the doxology absent from his manuscripts
– Exhortation to Martyrdom, composed during the persecution under Maximinus (235–238) and addressed to his friend Ambrosius—a stirring summons to courageous witness
The Lost Correspondence
Eusebius records that Origen wrote over eight hundred letters, yet only a few fragments survive, along with his celebrated reply to Julius Africanus defending the authenticity of the story of Susanna.
The Philocalia and Anthological Legacy
In later centuries, Gregory Nazianzen and Basil the Great compiled the Philocalia, twenty-seven chapters of Origen’s reflections on exegetical questions, preserving valuable portions of his thought otherwise lost.
An Enduring Monument of Sacred Learning
The works of Origen—fragmentary, altered, or intact—form a monument to the energy and range of early Christian scholarship. They testify to a mind that sought nothing less than to exhaust the riches of Scripture, defend the faith against its cultured despisers, systematize the truths of doctrine, and guide believers in the path of prayer and sacrifice. Though the centuries have sifted and pruned his legacy, enough remains to secure his place among the most consequential theologians of the ancient Church.
