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Thirty-nine of Origen's homilies on the Gospel of Luke survive in Jerome's Latin translation. Origen preached them in Caesarea, perhaps around 234 or 240, to a congregation of catechumens and faithful. Most of the homilies are short; on average, they treat about six verses of the Gospel and would have lasted between eight and twelve minutes. The first thirty-three homilies treat chapters one through four of Luke's Gospel; the remaining six treat passages from the tenth to the twentieth chapters. Origen's homilies are the only extant patristic writing devoted to Luke's Gospel before Ambrose's Exposition on Luke, written ca. 390 (and Ambrose himself followed Origen, sometimes quite closely). Homilies 1 to 20 also constitute the only existing commentary from the pre-Nicene Church on either Infancy Narrative. Several hundred fragments of Origen's homilies and commentary on Luke also survive, mostly in Greek. Henri de Lubac formulated the important principle, "Observe Origen at work," and Origen's writings on Luke's Gospel are an intriguing place to do that. Origen, the champion of spiritual interpretation, regulary begins with a painfully literal reading of the text. His first unit of understanding is the word, and often the key that unlocks the meaning of a word in the Bible for him is the use of that same word elsewhere in Scripture. Origen assumed that each word had a meaning that is both profound and relevant to the reader-for the Holy Spirit is never trite and what the Holy Spirit says must always touch the hearer. This volume, the first English translation of the extant homilies and of fragments from the commentary on Luke, is an important addition to the growing body of Origen's work now available in English.
Thirty-nine of Origen's homilies on the Gospel of Luke survive in Jerome's Latin translation. Origen preached them in Caesarea, perhaps around 234 or 240, to a congregation of catechumens and faithful. Most of the homilies are short; on average, they treat about six verses of the Gospel and would...
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About the author
Origen is the foremost member of the School of Alexandria, the first school of genuinely philosophical Christian theology. His Platonism is of an older form, uninfluenced by the Neoplatonism of Plotinus, so his philosophy is quite distinct from that of Augustine of Hippo on a number of issues, but especially on the issue of original sin and freedom of will and on the justification of God's permitting evil in the world. Origen became a center of controversy because of his contention that even the Devil would in the end return to God, and he seems to have held that a person enjoys as many successive lives on earth as are needed to return to God after the Fall. However, all matters concerning the interpretation of his thought are controversial. The other members of the school are Clement of Alexandria (c.150-c.213) and Irenaeus of Lyons (died c.202).
Origen is the foremost member of the School of Alexandria, the first school of genuinely philosophical Christian theology. His Platonism is of an older form, uninfluenced by the Neoplatonism of Plotinus, so his philosophy is quite distinct from that of Augustine of Hippo on a number of issues, bu...
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