Origenism

Summary: In the following article the author discusses the question of apocatastasis in the
light of Christian ontology. The author examines the possibilities of the theological solution
for the questions of apocatastasis which could be in accordance with the Christological
ontology of the Early Church Fathers, with special emphasis on the contribution of St.
Maximus the Confessor.

Key words: apocatastasis, Christology, ontology, eschatology, St. Maximus the Confessor

This essay considers distinct ways of understanding these complexities, specifically by reference to the anthropological and metaphysical thought of St. Maximus the Confessor. Maximus’ understanding of human knowledge and volition and desire are interpreted in light of his commitments concerning doctrine of God, read through his systematic correction of a broadly “Origenist” aversion to metaphysical motion.

This article is an attempt to search for Origen's inspiration for the theology of the Iconoclastic party, suggested by Father George Florovsky, who proposed that the spiritualistic attitude of the Iconoclastic Emperors of the First Iconoclasm and their antipathy towards matter may point to the influence of Origenist doctrines. However, this hypothesis still lacked textual and doctrinal evidence from the writings of the Iconoclastic period. The influence of Origen's thought, direct or indirect, can be traced in the several layers of the "defense in depth" that the Iconoclasts have built against the Iconodules. In the realm of epistemology very close parallels between Origen's and the Iconoclasts' thought can be found in the concept of image in opposition to the truth, and, consequently, in justification of a mental imageless approach to the divinity. Such an approach of both Origen and the Iconoclasts highlights the similarly ambiguous role of matter and senses in both theological systems.

This paper  builds on my previous published thesis that  whereas the negative theology of Pseudo-Dionysius entailed the complete unknowability of God as One beyond language, concept and being, Thomas developed a distinctly ‘positive apophaticism’ which transformed ‘Denys’ in the light of Augustine, Aristotle and especially Scripture itself.  In this present dissertation I examine how Thomas’ approach to Scripture, particularly in the value he assigns to the ‘literal sense’ of Scripture, begins to reconfigure the hierarchical vision of the cosmos found in Pseudo-Dionysius. I argue that Thomas’ approach to the different senses of Scripture is both more comprehensive and rigorous than that of Pseudo-Dionysius and that it still offers a guiding light through the hermeneutical fog of contemporary theology with its dual challenges both from  historical/critical methods  and from deconstructive neo-kabbalistic approaches,  culminating in the God without Being of Jean-Luc Marion whose silence, ‘precisely because it does not explain itself, exposes itself to an infinite equivocation of meaning.’

Cyril of Scythopolis - The Lives of the Heremits of Palestine, bilingual edition, translated and introduced by Hieromonk Agapie Corbu. A comprehensive Introduction is enlightening the rich context of the fifth and sixth centuries, presenting:
1. The becoming of an author and the destiny of a work
2. The monasticism of Cyril's writings
3. The ecclesiastical historical context
4. The origenist crisis in Palestina

For some time now there's been a trend to study the relations between Maximus's metaphysics and various kinds of Neoplatonism. This has been salutary and useful. But far less attention has been given to the distinctly Stoic shape of Maximus's cosmology. That's surprising, since among the more obviously Stoic motifs in Maximus is his most idiosyncratic and central thesis--that the Logos is the logoi of the cosmos. This brief essay identifies and surveys just three Stoic motifs Maximus indulges (there are more): [1] the creative procession of the Logos as logoi; [2] the continuous creation of universals; [3] the Logos as the immanent and personal unity of the world.

Published in: M. Vinzent (ed.), Studia Patristica LXX, Leuven 2013, pp. 631-647.
The controversy surrounding Pelagius’ theology is mostly related to subjects like free will, grace, original sin, and infant baptism. This underlines how strong the influence of Augustine’s perspective on the debate was en still is. Pelagius, however, had been living in Palestine for seven years by the time he was condemned, where he was confronted with other opponents, among whom Jerome of Stridon was the most influential. An analysis of the anti-Origenist statements in his Libellus fidei shows how important the Eastern context was to Pelagius, and how he related his own position to the positions taken by John of Jerusalem and Jerome during the Origenist controversy in Palestine twenty years earlier. Comparison of their respective statements shows that Pelagius tactically incorporated much of Jerome’s criticism of John, while taking some distance from his patron. The Origenist issues were mainly important to Pelagius because of Jerome’s allegations, but at the same time they illustrate how important the Palestinian context was to him by that time.

