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Origen (Greek: Ὠριγένης, ca. 185–ca. 254) was a Christian scholar and theologian, one of the most distinguished of the early Christian Church (though not ultimately considered a Father of the Church, due to lingering questions of orthodoxy in the latter part of his life). He is thought to have been born at Alexandria, and died at Caesarea. His writings are important as one of the first serious intellectual attempts to describe Christianity.

Life

The details of Origen's life are found in his biography as given by Eusebius in his work Church History, written in about 325 C.E. He was educated by his father, Leonides, on scriptural texts that would later become the Bible, and in Greek literature. In 202 Origen's father was martyred in the outbreak of the persecution during the reign of Septimius Severus. Origen wished to follow in martyrdom, but was prevented by his mother. The death of Leonides left the family of eight impoverished.

Since his father's teaching enabled him to give elementary instruction, he opened in 203 a school of rhetoric. His fame and the number of his pupils increased rapidly, so much so that Bishop Demetrius of Alexandria implored him to restrict himself to instruction in Christian doctrine alone. Origen entrusted the teaching of the catechumens to Heraclas, the brother of the martyr Plutarch, his first pupil.

Origen, during his time as an instructor, lived the life of a devoted ascetic, sleeping little and eating meagre meals. Yet his pursuit of knowledge and dedication to the clarification of Christian doctrine never waned. It is recorded that he completed secular philosophical studies under Ammonius Saccas. He delved into learning the Hebrew language, and although he met with some success, he never became fully proficient. He complemented intellectual growth with spiritual growth in the form of encouraging the martyrdom of his students. Perhaps his most consummate (and possibly apochraphal) act was his self-castration, in response to Matthew 19:12.

From about this period (213-220) dates Origen's acquaintance with Ambrose of Alexandria, whom he was instrumental in converting from Valentianism to orthodoxy. Ambrose, a man of wealth, made a formal agreement with Origen to promulgate his writings, and all the subsequent works of Origen (except his sermons, which were not expressly prepared for publication) were dedicated to Ambrose. Origen was granted an impressive crew of sternographers and copyists that used the expensive materials at their command - also provided by the wealth of Ambrose - to record Origen's many works.

In 213 or 214, Origen visited Arabia at the request of the prefect, who wished to have an interview with him; and Origen accordingly spent a brief time in Petra, after which he returned to Alexandria. In the following year, a popular uprising at Alexandria caused Caracalla to let his soldiers plunder the city, shut the schools, and expel all foreigners. The latter measure caused Ambrose to take refuge in Caesarea, where he seems to have made his permanent home; and Origen, who felt that the turmoil hindered his activity as a teacher and imperilled his safety, left Egypt, apparently going with Ambrose to Caesarea, where he spent some time. Here, in conformity with local usage based on Jewish custom, Origen, though not ordained, preached and interpreted the Scriptures at the request of the bishops Alexander of Jerusalem and Theoctistus of Caesarea. When, however, the confusion in Alexandria subsided, Demetrius recalled Origen, probably in 216, in protest to his preaching while unordained. For the next fifteen years Origen began his work on some of his best known and most important literary works, such as his books on the resurrection, commentaries on various books of the Hebrew Bible and what would become the New Testament, and his treatise On First Principles.

In about 231 Origen was sent to Greece on an ecclesiastical mission to preach against heretics, and paid a visit to Caesarea, where he was heartily welcomed and was ordained a priest, so that no further cause for criticism might be given Demetrius. But Demetrius, taking this well-meant act as an infringement of his rights, was furious, for not only was Origen under his jurisdiction, but, if Eastern sources may be believed, Demetrius had been the first to introduce episcopal ordination in Egypt. The metropolitan accordingly convened a synod of bishops and presbyters which banished Origen from Alexandria, while a second synod declared his ordination invalid. The conclusions of these synods were not recognized in neighboring provinces.

In 250 persecutions of the Church broke out under Decius, and this time Origen did not escape. He was imprisoned, tortured, and bound hand and foot to the block for days without yielding. Though eventually released, these tortures seem to have weakened him enough that he succumbed to death in about 254. A later legend, recounted by Jerome (De viris illustribus, chapter 54) and numerous itineraries place his death and burial at the cathedral in Tyre, but to this little value can be attached.

