A View of Antiquity Presented, Part 6

A View of Antiquity Presented · Part 6

p. 171Origenes Adamantius.

§5. HE is commonly known by the name of Origenes Adamantius; so called of the Adamant; a stone of such hardness, that it yields not to the stroke of the hammer: not unlike whereunto was the spirit and temper of Origen, indefatigably labourious, both in reading and writing; Scriptoribus aliquot propter indefatigatam studii tolerantiam Admantini cognomen inditum fuit; Erasm. adag. Didymus Scripsisse super ter mille & quingentos libros perhibetur. Meurs. in notis in Hesych. de illust. Epist. 18. Marcello. Victor. Schol. in Hieronym.ut Didymo grammatico & Origeni Theologo: For which cause also Ierom gives him the name of Chalcenterus & verè Adamantinus, or brazen sides; for so may the greek word foreign be rendred: of foreign, and foreign, intestina. Photius renders this, as the reason of his name, quòd rationes, quas colligaret, adamantinis quibusdam quasi vinculis non absimiles viderentur. He was one whom neither austerity of life, nor perpetual pains taking,Biblioth. cap. 118. nor the hardship of poverty, nor the unworthy carriage of such as envyed him,Erasm. in vitâ Orig. nor fear of punishment, nor any face of death, could in the least remove from his holy course and purpose.

His Country was Egypt, and the place of his birth therein (as is conjectured) the famous City of Alexandria; he descended of p. 172Christian Parents, both Father, Grand-father, and great Grand-father, and pious from his childhood, trained up like another young Timothy, in the Christian Religion and Knowledge of the Scriptures.Euseb. lib. 6. cap. 1. His Father's name was Leonides, a pious and learned man, and according to some,In verb. Origen. a Bishop: for so Suidas; foreign: who in the cruel persecution under Severus was crowned with Martyrdom, being beheaded for the name of Christ, Origen was then but young, yet so fervently affected toward Christian Religion, that being hindred by his Mother (who hid his apparel from him to prevent the danger he would have exposed himself unto) from going unto, and visiting his Father in prison, he could not rest, but wrote unto him a Letter, wherein he thus exhorts him; Faint not, O Father (saith he) nor think of any thing (because of us) but suffering constantly.

His Father in his life time had carefully instructed him in the holy Scriptures in the first place,Euseb. lib. 6. cap. 1. and after that in the Liberal Arts, and prophane Literature, in both which he profited exceedingly, and above his years: His manner was to demand of the child a daily task of some certain sentences, which he injoyned him to learn by heart; by which means he grew unto such promptness and acquaintance with the Scriptures; that he contented not himself with the bare and usual reading of them, but proceeded farther, searching into the hidden and profound meaning of them; so that many times he would even gravel his Father, questioning him what p. 173was meant▪ by this and that place, insomuch as his Father would check him sometimes in outward appearance, admonishing him not to enquire curiously above the capacity of his years, and more than the plain Letter gave him to understand; yet inwardly did he rejoyce greatly hereat, and would oftentimes uncover the Breast of his child while asleep, solemnly kissing it as the Shrine or Closet of the Holy Ghost, giving hearty thanks unto God that he had made him the Father of such a Son.

From this domestical Discipline he was delivered over unto other Masters,Cent. 3. cap. 10. whereof the famous Clement of Alexandria was one,Erasm. in vitâ Origen. and the learned Philosopher Ammonius another, whom he heard for the space of seven years.

When his Father was martyred, he was left an Orphan of the age of seventeen years,Euseb. lib. 6. cap. 2. with his Mother and six Children in great want,Hieronym. in catalog. his Father's Substance and Estate being all confiscated into the Emperour's Treasury: Origen therefore casting himself upon the providence of God,Cent. 3. cap. 10. he stirred up the heart of a Matron in Alexandria, Gabriel Powel in his discourse of the unlawfulness of toleration, speaking of this Paulus, and this very passage, adds (as I think, saith he, Samosatenus) who was Bishop of Antioch: as Euseb. lib. 7. cap. 26.very rich, and also religious, to compassionate him in his necessities, who received him into her House, and not only maintained him, but also liberally helped and promoted him in his studies at her own cost. There was in the house at the same time a certain man of Antioch, named Paulus, accounted a profound and wise man, but a notable Heretick, whom she had adopted for her Son; to him resorted a very great number, not only of Hereticks, but also of the Orthodox as unto their Master. Origen p. 174then of necessity using his company, and having made so good a progress in Learning, that he could discern between true and false Doctrine, would by no means be drawn either to discourse, or to be present with him at prayers; nor would he give him any respect at all; so much did he detest his heretical opinions.

About the eighteenth year of his age▪ he… publickly at Alexandria began to profess and teach the art of Granmar, wherewith he maintained himself, that he might not be burthensome to any one; Olim senile & arduum fuit negotium Grammaticam profiteri: A work of great difficulty in former time (saith Erasmus) to the due performance whereof much labour and no less skill was requisite.Erasm. in vitâ Origen. And because by reason of the heat of persecution, those who had formerly catechised and taught in that School were forced to flie, so that none of them were lest; he under the person of a Grammarian acted the part of a Catechist,Hieronym. in catalog. Sub occasione secularis literaturae in fide Christi eos instituens, together with Grammatical Rules, scattering some seeds of piety and Christian Doctrine in the minds of his hearers; which may be the ground of Zonaras his words concerning him, Annos, Tom. 2. in Severo.inquit, octodecim natus institu…ndis Christianae Religionis tyronibus praefuit. The Seed thus sown grew and prospered so well, that divers of his Scholars profited exceedingly,Euseb. lib. 6. cap. 2. sucking from his lips the juice of Christian Religion and Heavenly Philosophy; among whom one Plutarch was the first, who at length was crowned with Martyrdom; the p. 175second, Heraclas the Brother of Plutarch, who afterward succeeded Demetri…s in the Bishopprick of Alexandria.

Having for a while continu…d in this exercise with good success,Euseb. lib. 6. cap. 7. the charge of the School or Office of Catechist at Alexandri… (wherein he succeeded Clement his Master) was committed unto him by Demetrius the Bishop of that City:Cent. 3. cap. 10. Origen perceiving that many Scholars did resort unto him,Hieronym. in catalog. & Epist. ad Pammach. & Ocean. and frequent his Lectures, he laid aside the reading of humanity, and applyed himself to a more profitable course, viz. the exercise of godly Discipline, and in the instructing of his Auditors in the Sacred Scriptures, in which employment he continued and flourished for divers years.Euseb. 6. cap. 14. But at length the number of those who in companies flocked unto him, and that even from morning to night, growing so great, that he had scarce a breathing time afforded him; and perceiving that by himself alone he was not able to undergo the burden of so great a work, nor could enjoy that leisure which he much desired, to search into the profound mysteries of the Scriptures, which his mind was chiefly carried out after, he made choice of Heraclas, a man expert in the Scripture, most eloquent, and not unskilful in Philosophy, to be his assistant in the work of catechising, committing unto him the instruction of those who were newly come to the faith, reserving unto himself the care of such as had made a farther progress therein, having attained unto more perfection.

While he was thus employed in preaching p. 176the word,Euseb. lib. 6. cap. 7. and instructing not only men, but also women resorting unto him, that he might cut off all occasion of suspicion and slander from the Infidels, literally understanding those words of Christ, Matth. 19. 12. There be some who have made themselves Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heavens sake: He practised upon himself, either by abscission, or else by exsiccation, and deading of those parts by certain herbs or medicaments which he made use of for that purpose. …rasm. in vitâ Origen.A thing it seems commonly practised by the Heathen Priests: for so Servius affirms, Sacerdotes, inquit, qui maximae sacra accipiebant, renunciabant omnibus rebus, nec ulla in his nisi numinum cura remanebat,In Virgil. Aeneld. lib. 6. herbis etiam quibusdam emasculabantur, unde etiam coire non poterant. Ierom gives us an instance hereof in the Hierophantae, a sort of Priests among the Athenians, foreign,Suidas in verbo. foreign. sacrorum interpres, mysteriorum praeses) (qui enim sacris praesunt ceremoniis praedictionibusque Deorum multiplici nomine censentur, namque Hierophantas aliquos,Genial. dier. dier. lib. 5. cap. 17. alios Hierodidascalos, nonnullos Hieronomos, plerosque Hi…rophylaces aut Nomophylaces,Advers. Jovinian. lib. 1. & in Epist. ad Ageruchiam viduam de Monogamiâ. n. 11. qui frequentes erant, appellarunt Graeci, inquit Alexander ab Alexandro) Of these (saith he) Legant Hierophantas Atheniensium usque hodie cicutae sorbitione castrari, & postquam in Pointificatum f…erint electi (surrecti fuerint,Lect. antiq. lib. 31▪ cap. 6. inquit Rhodiginus) viros esse desinere, ut castissimè sanctissiméque sacrum facerent.Alex. ab. Alex. ibid. lib. 4. cap. 17. Of the virtue of which herb Pliny thus speaks, Certum est, quod lac puerperarum mammis imposita extinguat,Hist. Natural. lib. 25. cap. 13. ven… remque testibus circa pubertatem illita.In exam. part▪ 3.

Chemnitius makes the reason of his so doing p. 177to be his too great admiration of single life, which example of his many others followed, Adeò ut Ecclesia coacta fuerit severiter … prohibere. Can. 1. Bin. Concil.So doth the Council of Nice provide, that whoever was found guilty of g…lding himself, if he were already in orders, he should be deposed, if not, he was not to be ordained:Can 21. 22. agreeable to what we find in the Canons of the Apostles (as they are called) concerning this thing.

This unadvised act of his Origen desired to conceal, yet could not carry the matter so closely, but that it came to the knowledge of De…eirius the Bishop, whereof what use he made, we shall hereafter declare.

Leaving Alexandria he went unto Rome in the time when Zephyrinus was Bishop there,Euseb. lib. 6. cap. 13. Ad an. 220. § 6. a little before his death, as Baronius conjectures: the cause why he undertook this journey, was the great desire that he had to see the most ancient Church of the Romans; Erasm. in vitâ Origen.where, having made but a little stay, he returned un… Alexandria again, and there diligently attended his charge, the success of his pains being the gaining of many to the embracing of the truth, and the recovering of others from errour,In catalog. Epiphan. Haeres. 64. among whom one Ambrose (addicted unto the Valentinian Heresie, or (as Ierom reports) unto that of Marcion, or (as others) partly a Marcionist, and partly a Sabellian) was brought to see and forsake his error, and afterward called to the Office of a Deacon in the Church of Alexandria, Hieronym. in catalog. & Schol. Miraei in loc.famous for his confession of the name of Christ, a man noble▪ rich and learned.

The same of Origen was now spread abroad p. 178even unto other Countries;Euseb. lib. …. cap. 1…. for a certain Soldier sent from the Governour of Arabia, comes to Alexandria, bringing with him Letters unto Demetrius the Bishop there, and also unto him who was then Lieutenant of Egypt, Cent. 3. cap. 10.requesting them with all speed to dispatch Origen unto him, that he might instruct him and his people in the Doctrine of Christianity:Osiand. Epit. hist. cent. 3. lib. 1. cap. 7. for although there had before been a Church of Christ in Arabia, yet it is credible, that the Duke or Governour with his Court had persisted in his Heathenish Impiety even unto the time of Origen, it being observed that for the most part the propagation of the Christian Religion begins with the lowest of the people, and gradually by little and little ascends unto the Governours of Common wealths.Cent. 3. cap. 10. Origen accordingly goeth thither, and having happily accomplished the end of his journey, he not long after returneth again unto Alexandria, where, through a sedition, finding all in a combustion and tumult, and his Scholars scattered, so that there was no abiding for him there, no nor in any other place of Egypt in safety, he left his Country, and betook himself unto Caesarea, a City of Palestina, where he was earnestly entreated by the Bishops of that Province to expound the Scriptures, though he were not as yet called to the Ministry (Legatione ad eum missâ Episcopi permisere, Hist. Eccles. lib. 5. cap. 14.ut dissereret de sacris literis: so Nicephorus reports it.) This act of his (condescending to their request) was much distasted by Demetrius, who in a Letter which he wrote unto those Bishops, thus speaks of it, that such a practice was never p. 179heard of, nor could there any where the like Precedent be found, that Lay-men in the presence of Bishops have taught in the Church.Euseb. lib. 6. cap. 19. But they in defence of what had been done, returning an answer unto him, have therein such words as these, we know not for what cause you report a manifest untruth, since there have been such sound as in open assemblies have taught the people, yea, when as there were present learned men that could profit the people, and moreover holy Bishops at that time also exhorting them to preach: for example, at Laranda Euelpis was requested of Neon, at Icouium Paulinus was requested by Celsus, at Synada Theodorus by Atticus, who were godly Brethren. It is like also that this was practised in other places, though unknown to us. Thus was Origen, being a young man, honoured of Bishops that were strangers unto him. But the storm of civil dissentions being blown over, and both Demetrius and the Deacons of the Church by Letters earnestly soliciting him to return, he leaves Palestine, and comes back again unto Alexandria, and there applyeth himself to his accustomed manner of teaching.

Not long after Mammaea the Mother of the Emperour Alexander Severus, Euseb. lib. 6. cap. 20.a most pious and religious woman (Christianissima, De Script. Eccles.inquit Trithemius, quae a Christianissimo non abhor…it, Hist. Eccles. Epit.inquit Osiander) hearing of the Eloquence and Apostolical Life of Origen, and …iving then at Antioch with her Son, sent for him by some Soldiers to come unto her, accounting it no small happiness if she might p. 180see him, and hear his wisdom in the holy Scriptures, which all men admired. To whom he accordingly repaired, and staying a while with her, he instructed her in the Doctrine of Christianity,N…cler. Zonoras. which found so good acceptance with her, that she became both a lover of it, and a favourer of those who professed it; (not that she was now first brought to the knowledge and embracing of it, as some conceive; (audito Origene Christian… facta est) but rather further confirmed therein) who so far prevailed with her Son,Chronic. Urspergens. Osiander. Hist. Eccles. Epit. that not only the persecution against the Christians ceased, but they also had a place granted them for the exercise of Religion, and were had in high esteem with him. Having here detained him a while, she at length dismissed him with honour, who again betook him to his School at Alexandria.

And now did he begin to comment upon the holy Scriptures,Euseb. lib. 6. cap. 21. being much instigated thereunto by Ambrose whom he had reduced from errour, as hath been before said; who, for his encouragement, furnished him with necessaries for that purpose, allowing parchments, and no less than seven Notaries,Erasm. in vitâ Origen. who by turns took from his mouth, and wrote what he dictated unto them; and as many Libraries (maintained all at the charge of Ambrose) who transcribed or copied out more fairly what the other had formerly taken; and that this was the difference between the Notarii and the Librarii, Ibid.may be gathered from Erasmus his calling the one foreign, or swift, the other foreign, or fair writers. Notariorum, Ad an. 220. §. 11.inquit Baronius, erat scribere; p. 181Librariorum exscribere. In notis in Hieronym. catalog. in Hyppolyto.Ierom (saith Miraeus) calls those Notaries, who with a swift hand took the words of him that did dictate, and sometimes they wrote by notes or characters: but those Librarii, or Scriveners; who afterward more accurately committed the things so taken unto Books. Of this Turuebus thus speaks,Adversar. lib. 14. c. 24. Scribere notis non est compendio quodam literarum verba complecti ad celeritatem, sed quibusdam fictis signis comprehendere, idque docebantur pueri, non tantùm scribere; Cassianus enim Martyr, qui puerorum s…ilis confossus Christo animam reddit, notis scribere docuit: Prudentias foreign, Hym. 9.