The article was written at the University of Oslo, Faculty of Theology, under the aegis of project NEWCONT (New Contexts for Old Texts: Unorthodox Texts and Monastic Manuscript Culture in 4th- and 5th-Cent. Egypt), funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) / ERC Grant agreement no 283741.

The essay offers a reassessment of the intellectual origins of Cappadocian theology by studying in particular the relationship between Basil of Caesarea and the so-called homoiousians and, more broadly, the Origenist tradition. The result is that his trinitarian theology cannot easily be derived from this tradition.

In this paper I present issues of historical methodologies that scholars studying John Cassian and Evagrius of Pontus have operated under. It is my hope that studies like this will highlight the work that is needed to be done in the desert fathers.

The mysterious figure of Pseudo-Dionysius was probably a heterodox Origenist and monophysite theologian from 6th century Syria, yet he successfully deceived the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches for 900 years into believing he was a first century disciple of the apostle Paul.
This paper explores how he managed to pull off this ruse through appealing to the commonly accepted authority of Scripture, through concealing his more overt heterodox teachings within a secret oral tradition and through the use of pseudonymity.
In my evaluation I point out that Dionysius’ success at avoiding condemnation and persecution this paper came at a price, namely that the subsequent ‘receptions’ of the Pseudo-Dionysius within orthodoxy ‘corrected’ his teachings to such an extent that his original message is shrouded in obscurity.

Three steps are necessary for a study of the presence of possible Manichaean influence on the first generation of monastic and eremitical life of what is commonly known as the Coptic Orthodox tradition, and to study the interactions of Manichaeans with Coptic Orthodox, Origenists, Meletians and others: (1) Show the availability of Manichaean materials, teachers or communities, temporally, geographically and culturally, to the Egyptian desert communities and hermits. This would, in effect, be a Manichaean prosopography. (2) Show evidence of actual contacts between Manichaeans, "Orthodox" Christian ascetics, and others. (3) Discover in the texts of the Apophthegmata Patrum (The Sayings of the Desert Fathers) evidence of Manichaean themes, images, etc. This would require distinguishing actual and verifiable Manichaean literature and theology from that claimed by heresiologists, without other substantiation. The current study considers the evidence available for each of the areas above, and makes a judgment as to the probability of the thesis: The relationship of the Manichaeans to the "Orthodox" appears to have been substantially different than that between the "Orthodox" and other groups. There is evidence of occasional cooperation between Coptic Orthodox, Meletian and Origenist ascetics, but as yet no evidence of a cooperative connection between Manichaeans and these other groups, although emerging textual evidence from new finds will be helpful in seeking literary and spiritual connections in future research. La Première Génération De Manichéens et Autres Communautés Dans les Déserts Egyptiens: Méthodes de Recherche, l'Evidence Disponible et les Conclusions Sommaire: L'étude de la présence éventuelle d'une influence manichéenne sur la première génération de vie monastique et érémitique de ce que l'on appelle communément la tradition Copte Orthodoxe ainsi que l'étude des interactions entre les Manichéens et les Coptes Orthodoxes, Origenistes, Mélétiens et autres, demande trois étapes: (1) Montrer la présence d'écrits, de maîtres ou de communautés associées dans le temps, géographiquement et culturellement avec les communautés et les ermites du désert Egyptien. Ceci en effet serait une prosopographie Manichéenne. (2) Montrer l'évidence de contacts réels entre Manichéens, ascètes orthodoxes chrétiens et autres. (3) Découvrir dans les textes du Apophthegmata Patrum (Les Paroles des Pères du Désert) évidence des thèmes et des images Manichéennes. Ceci demanderait de faire la distinction précise et vérifiable entre la littérature et la théologie Manichéennes et ce que les partisans des hérésies supportent sans autre justification. Cette étude considère l'évidence disponible dans chacun des thèmes ci-dessus et fait un jugement quant a