Works

The works of Origen fall into four classes: text criticism; exegesis; systematic, practical, and apologetic theology; and letters. Most of his works exist now only in Latin translation. A great deal of Origen's writings, including many commentaries and his books on the resurrection, are completely lost, known only by references made to them by later theologians.

Exegetical Writings

By far the most important work of Origen on textual criticism was the Hexapla, a comparison study of various translations of the Old Testament. The full text of the Hexapla is no longer extant. The work was arranged in six columns: one written in the original Heberw, and one transliterated from Hebrew with Greek characters; the rest were popular Greek translations of the text, specifically the Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, and the Septuagint. Certain books of the Hebrew Bible were known to have up to three additonal sources. Some portions were discovered in Milan indicating that at least some individual parts existed much longer than was previously thought. The Hexapla has been referred to by later manuscripts and authors, and thus it is known to later scholars. An abbreviated version known as the Tetrapla, in which Origen placed only the translations in Greek in parallels.

Origen's work in exegesis can be divided into three categories. He wrote scholia which were summaries of passages from the Hebrew Bible or Christian works meant to elucidate their obscure meanings. His homilies were regarded as elegant and were prepared on nearly the entire Bible, and many were recorded by his sternographers. Finally, he produced a series of "scientific" commentaries on various books of the Bible.

Dogmatic, Practical, and Apologetic writings

Among the systematic, practical, and apologetic writings of Origen, mention should first be made of his work On First Principles, perhaps written for his more advanced pupils at Alexandria and probably composed between 212 and 215. It is extant only in the free translation of Rufinus, except for fragments of the third and fourth books preserved in the Philokalia, and smaller citations in Justinian's letter to Mennas.

In the first book the author considers God, the Logos, the Holy Ghost, reason, and the angels; in the second the world and man (including the incarnation of the Logos, the soul, free will, and eschatology); in the third, the doctrine of sin and redemption; and in the fourth, the Scriptures; the whole being concluded with a resume of the entire system. The work is noteworthy as the first endeavor to present Christianity as a complete theory of the universe, and was designed to remove the difficulties felt by many Christians concerning the essential bases of their faith.

Earlier in date than this treatise were the two books on the resurrection (now lost, a fate which has also befallen two dialogues on the same theme) dedicated to Ambrose. After his removal to Caesarea, Origen wrote the works, still extant, On Prayer, On Martyrdom, and Against Celsus. The first of these was written shortly before 235 (or possibly before 230), and, after an introduction on the object, necessity, and advantage of prayer, ends with an exegesis of the Lord's Prayer, concluding with remarks on the position, place, and attitude to be assumed during prayer, as well as on the classes of prayer.

The persecution of Maximinus the Thracian was the occasion of the composition of the On Martyrdom, which is preserved in the Exhortation to Martyrdom. In it, Origen warns against any trifling with idolatry and emphasizes the duty of suffering martyrdom bravely; while in the second part he explains the meaning of martyrdom. The eight books against Celsus, properly called ''Contra Celsum'' were written in 248 in reply to the polemic of that Middle Platonist pagan philosopher against Christianity.

Views

Origen, trained in the school of Clement and by his father, was essentially a Platonist with occasional traces of Stoic philosophy. He was thus a pronounced idealist, regarding all things temporal and material as insignificant and indifferent, the only real and eternal things being comprised in the idea. He therefore regards as the purely ideal center of this spiritual and eternal world, God, the pure reason, whose creative powers call into being the world with matter as the necessary substratum.

He was also, however, a rigid adherent of the Bible, making no statement without adducing some Scriptural basis. To him the Bible was divinely inspired, as was proved both by the fulfilment of prophecy and by the immediate impression which the Scriptures made on those who read them. Since the divine Logos spoke in the Scriptures, they were an organic whole and on every occasion he combatted the Gnostic tenet of the inferiority of the Old Testament.

