Origen and the «Holy Land» (Jack and Lewis Rudin and Jack Driscoll Annual Lecture 2013, Jerusalem) (original) (raw)
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Origen was already acquainted with the Land of Israel before he moved to Caesarea in the middle of his intense life. Travels through the region of Syria and Palestine contributed for him to create the favourable conditions for a new beginning in his already celebrated career as a renowned theologian. His living in Caesarea, without being a dramatic change, permitted to Origen to develop his literary activity even more than in Alexandria and did not hinder his further travels and contacts abroad. In addition, he came into a more direct and personal relationship with the traditions of Judaism and with the Jewish sages, though he was now also involved in ecclesiastical service as an official preacher in the church. Thus the sojourn in Palestine was not only a positive way out from the hard crisis that Origen went through in Alexandria during the conflict with bishop Demetrius because of his activity and theological program as a Christian teacher, but it determined to a large extent also the survival of his literary and theological heritage. It was not Alexandria that preserved it, despite the influence that Origen exerted on Dionysius of Alexandria, Didymus the Blind and other exponents of the Alexandrian School. On the contrary, it was the region that would soon become the ‘Holy Land’ that assumed this fundamental task. If Pamphilus and Eusebius selected and transmitted Origen’s literary heritage to posterity, Jerome in spite of his turn of mind in the wake of the first Origenist crisis contributed together with his former friend Rufinus to bequeathe this heritage to the western world and to assure its subsequent reception throughout the Middle Ages until its modern discovery. The Land of Israel then, during Late Antiquity, acted as the main place for the survival of Origen’s legacy and the spread of Origenism.
This essay explores, explains and critically evaluates the contribution of Origen as a biblical commentator. Within this essay, I will systematically outline three principle points: firstly; his style of writings, secondly; his tri-fold approach to scripture (I will refer to his numerous works here), and thirdly, to his commentary on the Song of Songs as an example of his work.
Recent Publications on Origen and the Alexandrian Tradition (2017)
Published in: «Adamantius», Vol. 23 (2017), pp. 544-621., 2017
Indice: 0. Bibliografie, repertori e rassegne; profili di studiosi; 1. Miscellanee e studi di carattere generale; 2. Ellenismo e cultura alessandrina; 3. Giudaismo ellenistico; 4. LXX; 5. Aristobulo; 6. Lettera di Aristea; 7. Filone Alessandrino (1. Bibliografie, rassegne, repertori; 2. Edizioni e traduzioni; 3. Miscellanee e raccolte; 4. Studi); 8. Pseudo-Filone; 9. Flavio Giuseppe (1. Bibliografie, rassegne, repertori; 2. Edizioni e traduzioni; 3. Miscellanee e raccolte; 4. Studi); 10. Cristianesimo alessandrino e ambiente egiziano (1. Il contesto religioso egiziano; 2. Il periodo delle origini; 3. Gnosticismo, ermetismo e manicheismo; 4. La chiesa alessandrina: istituzioni, dottrine, riti, personaggi e episodi storici; 5. Il monachesimo); 11. Clemente Alessandrino; 12. Origene (1. Bibliografie, rassegne, repertori; 2. Edizioni e traduzioni; 3. Miscellanee e raccolte; 4. Studi); 13. L’origenismo e la fortuna di Origene; 14. Dionigi Alessandrino; 15. Pierio di Alessandria; 16. Pietro di Alessandria; 17. Alessandro di Alessandria; 18. Ario; 19. Eusebio di Cesarea; 20. Atanasio; 21. I Padri Cappadoci (1. Basilio di Cesarea; 2. Gregorio di Nazianzo; 3. Gregorio di Nissa); 22. Ambrogio di Milano; 23. Didimo il Cieco; 24. Evagrio; 25. Rufino di Aquileia; 26. Teofilo di Alessandria; 27. Sinesio di Cirene; 28. Gerolamo; 29. Agostino; 30. Isidoro di Pelusio; 31. Cirillo Alessandrino; 32. Nonno di Panopoli; 33. Pseudo-Dionigi Areopagita; 34. Cosma Indicopleuste; 35. Giovanni Filopono; 36. Massimo il Confessore.
Palestinian Christianity: Pilgrimages and Shrines, ARAM Periodical 18-19 (2006-2007): 49-83, 2006
This essay challenges the received wisdom that we have no composition written by the so-called Origenists, condemned at the Fifth Ecumenical Council (or its pre-synod) in 553. Within the framework of the endeavour of identifying and deciphering the works, often transmitted pseudonymously and written with a consummate art of writing, authored by the condemned Origenists, it proposes that the Questions and Answers attributed to the quaestor Caesarius, the brother of Saint Gregory of Nazianzus, were de facto written by Theodore (surnamed the Wine-sack), bishop of Caesarea, whe was one of the leaders of the Origenists and, at the same time, one of emperor Justinian's favourite courtiers and advisors.