From Origen and John Cassian to the Anti-Christian Rome and the Jesuits (with pictures and legends)
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Αιγύπτιοι Μεμφιτιστές, Ιρανοί Μιθραϊστές & Ιησουΐτες: από τον Ιησού στον του Κόσμου Άρχοντα & από τον Ωριγένη στον Ιωάννη Κασσιανό - Ωριγενισμός, Αναχωρητισμός, Μανιχεϊσμός, Ρώμη & Νέα Ρώμη
----------------
Egyptian Memphists, Iranian Mithraists & Jesuits: from Jesus to the prince of this world & from Origen to John Cassian - Origenism, Monasticism, Manichaeism, Rome & New Rome
-------------------
Περιεχόμενα
Πρόλογος
I. Οι Ιησουΐτες: Ιστορικοί Δακτύλιοι της Αλυσίδας τους
II. Θρησκεία, Πίστη, και Καλό-Κακό
III. Περιεχόμενο ή Ουσία: Μόνο Κριτήριο Αξιολόγησης
IV. Patrologia Graeca: ο Σωστός Τρόπος Πρόσβασης σε Πατερικά Κείμενα
V. Αν αγνοείς τον Jacques Paul Migne, είσαι 'Χριστιανός' ενός άλλου Σύμπαντος!!!
VI. Patrologia Graeca: Μισητή στους Ιησουΐτες
VII. Patrologia Graeca: Άγνωστη στους Ψευτο-Χριστιανούς της Ψευτο-Ελλάδας
VIII. Ψυχικό Σύμπαν, Αλήθεια, Πίστη, Ιερατεία, Θρησκεία και Πονηρά Πνευματικότητα
IX. Θεόσταλτα Άτομα, Προφήτες, Πνευματικότητα, Ηθική, Θρησκεία και Ιερατεία
X. Θρησκεία και Θεολογία
XI. Ιερατεία, Πνευματικότητα, Θρησκεία, και Εξουσία
XII. Ιερατεία, Πνευματικότητα, Θρησκεία, Θεολογία, Θεωρίες, Ιδέες και Αφηγήματα
XIII. Ιερατεία, Γνωστικοί, Ιουδαϊσμός, Σιωνισμός (Ιουδαϊκός Εσωτερισμός) και Αραμαίοι
XIV. Ιερατεία, Πρώιμοι 'Χριστιανοί', Ιησούς, και ο του Κόσμου Άρχων - Δράκων
XV. Ιερατεία, Πατέρες της Εκκλησίας, Αναχωρητισμός, Ωριγενισμός, Μανιχεϊσμός, Ρωμαϊκός Χριστιανισμός, και Χριστιανωσύνη
XVI. Από τον Ωριγένη στον Ιωάννη Κασσιανό
--------------------
First published on 1st January 2022 here:
https://megalommatis.blogspot.com/2022/01/blog-post.html

Shenoute the Great, archimandrite of the White Monastery in Sohag, is considered to be one of the firmest adversaries of Origenism in Egypt during the 5th century. The early Origenistic controversies describe the reaction of certain cycles to some aspects of monastic spirituality related more or less to Origen. The impact, however, of Hellenistic philosophical and religious background, of which an important factor was Origen, on later Christian literature and particularly on the Christian interpretation of Scriptures in the so-called Alexandrian tradition goes beyond and extends surprisingly to authors of anti-Origenistic tendencies as well. The present essay aims to demonstrate through the textual analysis of the Shenute’s homily As I sat on a Mountain that the influence of the Origen’s hermeneutic principles, as they have expressed in his Caesarian commentaries and homilies on the Song of Songs, can also be identified in the hermeneutic approach of the abbot of Sohag to the same biblical text.