Origen stressed the three means of understanding scripture; literal, moral, and mystical. In this we see three ways that Origen impacted Christian thought. He was proficient in his exegetical studies, and thus was quite adept in making reference to the literal implications of the Bible. His homilies and commentaries were celebrated, and thus his views on morality were promulgated. Origen's grasp of scripture and knowledge of Platonist philosophy also granted him the ability to elucidate complicated passages in a mystical sense.

It is a detriment to Origen's work that throughout the centuries he was best known (and condemned) for his more unorthodox ideas. In discussing these it fair to consider that Origen wrote and thought in a time that predated the great controversies of the Church. The orthodox understandings of the Trinity and christology had not yet been formulated by intervening councils, and thus Origen's discussion of the matters was not guided by what would become accepted as church dogma.

Origen was a speculative theologian. In formulating theological ideas he did not always insist on their truth; rather, he stressed that he was merely suggesting possibilities. One idea that he did promote was the idea of the pre-existance of souls. In his own time it was not deemed heretical to promote this idea, and indeed it was useful in refuting those who were branded heretics (Marcionites, for instance). The idea concluded that human souls exist prior to their connection to earthly forms, and this existence is in the divine realm in the presence of God. Later theologians would dismiss this idea. Origen also speculated on the life of the stars, and wondered whether heavenly bodies possessed souls.

Perhaps the most widely known - and subsequently widely denounced - idea proposed by Origen is that of apokatastasis, or universal restoration. Origen, for many years an educator by profession, likened the Creator to a divine teacher. Being divine this teacher was unable to fail in instructing its students, and thus Origen concluded that in time all students (that is, all creation) would be restored to their former status, perfect and in the midst of God. This restoration included all souls - not just humanity but demons and Satan, though Origen did not suggest that this restoration would occur in the near future. This idea was eventually condemned alongside other heretical teachings.

Impact

In Origen the Christian Church had its first theologian in the highest sense of the term. To the multitude to whom his instruction was beyond grasp, he left mediating images and symbols, and contributed to the growing language of Christian mysticism. When he died, however, he left no pupil who could succeed him, nor was the church of his period able to become his heir, and thus, his knowledge was buried. Three centuries later his very name was stricken from the books of the Church; yet in the monasteries of the Greeks his influence still lived on, and the spiritual father of Greek monasticism was that same Origen at whose name the monks had shuddered.

For quite some time, Origen was counted as one of the most important church fathers and his works were widely used in the Church. His exegetical method was standard of the School of Alexandria and the Origenists were an important party in the 4th century debates on Arianism. He contributed to the thought of Christian luminaries like Athanasius, Ambrose, Jerome, and the Cappadocian Fathers.

Origen's subsequent trouble (following his death) with the church were some extreme views adopted by those describing themselves his followers, the Origenists; their views were then retroactively attributed to Origen. He was condemned by several important theologians, including Jerome, a former admirer. In the ensuing investigation of Origen's orthodoxy certain speculations made by Origen were condemned as heresy, as these were not accepted by the general church consensus: among these were the preexistence of souls, apokatastasis and a hierarchical concept of the Trinity. These teachings and some of the Origenists were declared anathema by a local council in Constantinople 545 and then, in an aside, by the Second Council of Constantinople in 553.

At the council of 553, the anathema against him in his person, declaring him, among others, a heretic, reads as follows:

If anyone does not anathematize Arius, Eunomius, Macedonius, Apollinaris, Nestorius, Eutyches and Origen, as well as their impious writings, as also all other heretics already condemned and anathematized by the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, and by the aforesaid four Holy Synods and [if anyone does not equally anathematize] all those who have held and hold or who in their impiety persist in holding to the end the same opinion as those heretics just mentioned: let him be anathema.[1]

As a result of this condemnation, the Roman Catholic Church does not regard Origen as a Church Father, while some in the Orthodox Church do though with reservations and qualifications. In any event, the Orthodox do not draw up official lists of Church Fathers, and neither church regards Origen as a saint. In centuries much later his work has been revisited by more sympathetic eyes, and his thought has been recognized as formative for the development of Christian theology.

