Origen Quotes

“If Paul brought the first generation of Christians the useful skills of a trained theologian, Origen was the first great philosopher to rethink the new religion from first principles. As his philosophical enemy, the anti-Christian Porphyry, summed it up, he 'introduced Greek ideas to foreign fables' -- that is, gave a barbarous eastern religion the intellectual respectability of a philosophical defense. Origen was also a phenomenon. As Eusebius put it admiringly, 'even the facts from his cradle are worth mentioning'. Origen came from Alexandria, the second city of the empire and then it's intellectual centre; his father's martyrdom left him an orphan at seventeen with six younger brothers. He was a hard working prodigy, at eighteen head of the Catechetical School, and already trained as a literary scholar and teacher. But at this point, probably in 203, he became a religious fanatic and remained one for the next fifty years. He gave up his job and sold his books to concentrate on religion. he slept on the floor, ate no meat, drank no wine, had only one coat and no shoes. He almost certainly castrated himself, in obedience to the notorious text, Matthew 19:12, 'there are some who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake.' Origen's learning was massive and it was of a highly original kind: he always went back to the sources and thought through the whole process himself. This he learned Hebrew and, according to Eusebius, 'got into his possession the original writings extant among the Jews in the actual Hebrew character'. These included the discovery of lost texts; in the case of the psalms, Origen collected not only the four known texts but three others unearthed, including 'one he found at Jericho in a jar'. The result was an enormous tome, the Hexapla, which probably existed in only one manuscript now lost, setting out the seven alternative texts in parallel columns. He applied the same principles of original research to every aspect of Christianity and sacred literature. He seems to have worked all day and though most of the night, and was a compulsive writer. Even the hardy Jerome later complained: 'Has anyone read everything Origen wrote?'”
― Paul Johnson, A History of Christianity

“The so-called 'condemnation of Origen' by 'the Church' in the sixth century probably never occurred proper, and even if it occurred it did so only as a result of a long series of misunderstandings, when the anthropological, eschatological, and psychological questions were no longer felt as open to investigation – as Origen and still Nazaianzen considered them – but dogmatically established. The aforementioned condemnation was in fact a condemnation, not at all of Origen, but rather of a late and exasperated form of Origenism; moreover, it was mainly wanted by emperor Justinian – or better his counselors, given that he was not a theologian – and only partially, or even not at all, ratified by ecclesiastical representatives.

This 'condemnation' was triggered by the development of a radical kind of Origenism in the first half of the sixth century, especially in Palestine, in the monasteries of St. Saba, the 'Great Laura' and 'New Laura' […]. (pp. 724-725)”
― Ilaria Ramelli, The Christian Doctrine of Apokatastasis: A Critical Assessment from the New Testament to Eriugena

“If we see some admirable work of human art, we are at once eager to investigate the nature, the manner, the end of its production; and the contemplation of the works of God stirs us with an incomparably greater longing to learn the principles, the method, the purpose of creation. This desire, this passion, has without doubt been implanted in us by God. And as the eye seeks light, as our body craves food, so our mind is impressed with the . . . natural desire to know the truth of God and the causes of what we observe." --Origen(185-254)”
― Bruce L. Shelley, Church History in Plain Language

“De solo alzar la vista hacia el cielo estrellado han surgido algunas de las preguntas fundamentales que la humanidad se ha hecho a lo largo de su existencia.”
― Marco Arturo Moreno Corral, La morada cósmica del hombre

“La simple contemplación de la bóveda celeste basta para desencadenar una experiencia religiosa.”
― Mircea Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion

“Origen calls apokatastasis also "palingenisis" (παλιγγενεσία) and declares that it will take place in Christ (ἐν Χριστῷ) at the end of the time, when he will sit on the throne of his glory, and it depends only on Christ, who will make those involved "pure to the highest degree" (Comm. in Matth. 5.15.23). (p. 200)”
― Ilaria Ramelli, The Christian Doctrine of Apokatastasis: A Critical Assessment from the New Testament to Eriugena

“Among the first explicit accusations leveled against Origen by these authors, even though some do deal with eschatological issues, none is directed against his apokatastasis doctrine, or at least none is against the eventual universal restoration of all humans. They were well aware that Origen's core doctrine was that of the eventual restoration of all human beings, but they did not criticize this (they limited themselves to counter the claim of the final salvation of the devil), very probably because, as Basil attests […], still at the end of the fourth century a great many Christians believed in the final apokatastasis of all humans. (577)”
― Ilaria Ramelli, The Christian Doctrine of Apokatastasis: A Critical Assessment from the New Testament to Eriugena

“All this shows that, as in the case of Theophilus, so also in that of Jerome, much of the Origenist controversy of that day depended on political considerations and on contingence. Much also rested on gross misunderstandings and even the lack of direct reading of Origen's works, or, even worse, according to Origen's and Rufinus's denunciations, the deliberate alteration of these works. (658)”
― Ilaria Ramelli, The Christian Doctrine of Apokatastasis: A Critical Assessment from the New Testament to Eriugena

