Origen

Early years[edit]

Almost all information about Origen's life comes from a lengthy biography of him in Book VI of the Ecclesiastical History written by the Christian historian Eusebius (c. 260 – c. 340).^[22] Eusebius portrays Origen as the perfect Christian scholar and as a literal saint.^[22] Eusebius, however, wrote this account almost fifty years after Origen's death, and had access to few reliable sources on Origen's life, especially his early years.^[22] Anxious for more material about his hero, Eusebius recorded events based only on unreliable hearsay evidence, and frequently made speculative inferences about Origen based on the sources he had available.^[22] Nonetheless, scholars can reconstruct a general impression of Origen's historical life by sorting out the parts of Eusebius's account that are accurate from those that are inaccurate.^[23]


Origen was born in either 185 or 186 AD in Alexandria.^[20][24][25] Porphyry called him "a Greek, and educated in Greek literature".^[26] According to Eusebius, Origen's father was Leonides of Alexandria, a respected professor of literature and also a devout Christian who practised his religion openly (and later a martyr and saint with a feast day of April 22 in the Catholic church).^[27][28] Joseph Wilson Trigg deems the details of this report unreliable, but admits that Origen's father was certainly at least "a prosperous and thoroughly Hellenized bourgeois".^[28] According to John Anthony McGuckin, Origen's mother, whose name is unknown, may have been a member of the lower class who did not have the right of citizenship.^[27] It is likely that, on account of his mother's status, Origen was not a Roman citizen.^[29] Origen's father taught him about literature and philosophy^[30] as well as the Bible and Christian doctrine.^[30][31] Eusebius states that Origen's father made him memorize passages of scripture daily.^[32] Trigg accepts this tradition as possibly genuine, given Origen's ability as an adult to recite extended passages of scripture at will.^[32] Eusebius also reports that Origen became so learned about the holy scriptures at an early age that his father was unable to answer his questions about them.^[33][34]


In 202, when Origen was "not yet seventeen", the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus ordered Roman citizens who openly practised Christianity to be executed.^[27][35] Origen's father Leonides was arrested and thrown in prison.^[20][27][35] Eusebius reports that Origen wanted to turn himself in to the authorities so that they would execute him as well,^[20][27] but his mother hid all his clothes and he was unable to go to the authorities since he refused to leave the house naked.^[20][27] According to McGuckin, even if Origen had turned himself in, it is unlikely that he would have been punished, since the emperor was only intent on executing Roman citizens.^[27] Origen's father was beheaded,^[20][27][35] and the state confiscated the family's entire property, leaving them impoverished.^[27][35] Origen was the eldest of nine children,^[27][35] and as his father's heir, it became his responsibility to provide for the whole family.^[27][35]


When he was eighteen years old, Origen was appointed as a catechist at the Catechetical School of Alexandria.^[33] Many scholars have assumed that Origen became the head of the school,^[33] but according to McGuckin, this is highly improbable and it is more likely that he was simply given a paid teaching position, perhaps as a "relief effort" for his destitute family.^[33] While employed at the school, he adopted the ascetic lifestyle of the Greek Sophists.^[33][36][37] He spent the whole day teaching^[33] and would stay up late at night writing treatises and commentaries.^[33][36] He went barefoot and only owned one cloak.^[36] He did not drink alcohol and ate a simple diet^[38] and he often fasted for long periods.^[38][36] Although Eusebius goes to great lengths to portray Origen as one of the Christian monastics of his own era,^[33] this portrayal is now generally recognized as anachronistic.^[33]


According to Eusebius, as a young man, Origen was taken in by a wealthy Gnostic woman,^[39] who was also the patron of a very influential Gnostic theologian from Antioch, who frequently lectured in her home.^[39] Eusebius goes to great lengths to insist that, although Origen studied while in her home,^[39] he never once "prayed in common" with her or the Gnostic theologian.^[39] Later, Origen succeeded in converting a wealthy man named Ambrose from Valentinian Gnosticism to orthodox Christianity.^[14][39] Ambrose was so impressed by the young scholar that he gave Origen a house, a secretary, seven stenographers, a crew of copyists and calligraphers, and paid for all of his writings to be published.^[14][39]


Sometime when he was in his early twenties, Origen sold the small library of Greek literary works which he had inherited from his father for a sum which netted him a daily income of four obols.^[39][36][37] He used this money to continue his study of the Bible and of philosophy.^[39][36] Origen studied at numerous schools throughout Alexandria,^[39] including the Platonic Academy of Alexandria,^[40][39] where he was a student of Ammonius Saccas.^{[41][14][39][42][43]} Eusebius claims that Origen studied under Clement of Alexandria,^[38][20][44] but according to McGuckin, this is almost certainly a retrospective assumption based on the similarity of their teachings.^[38] Origen rarely mentions Clement in his own writings,^[38] and when he does, it is usually to correct him.^[38]