Having established in two previous studies that the 'Questions and Answers' pseudonymously attributed to Caesarius, the brother of Saint Gregory of Nazianzus, are in fact the magnum opus of Theodore of Caesarea, nicknamed the Wine-sack (Askidas) - all-powerful courtier of Justinian I and spiritus rector of the sixth-century Origenist movement -  in this study I move on to scrutinise what Pseudo-Caesarius teaches about the final end of mankind, and to see whether this corresponds in one manner or another to what we know, from the anti-Origenist sources, about the doctrine of the Isochrist Origenists. For this, a decoding methodology, applying which the hidden meaning of the text can be revealed, is being elaborated. The result is that, indeed, Pseudo-Caesarius taught the final restoration of all the rational beings to their original blessed state (apokatastasis), including the final salvation of Satan. Reading the  Pseudo-Caesarean 'Questions and Answers', we are in the privileged position of holding in our hands one of the foundational texts of sixth-century Isochrist Origenism.

In a series of papers, Thomas P. Flint has posited that God the Son could become incarnate in any human person as long as certain conditions are met (Flint 2001a, 2001b). In a recent paper, he has argued that all saved human persons will one day become incarnated by the Son (Flint 2011). Flint claims that this is motivated by a combination of Molinism and orthodox Christology. I shall argue that this is unmotivated because it is condemned by orthodox Christology. Flint has unknowingly articulated a version of the heresy called Origenism that is condemned by the Fifth Ecumenical Council. After arguing that Flint’s account is unmotivated because it is condemned, I shall offer some reflections and prolegomena on the relationship between contemporary analytic theology and the ecumenical creeds.

From Origen and John Cassian to the Anti-Christian Rome and the Jesuits
-----------
Αιγύπτιοι Μεμφιτιστές, Ιρανοί Μιθραϊστές & Ιησουΐτες: από τον Ιησού στον του Κόσμου Άρχοντα & από τον Ωριγένη στον Ιωάννη Κασσιανό - Ωριγενισμός, Αναχωρητισμός, Μανιχεϊσμός, Ρώμη & Νέα Ρώμη
----------------
Egyptian Memphists, Iranian Mithraists & Jesuits: from Jesus to the prince of this world & from Origen to John Cassian - Origenism, Monasticism, Manichaeism, Rome & New Rome
------------------- 
Περιεχόμενα
Πρόλογος
I. Οι Ιησουΐτες: Ιστορικοί Δακτύλιοι της Αλυσίδας τους
II. Θρησκεία, Πίστη, και Καλό-Κακό
III. Περιεχόμενο ή Ουσία: Μόνο Κριτήριο Αξιολόγησης
IV. Patrologia Graeca: ο Σωστός Τρόπος Πρόσβασης σε Πατερικά Κείμενα
V. Αν αγνοείς τον Jacques Paul Migne, είσαι 'Χριστιανός' ενός άλλου Σύμπαντος!!!
VI. Patrologia Graeca: Μισητή στους Ιησουΐτες
VII. Patrologia Graeca: Άγνωστη στους Ψευτο-Χριστιανούς της Ψευτο-Ελλάδας
VIII. Ψυχικό Σύμπαν, Αλήθεια, Πίστη, Ιερατεία, Θρησκεία και Πονηρά Πνευματικότητα
IX. Θεόσταλτα Άτομα, Προφήτες, Πνευματικότητα, Ηθική, Θρησκεία και Ιερατεία
X. Θρησκεία και Θεολογία
XI. Ιερατεία, Πνευματικότητα, Θρησκεία, και Εξουσία
XII. Ιερατεία, Πνευματικότητα, Θρησκεία, Θεολογία, Θεωρίες, Ιδέες και Αφηγήματα
XIII. Ιερατεία, Γνωστικοί, Ιουδαϊσμός, Σιωνισμός (Ιουδαϊκός Εσωτερισμός) και Αραμαίοι
XIV. Ιερατεία, Πρώιμοι 'Χριστιανοί', Ιησούς, και ο του Κόσμου Άρχων - Δράκων
XV. Ιερατεία, Πατέρες της Εκκλησίας, Αναχωρητισμός, Ωριγενισμός, Μανιχεϊσμός, Ρωμαϊκός Χριστιανισμός, και Χριστιανωσύνη
XVI. Από τον Ωριγένη στον Ιωάννη Κασσιανό
--------------------
First published on 1st January 2022 here:
https://megalommatis.blogspot.com/2022/01/blog-post.html