Reference

Initial text of this article was taken from the public domain Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge

External links

Religious Texts Index: Origen
Coptic Church on Origen
Catholic Encyclopedia: Origen and Origenism
The Anathemas Against Origen
Origen Entry in Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
EarlyChurch.org.uk Extensive bibliography and on-line articles.

Credits

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@@ Line 36: / Line 36: @@
 == Views==
-=== Philosophical and religious===
 Origen, trained in the school of Clement and by his father, was essentially a [[Platonism|Platonist]] with occasional traces of [[Stoic]] philosophy. He was thus a pronounced idealist, regarding all things temporal and material as insignificant and indifferent, the only real and eternal things being comprised in the idea. He therefore regards as the purely ideal center of this spiritual and eternal world, [[God]], the pure reason, whose creative powers call into being the world with matter as the necessary substratum.
 He was also, however, a rigid adherent of the [[Bible]], making no statement without adducing some [[scripture|Scriptural]] basis. To him the Bible was divinely inspired, as was proved both by the fulfilment of [[prophecy]] and by the immediate impression which the Scriptures made on those who read them. Since the divine [[Logos]] spoke in the Scriptures, they were an organic whole and on every occasion he combatted the Gnostic tenet of the inferiority of the Old Testament.
-<!--
+Origen stressed the three means of understanding scripture; literal, moral, and mystical. In this we see three ways that Origen impacted Christian thought. He was proficient in his exegetical studies, and thus was quite adept in making reference to the literal implications of the Bible. His homilies and commentaries were celebrated, and thus his views on morality were promulgated. Origen's grasp of scripture and knowledge of Platonist philosophy also granted him the ability to elucidate complicated passages in a mystical sense.
-=== Theological and dogmatic ===
-Origen's conception of God is entirely abstract — God is a perfect unity, invisible and incorporeal, transcending all things material, and therefore inconceivable and incomprehensible. He is likewise unchangeable, and transcends space and time. But his power is limited by his goodness, justice, and wisdom; and, though entirely free from necessity, his goodness and omnipotence constrained him to reveal himself.
-This revelation, the external self-emanation of God, is expressed by Origen in various ways, the Logos being only one of many. Revelation was the first creation of God (cf. Prov. viii. 22), in order to afford creative mediation between God and the world, such mediation being necessary, because God, as changeless unity, could not be the source of a multitudinous creation.
+It is a detriment to Origen's work that throughout the centuries he was best known (and condemned) for his more unorthodox ideas. In discussing these it fair to consider that Origen wrote and thought in a time that predated the great controversies of the Church. The orthodox understandings of the [[Trinity]] and [[christology]] had not yet been formulated by intervening councils, and thus Origen's discussion of the matters was not guided by what would become accepted as church [[dogma]].
-The Logos is the rational creative principle that permeates the universe. Since God eternally manifests himself, the Logos is likewise eternal. He forms a bridge between the created and uncreated, and only through him, as the visible representative of divine wisdom, can the inconceivable and incorporeal God be known. Creation came into existence only through the Logos, and God's nearest approach to the world is the command to create. While the Logos is substantially a unity, he comprehends a multiplicity of concepts, so that Origen terms him, in Platonic fashion, "essence of essences" and "idea of ideas".
+Origen was a speculative theologian. In formulating theological ideas he did not always insist on their truth; rather, he stressed that he was merely suggesting possibilities. One idea that he did promote was the idea of the pre-existance of [[soul|souls]]. In his own time it was not deemed heretical to promote this idea, and indeed it was useful in refuting those who were branded heretics ([[Marcion|Marcionites]], for instance). The idea concluded that human souls exist prior to their connection to earthly forms, and this existence is in the divine realm in the presence of God. Later theologians would dismiss this idea. Origen also speculated on the life of the stars, and wondered whether heavenly bodies possessed souls.
-The defense of the unity of God against the Gnostics led Origen to maintain the subordination of the Logos to God, and the doctrine of the eternal generation is later. Origen distinctly emphasised the independence of the Logos as well as the distinction from the being and substance of God. The term "of the same substance with the Father" was not employed. He is merely an image, a reflex not to be compared with God; as one among other "gods", of course first in rank.