—Magister literarum sederat,

Verba notis brevibus comprendere cuncta pertius,

Raptimque punctis dicta praepetibus sequi.

Aliud enim esse notis, aliud literis scribere, ostendit Manilius, lib. 4. cap. 1, his verbis.

Hic & scriptor erit felix, cui litera verbum est:

Quique notis linguam superet cursumque loquentis.

Martial also the Epigrammatist, of the Notary thus:

Currant verba licet, manus est v…locior illis:

Nondum lingua suum,Lib. 14. Ep…gr. 176. dextra peregit opus.

So thirsty after the knowledge of the Scriptures,So Jerom calls Nepotian. Epist. ad Helio d… rum. num. …. and so pressing upon Origen, unto this work was Ambrose (whom he therefore p. 182calls foreign) that he would scarce afford him sufficient time to eat,Hieronym. in catalog. sleep or walk for his recreation, or to read and review what the Notaries had written, as himself complains in a certain Epistle to his Friend.Cent. 3. cap. …0.

About this time the Churches of Achaia being much pest…red and vexed with divers Heresies,Eras…. in vitâ Origen. Hieronym. in catalog. Origen is sent thither with Letters testimonial for the suppressing of them, who was now in his middle age, or about forty and three years old,Ad an. 230. § 7. as Baronius conjectures: he supposeth that the cause of his going into Greece, was his great desire to get the sixth Edition of the Bible, which was this year found at Nicopolis, that he might adjoyn it unto the other five Versions, which with unwearied pains and diligence he had formerly found out; and so compose that laborious work of his, which he called Hexopl…. Now,Eras…. ibid. Cent. 3. cap. 10. passing through Palestine toward Athens, he was (by Alexander and Theoctistus (who greatly admired: Origen) two Bishops of great authority,Osiand. cent. …. lib. 1. cap. 7. the one of Hierusalem, the other of Cesarea) by imposition of hands made or ordained Minister at Cesares; Niceph. lib. 5. cap. 18.which office gained him much more respect, so that he was had in great esteem. This begat envy in Dem…trius, who was highly offended with those Bishops for what they had done,…eronym. in catalog. and by aspersions endeavoured to darken and eclipse the Glory of Origen in his Letters unto all the Bishops throughout the world:Euseb. lib 6. cap. 7. & 2…. and having nothing else to charge him withal that might tend to his disparagement, he published his unadvised act of castration, as a mo… foul and absurd fact of his, though when he p. 183first came to the knowledge thereof,Ut rem Piam & fortem approbaverat. cent. 3. cap. 10. he had admired and praised him for it, encouraging him still to go on in the office of catechising.

Origen therefore perceiving how much the mind of Demetrius was alienated from and in censed against him (forbearing to make use of any bitterness against his detractors) chose rather to pass by the injury in silence,Erasm. in vitâ Origen. and to give place to their passion, than further to exasperate them: he therefore after his return and abode there for some small time, lest Alexandria, Euseb. lib. 6. cap. 29.having committed the office of a Catechist there unto Heraclas formerly his assistant in that work, and went again into Palestine, remaining at Cesarea, where he applyed himself unto the preaching of the word, many not only of that Country, but also strangers from other places resorting thither and attending upon his Ministry: among whom were divers eminent men, and of special note, viz. Firmilian Bishop of Cesarea in Cappadocia, Ad reformationem Ecclesi… su… Osiander. in Epitom. Fra…m. in vitâ Origen. Euseb. lib. 6. cap. 26.who one while invited him into his Province, to edifie or reform the Churches there; another while under pretence of visiting the holy places, he made a voyage into Palestine, and for a good space continued there, that by Origen he might be brought to the further understanding of the Scriptures. Also Theodorus, Hieronym. in catalog.called afterward Gregorius, Bishop of Neocaesarea in Pontus, a man most renowned, and for the miracles which he wrought,Baron. adan. 266. § 23. surnamed Thaumaturgus, together with his Brother Athenodorus, whom (continuing with him about the space of five years) he converted from Heathenism to Christianity; for which cause this Theodorus a p. 184while after penned a Panegyrick or Enco… miastick Oration in the praise of Origen, to testifie his thankfulness for what he had received from him.

After this,Euseb. l. 6. cap. 32. Beril, Bishop of Bostra in Arabia falling into Heresie, and maintaining that Christ before his Incarnation had no being:Hieronym. In Catalog. Angelocrat. in epit. Con. he was dealt and disputed with by divers Bishops assembled together: Origen also was sent for who by strength of Argument so convinced him of his error, that he restored him again to his former sound opinion: for which he returned him solemn thanks in divers letters written unto him: Also certain others arose in Arabia, Euseb. lib. 6. cap. 36.who broached this pernicious Doctrine that the soul died and perished together with the body, and that in the general resurrection, they arose together and were restored unto life again. These Hereticks are by Augustine called Arabiei, De h…res. cap. 83. & Dan…us in com. in loc.by Damaseen foreign, Animimortales; about which a great Synod was assembled, wherein Origen so discoursed of this matter, that the erroneous did soon renounce their absurd opinion, and were reduced to a better judgment. He also suppressed the Heresie of the Helcesaits, Euseb. lib. 6. cap. 37.which sprung up about the same time (called of Epiphanius Sampsaei; in the region of Per…, whose first Author was one Elxaeus) who rejected part of the Old Testament:Epip. h…r. 53. denyed the Apostle Paul wholly: counted it an indifferent thing to deny or not to deny with the mouth in time of persecution, so that thou persist faithful in thine heart; and used a certain book, which (as they say) came down p. 185from heaven, the which whosoever heareth and believeth (say they) shall obtain another kind of remission of sins then that which Christ purchased for us.

Growing now old (above sixty years of age) and much worn out and wasted with long study and painful exercise,Euseb. l. 6. cap. 35. he at length was prevaild with and permitted, that those things which he publickly preached and disputed, should by Notaries be taken and Copied out; which before he would not suffer to be done;Eras. in vitâ Origen. Jam scil. quando in eo erat vitae gravitas & maturitas … tatis & mult… experienti… authoritas. Haymo. eccles. hist. lib. 6. cap. 3. This Erasmus understands of his Sermons or Homilies: tantae erat modestiae, (inquit ille) ut serò p…ssus sit excipi quae disserebat. And thus was his time and strength laid out and spent in the work of the Lord, even from his Childhood unto his old age, not hiding his talent, but as a good servant improving it for the advantage of his Master, who had intrusted him therewith.

§ 2. He was man of extraordinary parts and endowments of Nature,T…ihem. de script. vir magnus & excellentis ingenii: which began to appear in him even from his very childhood,Hieronym. epist. ad Pammach. n. 63. vir magnus …b infantiâ: being a man in understanding, when but a child in years; stiled therefore by Erosmus, In vitâ Orig. In epist. ante opera Orig.senilis puer; of a notable strong and piercing wit, perspicacississimo ingenio, saith Rhenanus; for which nothing was too hard (and so truly Adamantine… ) nor nothing too high (and so truly Origenical, Eras in vitâ Origen.foreign. Montigena:) such a one as Learned Greece, the fruitful mother of the most happy wits, scarce ever bred the like;Hieronym. in catalog. immortale inge nium: so comprehensive, as not to be bounded p. 186within the limits of ordinary capacities; there being nothing within the Encyclopedy of Arts that could escape his knowledge: for he exactly perused all kind of Authors: wherein he had this advantage above many others,In vitâ Orig. that he lost no time; ei (inquit Erasmus) nulla pars aetatis periit à studiis: his tenderest years being improved this way by his pious and careful father, By which means, the fair field of his great abilities being so well cultured and manured,Optimis disciplinis omnifariam excultus. Rhenan. In epist. ante opera Orig. began in his very spring to flourish and abound with the fruit of excellent skill in all the Liberal Sciences: whereof he gave a large proof and testimony, undertaking at the age of eighteen years the publick profession of the art of Grammar in the famous City of Alexandria; A task of no small difficulty, to the dispatch whereof was requisite, besides elegancy of Speech, insight into most authors,Eras. in vitâ Origen. See Polydor. Virg. de… inventor. rec. lib. 1. cap. 7. and acquaintance with history and antiquity; together with a competent measure of knowledge in Poetry, Rhetorick, Logick, Arithmetick, Cosmography and Musick; all which, being so young he had attained unto with wonderful celerity, as Ierom testifies:In Catalog. He had diligently studied the writings of the several Sects of Philophers,Euseb. l. 6. cap. 18. viz. Pythagoreans, Stoicks, &c. but was specially conversant in Plato: in which kind of Learning he grew to such an height, that he became famous even among the Heathenish Philosophers; in so much as many, and those of chiefest rank among them, resorted unto him and attended upon his Lectures: in what esteem they had him, may be gathered from the words of Porphyrius in p. 187… Plotim: Cum, inquit, Origenes aliquando Romae venisset in Scholas, Plotinns (qui tum publicè ibidem profitebatur) statim genas rubore suffusus,Baron. ad an. 248. § 3. assurgere volu…t: Sermiones verò ab Origene continuare rogatus, respondit: studium loquendi cessare, quando qui loquitur, …uimadvertit se ad illos, qui idem ipsi noverint, verba facturum: atq…e ita, cum pauca quaedam disseruisset,In praefat. ad lib. 19. lect. antiq. inde surrexit. These bitter enemies of Christian Religion; Porphyrius, Proclus & alii, (inquit Rhodiginas) fatentur eum exactissimam omnium disciplinarum liberalium …gni…onem tenere. Eras. in vitâ Origen.Yea, they frequently make honorable mention of him in the books written by them; and would sometimes refer unto him the resolution of perplex doubts and questions. Some of them also have dedicated their books unto him; and others have delivered to him what they had written, as unto the censure of a Master: so great was the Reverence they bare him,Opus de temp-mundi. and in such account was he had amongst them. He was Philosophorum omnium sui temporis princeps; tan… ingenii, ut nulla eum lingua, … latuerit: Socrates. l. 6. cap. 12.And is stiled by the great At…nasius, Admirabilis & summae … vir.

But these philosophical studies did he addict himself unto,Euseb. lib. 6. cap. 17. 19. only as a step unto a higher form; he prized the Arts as things that might be of great use for the confutation of the Heathens; as also a help to the contemplation of Divine Mysteries, and a meet handmaid to serve and wait upon her Mistress Theology: and in this regard, as he judged them profitable and necessary for himself, so p. 188did he exhort and perswade others unto the study of them. Nor indeed are they of small advantage, as they do fit the vessel for the receit of more precious liquor, sublimating the understanding, and so disposing it to apprehend those higher things contained in the Scriptures:Bacon. Essay. 29. for thus do Histories make men wise, Poets witty, the Mathematicks subtil, natural Philosophy deep, Moral grave, Logick and Rhetorick able to contend; as that Noble Scholar hath observed.

To the study of the Scriptures therefore did he chiefly apply himself;Hieronym. Epist. 18. wherein he found such sweetness, and took so much delight, that he thought nothing worthy of his time or pains in comparison of them:Epist. 65. quis ardentem (inquit Hieronymus) in Scripturis animum non miretur? both day and night was he thus exercised,Trithem. de script. Eras. in vit… Origen. neither did he account his meat or sleep sweet unto him, if not seasoned with reading somewhat of those Sacred Oracles: judging it an unworthy thing that the meaner part of man should be refreshed, and the better and more Noble neglected: To which he joyned fervent prayer as the best key to unlock that Cabinet, that so he might come to and enjoy the precious jewel contained therein:Epist. Pammach. n. 65. lectio orationem (inquit Hi… ronymus) excepit, & oratio lectionem. By this means the holy Scriptures became so familiar unto him,Ibid. through continual use and his being daily conversant in them; that, by the help of a most strong and happy memory,Eras. in vit… Origen. he had gotten them by heart, ad unguem …bsolutus in divinis literis, and as it were at p. 189his fingers end; herein even another Esdras: and for that he was of a searching and soaring wit, he confined not himself to the low and obvious sense of the words, but would mount aloft into the sublime and mysterious meaning of them; yet herein is he blamed by many,Ibid. and not without cause, as being too studious of allegories: in allegoriis, inquit Erasmus, superstitiosior est interim & violentior, nimium in hoc intentus, ut destruat historicum sensum; Grinaeus in foreign ante Origen. in Genes.quasi locus non sit allegoriae, illo incolumi: In these he was to excessive and immoderate; though in the framing of them he took much pains, and is very happy in many of them. But the truth is, had he followed the Counsel given to Iearus: —Medio tutissimus ibis:

He might have avoided his fate, and not, by singeing his wings, have fallen into such a gulf of errors as he did, through his audaciousness this way. And because he saw that he wanted one principal help to the more accurate finding out of the meaning of the Scriptures,Trithem de script. Hieronym. in catalog. he (contrary to his age being somewhat old, and also to the custom of his country) fell upon the study of the Hebrew Tongue, the difficulties whereof he easily overcame;Hieronym. epist. 25. … Paulam. and (to the wonder of Greece) attained unto a competent measure of skill in that language in a few (not to say months, but) days. Being thus furnished he diligently improved his talent, affording the help not only of his frequent lectures to his p. 190contemporaries, but also of his learned Commentaries to posterity for the better understanding of the Scriptures;Hieronym. Epist. 65. Pamach. & Oceano. sweating night and day in the study of the explanation of them.