This paper addresses the issue of the presence of "Origenist heretics," so-called, in the court of Justinian. It analyses the historiographic testimonies on the role of Domitian, originally abbot of the Monastery of Martyrius, later bishop of Ancyra in Asia Minor, and of Theodore, nicknamed the Wine-sack (Askidas), originally a monk of the New Lavra and later Archbishop  of Caesarea and Justinian's all-powerful advisor. The paper analyses the hostile texts of Cyril of Scythopolis on these two actors and describes the circumstances of the condemnations of - first - Origen in 542/3 and - second - of Origenism as such at the fifth ecumenical council in 553. Then, it accumulates proofs for the identification of the author of the Questions and Answers (Erotapokriseis) of Pseudo-Caesarius with Theodore of Caesarea (aka the Wine-sack: Askidas) and proposes a methodology to decipher the cryptic language of this work. A continuation of this study about the doctrine of universal restoration (apokatastasis) in the Pseudo-Caesarius has been published in the second volume of the Beyond the Fathers series.

A study of the pseudonymous canons of the apostolic council at Antioch, which suggests that they are an Origenistic document originating in the late fourth century, roughly contemporaneously with the 85 apostolic canons.
Une étude des canons pseudonymes du conseil apostolique à Antioche, qui suggère qu'ils sont un document Origenistique originaire de la fin du IVe siècle, à peu près simultanément avec les 85 canons apostoliques.
Zusammenfassung Eine Studie über die pseudonyme Kanones der Apostelkonzil in Antiochia, die darauf hindeutet, dass sie ein origenistische Dokument mit Ursprung in den späten vierten Jahrhundert sind, etwa gleichzeitig mit den 85 apostolischen Kanonen.

The contribution, after a short overview of Bucer’s general attitude towards the Church Fathers, focuses on the presence of Origen in the writings of Martin Bucer. Differently from other Reformers, who rejected Origen and his allegorical exegesis completely, Bucer referred often to the Alexandrian Father and quoted him as an historical witness of religious practices common to Reformation and to the early Church (like the infant baptism). More important, Bucer knew and employed Origen’s biblical interpretation as a source of inspiration for his own exegetical practice, as his Commentary to the Romans plainly testify.

Pseudo-Hierotheos’ Book of the Hidden Secrets of the House of God, commonly known as Book of Hierotheos, represents one of the most obscure and sumptuous chapters in the history of Syriac Medieval mysticism. The only existing edition of this text was produced in 1927 by British scholar Fred Marsh, who composed an eclectic edition based on the three manuscripts known to him. Since the time of Marsh, new archival finds, especially among the monastic communities of the region of Tur Abdin in southeastern Turkey, have broadened significantly the base of manuscript witnesses of this work, and represent an unexplored mine of textual information on the origin and the formation of Pseudo-Hierotheos’ Book. In this article I will consider how one might use the new corpus of manuscript finds to shed new light on this text and its significance, consider whether a new edition shall be produced, and discuss what such an edition should look like.

Scrinium 9 (2013)

Acc. to Philoponus, the resurrected human bodies will be composed from completely different incorruptible "elements".

My point is that the impossibility of reconstructing Philoponus' thought about the Resurrection resulted from our total dependency on the Cononite sources (the monophysite tritheist party of the opponents of Philoponus): Timothy of C.ple (a Chalcedonian) was depending on the Cononite information, too.

The Cononites understood Philoponus' notion of εἶδος as synonymous to σχῆμα, whereas its real meaning was different (the soul as a separable ἐντελέχεια of the body etc.). Thus, the famous knot from the Cononite anti-Philoponian florilegium, the following Philoponian quotation (about the resurrected bodies):
ܘܠܐ ܒܠܚܘܕ ܒܡܢܝܢܐ ܐܚܪ̈ܝܢ ܠܗ̇ܢܘܢ ܕܐܝܬܝܗܘܢ܆ ܐܠܐ ܘܠܐ ܫܘ̈ܝܝ ܒܐܕܫܐ ܠܗ̇ܢܘܢ.

must be cut with an emendation:

ܘܒܡܢܝܢܐ ܐܚܪ̈ܝܢ ܠܗ̇ܢܘܢ ܕܐܝܬܝܗܘܢ܆ ܐܠܐ ܫܘ̈ܝܝ ܒܐܕܫܐ ܠܗ̇ܢܘܢ.

which will be in accord with other Philoponus' works and, especially, a place in the Arbiter (Syriac only) which was so far misinterpreted, too.