+Perhaps the most widely known - and subsequently widely denounced - idea proposed by Origen is that of ''apokatastasis'', or universal restoration. Origen, for many years an educator by profession, likened the Creator to a divine teacher. Being divine this teacher was unable to fail in instructing its students, and thus Origen concluded that in time all students (that is, all creation) would be restored to their former status, perfect and in the midst of God. This restoration included all souls - not just humanity but demons and [[Satan]], though Origen did not suggest that this restoration would occur in the near future. This idea was eventually condemned alongside other heretical teachings.
-=== The Logos doctrine and cosmology===
-The activity of the [[Logos]] was conceived by Origen in Platonic fashion, as the world soul, wherein God manifested his omnipotence. His first creative act was the divine spirit, as an independent existence; and partial reflexes of the Logos were the created rational beings, who, as they had to revert to the perfect God as their background, must likewise be perfect; yet their perfection, unlike in kind with that of God, the Logos, and the divine spirit, had to be attained. The freedom of the will is an essential fact of the reason, notwithstanding the  foreknowledge of God. The Logos, eternally creative, forms an  endless series of finite, comprehensible worlds, which are  mutually alternative.  Combining the [[Stoic]] doctrine of a  universe without beginning with the Biblical doctrine of the beginning and the end of the world, he conceived of the visible world as the stages of an eternal cosmic process, affording also an explanation of the diversity of human fortunes, rewards, and punishments. The material world, which at first had no place in this eternal spiritual progression, was due to the fall of the spirits from God, the first being the serpent, who was imprisoned in matter and body. The ultimate aim of God in the creation of matter out of nothing was not punishment, but the upraising of the fallen spirits. Man's accidental being is rooted in transitory matter, but his higher nature is formed in the image of the Creator. The soul is divided into the rational and the irrational, the latter being material and transitory, while the former, incorporeal and immaterial, possesses freedom of the will and the power to reascend to purer life.  The strong ethical import of this cosmic process can not remain unnoticed. The return to original being through divine reason is the object of the entire cosmic process. Through the worlds which follow each other in eternal succession, the spirits are able to return to Paradise. God so ordered the universe that all individual acts work together toward one cosmic end which culminates in himself. Likewise as to Origen's anthropology, man conceived in the image of God is able by imitating God in good works to become like God, if he first recognizes his own weakness and trusts all to the divine goodness. He is aided by guardian [[angel]]s, but more especially by the Logos who operates through saints and prophets in proportion to the constitution of these and man's capacity.
-=== Christology===
-The culmination of this gradual revelation is the universal revelation of Christ. In Christ, God, hitherto manifest only as the Lord, appeared as the Father. The incarnation of the [[Logos]], moreover, was necessary since otherwise he would not be intelligible to sensual man; but the indwelling of the Logos remained a mystery, which could be represented only by the analogy of his indwelling in the saints; nor could Origen fully explain it. He speaks of a "remarkable body", and in his opinion that the mortal body of Jesus was transformed by God into an ethereal and divine body, Origen approximated the [[Docetism]] that he otherwise abhorred. His concept of the soul of Jesus is likewise uncertain and wavering. He proposes the question whether it was not originally perfect with God but, emanating from him, at his command assumed a material body. As he conceived matter as merely the universal limit of created spirits, so would it be impossible to state in what form the two were combined. He dismissed the solution by referring it to the mystery of the divine governance of the universe. More logically did he declare the material nature of the world to be merely an episode in the spiritual process of development, whose end should be the annihilation of all matter and return to God, who should again be all in all. The doctrine of the resurrection of the body he upholds by the explanation that the Logos maintains the unity of man's existence by ever changing his body into new forms, thus preserving the unity and identity of personality in harmony with the tenet of an endless cosmic process. Origen's concept of the Logos allowed him to make no definite statement on the redemptive work of Jesus. Since sin was ultimately only negative as a lack of pure knowledge, the activity of Jesus was essentially example and instruction, and his human life was only incidental as contrasted with the immanent cosmic activity of the Logos. Origen regarded the death of Jesus as a sacrifice, paralleling it with other cases of self-sacrifice for the general good. On this, Origen's accord with the teachings of the Church was merely superficial.