“The Council that is usually cited as that which 'condemend Origen' is the fifth ecumenical council, the second Constantinopolitan Council, in 553 CE. First of all, its ecumenicity is in fact doubtful, since it was wanted by Justinian and not by Vigilius, the bishop of Rome, or other bishops; Vigilius was even brought to Constantinople by force, by the emperor's order, and moreover he did not accept to declare that the council was open (Justinian had to do so). The anathemas, fifteen in number, were already prepared before the opening of the council. Here, Origen is considered to be the inspirer of the so-called Isochristoi. This was the position of the Sabaite opponents of Origen, summarized by Cyril of Scythopolis who maintained that the Council issued a definitive anathema against Origen, Theodore, Evagrius, and Didymus concerning the preexistence of souls and apokatastasis, thus ratifying Sabas' position (V. Sab. 90). One of these previously formulated anathemas, which only waited to be ratified by the Council, was against the apokatastasis doctrine: 'If anyone supports the monstrous doctrine of apokatastasis [τὴν τερατώδη ἀποκατάστασιν], be it anathema.' Other anathemas concern the 'pre-existence of souls,' their union with bodies only after their fall, and the denial of the resurrection of the body. These doctrines have nothing to do with Origen; in fact, Origen is not the object of any authentic anathema. And Vigilius's documents, which were finally emanated by a council that was not wanted by him, most remarkably do not even contain Origen's name. Origen was never formally condemned by any Christian ecumenical council. [G.L.] Prestige once observed, inspiredly, that 'Origen is the greatest of that happily small company of saints who, having lived and died in grace, suffered sentence of expulsion from the Church on earth after they had already entered into the joy of their Lord.' We may add that Origen, strictly speaking, did not even suffer any formal expulsion from the church. One problem is that later Christian authors considered the aforementioned anathemas as referring to Origen; so, extraneous theories were ascribed to him. The condemnations were also ascribed to Didymus and Evagrius; indeed, the Isochristoi professed a radical form of Evagrianism and some anathemas seem to reflect some of Evagrius's Kaphalaia Gnostica, but it would be inaccurate to refer all of Justinian's accusations and of the Council's 'condemnations' to Evagrius.

What is notable, these condemnations, however, were never connected with Nyssen, not even that concerning universal apokatastasis. There may be various explanations to this. One is that Nyssen, the theologian who inspired the Constantinople theology in 381 CE, enjoyed too high an authority to be criticized. Also, his ideas could by then be related – and indeed were related – to the Purgatory theory. And his manuscripts bristle with interpolations and glosses concerned with explaining that Gregory in fact did not support the theory of apokatastasis. Germanus of Constantinople, in the eighth century, even claimed that Gregory's works were interpolated by heretics who ascribed Origen's ideas to Gregory.

But precisely from the time of Justinian an important confirmation of the presence of the doctrine in Gregory's and the other Cappadocians' writings is given in Barsanuphius's Letter 604. A monk has asked him how it is that Origen's doctrine, especially that of apokatastasis, was supported by orthodox authors, and even saints, such as the Cappadocians. Barsanuphius, far from trying to deny that the Cappadocians supported the doctrine of apokatastasis, simply observes that even saints can have a limited understanding of the mysteries of God and can be wrong. Therefore, neither the monk nor Barsanuphius, who heartily detested the doctrine of apokatastasis, thought that Gregory did not actually believe in apokatastasis and that his works were interpolated by heretics. (pp. 736-738)”
― Ilaria Ramelli, The Christian Doctrine of Apokatastasis : A Critical Assessment from the New Testament to Eriugena

“¿De dónde venimos las maricas? Yo de Sevilla ¿y tú? El origen de las lesbianas. Absurda cuestión. Ganas de hacernos perder el tiempo. Esas cosas, como mucho, dan para tirarse en tu cuarto mirando al techo, poner musiquita rollo chilaut, liarte un peta y echar una tarde de domingo centrifugando el desconocido origen de la homosexualidad y la identidad gay hasta que se te pase el bajón de pastis.”
― Paco Vidarte, Ética marica: Proclamas libertarias para una militancia LGTBQ

“that means that to be Africentric I need to remember my ancestors, which is the way to resurrect myself.”
― Minster Faust

“Como el origen del Universo, los «fantasmas» eran otro gran misterio sin resolver.”
― Neus Figueras, Lorac

“Descubrimos que no somos los protagonistas principales de la vida en el cosmos, sino un minúsculo epifenómeno, que hemos florecido durante un breve instante sobre la ola del aumento de entropía que va del big bang al silencioso vacío que le espera al futuro universo.”
― Sean Carroll, From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time

“No encontraremos propósito ni significado en las leyes de la naturaleza, o en los planes de ningún agente externo que hizo que las cosas sean como son; nos corresponde a nosotros generarlos.”
― Sean Carroll, From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time

“Si nuestras vidas son breves y carecen de dirección, al menos podemos sentirnos orgullosos de nuestro coraje colectivo en nuestra lucha por comprender cosas mucho más grandes que nosotros.”
― Sean Carroll, From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time