Nor is this the meanest flower in the Garland of his praise, that he was the first among the Fathers that undertook a work of this nature; an enterprize of no small difficulty seeing he was to go in an untrodden path, none of those that lived before him, affording him any help or direction herein: Primus (inquit Rhenanus) quasi glaciem scidit, In Epist. ante opera Origen.jux… proverbium, in enarrandis Scripturis Divinis —divinae rei primus inventor. Homo pen… foreign (inquit Sixtus Senensis) & qu… primus aggressus est explanationem omnium divinarum Scripturarum, Biblioth. l. 4.nondum ob ingentem earum difficultatem ab aliquo attentatam. Erasmus therefore setting him in the front of all the ancient Commentators both Greek and Latin,Ratio verae Theologiae. adds these words, Origenes, inquit, inter Commentatores sic est primus, ut nemo cu… illo conferri possit. And indeed who among them all can say, that he is not beholding to him? All that followed, took from him foreign, their hints both of Teaching and Writing, so that they were not a little holpen by him; Basil and Gregory Nazianzen who collected the Philocalia, Tarinus in Epist. ante Philocal.call him omni… Theologorum cotem & maximum secundum Apostolos Ecclesiarum Magistrum. And as all the Latin Poets followed Ennins, so (saith Ranulphus Cestrensis) all Expositors followed Origen. In Polycronic.Ierom highly commends and ascribes much to his Interpretations, though he disliked many of his opinions;Epist. 62. & 65. he stiles him the p. 191Master of the Churches next after the Apostles (as Basil and Nazianzen did) wishing the envy of his name,In praefat. ante li. Heb. nom. with his knowledge in the Scriptures.In prooem. quaest. in Genes. Hilary and Victorinus so much approved of him, ut ejus tractatus non ut interpretes, Hieronym. Epist. 65.sed ut Auctores proprii operis transtu lerunt. Pamphilus the Martyr had his expositions in so high esteem, that with his own hands he copied out (as the greatest part of the Volumes written by him so particularly) five and twenty volumes of his expositions upon the twelve Prophets,Hieronym. in catalog. which Ierom happily light on, kept and embraced, with as much joy, as if he had found the treasures of Craesus. Atque (ut pancis dicam) hortus quidam reverà nobis erat (inquit Gregorius Thaumaturgus) magni illins paradisi Dei similitudinem referens. In Orat. panegyric. ad Origenem.He beautified his learning with piety, being very eminent in this regard: sanctitate vitae incomparabilis: Fascicul. temp.a true Evangelical Doctor, that practised in his Life, what he Preached with his Lips: there being a notable agreement between his words and his works, prescribing rules with the one, and giving a pattern of them in the other.Euseb. lib. 6. cap. 2. Whence it was said of him, that as he taught so he liv'd, and as he liv'd so he taught: a sweet harmony.Trithem. de Script. Iejuniis, vigiliis, orationibus & continuis divinarum Scripturarum studiis Deo devotè serviens, intentus fuit. His abstinence and austerity was admirable, he often fasted and watched, always used a spare and mean dyet, only for necessity, forbearing altogether the use of flesh and wine; except through infirmity forced thereunto: insomuch, as that having sold the prophane Authors (which p. 192he had diligently perused) he enjoyned the buyer to pay him four half pence a day,Euseb. ibid. Erasm. invitâ Origen. which for the space of many years sufficed him for Meat, Drink, and Apparel. Abstinentiâ corporis vigorem àde ò domuit, ut omninò contabuisse sceletumque factum esse videretur. Suidas.He took his rest (which was but little) not on a soft bed, but on the bare ground; and supposing that our Saviour ought especially to be observed, Mat. 6. 34. &c 10. 10. he would not wear two coats, nor shoes, nor take care or thought for the morrow. Such also was his love to, and zeal for the truth, and constant professors of it,Euseb. lib. 6. cap. 2. that in times of persecution he frequently exposed himself to so great and eminent dangers, as he could not have escaped, had not the divine power in a marvellous manner preserved him; he was sometimes so narrowly watched, and closely pursued by his persecutors, that he could no way pass safely through Alexandria, being forced oftentimes to change his Lodgings, that so he might avoid them; yet would he not forbear to visit those that were imprisoned, yea and accompany such as were condemned, unto the places of execution, boldly embracing, kissing, and saluting them to his no small hazard, so that once the multitude in their rage had stoned him to death, had he not been even miraculously defended from them and preserved.

It shall suffice concerning his worth every way, to add but a testimony or two more to what hath been already said,Lib. 2. annal. …ior…m. Origenes ille (in▪ quit Aventinus) maximus omnium secundum legat…s Christi, veritatis divine assertor, magn… p. 193famâ majori gloriâ caelestes literas interpretatus est; & Philosophiam Christianam magnâ auditorum frequentiâ publicè docuit. Cultoribus quoque deorum venerabilis, ad Imperatores Romanos, Caesares Augustos matresque eorum in …ulam vocatus accessit, ad eosdem literas dedit. Omnibus ejus vita, mores, studium, doctrina, admirationi fuerunt. Vincentius Lyrinensis more largely thus speaks of him. In him, saith he, so many excellent,Contra haeres. cap. 2…. singular, and wonderf…l things are to be found, that at first a Man would easily judge all his assertions were to be assented unto: for if the life give any Authority, his industry, purity, patience, and sufferings were great, if his stock and learning, what more noble? springing from a Family made Illustrious by Martyrdom. Moreover, for Christ was he deprived not only of his Father, but also of all his substance, he proceeded so far in the straits of poverty, that he was oftentimes afflicted for the confession of the name of Christ: such also was the strength of his Wit, profound, sharp, and elegant, that by much and far he excelled well nigh all others; so great was his knowledge and learning that they were but few things in divine, and almost none in humane Philosophy that he throughly attained not unto? What was there so difficult to be perswaded, that by the force of disputation he cleared not up? What so hard to be done, that he made not to seem easie? His speech being so pleasant, delightful and sweet, that to me their seemed to flow from his mouth, not so much words, as honey. But perhaps, his assertions were woven only with knotty arguments? Nay verily, p. 194never any of the Masters did use more examples of the divine Law. But (you'l say) I believe he wrote but little; no mortal Man more: so that I have not only not read all his Books, but it seems even impossible to find them all: and lest any thing should be wanting in him requisite unto the attaining of knowledge, fulness of Age also abounded. But perhaps he was not happy in his Scholars? who ever more happy? sith innumerable Doctors, Priests, Confessors, and Martyrs came from his bosom. Besides, who can express how great admiration, glory, and favour, he had amongst all men? Who any way religious did not fly unto him from the utmost parts of the World? Who among Christians did not reverence him as almost a Prophet; among Philosophers, as a Master? How much he was respected, not only by those of a private condition, but also the Empire it self, Histories do declare, that report him to have been sent for by the Mother of Alexander the Emperour, for the worth of his Heavenly Wisdom. His Epistles also testifie the same, which in the authority of a Christian Master, he wrote unto Philip, the first among the Roman Emperours that was a Christian, concerning whose incredible knowledge, if any one will not receive the testimony of us Christians reporting it, yet at least let him believe the confession of the Heathen Philosophers affirming it. For that impious Porphyri…s saith, that he was by the same of him, stirred up, (when almost but a child) to go unto Alexandria, and that there he saw him being now aged; but surely such a one, and so p. 195great, as that he had gotten unto the very top of all knowledge. Time would fail me to speak even but a little of the things, which were in that Man, which notwithstanding appertain not only unto the glory of Religion, but the greatness of temptation: for who would not use that sentence, (viz. of Cicero, concerning Plato) that he had rather err with Origen, than be of a right judgement with others? Thus far Vincentius.

Origen thus every way excellent was withal a wonderfully industrious and laborious Man,In Math. 12. 32. & in decret. Nicen. Synod.Matt 12:32 foreign: inquit Athanasius, wholly spending his time and improving his vast abilities in the work of the Lord and for the behoof of the Church: and this he did; partly by Preaching: for which employment he was compleatly furnished, being so familiarly acquainted with,Erasm. in vit… Origen. and ready in the holy Scriptures, which he abundantly made use of, beautifying and adorning therewith (as with so many precious gems) his discourses throughout: Gentium Testimonia …usquam adhibet, nisi quoties id res ipsa postulat, quum nullum autorum genus non exactè tenuerit: sed totus hujus Sermo (inquit Erasmus) S…crorum Voluminum sententiis undique seu gemmeis emblematibus distinctus est, sed adeò commodé & in loco insertis, ut nihilo seciùs cur…t oratio: dicas esse non ascita, sed ibi nata; … aliunde quaesita, sed suâ sponte praesto esse. And this he did the rather, (and I therefore add it because it is a notable testimony, that the Scriptures at that time were read by all sorts of persons,Eras…. ibi…. in the vulgar Tongue, or that in use among them) because in that Age p. 196the common people did understand the words of the Scripture, being frequently exercised in the reading of the sacred Volumes. For then even Weavers and Spinsters had those Books at home, which as often as they had leasure, they carefully perused: neither to the understanding of them was their need of any other Language, than that which the illiterate vulgar did make use of: and certainly that reading brought this profit with it, that they sate in the Church more docil or teachable before him that expounded the mysteries of the Scriptures unto them. He had an admirable faculty of speaking ex tempore, as he did many of those Homilies which were thought worthy of the publick view,Ruffin. in …. ad Chromatium such were his six and twenty Homilies upon Ioshua: Oratiuncul…s viginti sex in Iesum Nave, quas ex tempare in Ecclesiâ peroravit Adamantius senex ex Graeco Latinè tibi pro virium me…rum parvitate disserui: In perorat. Translator. Sixt. Senens. Bibl. lib. 4.inquit Ruffinus. Also his explanation of the Epistle to the Romans. His sixteen Homilies upon Leviticus, &c. quotidi… & quasi ex tempore Scripturas ad populum ena… rabat. Of which kind of speaking Meri… Casaubon thus reports in his Treatise of Enthusiasm.Chap. 4. of Rhetorical Enthusiasm. For that faculty of the Sophists (saith he) of extemporary speaking upon any subject, it was their common profession, that is most certain:Such a one was Boethus cujus facilitas apud Tarsenses maxima videbatur, adeo ut ex tem…ore meo magno, impetu ad—omnem datam materiam … ret. Strab. Geo-graph. lib. 14. and it was accordingly performed by many of them, with singular dexterity, to the great amazement of all their Auditors: p. 197such was Callisthenes the Sophist or Philosopher: The Tarsenses of Asia, are by the Ancients noted, as for their love to Learning in general, so particularly to have excelled in this faculty:—And Quintilian a sober solid Man, makes this a chief end and fruit of long pains and exercises in the Art of Rhetorick, to attain to such a faculty as to be able upon any sudden occasion, to speak pertinently without any premeditation: thus he. Origen was also very zealous and lively in his delivery:Erasm. in vitâ Origen. for he loved the things which he spake, and of such we use to speak with affection and delight. His Sermons were commonly short, for he would never exceed an hour, lest he should cloy his Auditors, judging it better to preach often than long. In reproving he always remembred Christian moderation; sharp he would be, yet never bitter; but for nothing he would more blame them, then for seldom and slack coming to the hearing of the Word, and for oscitancy when they came, accounting diligence or negligence this way one principal note of proficiency or deficiency in Piety. He observed this method: First, plainly and bri…fly to expound the History;Sixt. Senens. lib. 4. then would he stir them up to observe the Mystical and All…gorical sense; and lastly, handle some moral places,Erasm. in vitâ Origen. making application of what he had delivered and unfolded.

Partly also by writing did he improve his abilities;Frasm. ibid. Euseb. lib. 6. cap 21. and dictating unto those that wrote: whereunto of himself he was backward, but set upon it by the inst gation of Ambr…se, (Christianae fidei conf…ssor i…signis, inquit Trithemius, De …qui etiam ad off…cium diacon… p. 198tus meruit promoveri, Vir nobilis & non inelegantis ingenii. Hieronym. in Catalog.vir certè doctissimus, & librorum studiosus amator.) who pressed him hereunto above measure, giving him no rest, and exacted from him a continual or daily task.

His works were innumerable, written by himself,Apolog. advers. Ruffin. lib. 2. and others from his mouth; many whereof Ierom saith, he had gotten together and perused: but not all; For who of us, saith he,Epist. 65. Pammach. can read so much as he wrote? Some affirm, as from Ierom, that he composed six thousand Volumes;Is…dor. Hispal. in Orig. lib. 6. cap. 7. though yet Ierom himself deny it; For, saith he, look over the Catalogue of his Books contained in the third Volume of the life of Pamphilus written by Eusebius, Apolog. advers. Ruffin. lib. 2.and you shall not find the third part of that number; yet did he utter above a thousand Tracts in the Church,Hieronym. Epist. 65. Vincent. Lyrineus. and besides set forth Commentaries innumerable: in a word, no man ever wrote more: for which cause Suidas stiles him foreign, or the Composer. Ierom in his Epistle unto Paula, the Mother of Eustocbiu…, (now not extant) reckons up all the Monuments of Origens Wit, comparing him unto that learned,Aul. Gell. …oct. Attic. lib. 3. cap. 10. Varro, who by that time he had arrived unto the age of eighty four years: (which yet it seems, he exceeded;Hist. Nat. lib. 29. c. 4. for Pliny mentions the eighty and eighth of his age) had written four hundred and ninety Books; of whom Terentianus a Carthaginian Poet thus speaks.August. de Civit. dei. lib. 6. cap. 2. Vir doc… mus undecun que Varro, qui tam multa legit, ut aliquando scribere vacasse miremur; … multa scripsit, quàm multa vix quemquam legere potuisse credamus. Such another was Didymus of Alexandria, sirnamed also Chalcenterus, p. 199(Nobilis grammaticus, qui Iulii Caesaris evo floruit) quod indefesso labore libris assideret, Mir…us in not. in Hieronym. catalog.who is reported to have written above three thousand and five hundred Books, as Meursius, In notis in Hesych. de viris illustrib.and Suidas: four thousand (saith Seneca) but withal handling such trivial things, (quae (inquit) erant ded…scenda, si scires) that it cannot be said of him,Epist. 88. as Erasmus of Origen; In Origene nihil ineptum aut redundans. In censur. Orig. in lib. Job. Treat. of the use of the Fathers: lib. 1. cap. 1.Briefly, his Works were such and so many, That (saith the learned Daille) had we them all intire, they would perhaps be able to give us more light and satisfaction about the present Controversies in Religion, than all the rest of the Fathers.

His Works on the Scriptures are by Iero… distinguished into three sorts or classes;In Prolog. ante homil. Origen. in Ezech. (& nullam scripturae partem ille praetermisit, in quâ non scripserit, inquit Erasmus.) the first sort he calls foreign;In censur. in lib. Origen. Vid. Sixt. Senens. lib. 3. vacationes. p. 167. cent. 3. cap. 10. ociosa; i. e. brief Annotations upon obscure and difficult places, when he had not leisure to frame a full and just Commentary: The second sort, foreign, or homilies, that he preached unto the people publickly. Homilia est familiaris & domestica divinae Scripturae ad plebem elucidati…; Sixt. Senens. biblioth. lib. 3.cujus seopus est explicare & hortari sen applicare: The third sort, foreign, (which saith Erasmus, he wrote himself) Books or Volumes,In vitâ Origen. majoris disputationis, wherein he disputes at large, spreading the sail of his wit to the full,Isido. Hispa. Orig. lib. …. c. 8. and lanching out into the deep: which title he himself, saith Ierom, gave unto his Commentaries.Epist. 65. Pam…ach. To which three, Eusebius adds two other, viz. foreign, i. e. Epistolare, in quo questiones ex divinâ scripturâ,Sixt Senens…ibl. lib. 4. amicor…m literis p. 200ad se missas, rescriptis explicavit Epistolis. E… foreign, interpretivum, in quo genere demùm ponendae sunt omnes Scripturae divinae translationes, quas ipse, in Hexaplis, Octaplis, & Palaestinae editionis codicibus complexus est.

