The Writings of Origen, Vol. 1 (of 2)

Origen of Alexandria wrote in the third century, and his influence on Christian thought has never quite been matched. He pioneered the idea that scripture demands interpretation beyond the literal, that beneath the text lies a spiritual truth meant to transform the soul. This volume presents his foundational treatise on Christian doctrine: an audacious, rigorous exploration of God's incorporeal nature, Christ's eternal pre-existence, and the mysterious workings of the Holy Spirit. Origen argues that God is utterly beyond material existence, that Christ existed before his incarnation, and that the spirit of scripture differs from its letter as heaven differs from earth. Written when Christianity was still defining itself against Gnosticism and pagan philosophy, these pages show one mind attempting to systematize revelation. The volume includes Rufinus's urgent preface, arguing that Latin readers needed access to Origen precisely because his work defended orthodoxy against heretical distortions. For anyone seeking to understand how Christianity learned to think about itself, this is where it begins.