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Library | Call Number | Material Type | Home Location | Status | Item Holds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... | BR60.F3 O675 2001 V.103 | Adult Non-Fiction | Non-Fiction Area | Searching... | Searching... |
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Summary
Summary
Origen of Alexandria's Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans is the oldest extant commentary on Romans. This volume presents a translation of the commentary from Latin. Origen's exegesis predates the controversy between Augustine and Pelagius by 170 years and opposes Gnostic interpretations of Paul which is one of its important characteristics. Above all Origen defends the Church against the doctrine of natures - the belief that all human beings are born with unalterable natures, either good or evil, and thus bound for either salvation or damnation, and that their conduct in life cannot alter their destiny. He refutes this teaching, showing that freedom of will abides in rational beings.
Author Notes
Origen is the foremost member of the School of Alexandria, the first school of genuinely philosophical Christian theology. His Platonism is of an older form, uninfluenced by the Neoplatonism of Plotinus, so his philosophy is quite distinct from that of Augustine of Hippo on a number of issues, but especially on the issue of original sin and freedom of will and on the justification of God's permitting evil in the world. Origen became a center of controversy because of his contention that even the Devil would in the end return to God, and he seems to have held that a person enjoys as many successive lives on earth as are needed to return to God after the Fall. However, all matters concerning the interpretation of his thought are controversial. The other members of the school are Clement of Alexandria (c.150-c.213) and Irenaeus of Lyons (died c.202).
(Bowker Author Biography)