The wisdom of Origen: sophia concepts in the work of Origen of Alexandria

Thesis

Origen ranked wisdom as the highest achievement of Christian existence. This virtue characterised the initial prelapsarian condition and final bliss of human existence, and so significantly influenced how Origen understood the world and the soul’s place in it. However, while the Trinitarian and Christological significance of wisdom within his thought has received significant scholarly attention, Origen’s understand of the virtue of wisdom and its role in Christian life has been overlooked. This thesis argues that this concept provides a crucial lens through which to understand Origen’s theological project, one through which we will trace the connections between not only Trinitarian and Christological considerations, but also Origen’s anthropology, epistemology, apologetics, eschatology, pedagogy, and so on. Above all, the ideal of wisdom will be demonstrated to order Origen’s conception of Christian life, orienting Christianity in an intellectual and mystical direction while also conditioning the present and graduated nature of the Christian community and the incremental and progressive character of Christian revelation. By examining this topic which sits within a nexus of interrelated subjects, this thesis will contribute to a wider understanding of a number of interrelated aspects of Origen’s thought and will demonstrate that the inspired Christian sage is a crucial figure in his account of the God’s revelatory and redemptive economy.

Authors: Lines, H

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-9eraxv6x9
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: Christian Platonism; logos christology; logos; wisdom christology; Christian mysticism; apologetics; christology; Origen of Alexandria; wisdom; Clement of Alexandria; Sophia; patristics; eschatology; Alexandrian School; asceticism; Platonism; Philo of Alexandria; theology; Christian pedagogy; Origen; Paideia; wisdom literature; Commentary on the Song of Songs; Christian theology; metaphysics; Christian epistemology; Christian philosophy; epistemology; Christian metaphysics; Christianity; Christian asceticism; Thanksgiving Oration
• Subjects: God (Christianity)--Wisdom; Christian education--History--Early church, ca. 30-600; Divine man (Christology); Christian literature, Early; Logos (Christian theology); Wisdom (Gnosticism); Church history; Wisdom--Religious aspects--Christianity; Christian ethics--History--Early church, ca. 30-600; Fathers of the church; Knowledge, Theory of (Religion); Wisdom (Biblical personification); Theology