He became instructor of a school of Christian philosophy at the age of eighteen. He was terrified at the prospect of teaching women, fearing that he may succumb to sexual passion. So taking Jesus’ words “If thy hand offend thee, cut it off” in a more literal way than was his wont in approaching biblical texts, Origen made himself a eunuch for the glory of God.

Origen was ascetic in other ways, as well. He was a vegetarian, subsisting largely on a diet of raw vegetables and beans, and he allowed himself only a few hours of sleep per night, so that he could have more time to study. He also refused payment for his teaching services, and sold his father’s prized library of classical literature to support himself.

By the year 210 CE, Origen had become a world-class celebrity, traveling throughout the empire giving lectures, sermons, and classes, as well as deciding doctrinal disputes. As you can imagine, this made him as many enemies as it did friends. Demetrius, his bishop, was moved to try to curb some of Origen’s enthusiasm. The problem was that since Origen was just a teacher, and not clergy, Demetrius had very little control over him. He could fire him, but Origen’s reputation would easily secure him another post. Best to “keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” And Origen, not surprisingly, thought that all was as it should be: all theologians should be free to follow whatever line of inquiry occurs to them without the censure of the church hierarchy. If something is of God, it will endure. If not, it will fade.

This scared Bishop Demetrius silly, and he perceived Origen as undermining the authority of the Church. Origen thought that a simple solution could be reached. Demetrius should just ordain him, that way he could continue teaching, but he would be doing so with the authority of the Church. Demetrius didn’t like that idea at all, regarding such a move to be of the “out of the frying pan into the fire” variety.

The dilemma was finally resolved when Origen was lecturing in Caesarea. The local bishop there was a former student of Origen’s, and when Origen asked him to ordain him, he did. Demetrius, of course, hit the roof and banished Origen, claiming that his priesthood was invalid because he was a eunuch! So Origen just moved to Caeserea, and settled in there, writing and teaching for another 20 years. During another wave of persecution, Origen was arrested and tortured on the rack, but his lifelong dream of martyrdom eluded him, and he eventually died of old age.

His teaching continued to garner fame long after his death, however, causing great rifts in the Church. For Origen the universe was very different than it is for most Christian theologians. The universe is good, for one thing, and the “fall” of humanity is not eternal or even necessarily evil. In his system, human beings reincarnate until they learn the lessons God has laid out for them to learn, and at the end of the ages, all beings, including Satan himself, will eventually learn of their error, and be reconciled to God.

What?? You might be saying. Reincarnation? Universalism? No eternal Hell? What’s up with this guy? Was he completely out to lunch? No, just thoughtful, learned, optimistic, and hopelessly creative. Although these might seem like radical ideas today, Origen was considered a champion of orthodoxy in his time; it is hard for us to remember just how ill-defined orthodoxy was in the early Church. The only thing one might accuse Origen of is being too darned clever for his own good. There is no doubt that Origen had set out to become the most learned man in all of Christendom. His greatest work is the compilation of the Hextapa, a Bible that assembled all of the most ancient manuscripts available to him, laid out in six parallel columns, sometimes stretching to as many as nine columns, when he could find fragments of even more ancient manuscripts.

As an author, he was unstoppable. Jerome once commented that Origen wrote more than anyone could possibly read. Epiphanius reports that his works number over 6,000 volumes. It is reported that he employed seven full-time secretaries to transcribe his teaching, and even more scribes to copy and disseminate his writings.

And it is his writing—particularly his exegesis of scripture—that is his real claim to fame. For Origen was the first to suggest that the Bible needed to be read on two levels: the superficial, historical level, which was the normal way of understanding it; and the esoteric, spiritual level, which was his own innovation. One example that will be immediately familiar is that of the Biblical “Song of Solomon” or “Song of Songs.” Most of us are aware that the church has traditionally interpreted this erotic love poetry as being about the relationship between Christ and the Church. What most people are not aware of is that this is entirely Origen’s idea, and is typical of his approach to scripture.

--By John R. Mabry, exerpted from Heretics, Mystics & Misfits (Berkeley: Apocryphile Press, 1994) www.apocryphile.org.