Origen, the Philosophical Theologian

Trinity, Christology, and Philosophy-Theology Relation Selected Studies/Kleine Schriften

Ilaria L. E. Ramelli

• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Year: 2024
• eBook ISBN: 9783111373492
• Edition: 0
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Theology

How did Origen, one of the major Patristic thinkers, construct his philosophical theology? What are his main innovations in metaphysics, protology, Trinitarian Theology and Christology? How did he view the relation between philosophy and theology? This is a collection of over twenty essays, mostly from world-leading journals and books from outstanding publishers, besides two new ones, from Professor Ilaria L.E. Ramelli's life-long, and always continuing, research on Origen. This coherent set of studies is grouped around Origen's metaphysics, protology, Trinitarian theology and Christology, and the relation between theology and philosophy, with reception aspects.

The essays address Origen's towering figure in Patristic philosophy, Christian Platonism, and the Platonic tradition, facets of his reception of Platonism, reflections concerning the Christianization of Hellenism (vs. the Hellenization of Christianity) and the relation between philosophy and theology and between 'pagan' and Christian Platonism; Origen's philosophical theology and connections to Platonism; the question of Origen's conversion and his lexicon of epistroph?; a comparison between the imperial Platonist Atticus' and Origen's theories on the soul of God the Creator; Alexander of Aphrodisias as a source of Origen's philosophy and the birth of the eternity formula in reference to the Son; the problem of Origen's "subordinationism", which must be nuanced; Origen's major contribution to Trinitarian theology in the notion of hypostasis and its foundation in Scripture and philosophy; the reciprocal indwelling of the Father in the Son and its implications against Origen's "subordinationism"; Origen's influence on Augustine as paradoxical and a Christological case study; the divine as inaccessible object of knowledge in ancient and Patristic Platonism; the reception of Origen's ideas in the West; the notion of divine power in Origen: sources and aftermath; Platonist exemplarism in Origen and Plotinus; Paul's notion of nous in Origen and Evagrius; the reception of Origen in Ps.Dionysius, and Origen's heritage in the concept of matter in the Dialogue of Adamantius. The volume is rounded off by theoretical reflections on philosophy of religion and philosophical theology.

This book is very relevant to the study of Origen, the foundations of Christian thought, and ancient and late antique philosophy, theology and culture.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction
• Origen, Patristic Philosophy, and Christian Platonism. Re-Thinking the Christianization of Hellenism
• Origen the Christian Middle / Neoplatonist: New Arguments for a Possible Identification
• Origen and the Platonic Tradition
• Some Aspects of the Reception of the Platonic Tradition in Origen
• The Study of Late Ancient Philosophy: Philosophy and Religion—“Pagan” and Christian Platonism
• Origen’s Philosophical Theology, Allegoresis, and Connections to Platonism
• The Question of Origen’s Conversion, His Concept and Lexicon of Conversion, and Their Relevance to His Biblical Exegesis
• Atticus and Origen on the Soul of God the Creator: From the ‘Pagan’ to the Christian Side of Middle Platonism
• Alexander of Aphrodisias: A Source of Origen’s Philosophy?
• Origen’s Anti-Subordinationism and its Heritage in the Nicene and Cappadocian Line
• Origen, Greek Philosophy, and the Birth of the Trinitarian Meaning of Hypostasis
• The Father in the Son, the Son in the Father in the Gospel of John: Sources and Reception of Dynamic Unity in Middle and Neoplatonism, ‘Pagan’ and Christian
• Porphyry’s Criticism of the Logos of Origen, the Possible Role of a Sethian Treatise, and Amelius
• Origen in Augustine: A Paradoxical Reception
• The Sources of Augustine on Christ’s Death and Resurrection as Exemplum and Sacramentum: Origen and Ambrose?
• The Divine as Inaccessible Object of Knowledge in Ancient Platonism: A Common Philosophical Pattern across Religious Traditions
• The Reception of Origen’s Ideas in Western Theological and Philosophical Traditions
• Divine Power in Origen of Alexandria. Sources and Aftermath
• The Logos/Nous One-Many between ‘Pagan’ and Christian Platonism
• The Reception of Paul’s Nous in the Christian Platonism of Origen and Evagrius
• Origen to Evagrius
• Matter in the Dialogue of Adamantius: Origen’s Heritage and Hylomorphism
• Origen, Evagrius, and Dionysius
• Subject Index
• Person Index