Origen: On First Principles

of God may shine forth, and that it may not be deemed to proceed from us (who are but) human beings. For if the hack­neyed ^[1] methods of demonstration (common) among men, contained in the books (of the Bible), had been successful in pro­ducing conviction; then our faith would rightly have been supposed to rest on the wisdom of men, and not on the power of God; but now it is manifest to everyone who lifts up his eyes, that the word and preaching have not prevailed among the multitude “by persuasive words of wisdom, but by demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” ^[2] Wherefore, since a celestial or even a super-celestial power compels us to worship the only Creator, let us leave the doctrine of the beginning of Christ, i.e., the elements, ^[3] and endeavour to go on to perfection, in order that the wisdom spoken to the perfect may be spoken to us also. For he who possesses it promises to speak wisdom among them that are perfect, but another wisdom than that of this world, and of the rulers of this world, which is brought to nought. And this wisdom will be distinctly stamped ^[4] upon us, and will produce a revelation of the mystery that was kept silent in the eternal ages, ^[5] but now has been manifested through the pro­phetic Scriptures, and the appearance of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

8. Having spoken thus briefly ^[6] on the subject of the divine inspiration of the holy Scriptures, it is necessary to proceed to the (consideration of the) manner in which they are to be read and understood, seeing numerous errors have been com­mitted in consequence of the method in which the holy documents ^[7] ought to be examined; ^[8] not having been discovered by the multitude. For both the hardened in heart, and the ignorant persons ^[9] belonging to the circumcision, have not believed on our Saviour, thinking that they are follow­ing the language of the prophecies re­specting Him, and not perceiving in a manner palpable to their senses ^[10] that He had proclaimed liberty to the captives, nor that He had built up what they truly con­sider the city of God, nor cut off “the chariots of Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem,” ^[11] nor eaten butter and honey, and, before knowing or preferring the evil, had selected the good. ^[12] And thinking, moreover, that it was prophesied that the wolf—the four-footed animal—was to feed with the lamb, and the leopard to lie down with the kid, and the calf and bull and lion to feed together, being led by a little child, and that the ox and bear were to pasture together, their young ones growing up together, and that the lion was to eat straw like the ox: ^[13] seeing none of these things visibly accomplished during the advent of Him who is believed by us to be Christ, they did not accept our Lord Jesus; but, as having called Himself Christ improperly, ^[14] they crucified Him. And those belonging to heretical sects reading this (statement), “A fire has been kindled in Mine anger;” ^[15] and this, “I am a jealous God, visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation;” ^[16] and this, “I repent of having anointed Saul to be king;” ^[17] and this, “I am a God that maketh peace, and createth evil;” ^[18] and, among others, this, “There is not wickedness in the city which the Lord hath not done;” ^[19] and again this, “Evils came down from the Lord upon the gates of Jerusalem;” ^[20] and, “An evil spirit from the Lord plagued Saul;” ^[21] and countless other passages like these—they have not ventured to disbelieve these as the Scriptures of God; but believing them to be the (words) of the Demiurge, whom the Jews worship, they thought that as the Demiurge was an imperfect and unbenevo­lent God, the Saviour had come to an­nounce a more perfect Deity, who, they say, is not the Demiurge, being of different opinions regarding Him; and having once departed from the Demiurge, who is the only uncreated God, they have given them­selves up to fictions, inventing to themselves hypotheses, according to which they im­agine that there are some things which are visible, and certain other things which are not visible, all which are the fancies of their own minds. And yet, indeed, the more simple among those who profess to belong to the Church have supposed that there is no deity greater than the Demi­urge, being right in so thinking, while they imagine regarding Him such things as would not be believed of the most savage and unjust of mankind.

9. Now the cause, in all the points pre­viously enumerated, of the false opinions, and of the impious statements or ignorant assertions ^[22] about God, appears to be nothing else than the not understanding the Scripture according to its spiritual meaning, but the interpretation of it agree­ably to the mere letter. And therefore, to those who believe that the sacred books are not the compositions of men, but that they were composed by inspiration ^[23] of the Holy Spirit, agreeably to the will of the Father of all things through Jesus Christ, and that they have come down to us, we must point out the ways (of interpreting them) which appear (correct) to us, who cling to the standard ^[24] of the heavenly Church of Jesus Christ according to the succession of the apostles. Now, that there are certain mystical economies made known by the holy Scriptures, all—even the most simple of those who adhere to the word—have believed; but what these are, candid and modest individuals confess that they know not. If, then, one were to be perplexed about the intercourse of Lot with his daughters, and about the two wives of Abraham, and the two sisters married to Jacob, and the two handmaids who bore him children, they can return no other answer than this, that these are mysteries not understood by us. Nay, also, when the (description of the) fitting out of the tabernacle is read, believing that what is written is a type, ^[25] they seek to adapt what they can to each particular related about the tabernacle,—not being wrong so far as regards their belief that the tabernacle is a type of something, but erring sometimes in adapting the descrip­tion of that of which the tabernacle is a type, to some special thing in a manner worthy of Scripture. And all the history that is considered to tell of marriages, or the begetting of children, or of wars, or any histories whatever that are in circula­tion among the multitude, they declare to be types; but of what in each individual instance, partly owing to their habits not being thoroughly exercised—partly, too, owing to their precipitation—sometimes, even when an individual does happen to be well trained and clear-sighted, owing to the excessive difficulty of discovering things on the part of men,—the nature of each particular regarding these (types) is not clearly ascertained.

