On First Principles (De Principiis)

Summary

On First Principles is the first attempt by a Christian writer to set out the whole of the faith as an ordered system. Origen wrote it in Alexandria in the 220s, while he was head of the city's school for Christian instruction. The preface lists the points the apostles' teaching handed down clearly: one God, the Creator; Jesus Christ, born of the Father before all creatures, who became man, truly suffered, died and rose; the Holy Spirit, equal in honour; the soul's future reward or punishment; free will; the devil and his angels; the world's creation in time; and the inspiration of the Scriptures, which have a hidden as well as an obvious meaning. Where the apostles left matters open, Origen says, a careful thinker may inquire. Book I treats God as pure, bodiless mind, the Son as the Father's eternal Word and Wisdom, the Holy Spirit, and the rational beings God created, including angels. Book II discusses the world, the incarnation, the soul, the resurrection and the final judgment. Book III defends human free will at length and treats temptation, the opposing powers, and the end of the world, when God will be all in all. Book IV explains how to read the Bible: like a human being, Scripture has a body, a soul and a spirit, a literal sense for simple readers and deeper moral and spiritual senses for those who are growing. The Greek original is mostly lost. It survives chiefly in a Latin translation made by Rufinus in 398, who admitted smoothing passages he thought had been corrupted, and in Greek extracts preserved in the Philocalia. Several of Origen's bolder speculations here, such as the pre-existence of souls and the possible restoration of all rational beings, were later rejected by the church, and some were condemned in the sixth century. Origen himself often presents them as questions for discussion rather than settled doctrine.

Top Lessons

• Faith and inquiry

  Origen separates what he believes the apostles taught plainly from questions they left open, and invites careful inquiry into the latter. The method shows how a believer can think hard without abandoning a shared creed.

• Free will and responsibility

  Book III argues that praise, blame and judgment make sense only if people are truly free. Origen reads hard biblical passages, such as the hardening of Pharaoh's heart, in light of that conviction.

• Layers of meaning

  Origen compares Scripture to a person with body, soul and spirit and teaches readers to look beyond the literal sense. His approach influenced Christian interpretation for a thousand years.

• For the Christian reader

  Origen was a devoted teacher who suffered torture for his faith, yet some of his speculations were later judged mistaken. Reading him shows how the church tested ideas against Scripture and the rule of faith over centuries. Read it with 2 Timothy 3:16–17 and 1 Corinthians 2:6–10.

Verified Quotes