Origen was the student of Clement, and was one who carried on the thought that God is remote. Origen introduced two closely related concepts that had a big influence to the progressive formulation of trinitarianism. First there is the doctrine of the eternal Son and second, the doctrine of the eternal generation of the Son. Origen doing his best to use his power of reasoning came to the conclusion that if the Son is truly God, He must be eternal, coeternal with the Father (Bernard 84). Origen sadly, was confused in so many areas of his doctrine, because he tried to reason everything out and put God in a box so that he could better understand Him. ...
Origen is considered one of the most distinguished of the Fathers of the early Church, he was born, probably at Alexandria, about 185 A. ... Under the superintendence of his father, Origen was not only educated in the various branches of Grecian learning, but was also required daily to memorize and to repeat portions of Scripture that was given to him by his Father. ... But in 202 the outbreak of the persecution of Septimius Severus robbed Origen of his father, whom he sought to follow in martyrdom, being prevented only by a ruse of his mother who hid his clothes to prevent him from carrying out his purpose (Crombie xxv). ... His fame and the number of his pupils increased rapidly, so that Demetrius, bishop of Alexandria, made him restrict himself to instruction in Christian doctrine alone. Very soon afterwards Origen succeeded the great Clement as the head of the school in Alexandria at the age of eighteen (Menzies 291). Origen and Clement conducted this school for converts in Alexandria, and both were heavily influenced by the prevalent Greek philosophy. Origen though a prominent teacher and writer, neither he nor Clement ever rose above the office of presbyter. Origen was the single most important molder of Eastern theology (Bernard 64). In 215, alarmed by Caracalla’s massacre of the Alexandrians, Origen retired to Caesarea, and remained there for some time. Origen later returned at the request of Demetrius to return to Alexandria at once and resume his duties in the school (Bigg 420).
The literary work of Origen was enormous in degree (some believe about 6000 works). ...
Origen used an allegorical method of interpretation stemmed from his view, shared by the Gnostics and Clement, that knowledge is superior to faith. Consequently, many historians have described Origens’s doctrine as a form of Christian Gnosticism (Bernard 83). ... Allegorism gave Origen his interpretation of nature among other things. ... Very important to Origen was the idea borrowed from Plato of the grand division between the great human multitude, capable of sensual vision only, and those who know how to comprehend the hidden meaning of Scripture and the diverse mysteries; church organization being for the former only.
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