Of these his Labours, but few are now extant, and they in Latine; and of those that are lost, the names of few are remaining at this day: So great were the endeavours of those,Erasm. in censur. lib. Origen. who (because of his errours) sought to suppress his Writings, that they would not suffer so much as the very Titles to remain; wherein they shewed more Zeal than Discretion and Wisdom;Scultet in Medull. for surely, might we have been so happy as to have injoyed all that he wrote, the errours found in them might the better have been born with, being countervail'd, and by much over-ballanced by what in them was sound and Orthodox. Of how great esteem his Works were among the Ancients, may be gathered from hence, that divers of them thought it well worth their time and pains to translate much of what he wrote;In Apolog. …. advers. Ruffin. Ierom tells us, that he himself translated seventy Books of his: Ruffine not a few, though not so faithfully; Hilary translated almost forty thousand Verses, Quadraginta fermè millia versuum; of Origen upon Iob, and the Psalms: and Victorinus many things, non ut interpretes, sed ut auctores porprii operis, Hieromyn. … 65. & Apolog. 1. ad…ers. Ruffin. …and the Books of Ambrose, almost all of them are full of the sayings of this man.

§ 3. Of the almost innumerable number p. 201of those that are lost, we find recorded in di…ers Authors these following.

1. His Collections and Collations of the Translations of the Old Testament:Baron. ad an. 231. a Work of huge bulk,Hieronym. in praefat. in Josuam. collected with great pains, and composed with no less diligence; requiring no small cost to procure, nor less labour to pe…use it.Field of the Church. lib. 4. c. 26. An excellent piece, and of admirable use and advantage; which fill'd all the …amous Libraries in those times: highly commended even by Epiphanius himself, no friend to Origen; Lib. de Mensur.Herein (saith he) he did well and profitably; I would he had done others things as well. These were of three sorts.

1. He compiled that work which he named Tetrapla, or his fourfold interpretation; consisting of the Translations;

1. Of the Septuagint.

2. Of Aquila of Pontus; Euseb. lib. 6. cap. 16. Epiphan. lib. de mensur. Miraeus. in notis in Catalog. Hieronym.who was first a Gentile, then a Christian; but being for his obstinacy in the practice of Astrology, and calculating Nativities, excommunicated, he became a Jewish Proselite, and was accordingly circumcised, being semi-Iudaeus, semi-Chri…nus, Buxtorf. Epist. dedicat. ante lex Hebr.and having learned the Hebrew tongue, he translated the Old Testament into Greek; about the year of Christ 129. which he did,Miraeus in auctar. de S…ript. Eccles. to the end, that as much as in him lay, he might subvert the Prophesies of Christ, for which cause Epip…anius call him Iudaizantem heraeticum.

3. Of Theodotion, De Script. Eccles.of Pontus also: Or, as Trithemius, an Ephesian: who being first a Christian; (but then a follower of those arch-Hereticks,Sixt. Senens. bibl. lib. 4. Tatianus, Marcion and Ebion) afterward p. 202turned Jew;Buxtorf. Ibid. and having been among them well instructed in the Hebrew Tongue, he also translated the Old Testament into Greek:Praefat. in lib. Job. In the year of Christ 180. whom Ierom reckons among the Judaizing Hereticks:Bellarm. de verb. dei. lib. 2. cap. 5 he was more faithful in his Translation than the former; and therefore did the Churches of Christ always use to read the Prophet Daniel, Hieronym. praefat. in Dan.not according to the Septuagint, but Theodotions Interpretation or Edition.

4. Of Symmachus: Sixt. Senens. bibl. lib. 4.he was a Samaritan, ranked among their wise men; but not having that honour from them which he expected, he fell to the Jews,Bellarm. Ibid. and was circumcised the second time; Si quidem arte medicâ & certis instrumentis (spatisterem appellant) Iudaei solebant resectum praeputium iterum super inducere, sive attrahere; & hoc est quod Apostolus ait, 1 Cor. 7. 18. Qui circumcisus vocatus est, non adducat praeputium: vel, ut clariùs sonant verba Graeca, foreign, i.e. non attrabatur. But living ingloriously among these also, he became a Christian, embracing the Heresie of the Ebionites, Euseb. lib. 6. cap. 16.who held that Christ was a mere man, and born of Ioseph and Mary. He translated the Old Testament into Greek, not word for word, as Aquila had done, but according to the sense thereof: non verbum ex verbo, sed sententias ex sententiis reddidit: about the year of Christ 200. This Translation,Buxtorf. ibid. Origen saith, he found at Caesarea with a certain woman named Iuliana, which saith,Euseb. ibid. that Symmachus delivered it her to keep.

2. To the four above named, he added two more, viz. the Hebrew Text in Hebrew p. 203Letters ….Sixt. Senens. lib. 4. And again, the same Text in the Greek Characters, for the help of those that could not read the Hebrew: These Texts with the former four interpretations were set one beside another; each page being divided into six distinct columns for that purpose; for which cause he intituled the work Hexapla, as the former Tetrapla, and the following Octopla, for the like reason; each page having in the one four, as in the other eight columns. Erasmus rather approves of the writing of it without an aspiration,In censur. in lib. Origen. viz. Exapla; ab foreign: to explain; as conceiving it to take the name not from the number of columns, but from the nature of the Work: but were it so, then might the same title have been given as well unto the foregoing and following, as unto this; the Etymology agreeing to them all alike.

3. To these six he added two more:Sixt. Senens. Ibid. which because he had found without the names of their Authors affixed to them, he called the one Quinta, or the fifth; and the other Sexta, or the sixth; the former whereof he had found in the City of Hiericho; the later at Nicopolis. These two, with the above named six made up his Octopla, or eight fold interpretation: wherein they were disposed or set in this order. 1. The Hebrew Text in the Hebrew Letters.Epiphan. de Mensur. Baron. 231. § 8. 2. The Hebrew words in Greek Characters.Field of the Church, lib. 4. cap. 26. 3. The Translation of Aquila. 4. That of Symmachus. 5. The Septuagint. 6. The Translation of Theodotion. 7. That Edition call'd the fifth. 8. That call'd the sixth. Of which Alsted thus speaks:Encyclopaed. Hist. Octopla (inquit) opus laboriosum & p. 204insigne magno Ecclesiae malo amissum, and not much unlike,Controv. de Scriptur. cap. 4. our Learned Whitaker: His labour (saith he) was incredible in gathering together all these Editions: which being all thus brought into one body, proved a most Divine Work, the loss whereof is a great detriment to the Church, and well might Ambrose say of him; Multorum interpretationes diligenti discussit indagine.In Psal. 118. Serm. 4.Ps 118

4. He also set forth another Translation for daily use;Sixt. Senens. lib. 4. composed of the Septuagint, and that of Theodotion: being a third from them both;Dever. Dei. 2. cap. 5. it a ut nova videretur, inquit Bellarminus: which may be said to be, not so much a Translation,Fiel. lib. 4. cap. 26. as an Emendation of the Septuagint: Wherein he added some things out of Theodotions Translation,Baron. adan. 251. § 37. which he found wanting in the Septuagint: and these additions he noted with an Asterisk or shining Star**Masius in Epist. dedicante Josuam.: but those passages, quae Hebraicè nou erant dicta, which were not to be found in the Hebrew, he pierced through with a Spit or Spear—.Epist. August. Numb. 89. Of which Ierom thus speaks: Vbicun que virgulae, i.e. obeli sunt, significatur quòd Septuaginta plus dixerint, quàm habetur in Hebraew: ubi autem asterisci, i.e. stellulae praelucentes, ex Theodotionis editione ab Origine additum est. Again: Sed quod majoris est andaciae, Praefat. in lib. Paralip.in editione Septuaginta, Theodotionis editionem miscuit Origines; asteriscis videlicet designans quae minùs fuerant; & virgulis, quae ex superfiuo videbantur apposita. Isidore gives us this account of the notes; Asteriscus, inquit, apponitur in iis quae omissa sunt, De Origen. lib. 1. cap. 20.ut illucescant per eam notam quae de esse videntur. Obelus apponitur in verbis vel sententiis superfluè iteratis, p. 205five in iis locis ubi lectio aliquâ falsitate notata est. This work he undertook, because the Septuagint had been,Baron. ad an. 231. § 36. 37. through the carelesness of Notaries and Transcribers, not a little corrupted and depraved.In Epist. dedicat. ante Josuam. Cum manum (inquit Masius) Septuaginta interpretationi admovere ausus est Origenes, erat etiam tum perverfissima. Hieronym. advers. Ruffin.And though some have judged it rather a corruption, than a correction of the Septuagint; yet was it indeed a diligent collation of those two interpretations, and a Work very profitable unto all; it being a most accurate restitution of the Septuagint to its purity. Concerning which Emendation Andreas Masius (a man,Treat. of the Fathers: lib. 1. saith Daille, of singular and profound Learning, yet of such candor and integrity, as renders him more admired than his Knowledge doth) thus speaks:Epist. dedicat. ante Josuam. In correcting and conserving that interpretation of the Septuagint, Hesychius Aegypti Episcopus Marian. Schol. in Hieronym. Ep…st. Lucianu… Ecclesiae Antiochenae Prebyter Hieronym. in Catalog.to their no small praise did Helychius take great pains, Lucianus more, Origen most of all: by whose industry (he saith) he was provoked to deliver unto the age wherein he lived the Septuagint Translation, sound and intire in that one History of Iosuah, as Adamantius had done the whole throughout. This Edition was afterwards so far approved of, that it quickly filled all Libraries,Sixt. Senens. lib. 4. and was received and made use of in their daily readings, by all the Churches of of Palestine and Syria; Hieronym. advers. Ruffin.so that it was accounted as the vulgar Translation.

2. He wrote ten Books of Stromes;Hieronym. Epist. ad Magnum, Numb. 84. (in imitation of Clemens his Master, whose Work so intitled, consisteth of eight Books) wherein comparing the Scriptures and Philosophers p. 206together, he confirms the Doctrine of Christianity by the sayings of those Heathens:Sixt. Senens. lib. 4. but the two last of these Books were spent in the exposition of the Prophesie of Daniel, and the Epistle to the Galatians.

3. His Books of the Interpretion of Hebrew names contained in the Scriptures:Euseb. lib. 6. 23. mentioned by the Author of the answers unto certain questions propounded by the Orthodox,Respons. 86. falsely ascribed unto Iustin Martyr: Hieronym. in praefat. in lib. Heb. nom.which Ierom (who herein imitated him) reckons among the excellent Monuments of his Wit, wherein he took pains as a Christian, to supply, what Philo, as a Jew, had omitted.

4. Of the Resurrection,Euseb. lib. 6. cap. 23. two Books.

5. Of Prayer.Cent. 3. cap. 10.

6. A Dialogue between him and one Candidus a Defender of the Valentinian Heresie; In whom (saith Ierom) I confess I have beheld (as it were) two Andabatae, Hieronym. advers. Ruffin.or blind-folded Champions encountring each other.Ad an. 23. § 7. Of Baronius thus: Non (inquit) foreign ▪ tantùm pluribus scatebat erroribus, sed & blasphemiis refertissimus dialogus ille erat, quocum Candido haeretico de dogmatibus fusiùs desputavit.

7. Of Martyrdom,Euseb. l. 6. cap. 27. or a Book of Martyrs: which he dedicated unto Ambrose and Protoctaetus Ministers of C…sarea; for that they both suffered no small affliction, enduring most constantly examination and confession, in the time of Maximinus the Emperour, a cruel persecutor:An. 237. who (out of spite that he bare unto the house of Alexander his Predecessor, which harboured many of the faithful) p. 207gave commandment that the Governors only of the Churches,In specul. Hist. lib. 11. cap. 11. & Haymo hist. Eccles. lib. 6. cap. 3. as principal Authors of the Doctrine of our Saviour, should be put to death. Of which Book, saith Vincentius Bellovacensis: scribit tantâ dictrictâ spiritus virtute, ut ejus sententiis tanquam validissimis nervis multos ad martyrium stabiliret.

8. Above an hundred Epistles,Lib. 6. cap. 35. which being scattered here and there, were collected and comprised by Eusebius in several volumes, to the end they should be no more dispersed.

9. Five Books against Hereticks.Trithem. de Script.

10. An Epitome of the History of Susanna.Bellarm. de Script.

Moreover, he commented upon most of the Books of the Old and New Testament: of which Works of his, besides those now extant, these are recorded in several Authors, viz.

I. VponUpon the Old Testament.

1. A continued explanation of the four first Chapters of Genesis, Sixt. Senens. lib. 4.in thirteen Tomes; but twelve saith Eusebius.

2. One Book of Annotations upon Exodus; Euseb. lib. 6. cap. 23.also the like upon Leviticus.

3. One Homily upon the Song of Hannah, Sixt. Senens. Ibid.1 King. 2.

4. One Homily upon Solomon's judgement between the two Harlots 2 King. 3.

5. Many Homilies or Tracts upon the Books of Iob.

p. 2086. A brief exposition,Ibid. or an Enchiridion upon the whole Book of Psalms: also larger explanations thereupon at the request of Ambrose. He was the first (saith Ierom) that commented upon the whole Psalter. Trithemius saith that he wrote one hundred and fifty Tracts upon the Psalms; De Script. Eccles.which equals the number of them.

7. A Commentary upon the Proverbs of Solomon.Sixt. Senens. Ibid.

8. Explanations upon the Book Ecclesiastes. Deverb. dei. lib. 1. cap 4.Kimedoncius cites a Testimony out of Origen Homil. 1. in Ecclesiasten.

9. Ten Books of Commentaries upon the Canticles: Euseb. lib. 6. cap. 31.five whereof he wrote at Athens; the other five returning from Cesarea. Prolog. in Cantic.A worthy Work requiring much time, labour and cost to translate, for which cause Ierom omitted it, and would not attempt or adventure upon it. In this Work, containing well nigh twenty thousand Verses, he discourseth so magnificently and clearly,Ibid. (saith Ierom) that as in the rest he overcame all others, so in this he overcame himself.

10. Annotations upon the whole Prophesie of Esay: Sixt. Senens. lib. 4.also continued explanations from the first Chapter unto the thirtieth; of which, thirty Tomes came to our hands, saith Eusebius: together with two Books upon the thirtieth Chapter.

11. A huge number of Homilies upon Ieremy, Lib. 6. cap. 31.the most whereof are lost.

12. Upon the Lamentations nine Tomes:Lib. 6. cap. 23. Of which (saith Eusebius) we have seen five.

13. Upon Ezekiel twenty and five Tomes,Euseb. lib. 6. cap. 31. p. 209the which he wrote being at Athens: Sixt. Senens. lib. 4.besides many Homilies.

14. Upon the twelve Minor Prophets many Tracts,Lib. 6. cap. 35. Whereof (saith Eusebius) we have found twenty and five in the whole,In Catalog. Pamphilus. which Ierom saith, he found copied out by Pamphilius among these were: one upon Hosea; of which Ierom thus:In praefat, in Osee. Origenes parvum de hoc Prophetâ scripsit Libellum, cui hunc titulum imposuit, foreign, i.e. quare in Osee appellatur Ephraim, volens ostendere, quaecunque contra eum dicuntur, ad haereticorum referenda personam, &c.