“El modelo del origen del Universo que conocemos como Gran Explosión ha pasado en menos de 100 años de ser una creación casi puramente intelectual a constituir uno de los modelos básicos que los físicos tienen para entender todo lo que observan a su alrededor.”
― Alberto Fernández Soto, Orígenes: El universo, la vida, los humanos (Drakontos)

“La idea de que los seres vivos (y el Universo en su conjunto) hubieran sido creados por fuerzas sobrenaturales o deidades es tan antigua como nuestra propia capacidad para extraer conclusiones de lo que observamos, pues ésa es la explicación más sencilla ante la sensación de grandiosidad que produce la naturaleza que nos rodea.”
― Carlos Briones, Orígenes: El universo, la vida, los humanos (Drakontos)

“La asunción del poder infinito de los dioses creadores han acompañado a las distintas tradiciones culturales humanas durante milenios, dictando por ejemplo nuestra peculiar relación con la muerte.”
― Carlos Briones, Orígenes: El universo, la vida, los humanos (Drakontos)

“Nuestro medio ambiente terrestre es, en gran parte, producto del Universo en el que vivimos.”
― John Gribbin, Genesis: The origins of man and the universe

“...la gloriosa diversidad de la química del cosmos, y de la vida como una de sus manifestaciones más complejas, tiene su origen en la transmutación de elementos que sucede en las estrellas.”
― David Galadí-Enríquez, La evolución del cosmos (NATGEO CIENCIAS)

“La observación de la bóveda celeste siempre ha calado hondo en la conciencia humana, pues por su inmensidad y aparente inmutabilidad ha servido como un recordatorio permanente de la pequeñez y temporalidad del hombre.”
― Marco Arturo Moreno Corral, La morada cósmica del hombre

“En otras palabras, estamos hechos de Universo, nuestra sustancia fue cocinada en miles de millones de años en los núcleos de las estrellas, somos materia del Universo que evolucionó en un planeta para ser consciente de su existencia y de la existencia del cosmos; somos los ojos, los oídos, el cerebro del Universo, es decir, somos la parte del Universo que pretende conocerse a sí mismo.”
― Tonatiuh Matos, ¿De que esta hecho el universo? Materia oscura y energía oscura

“Debido al colapso gravitacional la vida existe en la tierra.”
― Tonatiuh Matos, ¿De que esta hecho el universo? Materia oscura y energía oscura

“No importa si somos jóvenes o si estamos en la plenitud de nuestra existencia, lo que nos conforma es materia creada hace 13000 millones de años.”
― Gerardo Herrera Corral, El Higgs, el universo líquido y el Gran Colisionador de Hadrones

“El caos, lo desconocido, se asocia simbólicamente con lo femenino. Eso se debe en parte a que todas las cosas que hemos ido conociendo nacieron en un primer momento de lo desconocido, de la misma forma que todos los seres con los que nos hemos encontrado nacieron de madres. El caos es mater, origen, fuente, madre; materia, la sustancia de la que están hechas las cosas.”
― Jordan B. Peterson, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos

“And so self forever veils itself so not be by itself. So to love and be loved in eternal return.”
― Wald Wassermann

“Over the years, I questioned why I met someone so evil. I questioned God. Eventually, I came to a conclusion by studying the writings of Origen: do we really understand evil? Can evil be much more than a psychiatric disorder?”
― Peter J. Perry, Origen: A True Story Of Evil

“Claire reads the tagline on the newsfeed detailing some kind of murder investigation.

“The victim was strangled in her bedroom with friends just outside her door. There appears to be evidence of indignity to the body and may be the work of a serial killer. Police are considering a link to previous cases where the death has been made to look accidental or natural. This is the first case where…”

Claire stops to pay closer attention, but the news switches to some other story. Claire quickly moves over to the television and starts switching channels to find more on the story she just heard. There is nothing. What is going on? She wonders. The class resumes in chit-chat, loud whispers, and long-faces.”
― Peter J. Perry, Origen: A True Story Of Evil

“Williams looks up in surprise. “So, she died yesterday, early morning, before sunrise?” He questions the lieutenant.
Jenkins nods, a look of disdain on her face. “You’ve been right all along. Consistent pattern. Too consistent to be coincidence. It’s definitely him. Apartment looks cleaner than is realistically plausible. It’s as though no one even lived here... It’s him. He was here,” Jenkins tells him. She taps her pen on her notebook periodically as she speaks. A nervous tick. Williams notices she wants this killer caught just as much as he does.
Williams nods in agreement. Being vindicated is a hollow victory. All along, he has been hoping for some monumental turn of events to prove him wrong. In his heart, he knows he will never be that lucky. But here they are, gathered around another crime scene, the truth slowly revealing itself.”
― Peter J. Perry, Origen: A True Story Of Evil

“Nuestros mecanismos de emparejamiento son los fósiles vivientes que nos indican lo que somos y de dónde venimos.”
― David M. Buss, The Evolution Of Desire: Strategies of Human Mating