10. And what need is there to speak of the prophecies, which we all know to be filled with enigmas and dark sayings? And if we come to the Gospels, the exact understanding of these also, as being the mind of Christ, requires the grace that was given to him who said, “But we have the mind of Christ, that we might know the things freely given to us by God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Spirit teacheth.” ^[26] And who, on read­ing the revelations made to John, would not be amazed at the unspeakable mys­teries therein concealed, and which are evident (even) to him who does not com­prehend what is written? And to what person, skilful in investigating words, would the Epistles of the Apostles seem to be clear and easy of understanding, since even in them there are countless numbers of most profound ideas, which, (issuing forth) as by an aperture, admit of no rapid com­prehension? ^[27] And therefore, since these things are so, and since innumerable indi­viduals fall into mistakes, it is not safe in reading (the Scriptures) to declare that one easily understands what needs the key of knowledge, which the Saviour declares is with the lawyers. And let those answer who will not allow that the truth was with these before the advent of Christ, how the key of knowledge is said by our Lord Jesus Christ to be with those who, as they allege, had not the books which contain the secrets ^[28] of knowledge, and perfect mys­teries. ^[29] For His words run thus: “Woe unto you, ye lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye have not entered in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.” ^[30]

11. The way, then, as it appears to us, in which we ought to deal with the Scrip­tures, and extract from them their mean­ing, is the following, which has been ascer­tained from the Scriptures themselves. By Solomon in the Proverbs we find some such rule as this enjoined respecting the divine doctrines of Scripture: ^[31] “And do thou portray them in a threefold manner, in counsel and knowledge, to answer words of truth to them who propose them to thee.” ^[32] The individual ought, then, to portray the ideas of holy Scripture in a threefold manner upon his own soul; in order that the simple man may be edified by the “flesh,” as it were, of the Scripture, for so we name the obvious sense; while he who has ascended a certain way (may be edified) by the “soul,” as it were. The perfect man, again, and he who resem­bles those spoken of by the apostle, when he says, “We speak wisdom among them that are perfect, but not the wisdom of the world, nor of the rulers of this world, who come to nought; but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God hath ordained before the ages, unto our glory,” ^[33] (may receive edification) from the spiritual law, which has a shadow of good things to come. For as man consists of body, and soul, and spirit, so in the same way does Scripture, which has been arranged to be given by God for the salvation of men. And therefore we deduce this also from a book which is despised by some—The Shepherd—in respect of the command given to Hermas to write two books, and after so doing to announce to the presbyters of the Church what he had learned from the Spirit. The words are as follows: “You will write two books, and give one to Clement, and one to Grapte. And Grapte shall admonish the widows and the orphans, and Clement will send to the cities abroad, while you will announce to the presbyters of the Church.” Now Grapte, who admonishes the widows and the orphans, is the mere letter (of Scripture), which admonishes those who are yet children in soul, and not able to call God their Father, and who are on that account styled orphans,—admon­ishing, moreover, those who no longer have an unlawful bridegroom, ^[34] but who remain widows, because they have not yet become worthy of the (heavenly) Bridegroom; while Clement, who is already beyond the letter, is said to send what is written to the cities abroad, as if we were to call these the “souls,” who are above (the influence of) bodily (affections) and degraded ^[35] ideas,—the disciple of the Spirit himself being enjoined to make known, no longer by let­ters, but by living words, to the presbyters of the whole Church of God, who have become grey ^[36] through wisdom.

12. But as there are certain passages of Scripture which do not at all contain the “corporeal” sense, as we shall show in the following (paragraphs), there are also places where we must seek only for the “soul,” as it were, and “spirit” of Scrip­ture. And perhaps on this account the water-vessels containing two or three firkins a-piece are said to lie for the purification of the Jews, as we read in the Gospel ac­cording to John: the expression darkly intimating, with respect to those who (are called) by the apostle “Jews” secretly, that they are purified by the word of Scripture, receiving sometimes two firkins, i.e., so to speak, the “psychical” and “spiritual” sense; and sometimes three firkins, since some have, in addition to those already mentioned, also the “cor­poreal” sense, which is capable of (pro­ducing) edification. And six water-vessels are reasonably (appropriate) to those who are purified in the world, which was made in six days—the perfect number. That the first “sense,” then, is profitable in this respect, that it is capable of imparting edi­fication, is testified by the multitudes of genuine and simple believers; while of that interpretation which is referred back to the “soul,” there is an illustration in Paul’s first Epistle to the Corinthians. The ex­pression is, “Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn;” ^[37] to which he adds, “Doth God take care of oxen? or saith He it alto­gether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this was written: that he that plougheth should plough in hope, and that he who thresheth, in hope of partak­ing.”