II. VponUpon the New Testament.

1. Upon Matthew, Sixt. Senens. Lib. 4.one Book containing his Scholia, or brief Annotations upon obscure places: Also, twenty five Homilies upon divers places of the Gospel.Descript. Eccles. Six and twenty,Hist. Eccles. lib. 5. cap. 19. saith Trithemius; and Nicephorus speaks of five Books of his upon Matthew.

2. Upon Luke five Tomes;Sixt. Senens. lib. 4. and many Homilies.

3. Upon the Epistle to the Galatians five Tomes;Ibid. also one Book foreign, or of choice passages: besides not a few Homllies.

4. Upon the Epistle to the Ephesians three Volumes or Commentaries;Apolog. 1. advers. Ruffin. & in prooem. ant… comment. in Ephes. of which Ierom makes mention in these words. Illud quo que … praefatione commoneo, ut sciatis Origenem tria …lumina in hanc Epistolam conseripsissc; quem & nos ex parte secuti sumus.

p. 2105. Upon the Epistle to the Colossians three books.

6. Upon the first Epistle of the Thessalonians divers books:Sixt. Senens. lib. 4. for Ierom maketh mention of the third volumn upon this Epistle;Epist. 152. Alexand. & Minerio. wherein, saith he, he discourseth with much variety and prudence.

7. Upon the Epistle to Titus, one book.

8. Upon the Epistle to the Hebrews many books:Sixt. Senens. lib. 4. all which through the injury of time, and violence of his adversaries, are lost, and now not to be found.

The books that are extant at this day under his name, are these following;

1. Seventeen Homilies upon the book of Genesis; which are said to be interpreted by Ierom whose name is prefixed to them, but falsly,Eras. in lib. Orig. cens. as Crynaeus supposeth: for indeed it was done by Ruffinus, as appears by the liberty that he takes, to add detract and change what he pleased: which it seems was his manner:In epist. ante Hilar. sed haec non est, inquit Erasmus, libertas interpretis sed licentia potiùs contaminantis scripta aliena. Again, Ruffino peculiaris est ista temeritas, Eras. cens. de comment. in ep. ad Rom.(viz. ea quae verti…, truncare, augere, immutare, & ex alieno opere suum facere) cujus unicum studium fuisse videtur, omnes illustrium autorum libros, attrectando contaminare. Ha… a…rte vir glorie cupidus, Id. in cens. in hom. in Levi.putavit se reperisse viam, quâ vel invitis omnibus tereretur manibus hominum. Certainly,Treat. of the Fath. l. 1. c. 4. saith the Learned Daille, he hath p. 211so filthily mangled and so licentiously confounded the writings of Origen, which he hath translated into Latine;See an addition In hom. 15. de verbo foreign. that you will hardly find a page where he hath not either cut off, or added, or at least altered something. A soul fault in a translator, in whom fidelity, as the chief vertue is required and most commendable. Such is his dealing in this kind, that the Reader is often uncertain whether he read Origen or Ruffine. Scultet. in medull. Apol. adver. Ruffin.Which thing Ierom often and tartly taxeth him for: and particularly for his unworthy translation of his book of principles, or foreign,Epist. 16. ad Principiam Virginem. which he calls, and that fitly enough, and not without …est cause, an infamous interpretation: Let it suffice once for all to have given this hint of the manner of Ruffine in his translation of divers books of Origen. And that this translation of these Homilies upon Genesis is his, appears from what Ruffine himself hath said in his Peroration added unto the Commentary upon the Epistle to the Romans, wherein he professeth that he translated Origen upon Genesis: And probable it is, that the transcribers prefixed Ieroms name as the more gracious and acceptable. Grynaeus hath taken pains for the benefit of the Reader to set down,Ante hom. in Gen. as he hath done before all the rest of the works of Origen in his Edition of them, the several Theological Common places handled in these homilies: adding moreover that by them the diligent Reader will confess, that he hath light upon a rich storehouse of Christian Philosophy, replenished with all kind of Spiritual treasures.

p. 2122. Upon Exodus thirteen Homilies; translated also by Ruffinus; Eras. in cens. hom. in Gen.though for the gaining of the more credit unto them, the name of Ierom be here also prefixed as the interpretor of them.

3. Upon Leviticus sixteen Homilies; eighteen say some:Suppl. Berg. where the same craft is made use of in the alteration of the name of the translator as in the former.Eras. n. ib. By some overbold impostor,Grynaeus. ante libr. these are ascribed unto Cyril of Alexandria, Sixt. Senens. l. 4.under the title of so many books, or a Commentary: whereas it is manifest, they are not Commentaries, but Homilies: for the Author excuseth his brevity to his auditors, by reason of the straits of time; and that he intended not a large exposition of the words, but to touch some few things briefly for their edification: The stile, saith Bellarmine, De Script. Eccles.and similitude of the Doctrines contained in them, shew them plainly to be Origens.

4. Upon Numbers, Trithem. de script.twenty eight Homilies: (some say, but twenty six.Grynaeus. & Merlin. Cent. 3. cap. 10. Sixt. Senens. lib. 4. and Scultetus in Medulâ) which its likely was translated by Ierom; In perorat. in ad Roman.because Ruffine speaking of his translation of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Iosuah, and Iudges, makes no mention of Numbers: and,In cens. in libr. Origen. saith Erasmus out of Gennadius, Ruffine translated all of Origen, except what was done by Ierom. Yet that there are some additions of the interpretor in this piece is apparent, saith Grynaeus, In loc. Rivet. Cri…. Sac.in homil. 2. in cap. 2. Yea these Homilies by their phrase seem to be the work of some Latine Author; for in Chap. 12. he expounds the difference between excudere and p. 213excidere: which could have no place in a Greek.

5. Upon Iosuah, Eras in cens. Spuriae sunt, ut quae abundant soloecismis. Perk. in problemat.twenty and six Homilies; where we have also the name of Ierom as the interpretor, instead of Ruffine: as also a Preface pretended to be his; but so frigid and and foolish, that a more certain argument cannot be desired to perswade us, that neither the one, nor other is Ieroms: and Er…smus gives instance in divers particulars.

6. Upon Iudges nine Homilies:Erasm. ib. where we have the same mistake of the interpretor; liber inquit Grynaeus satis bonus. Here also the Etymology of rex à regendo, gives cause to suspect, that these came out of the same shop, with those upon Numbers.

7. Upon the book of the Kings, Questionable Riv. Cri. Sac.or one Homily upon the first and second Chapters of the first of Samuel.

8. Upon the book of Iob, Sixt. Sen. l. 4.a large explation, divided into three books; from the beginning of the History unto the middle of the third Chapter. A Learned piece it is; and worth the reading: but both the stile and method shew it to be none of Origens, both being far different from his.Ans. to Iesuits Chall▪ Those Commentaries, saith Vsher, upon Iob are wrongly ascribed unto Origen. Also the Author is full of Battologies or repetitions of the same sentence, which certainly is not the manner of Origen. Sixt. Senens. lib. 4.For my part, saith …rasmus, I suppose him to be a Latinist, and to have written in Latine:In censur. for he speaks of the Greek as not his own Language,Coci censur. and interprets the word Adamantius to signifie p. 214in Greek, indomabilis, iuflexibilis: and saith he,Eras. in cens. Lucianus, cognominatus est tanquam lucidus. He was one of free speech fit to teach the vulgar, but withal an Arian, as is clear from divers passages; and therefore it cannot be Origens work; for Arius arose many years after him. Besides, he brings in the exposition of Lucianus the Martyr in the third Chapter, who suffered under Maximinus, refutes the Manichees in the seventh and eighth Chapter, and makes mention of the Homousianists; none of which were known till after the time of Origen; Locutulei.The Preface, saith Erasmus, Eras. in cens.or Prologue set before it, is of some prating fellow, that had neither learning nor modesty in him, unless the concealing of his name may be so interpreted: Surely he had little skill in the Latine (yet, saith Possevine, commentarii hi sunt pervetusti & pereruditi viri.)In apparent. The whole being nothing else but meer and miserable stammering. Praefatio, In Epist. ante Hilar.inquit Erasmus, testatur hoc opus ab aliis nonnullis fuisse versum sed ne que bonâ fide ne que doctè, dum ex benè Graecis, reddunt malè Latina: quum ipse qui haec praefatur, reipsá declaret, se fuisse hominem, qui nec Latinè sciret, nec ingenio aut eruditione valeret; sed qui tanto plus haberet arrogantiae, quanto minùs habebat peritiae. Dr. Jam. of the corrupt. of the Fathers.Yet are these Commentaries made use of as Origens, by the Po…tificians to prove their Doctrines, of the Invocation of Saints, oblations for the dead, abstinence from flesh in Lent and for giving of alms upon funeral days for the salvation of souls.Coci Censur. Erasmus conjectureth the Author to have been one Maximinus a Bishop,In ceasur. p. 215whose disputations with Augustine are extant.

9. Certain Homilies upon three of the Psalms, viz. Five upon the six and thirtieth; two upon the seven and thirtieth, and two upon the eight and thirtieth; in all nine: foreign, sunt optima, inquit Gynaeus, allegoriae frigidae. In Censur.Erasmus is doubtful, whether they be his or no; for they do scarce express his wit and phrase,Coci Censur. but come neerer unto that of Chrysostom: he thinks it was some Latine, that wrote them: which may be guessed from hence, that in explicating divers texts; he tells us how they are in Latine, how in Greek: which was not the manner of the Greeks to do; for they little, or not at all cared for the Latine Tongue. But if Ruffine translated it, he according to his custom, made that his own by defiling it, which was another mans:Eras. in cens. Yet having observed the weakness of the Preface, I can hardly think, saith Erasmus, that Ruffine was so very a Child: who, if not so much by Art, yet certainly by nature was eloquent enough: but if any contend, that Ruffine is sometime foolish this way, I will not much oppose, so it be confessed that the genius of this work, doth not resemble the happiness of Origen. De script. Eccles.Bellarmine gives this hint of them, that some do doubt whether they be his or no:In Medull. And Scultetus reckons this and the immediately preceding, to have crept in among the works of Origen, Dr. Jam. of the corrupt. of the Fathers.but to belong indeed unto others. Yet from hence also do those of Rome fetch authorities,Coci Censur. as from Origen, for the proof of their tenets concerning p. 216purgatory, auricular confession, the vertues of the Cross, that wicked men do eat the body of Christ in the Sacrament, and that the Book of Iudith is authentick.

10. Upon the Canticles. 1.Cent. 3. c. 10. Two Homilies; explanationis prioris.

2. Four Homilies, upon the two first Chapters of the Book; explanatienis posteriovis: or rather a continued imperfect Commentary.Erasm. in Censur. But they are indeed neither Origens nor Ieroms, but a work of some Latin Author, well learned and sufficiently eloquent: for, he quotes the Greeks in his Prologue as Strangers, and interprets some Latin words. Verbum dei, inquit, apud Graecos masculino genere: In censur.ex hoc (inquit Cocus) evidenter perspicitur, non Graecum, sed Latinum fuisse autorem. Erasmus suspects them to be his, who wrote the Books de vocatione gentium, and certain Commentaries upon the Psalms, In cens. in lib. Origen.which go under the name of Ambrose. Merlin on the other side,Post. homil. in Cantic. is very confident that they are Origens, as (saith he) the sagacious Reader will easily perceive; though his reason be weak enough to ground even a conjecture upon: yea himself confesseth that the stile differs from Origens; for which cause some deny it to be his.B…ioth. San…. lib. 4. It is (saith Sixtus Senensis) a pious, learned, and eloquent work; or rather a fragment, in which the two first Chapters are excellently expounded, having in some ancient Copies Ierom's name prefixed to it: who indeed m…tions four Homilies written by himself upon the Canticles.In catalogo.

Ierom… ▪ … of these; Epist. Damaso. …… p. 217tractatus, quos i… morem quotidiani eloquii parvulis abhuc lactentibus composuit, fideliter magis quàm ornatè interpretatus sum, gustum tibi sensuum ejus, non cibum offerens. Tu (Damase Papa) animadvertas quanti sint illa estimanda quae magna sunt, quum si… possunt placere quae parva sunt.

11. Nine Homilies upon divers places of the Prophecy of Esay, especially upon the sixth Chapter,Erasm. in censur. which fragment was by Ierom (as himself confesseth) turned into Latin. It wants a Preface, which (because it was Ierom's manner to set a Preface before what he translated) Erasmus supposeth to be taken away by those to whom he wrote, after that the name of Origen became odious or envyed at Rome: For very likely it is, that therein he spake highly in commendation of his Wit, as he doth in his Prologue before the Commentaries upon Ezekiel. Yet notwithstanding the Historical errours (saith Grynaeus) the Doctrines so weak and waterish,Ante homil. in Esai. and the frigid Allegories (indignissamae Origine & Hieronymo) together with the Barbarism of the Translation, do, I think abundantly shew, that neither Origen was the Author, nor Ierom the Translator of them.

12. Upon Ieremiah fourteen Homilies,Sixt. Senens. lib. 4. whereof Ierom was the Translator; which are the only remaining of a huge number upon this Prophecy. These and the following are (saith Grynaeus) Origene & Hieronymo dignae.

13. Upon Ezekiel fourteen Homilies, translated also by Ierom, Erasm. in censur.as appears both by his own Testimony (in Hieremiam & Ezekielem p. 218Homilias Origenis viginti octo è Graeco in Latinum verti) and also by the Preface which is undoubtedly his,In catalog. because Ruffine out of it objects a passage against him.

14. Upon Matthew, Sixt. Senens. lib. 4.his Commentaries: which are to be ranked among his Tomes as the Greek Titles declare;Eras. lectori ante hunc commentar. though some have imprudently divided them into Tracts or Homilies: whereas there is not the least footstep of that kind of writing to be found in them: for his Homilies always end in a Doxology, having sometimes a short Prayer joyned therewith. It contains thirty eight Homilies say some;Cent. 3. c. 10. Sixt. Senens. Bellarm. but thirty five say others:Grynaeus. & Merlin. wherein we have an exposition of a great part of this Gospel, viz. from the thirteenth unto the seven and twentyeth Chapter. It is a piece (saith Erasmus) most worthy to be read:Lectori Epist. ante comment. Origen is ardent every where, but no where more, than when he handleth the sayings and doings of Christ, and in my judgement (saith he) no one of the Evangelists doth more fully comprehend the Life and Doctrine of Christ, then Matthew. Sixt. Senens. lib. 4.Yet Ambrose conceiveth our Author to be far meaner in the new Testament, than in the Old. The Translator, in all probability was Ruffine, Erasm. ibid. In lib.as may be gathered (though the Preface be wanting) from the liberty which he takes in translating: It seems (saith GryneuS) to be the writing of some Latin: demptis iis quae vertit Erasmu…: who translated a good part of this work, viz. from the thirteenth Chapter unto the twentyeth verse of the sixteenth Chapter. Docti dubitant, Usher. de Brit. Eccles. primord. cap. 7.an tractatus in Matthaeum tribui debeant Origeni.

p. 21915. Upon Luke thirty and nine Homilies: of which without doubt Ierom was the Translator,Erasm. in censur. seeing he professeth so much in his Preface: And because they are not so elaborate, and are sprinkled with some errours that were condemned,Sixt. Senens. lib. 4. he excuseth them as written by Origen when but young (as those upon Matthew when he was old.)Casaub. exercitat. 14. §11. He is no where in his Homilies so short and concise, as in these. Three and thirty of them are a continued exposition of this Gospel, from the beginning thereof unto the midst of the fourth Chapter. The six latter of them are an enarration of divers places scattered here and there.In lib. Est liber optimus (inquit Grynaeus) habet tamen aliquas salebras. In fine.It's an Interpretation (saith Merlin) which those that envyed him have prophaned with sundry errours so that many think it not to be his,Merlin. in praefat. because of the many errours inserted therein.