The resurrected bodies, according to Philoponus, will be different in their elements but the same in their "eidos".

PhD Dissertation (defended January 17, 2013, VU University Amsterdam).
(The pdf contains: preface, table of contents, bibliography, summaries [ENG, NL]).
A study of some fundamental aspects of Pelagius' confession of faith ("Libellus fidei", written 417 CE): context, background and immediate cause; text (critical edition); sources; analysis of and commentary on the paragraphs directly related to the controversy.
Augustine had labelled the confession as misleading and ambiguous, pope Zosimus on the other hand accepted it as both honest ("without pretence") and orthodox. Augustine's view is repeated and confirmed up to the present day.
The analysis offered suggests that Augustine mistook Pelagius' confession for an answer to African accusations and questions. Pelagius, however, seems to have taken Jerome's writings as point of departure rather than Augustine's. This throws new light on his supposed ambiguity.
The thesis also includes editions of some text not yet critically edited or reconstructed before: the confessions of Caelestius and Julian of Aeclanum/a group of Aquileian bishops, Ambrose "of Chalcedon", et al.
(Commercial publication, in two separate volumes, is in preparation.)

In this paper I shall establish one aspect of the reception of Origen of Alexandria‟s philosophical and theological ideas in the works of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola. The Disputatio de salute Origenis is the longest section of his Apologia, which Pico writes in defense of some of the theses condemned by the investigating commission gathered in 1487 by Pope Innocent VIII. Pico tries to reinstate the figure and the work of Origen, who had been accused of heresy, and challenges his own judges regarding the limits of ecclesiastical authority over the internal forum of each person.

This article examines three passages in Nonnus' Paraphrase of the Gospel according to John (19.21-25; 19.118-132; 20.81-82), all of which mention pieces of clothing in the context of Christ's passion and resurrection. It argues that Nonnus allows, and indeed encourages, both literal readings and metaphorical interpretations of the garments as stand-ins for Christ's body. The readings which do not turn garments into symbols of the body would be more in agreement with the Orthodox theology of Nonnus' time, while the metaphorical interpretations would be more amenable to a heterodox (Origenist or Nestorian) construal. The poem's ambivalence in the employment of clothing metaphors indicates an attitude that is less strictly Alexandrian / Orthodox and more polyphonic than has so far been assumed.

В статье описывается история исследования оригенизма в христологической полемике Леонтия Византийского от первых исследований до самого недавней работы И. Перцеля. Кратко описываются аргументы в пользу этой теории, выдвинутые Д. Краусмюллером и И. Перцелем, и ее критика различными исследователями. Согласно анализу Д. Краусмюллера, душа в составе человеческого тела, по мнению Леонтия Византийского, самосовершенна, самодостаточна, самодвижна и фактически обладает независимым существованием помимо тела во вневременном аспекте, что совместимо с оригенистским учением о первом творении разумной твари и последующем преобразовании ума в душу при его соединении с телом. В своих двух исследованиях, на основе филологического анализа с привлечением ряда дополнительных источников VI в., И. Перцель развивает гипотезу Д. Эванса о том, что Леонтий Византийский представляет изохристскую фракцию монахов-оригенистов и резко критикует учение другой фракции — протоктистов, христианский платонизм которых испытал влияние Дионисия Ареопагита и Феодора Мопсуэстийского. И. Перцель также приходит к выводу о некорректности термина «оригенизм» применительно к движению ученых монахов, занятых философским поиском ответов, совместимых с христианским учением, подобному неоплатоническим «школам» с различающимися философскими и теологическими идеями. Такие монашеские «школы» могли развиваться, пока границы христианского вероучения оставляли поле для философских рассуждений, резко сузившееся после церковного осуждения базовых концепций их метафизической системы, таких как предсуществование и апокатастасис, что, в конечном итоге, привело к маргинализации этого интеллектуального движения.