16. Upon Iohn thirty and two Tomes: Ierom speaks of thirty and nine, which he durst not undertake to translate for the Bulk of them.Sixt. Senens. lib. 4. They all lay hid, till of late Perionius a Monk of Cassinas found nine Tomes of them in an old Greek Copy which he light on in the King of France his Library, and turned into Latin, yet were they in many places maimed and inconsequent. These were afterward by some obscure Grecian, divided into thirty and two Tomes, that they might be the more desired and sell the dearer: by whom Ambrose of Millain, a Monk of Cassina, was deluded, though a Man sagacious enough, and of a quick Wit, who translated and published them in thirty and two Tomes as now they p. 220are: which (saith he) in his Postscript, let the Reader know I have done with utmost diligence and fidelity,Gryneus: ad calcem commentar. so that it is not at all changed from what it was as written by the Authour.

17. Certain Homilies upon divers places of the Evangelists:Bellarm. de Script. which without doubt are not all Origens: some of them (saith Erasmus) it's apparent, are not his,In censur. but of some Latin Author, and the rest impudently corrupted by Ruffine. They are ten in number, whereof seven are upon certain places of Matthew: two upon Iohn, viz▪ upon part of the first, and part of the twentyeth Chapters: and one upon the Epiphany without a certain Text.Bellarm. de Script. The fifth upon Matthew, seems to be of some Latin Authour; for, saith he, Spiritu… Sanctus is of the Neuter Gender, not of the Masculine, as with us: where he plainly discovers himself to be a Latin. For the eighth (saith Merlin) many think it to be Origens, though it be not fully his stile.Ante hanc homil. The ninth is a meer Cento patch't up, the former part thereof with somewhat taken out of Origens thirty fourth tract upon Matthew: Sixt. Senens. lib. 4.the latter part, with two fragments, the one taken out of Gregory's Morals,Bellarm. de Script. chap. 14. and some others later then Origen: Nullius est ponderis Holloix: in quaest. 2. devita Dionys. Areopag.yea the stile of these fragments shew that they are none of his. The Homily upon the first of Iohn is apparently none of his, there being mention made of the Manichees and Arians, Sixt. Senens. lib. 4.both which arose long after Origen: and withal the Author saith, that foreign & foreign,Nec cujus sunt authoris nec quant… antiquitatis facilè sciri potest. Holl…i…. ibid. apud Graecos sunt Masculini Generis. The Homily upon the twentyeth of Iohn cannot be his, for it is clearly of a Latin stile; And if some be of p. 221Latin Authors,Bellarm. ibid. the rest may justly be suspected to be so too:Coci censur. Yet are these cited by those of Rome as Origens, to prove the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, that Dionysius the Areopagite is the Authour of the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, and what is the use and benefit of making the sign of the Cross with the fingers.

18. Commentaries upon the Epistle to the Romans, in ten Books, as we have them divided by Merlin and Grynaeus; though Sixtus Senensis, Trithemius and some others make them fifteen. Ierom is supposed to be the interpreter,Lib. 4. biblioth. sanct. though it do appear both from the preface,Erasm. in censur. and especially from the peroration, that Ruffine was the translatour of them; who saith that he had contracted the whole work almost one half: how great an injury to deprive the Church of such a treasure?In prolog. antelib. Yet is Salmeron of a contrary judgment upon the same grounds:In comment. in Epist. Ex Epistolâ ad Heraclium, inquit, quae loco prooemii praefigitur libris Origenis in Epist. ad Romanos, Paul. disputat. 19.& ex peroratione, in quâ se Hieronymus interpretem illorum, non tantùm verbis, sed etiam stylo satis prodit, constat Hieronymum, eos Latinos reddidisse.

19. Four Books,In prologo foreign, quod vel de principiis vel de potestatibus dici potest, inquit Ruffinus, of principles, or of powers, which he wrote in emulation of one Longinus a Philosopher, well known unto him (as Baronius conceives) who in those times had set forth a Commentary almost of the same argument.Ad an. 252. § 3. This is the Book, the interpretation whereof occasioned so hot a contest between Ierom and Ruffine (who both performed that task) wherein especially Ierom chargeth him with p. 222false dealing,Hieronym. in apolog. 2. advers. Ruffin. for that he added some things, subtracted others, and took liberty to change what he pleased: whereas for his part he desired faithfully to discharge the duty of an interpreter.Lib. 1. advers. Ruffin. Epist. Paulino. num. 153. I, saith he, simply expressed what I found in the Greek; my care was to change nothing. Again, I leave it to your judgment, what pains I did undergo in translating the Books foreign seeing that to change any thing that was in the Greek, would not have been the part vertentis, sed evertentis, of a turner or translatour, but of … overturner; Epist. Ocea…o. num. 65.and to express the same word for word, would not become him that desires to keep the elegancy of speech. My end, saith he, was to discover an Heretick, that I might vindicate the Church from Heresie. And the truth is,Hieronym. Epist. 153. Origen is no where more foully erroneous than in this Book, wherein there is more bad than good, it being full stuffed with gross errours: Toti (inquit Scultetus) scatent erroribus: so that it can hardly be believed how much in that work he betrayed the Christian Faith,Baron. ad an. 232. § 3. which he had received from his Predecessours. And as Plotinus said of the forenamed Longinus, that he was studious of Learning, yet not at all a Philosopher: so may it be truly affirmed of Origen, as touching this Book, that therein he meant to seem a Philosopher rather than a Christian; the truth is, it is most obscure and full of difficulties: Scias (inquit Hieronymus) detestanda tibi in eis (lib…is foreign) esse quam plurima, & juxta sermonem Domini inter scorpiones & colubros incedendum. Praefat. Ruffin. in lib. Epist. A…itonum. 59.In the close of which Epistle he shews with what p. 223caution these Books are to be read, withal making an enumeration of the errours contained in them,Concil. tom… 1. it being intended by Ierom as an antidote against them, Binnius calls this piece Multarum Heresium promptuarium. The translation of these Books which we now have (as Grynaeus conceives) is Ruffine's; for in his Marginal Notes we sometimes meet with these words, loquitur Ruffinus.

20. Eight Books against Celsus the Philosopher,Opus elencticum & dogmaticum Haeschel. in Epist. ante libr. of the Sect of Epicurus, who had most bitterly inveighed against and traduced the Christian Religion. This is the only work of Origen, Rhenan. in Epist. ante opera Origen.upon which the incomparably judicious Erasmus past not his censure, being prevented by death; the want whereof (as also of his Coronis) is much to be bewailed, considering that by reason of his singular learning, and long exercise in the study of the Ancients, it cannot but be presumed, he would have gone through and performed it in a most excellent manner. Origen undertook this work by the instigation of Ambrose, who was much grieved to see that the Christian Religion should be so reproached. Celsus stiled his Book the word of truth, though little were contained in it,Origen. contr. Cel. cels. prooem. & sub …inem. but what was foolish, weak and false, and unworthy of a prudent man; whose objections and slanders, (as also those of all other both Gentiles and Jews) Origen in his answer (which Baronius calls celeberrimum commentarium) most notably wipes off and refuteth.Ad an. 243. § 3. Scultet. in Medull. Miraeus in Scl…ol. in catalog. Hieronym. A piece it is of much use, especially unto the History of those times, which by it self is set forth in Greek and Latine by D…vid Haeschelius, who gives p. 224this commendation of it,In Epist. dedicat. ante edit. Gr. Lat. Celso argumentis & rationibus Origenes ita respondit, ut haud sciam an quicquam in hoc genere solidius atque eruditius existet. He set upon this work after that he had arrived unto maturity of age, viz. being then more than sixty years old.

21. Of the right faith in one God, or three Dialogues against the Marcionists,De Script. Eccles. which are mentioned by Bellarmine as two distinct pieces of Origen, though indeed they be but one and the same. For so the learned Doctour Humphries, Humph. in praefat. ante libr. Rivet. crit. sac.that translated it into Latine out of a Greek Manuscript that he obtained of Frobenius, and set forth anno 1557. (as Perionius had done the year before out of a Greek Copy which he found in the King's Library) entitles it, Of the right Faith in one God, against the three principles of Megethius the Marcionite. These two interpreters made use of two very different Copies; but it is evident, that that which Dr. Humphries followed was the more distinct and full. It is questionable whether this is Origen's or no: 1. Because the Author speaks of Kings and Princes that piously believe: now there were none such in Origen's time. 2. No ancient Author of Note hath recorded this disputation, wherein an Ethnick (viz. Eutropius, a Greek Philosopher) being made the Judge, the Church by Origen should get the victory; for the issue was (as is affirmed) the conversion of Eutropius unto Christianity,In argument. operis per Doct. Humphred. together with many others, who in the close of the disputation, celebrated the praise of Origen with this acclamation;Coronis tertii dialogi. David hath slain the Tyrant Goliah, and Adamantius hath cut p. 225the throat of that opinion which fought against God. 3. Besides, it is strange that this should not come to the notice of Eusebius, or in case it did, that he should be silent herein, who so diligently sought out whatsoever might make for the commendation of Origen. The Dialogues against the Marcio…ites (saith Vsher) were collected for the most part out of the writings of Maximus, Answ. to the Iesuits chal.who lived in the time of the Emperours Commodus and Severus. In catalogo.Of which Maximus, Ierom tells us, Quòd famosam quaestionem insigni volumine ventilavit, Vnde malum, &, Quòd materia à Deo facta sit.

22. The lamentation of Origen, which he himself wrote with his own hand in the Greek Tongue, when after his fall and denyal of his Master Christ Jesus, he wandred to and fro with great grief and torment of conscience, the which Ierom translated into Latine: these are the words of Doctor Meredith Han…er, prefixed to this Lamentation, set down in his English Translation and Edition of Eusebius, between the first and second Chapters of the seventh Book; having immediately before given us out of Suidas the story of his fall. As touching his fall, viz. that he should chuse rather to offer incense unto Idol, than to have his Body defiled by an Ethiopian: though Epiphanius (who was no friend to our Author) and Suidas also deliver it for a truth;Haeres. 69. Ad an. 25…, § 120, &c. yet doth Baronius upon weighty grounds conceive it to be rather a meer fiction and slander of those that were his enemies, who envying,Treat of the Fathers. lib. 2. endeavoured this way to dark… the same of Origen: and (saith D…ille) p. 226that I may not dissemble, I profess my self much enclined to be of the Cardinal's opinion, who thinks this story to be an arrant fable; and that it was foisted into Epiphanius, or else (as I rather believe) was taken upon trust by himself; for this Father hath shewed himself in this as in many other things, a little overcredulous. Now the story it self being questionable, and so sandy a foundation, the superstructure must needs be weak; nor, is the censure of Erasmus without cause,G…ynaeus ante lamentum. that these Lamentations were neither written by Origen, nor translated by Ierom, but the figment of some idle and unlearned brain, who studyed by this means to cast a blemish upon this excellent wit. It is therefore by Gelasius ranked among the Apocrypha.Gratian. distinct. 15. Bellarmin. de Script.

23. There is another piece, which, because it is inserted in the catalogue of the works of Origen, I thought good not to pass it over altogether unmentioned; it is stiled by the name of Philocalia, Ibid. In Medull.or (as Bellarmine renders it) De amore honesti, of the love of that which is good. Scultetus calls it Quaestiones illustriores, or famous questions; they were collected out of all the works of Origen by those two eminent Fathers Basil and Nazianzen: so that though Origen supplyed them with the matter, yet they gave the form to this work, who therefore may as well be entituled to it as he. Hanc non Origenis magis quam Basilii & Gregorii foreign esse dixerim,In notis in Philocal. inquit Tarnius; by whom in his Edition it is divided into twenty and six Chapters, or so many common places,Tarnius ante opus. who gives us this account of it; Delectum hic liber continet quaestionum Scripture p. 227it solutionum, ex variis Origenis commentariis, ab illis Divinarum rerum consultissimis Gregorio & Basilio, quem horum alter, Gregorius Theologus … Theodorum Tyaneum id Temporis Episcopum, i… tabellis misit: In his Letter he thus stiles it, Electorum Origenis Libellum.

§ 4. As touching his stile, it was familiar, plain and free from Rhetorical pomp,Sixt. Senens▪ lib. 4. brief and succinct especially in his Homilies, and Sermons to the people, in whom (saith Merlin) under a choice stream of words flows forth,Merlin. in Epist. ante. apolog. Origen. I know not what secret divinity and breath of life; by which the minds of Men, do easily receive the knowledge of good and evil, his speech being pure and perspicuous: yea and withal very eloquent, which made it so pleasant, delightful, and sweet, that not so much words as honey seemed to drop from his lips:Vin…ent. Lyrinens. contra haeres. cap. 23. nor was it without a certain kind of Majesty, in which regard Ruffine stiles him, a magnificent Trumpet: and Pierius a Presbyter of Alexandria was honoured with the Title of Origen Junior,In prolog. ante Roman. as well for the elegancy of his Language,Hieronym. in catalog. as the multiplicity of his writings. But Erasmus hath spoken so fully of this particular, that it would be superfluous to add any thing more, having once given you an account of what he hath said concerning the phrase of Origen. He had, saith he,Erasm. de phras. Origen. an admirable faculty of speaking ex tempore, and even in obscure matters his speech is very perspicuous;Origenis sermo mirè perspicous. Erasm. in Epist. ante Hila…. nor is brevity wanting as often as the matter requires it: the sentence runs every where certainly, neither doth he hinder himself with words that do …rthen wearisome ears: (Graecis peculiaris est p. 228inquit Erasmus) erudita simplicitas, & orati… venusta,Ibid. dilucidaque magis arridet, quàm grandis & operosa:) he is no where too lofty, which Ierom attributes unto Hilary: nor doth he with borrowed and far fetch'd Ornaments extend and lengthen out his Books, as sometimes Ierom doth: (Origenes vix unquam assurgit, De ration. stud. Theolog. lib 4.inquit Hyperius, sed totus est in docendo, nihil attingens affectuum, nisi quos ipsa move… res, quod est Atticorum:) he studieth not to move laughter in his Auditors with quips and jests, as Tertullian oftentimes, and Ierom too much imitated him: but with a certain continual hilarity, he suffers not drowsiness to creep upon his Auditors, nor doth affect the flowers of Rhetoriek, quaint sentences and Epiphonemaes, as Ambrose and Ierom, nor delight to retard and stop the Reader with unusual words, as Tertullian; nor doth he spend away the time in frequent digressions, as is the manner of Augustin in his Treatises to the people, nor is he superstitious in the structure of his speech, shutting up each sentence with short pointed members, and periods, which Gregory is not altogether free from, here you shall never meet with the like cadencies and endings wherewith Augustin was delighted.

§ 5. Of the useful and remarkable passages whereof not a few are to be found in the writings of this eminent Ancient, I shall content my self with the rehearsal of these following.

1. His Symbol or rule of Faith, the particulars whereof (saith he) are delivered manifestly p. 229by the preaching of the Apostles,lib. foreign in prooem. which are these.

1. Quod unus Deus est, qui omnia creavit, atque composuit, quique ex nullis fecit esse Vniversa, Deus a primâ creaturâ & conditione mundi omnium justarum, Adam, Abel, Seth, Henos, &c. & quòd hic Deus in novissimis diebus, sicut per Prophetas suos ante promiserat, misit Dominum Nostrum Iesum Christum primò quidem vocaturum Israel, secundò verò etiam gentes post perfidiam populi Israel. Hic Deus justus & bonus Pater Domini Nostri Iesu Christi, legem, & Prophetas, & Evangelia ipse dedit, qui & Apostolorum Deus est, & veteris & novi Testamenti.

2. Tum Deinde quia Iesus Christus ipse qui venit, ante omnem creaturam natus ex Patre est: Qui cum in omnium conditione Patri ministrasset (per ipsum enim omnia facta sunt) novissimis temporibus se ipsum exinaniens … est: incarnatus est, cum Deus esset. … quod Deus erat. Corpus assumpsit corpori … simile, eo solo differens, quòd na…um ex V…rgi…e & Spiritu Sancto est. Et quoniam hi… Iesus Christus natus & passus est inveritate & non per imaginem, communem hanc mortem ve…è m…rtuus est: verè … a morte resurrexit, & post Resurrectionem conversatus cum Discipulis s…is, assumptus est.

3. Tum deinde honore ac dignitate Patri ac Filio sociatum tradiderunt Spiritum Sanctum. In hoc non jam manifestò discernitur, utrum natus aut innatus. Sed inquirenda jam ista pro viribus sunt de sacrâ Scriptura, & sagaci perquisition… in…estiganda. San… quòd iste Spiritus Sanctus unumquemque Sanctorum vel Prophetarum, p. 230vel Apostolorum inspiravit; & non ali… Spiritus in veteribus, alius verò in his qui in adventu Christi inspirati sunt, manifestissimè in Ecclesius praedicatur.

4. Post haec jam, quòd anima substantiam vitamque habens propriam, cum ex hoc mund… discesserit, & pro suis meritis dispensabit, siv… vitae aeternae, ac beatitudinis haereditate potitura, si hoc ei sua gesta praestiterint; sive igne aetern… ac suppliciis mancipanda, si in hoc eam scelerum culpa detorserit. Sed & quia erit tempus Resurrectionis mortuorum, cum corpus hoc quod in corruptione seminatur surget in incorruptione & quod seminatur in ignominiâ, surget in gloriâ.

2. Of the authority of the Scriptures: we ought,Tract. in Math. 23. 17.Matt 23:17 (saith he) for the testimony or proof of all the words which we utter in Doctrine or Teaching, to bring forth or alledge the sense of Scripture, as confirming the sense or meaning which we expound or give: For as all that Gold which was without the Temple was not sanctified; so every sense (or interpretation) which is without the divine Scripture, though to some it may seem admirable, is not Holy, because it is not contained in the sense of Scripture.

3. Of the Divinity of the Scriptures, and how they may be known of God:foreign … 4. cap. 1. thus, If any one with all diligence, and with that reverence which is meet, do consider the sayings of the Prophets, even then when he reads and carefully looks into them, it is certain that having his mind and sense strick…n or moved by some more Divine inspiration, he shall know and acknowledge, that those words, which he reads, are of God, and p. 231not uttered by Man, and of himself he shall perceive that those Books were written not by humane Art,Divino Cothurno. nor mortal eloquence, but in a divine and lofty stile.

4. Of the fulness of the Scriptures, thus: It becomes us to believe the sacred Scriptures not to have one Apex or Tittle void of the Wisdom of God.Homil. 2. in Jerem. The Prophets receiving of his fulness sung or spake those things which they took of his fulness. Therefore the sacred Scriptures do breath the fulness of the Spirit: and there is nothing either in the Prophecy, or the Law, or Gospel, or in the Apostle, which descendeth not from the fulness of the Divine Majesty.

5. Of the great efficacy and utility of the Scriptures,Homil. 2. in Joshuah. thus: Because all Scripture is given by Divine Inspiration and is profitable: (in Scripturis sanctis est vis quaedam, quae legenti etiam fine explanatione sufficit.) we ought to believe it to be so, though we feel not the benefit thereof: As Physicians are wont sometimes to give some meat or drink for the clearing of the sight, yet in taking of it we perceive not any benefit, but afterwards when its vertue reacheth it, it by little and little purgeth the sight; after this manner we ought to believe the holy Scriptures to be profitable unto the Soul; although for the present, our sense or reason reach not, nor attain unto the understanding of it.

6. That Children ought to be baptized, thus: the Church hath received from the Apostles this tradition to give or administer Baptism even unto Infants,In Epist. ad▪ Roman. c. …. ver. 6. item. in Levit. cap. 12. ver. 13. Homil. …. item. in Lue, cap 7. Homil. 14.Lev 12:13 for they to whom the secrets of divine Mysteries were committed, knew that there is in all the inbred filth of sin, that ought to be washed away by Water and the Spirit.

p. 2327. Of the Sabbath;In lib. Numeror. cap. 28. thus: Let us see how a Christian ought to observe and keep the Sabbath: Upon the Sabbath, none of the businesses of the World ought to be done, if therefore thou cease from all worldly labours, and do no such work, but attend spiritual imployments, come to the Assembles, apply thine ear unto the holy Scriptures read, and Sermons; think of heavenly things, be sollicitous about the future hope, have before thine eyes the judgement to come, look not unto things visible, and that are present, but unto invisible and that shall be: This is the observation of a Christian Sabbath.

8. Concerning excommunication, and that it ought to be performed by the Church▪ In Josuah. cap. 7.thus: If any one having been admonished and rebuked for a fault, once, again, and the third time, shall shew no amendment; there remains no remedy but cutting off:Matth. 5. 20.Matt 5:20 For so saith the Lord, If thy right offend thee, cut it off, i. e. If I that seem to thee to be a right hand, and am call'd a Presbyter, and seem to preach the Word of God, if I shall do any contrary unto Ecclesiastical Discipline, and the Rule of the Gospel so that I give a scandal or offence unto the Church; let the whole Church conspiring with one consent, cut me off, their right hand.

Again,In Josuah. cap. 15. those whose sins are manifest, we ought to cast off; but where the sin is not evident, we ought not to eject.

9. Out of those Prophesies or Books of the Scripture,…. lib. 4. which contains Histories, we may receive benefit not only, or so much from the narration of the things, as from p. 233what is figuratively signified by them; seeing that with greatest Wisdom, they are so written and dispensed, that they do agree or suit with either the simple and vulgar among Believers, or with the excellent that are willing and able to search them more throughly.

10. He reciteth the Canonical Books of the Old Testament,Euseb. lib. 6. cap. 24. as they are now reckoned, viz. twenty and two in number, after the number of the Hebrew Letters; And besides these, saith he, there are Books of the Machabees. Of the Epistle to the Hebrews, he thus speaks;Ibid. The character of the Epistle to the Hebrews (saith he) setteth not forth the stile of Paul, 2 Cor. 10. 10.2 Cor 10:10who confesseth himself to be rude in speech; for the phrase of that Epistle savoureth very much of the Greek Tongue; whosoever he be that hath any judgement or discerning of phrases, will confess the same. I truly for mine own part, that I may speak as I think, do say, that the Doctrine of this Epistle is the Apostles for undoubted; but the phrase and order another mans, who noted the sayings of the Apostle, and contrived such things as he had heard of his Master, into short and compendious notes.

11. That Christ cometh and goeth,In Cant. Homil. 1. and is not always enjoyed, nor alike present with his people; thus: God is my witness, that I have often times beheld the Bride groom coming unto me, and to be very much with me; who suddenly withdrawing, I could not find what I sought for. I therefore again desire his coming, and sometimes he cometh again; and when he appeareth, and was held p. 234in my hands, he again slips away: and being gone, he is again sought for by me: and this he doth often, till I truly hold him fast.

12. Against the Observations of ones Birth-day,In Job lib. 3. item in Matth. cap. 14.Matt 14 as an annual Festival; thus: It is no where recorded in the Scripture that any of the Saints did keep a Festival, or hold a great Feast upon the day of his Birth; only sinners rejoyce for such a Nativity, as did Pharaoh and Herod.

§ 6. But as his worth was great,Hieronym. …p. ad Pammach. (being great from his infancy) and his excellencies many; (his deeds even from the Cradle deserving, in the judgement of Eusebius, to be recorded and transmitted unto Posterity) so were they equalled by his defects and blemishes;Merlin. in Apolog. Origen. and as for the one he was justly had in high esteem; so did the other no less detract from his reputation; which occasioned that speech so commonly made use of concerning him; that, where he did well, no man did better; and where he did ill, no man did worse.Vid. Baron. ad an. 256. § 46. Cui (inquit Cassiodorus) & illud convenienter aptari potest, quod Virgilius, dum Ennium legeret, à quodam, quid faceret inquifitus, respondit, Aurum ex stercore quaero. Hence it came to pass that divers of the Ancients were so divided in their judgements, and had such hot contests about him: Some vilifying and opposing him, as did Theophilus, Bishop of Alexandria, and Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis, a City of Cyprus; who speaking of the multitude of Books, which he wrote, cryes out:Haeres. 64. O inanis operarie; O empty scribler! p. 235He was also perswaded by Letters,Gennad. de Script. which he received from the said Theophilus (qui scripsit adversum Originem unum & grande volumen, in quo omnia penè ejus dicta, & ipsum pariter damnat, &c.) to summon a Council at Cyprus, wherein by the Bishops of the Island assembled,Socrates, lib. 6. cap. 9. it was decreed that none should read the works of Origen: The like was also done shortly after, in a Synod convened by Theophilus himself in his own Province: Upon which divers of Origens followers fled from thence unto Constantinople, imploring the aid of Chrysostom; Binnius. Concil. tom. 4.who admitted them to communicate with him: and this was it that occasioned the great contention between Chrysostom and Epiphanius upon his coming thither;Ibid. so that they parted in great heat. He was also anathematized, together with those that adhered unto him, and held his errours, by the fifth general Council▪ which was held at Constantinople under Iustinian the Emperour, wherein they stile him the abomination of desolation, Malè sanum, impium Deo que repugnantem; and his opinions, deliramenta & insanias; exclaming thus against them; O dementiam & inscientiam hominis insani & Paganorum disciplinae explicatoris; mente caecutientis, studentis que , Christianorum fidei miscere fabulas, In Epist. ad Johan. Hierosolymitan. in Biblioth. Numb. 8.Num 8&c. Epiphanius calls him Dei & Ecclesiae hostem; as also, the Father of Arius and root of other Heresies. He utters many things (saith Photius) blasphemously, and other very absurd, and full of impiety. Ierom also is very sharp against him;Advers. Vigilant. ep. 75. (though one that admired his wit and parts) in plerisq, inquit, haereticum non nego: and tells us, that p. 236with a sacrilegious Tongue,Advers. Ruffin. lib. 2. Epist. 65. Pammach. he blasphemeth; that his Opinions were venemous, dissonant from the holy Scriptures, and offer violence unto them: professing that he was always an adversary to his Doctrines. Yet withal he thus adds; I am not wont, saith he, to insult over the errours of those whose wit I admire, and if any one shall object or oppose to us his errours; let him hear this freely: that sometime even great Homer himself may nod or slumber; let us not imitate his Vices whose Vertues we cannot follow.Caesarii. Dialog 3. inter opera Nazianzen. Caesarius the brother of Nazianzen, stiles him that impious Origen; and his Doctrines pestiferous; yea …ugae, trifles and toys. And among the later Writters, Beza saith of him, that he was a select instrument of Sathan,In Rom. 8. 3.Rom 8:3 and stiles him, Impurissimus ille Scriptor, quem exoptem velex lectorum manibus excu…i, aut summo cum judicio à studiosis tractari.

On the other side, some did no less magnifie and admire him;Grynaeus. in foreign in Genes. pleading and apologizing in his behalf, Basil, Chrysostom, Nazianzen and Ierom did most highly esteem the Doctrine, Allegories and Tropologies of Origen, extolling him unto heaven with their praises; those that did apologize for him were among other, Pamphilus the Martyr, and Eusehius commonly sirnamed Pamphili; for the singular friendship that was between them: by whom were written six Books in defence of Origen (which Ierom calls latissimum & elaboratum opus) five whereof were the … labour of them both,In Apolog. 1 advers. Ruffin. and the sixth of Eusebius alone after the death of Pamphilus: as appears from the word of Eusebius himself, p. 237lib. 6. cap. 20.Baron. ad an. 256. § 40. Ipse quidem (Pamphilus) proprii operis nihil omnino scripsit (inquit Ruffinus invita Pamphili) exceptis Epistolis. Hieronym. Apolog. 1. advers. Ruffin. Quae (inquit) de ejus gestis sunt ad cognoscendum necessaria ea ex Apologia quae à nobis Pamphili sancti nostri temporis martyris operâ adjutis elucubrata est (illam enim ego & Pamphilus, quo ora malevolorum obtrectatorum, …amae Origenis detrahentium obturaremus, mutuis vigiliis accuratè eleboravimus) licet facilè colligere▪ Photius gives us this account here of, foreign, &c. i. e. Lecti sunt Pamphili martyris & Eusebii pro Origene libri sex, quorum quin que sunt a Pamphilo in carcere, Biblioth. num. 118.praesente etiam Eusebio, elaborati: Sextus verò, postquam jam Martyr ferro privatus vitâ, ad unicè desideratum Deum migrarat, ab Eusebio est absolutus. These were seconded by Ruffine who undertook the same task; setting forth an Apology for Origen; or rather,Bellarm. de script. horum tu primum librum vertis sub nomine Martyris, inquit, Hienym. Apolog. 1. advers. Ruffin. Possevin. apparat. the Apology of Eusebius (for so its commonly called) by him translated into Latin; unto which he added a Volume of his own, bearing this title; of the adulteration of the Books of Origen; These were followed by some learned men of the latter times, viz. Iohannes Picus, the noble Earl of Mirandula, and Phaenix of his time; Vir ingenii penè prodigiosi, & in omni artium, scientiarum & linguarum varietate us que ad miraculum exculti. Sixt. Senens. lib. 1.Also; Gilbert Genebrard, a Parisian Divine, and Professor there of the Hebrew Tongue; And Iacobus Merlinus, Victurniensis Sacrae Theologiae Professor, who endeavours to vindicate both the holiness of his life,Merlin. Apolog. ante opera Origen. and the soundness of his Doctrine. Moreover, such an equipoise was there in him of good and evil, that with Sampson, Solomon, and Trajan (though I conceive the medley p. 238is as Monkish as the scruple) he is put into the number of those concerning whom 'tis equally difficult to determine whether they were saved or not.Fascicul. temp. But surely that bold Shaveling went too far beyond his bounds, who in his Book intituled Pratum Spirituale (which is supposed to be written by Abbot Iohn Moschus) reports that a certain brother (doubting whether Nestorius were in an errour or no) was,Biblioth. Patr. tom. 7. cap. 36. Prati spiritual. Possevin. apparat. & Aloys. Lipoman. in Epist. ad lect. ante libr. by one appearing unto him for his satisfaction, conducted to Hell, where among other Hereticks he saw Origen tormented in those flames: (the Earl of Mirandula is of a contrary judgement.) But the Jesuit Possevine plainly tells us,In Apalog. pro Origen. that whosoever was the Author, many of the relations in that Book deserve but small credit,Possevin. apparat. in Sophronio. being indeed little better than down right lyes; among which he gives an instance in this (not unlike that of Origen) that in a Vision Chrysostom should be seen placed in heaven above all the Doctors and Martyrs: But enough of such stuff. However, evident it is, that he was very erroneous, yea, scarce any one of the Ancients, more; whether we respect the multiplicity, or quality of his errours: So that, as the Orthodox that came after him, were much beholding unto him, as of great advantage to them in the interpretation of the Scriptu…es:Contra Socrates hist. lib. 4. cap. 21. So did the Hereticks take from him the hints of many of their foulest Heresies:Epist. 61. inter Hieronym. Epist. for which cause as Epiphanius calls him the fountain and Father of Arius, so did the Errour of Pelagius (saith Ierom) spring from him;… ad …tesiphontem. Doctrina tu… Origenis ramusculus est: Yea, there is scarce p. 239any sect that had not its rise and beginning from him.Zonaras. Tom. 2. Libr. advers. Haeres. c. 23. The grounds whereof (as Vincentius Lyrinensis conceives) were such as these; His abusing the grace of God too insolently his overmuch indulging his own wit, and trusting to himself; his undervalueing the simplicity of the Christian Religion, his presuming himself wiser then others, and his interpreting some Scriptures after a new manner; contemning Ecclesiastical traditions, and the Authority of the Ancients: Epiphanius imputes it unto this, because he would suffer no part of the holy Scriptures to pass, without his interpretation;Haeres. 64. therefore he fell into error.

Yet do his Apologisers labor to free him; laying the fault of the errors fathered upon him unto the charge of others;De adulter. lib. Orig. Ruffine pleads in his behalf, that he was abused by Hereticks, who adulterated his writings, as they dealt with divers others;Sixt. Senes. lib. 4. that so they might gain credit to their errors, by the names of those famous men, as if they were of the same mind with them;Dicet aliquis corruptos esse Origenis libros: nó resisto; quin potiùs & malo. Vincent. contra haere. c. 23. he adds withal, that the Epistle of Origen unto certain friends of his in Alexandria intimates so much wherein he complains of wrong done unto him in this kind, while he was yet alive. Merlin mentions two ways more beside this, by which Origen might be made to speak that which he never thought;In Apolog. First, by the unskilfulness of the Scribes, who might easily omit or alter what he uttered and dictated. 2. Through the envy of those, who might think their own lustre Eclipsed by the glory and fame of Origen. Hist. Eccles. lib. 6. c. 3.Ego sanè, inquit Haymo, de eo dixerim, p. 240vel quòd haec omnino non scripserit, sed ab haereticis ob praedarum nomen ejus obsuscan. dum malignè conficta sint, & conscripta, & nomine suo praetitulata; vel si scripsit, non statuit ex sententiâ, sed disser…it ex opinione; & fortasse, cum in aliquibus locis scribendo atting… haereticorum errores, calumniatus est, hoc à semetipso dixisse. Mirandul. in apolog. pro Orig.Much to the same purpose speaks the Noble Italian, in his excellent and sinewy Apology in his behalf; wherein he proves that Origen in his younger years delivered many things, as one that rather inquired after, than positively asserted them; as is apparent from divers expressions of his own: e. g. These things, saith he, speaking of the reparation of the Divels,Lib. foreign are said by us with great fear and caution, rather discussing and handling, than for certain and definitively determining them. These and divers other ways do they endeavor to excuse him: wherein yet they do but wash a blackmore: for notwithstanding all that hath been said for him; many soul spots and blemishes do and will stick fast unto him: for we have himself (in a Letter unto Fabian Bishop of Rome) confessing and repenting that he wrote such things;Hieroym. epist. 65. Pammach. & Oceano. imputing it to the unadvisedness of Ambrose, who made that publick, which he delivered privately: secretè edita & minimè correcta (inquit supplementum Bergomense) in publicum protulit. Hoc mihi, inquit, praestiterunt amici mei: si tacuero, re… censear; Supple. Bergomens.& si respondero, inimicus judicabor. Dura utra que conditio; sed à duobus eliga… quod melius est. Severus Sulpitius reports that in his time it was decreed by a Synod p. 241held at Alexandria, Gennad. de script.that Origen was by wise men cautiously to be read for the good that was in him; but, by those, who were less capable, to be rejected, because of the evil that was in him: his words are, respuendam esse penitus lectionem, quae plus esset nocitura insipientibus, In vit… Martini. l. 3.quàm profutura sapientibus: After which it follows; I do wonder, saith he, that one and the same man could so much differ from himself; ut in eâ parte quâ probatur, neminem post Apostolos habeat aequalem; in eù verò quâ jure reprehenditur, nemo deformiùs doceatur errasse. Ibid.I shall content my self with the brief mention of some of the most notorious errours that have been observed in him, as I find them set down by Os…ander in his Epitome of the Centuries: and they are these following.Cent. 3. lib. 1. cap. 6.

1. Quòd Filius Dei Patrem non videat: quòd sit creatura; factus, non natus. Quòd Pater sit perfectè bonus, filius verò non absolutè bonus, sed tantùm cum additamento, ut, Pastor bonus. Filium non esse adorandum, ne que cum Filio Patrem. Omnia, quae à Salvatore … juxta historiam referuntur, putativè tantùm … per allegoriam, accipienda esse. Christum pro Diabolorum salute etiam in aere & supernis … passurum.

2. Spiritum Sanctum dixit, inferiorem esse … majorem enim esse fortitudinem filii; quàm Spiritus Sancti. Epist. 65. Pammach.Of whom he spake so meanly, that saith Ierome, his opinions of the Son were bad, but those of the holy Ghost, were worse.

3. Mundos esse innumerabiles, non quidem p. 242simul, sed ita, ut semper mundi unius finis fit initium alterius mundi.

4. Mundum per angelos ita gubernare, ut alii promptè, alii inviti mundum regant; & propter Angelorum negligentiam & peccata (quòd res terrenas non rectè administrent) sterilitates incidere.

5. Diabolos,Cent. 3. l. 10 sicut & impios, adhuc salvandos; & post longa supplicia, angelis bonis denuò associandos esse.

6. Animas hominum fuisse ante corpora, & egisse aliquid; ideo que crassis corporibus aligatas; & animas postquam salutem consecutae fuerint, non ampliùs futuras animas. Most of these, Ierom mentions together thus. Origenem, inqnit, in plerisq, haereticum non nego: Erravit de resurrectione corporis,Epist. adver. Vigilant. num. 75. erravit de animarum sta…, de diaboli poenitentiâ, &, quod his majus est, Filium Dei & Spiritum Sanctum, in commentariis Esaiae, Seraphim esse testatus est.

7. Providentiam Dei non demitt…re se … omnes creaturas, & inferiora mundi: sed tantùm in coelorum regionibns commorari.

8. Homini, etiam post lapsum talem perfectionom concedit, qualem Adam habuit ante lapsum. Liberum ita que arhitrium, etiam in spiritualibus, homini tribuit.

9. Hominem operibus justificari credidit.

10. Purgatorium post hanc vitam esse opinotus est. Graviora delicta semel tantùm per p… nitentiam condonari putavit.

11. Baptismum post resurrectionem necessarium futurum.

12. Nuptiis seeundis parùm aequus fuit.

p. 24313. Sensit etiam, animas post mortem in coelum ascendere: & nunc proficere, nunc ad inferiora delabi: ita ut per innumerabiles ruinas anima saepe moriatur.

14. Resurrectionem corporum nostrorum s…c futuram, ut eadem membra non habeant: imò in alterâ vitâ fore nos sine corporibus; aut certè corpora nostra id futurum, quod nunc est aether, aut coelum, aut si quod est aliud & syncerius corpus.

15. Post resurrectionem Angelos, diabolos & animas omnium hominum, etiam gentilium, fore unius conditionis: deinde alium subsecuturum mundum, in quo animae de coelo delabentes ali…s corporibus vestiantur.

16. Deni que sacras literas intempestivis & immodicis al…egoriis multò magis obscuravit, quàm explicuit; & aliis scriptoribus ecclesiasticis occasionem dedit, ut & ipsi sacram Scripturam per ineptas allegorias depravarent. Origenis audacia (inquit Chamierus) in affectandis allegoriis semper fuit suspecta,Tom. 3. l 24. c. 10. nec longè distans à temeri …ate.

To these many more might be added, which if the Reader desire to acquaint himself withal; let him peruse the Epistles of Ierom ad Avitum, ad Pammachium & Occanum, together with his Apologies against Ruffine: Epiphanius his Panarium. Haeres: 64. and in his Epistle ad Iohannem Hierosolymitanum; the Centurists in Cent. 3. cap. 10. Dan…us in his Commentary upon the 43. Chapter of Augustin de haeresibus; and Nicelas Choniates in his treasury of the Orthodox faith. Lib. 4. Haeres. 31. who there thus speaks of him; that for natural and moral p. 244philosophy he was a Doctor acceptable unto all; but for matters Dogmatical or of Faith, & of Theological speculation, he shewed himself the most absurd of all that went before or followed after him. Which also those frequent passages of Ierom, Epist. Pammach. n. 65.do shew; where he saith; I commended him as an interpretor, but not as a Dogmatist: Again; I call Origen ours for his learning and wit, not for the truth of his opinions and Doctrine. Lastly,Apolog. adv. Ruffin. l. 2. Epist. ad Theop. n. 62. as I ever attributed unto Origen the Interpretation and idioms or proprieties of Scripture; So I most constantly took from him truth in his opinions. For this cause also having at his request sent unto Avitus, his Translation of Origens books foreign:Ep. ad Avita. num. 59. in the close of his Epistle he prescribes this as an antidote against the errors therein contained: Whosoever, saith he, will read these books, and go toward the land of promise with his feet shod, lest he be bitten of Serpents, and smitten with the forked wound of the Scorpion; let him read this book or Epistle wherein are declared the dangerous passages contained in those books, that so he may know before he begin his journy, what things he must shun & avoid. Hence Beza gives this censure of him; certainly,Epist. 28. saith he, this writer is every way so impure whether he wrote so himself, or whether his writings were afterward depraved, that in matters controversial, he deserves no authority in the Church. Yet notwithstanding in the judgment of some, the good that was in him, exceeded the evil; so that although he were guilty of the errors imputed unto him, yet being a man of so much p. 245learning, he deserves to be pittied; whose faults,Hist. Eccles. lib. 6. c. 3. saith Haymo, if there be any in his books, may be overcome by the Celestial splendor of those things, which are faithfully written by him:In Medull. And, saith Scultetus, this age might well bear the precipitate publication of his works by Ambrose, or the malevolent depravation of them, if withal, they had all come to our hands.

Many of his errors began first to be entertained by the Monks and Disciplinarians in Egypt, Epiphan. haeres. 64. Dan…us. in Aug. de haeres. c. 43.from whose Cells being vented they spread abroad, and were embraced and maintained by very many: unto whom (as a Sect or swarm of Hereticks, deriving their errors from Origen) was given the name of Origenists or Adamantians; who continued long, even unto the time of Gregory the great; for he testifieth that some of them were remaining in his days.Ad an. 256. § 47. Adversus Origenistas (inquit Baronius) longa admodum & periculosa fuit Ecclesiae concertatio.

§ 7. Now as touching the last scene of his life, his going off the Theatre of this world; I find no large mention made of it. That his sufferings for Christ were neither few nor small, (though he suffered not martyrdom) is abundantly testified; So that in the judgment of Merline, In Apolog.as also of Mirandula, he came but little short of it,In Apolog. and deserves the palm:In vitâ Cypriani. semper Deo (inquit Pontius Diaconus) mancipata devotio, dicatis hominibus pro martyrio deputatur. Hist. Eccles▪ l. 6. c. 13.Sir 50:6And, saith Haymo, voluntate Martyr fuit: though he laid not down his life, yet he lost not the Honor of Martyrdom: For they were many and sore things p. 246which he did undergo, even in his old age, (besides what in former time had be…ided him) at what time the persecution against the Church raged under the Emperor Decius: whereof Eusebius makes report in these words: (drawing toward the close of Origen, Lib. 6. c. 38.about which the most part of the sixth book is spent) what things they were, saith he, and how great, which hapned to Origen in that persecution, and how he died; the spiteful Devil pursuing him with his whole troop; striving against him with all might and every kind of sleight that possibly could be invented; and especially against him above all the rest which then were persecuted to death; and what and how great things he sustained for the Doctrine of Christ; imprisonments and torments of body; scourging at Iron stakes, stench of close prison; and how for the space of many days, his feet lay stretched four paces asunder in the stocks; and how that constantly he endured the threats of fire and all that the enemy could terrifie him with; and what end he made after the judge had wrought by all means possible to save his life; and what speeches he uttered very profitable for such as need consolation; sundry of his Epistles truly; faithfully and curiously penn'd, do declare. He lived the space of sixty nine years:Euseb. hist. l. 7. c. 1. Hieronym. in Catalog. …. 3. c. 10. of which (reckoning from the time that he was by Demetrius made Catechist in the School of Alexandria) he spent above fifty most laboriously, in teaching and writing; in the affairs and care of the Church, in refuting Heresies, and in the p. 247exercise of Piety, and many notable vertues. But notwithstanding all his labours and worth, his age and end (as well as the former part of his life) were accompanied with poverty; so small recompence and reward had he from men, who haply could be well contented freely to afford him their praises, but kept fast their purses;Horace. sic, virtus laudatur & alget. And for this, rich Ambrose above all other deserves most blame,Eras. in vitâ Origen. that at his death was not more mindful of his old and indigent friend Origen. Hence it came to pass, that he ended his days in a mean and miserable condition (miserabiliter, Hist. l. 5 c. 33 Euseb. l. 7. cap. 1. Baron. ad an. 256.inquit Nicephorus, infoelix obiit) dying in the famous City of Tyre, where also he was buried in the reign of the Emperors Gallus and Volusian, and in the year of Christ. 256.