-=== Eschatology===
-His idealizing tendency to consider the spiritual alone as real, fundamental to his entire system, led him to combat the rude Chiliasm (see [[Christian eschatology]]) of a sensual beyond; yet he constrained himself from breaking entirely with the distinct celestial hopes and representations of Paradise prevalent in the Church. He represents a progressive purification of souls, until, cleansed of all clouds of evil, they should know the truth and God as the Son knew him, see God face to face, and attain a full possession of the Holy Spirit and union with God. The means of attainment of this end were described by Origen in different ways, the most important of which was his Platonic concept of a purifying fire which should cleanse the world of evil and thus lead to cosmic renovation. By a further spiritualization Origen could call God himself this consuming fire. In proportion as the souls were freed from sin and ignorance, the material world was to pass away, until, after endless eons, at the final end, God should be all in all, and the worlds and spirits should return to a knowledge of God, in Greek this is called [[Apokatastasis]].
-—>
 ==Impact==
-In Origen the Christian Church had its first theologian in the highest sense of the term. Attaining the pinnacle of human speculation, his teaching was not merely theoretical, but was also imbued  with an intense ethical power. To the multitude to whom his instruction was beyond grasp, he left mediating images and symbols, as well as the final goal of attainment. In Origen Christianity blended with the paganism in which lived the desire for truth and the longing after God. When he died, however, he left no pupil who could succeed him, nor was the church of his period able to become his heir, and thus, his knowledge was buried. Three centuries later his very name was stricken from the books of the Church; yet in the monasteries of the Greeks his influence still lived on, and the spiritual father of Greek monasticism was that same Origen at whose name the monks had shuddered.
+In Origen the Christian Church had its first theologian in the highest sense of the term. To the multitude to whom his instruction was beyond grasp, he left mediating images and symbols, and contributed to the growing language of Christian mysticism. When he died, however, he left no pupil who could succeed him, nor was the church of his period able to become his heir, and thus, his knowledge was buried. Three centuries later his very name was stricken from the books of the Church; yet in the monasteries of the Greeks his influence still lived on, and the spiritual father of Greek monasticism was that same Origen at whose name the monks had shuddered.
-For quite some time, Origen was counted as one of the most important church fathers and his works were widely used in the Church. His exegetical method was standard of the [[School of Alexandria]] and the Origenists were an important party in the 4th century debates on [[Arianism]].
+For quite some time, Origen was counted as one of the most important church fathers and his works were widely used in the Church. His exegetical method was standard of the [[School of Alexandria]] and the Origenists were an important party in the 4th century debates on [[Arianism]]. He contributed to the thought of Christian luminaries like [[Athanasius]], [[Ambrose]], [[Jerome]], and the [[Cappadocian Fathers]].
-What got Origen theologically into trouble much later with the church were some extreme views adopted by his followers, the Origenists, whose views were then attributed to Origen. In the course of this controversy, some other teachings of his came up, which were not accepted by the general church consensus: among these were the preexistence of souls, [[Universal_reconciliation|universal salvation]] and a hierarchical concept of the [[Trinity]].  These teachings and some extremer ones of his followers were declared [[anathema]] by a local council in Constantinople [[545]] and then, in an aside, by the [[Second Council of Constantinople]] in [[553]].
+Origen's subsequent trouble (following his death) with the church were some extreme views adopted by those describing themselves his followers, the Origenists; their views were then retroactively attributed to Origen. He was condemned by several important theologians, including Jerome, a former admirer. In the ensuing investigation of Origen's orthodoxy certain speculations made by Origen were condemned as heresy, as these were not accepted by the general church consensus: among these were the preexistence of souls, ''apokatastasis'' and a hierarchical concept of the [[Trinity]].  These teachings and some of the Origenists were declared [[anathema]] by a local council in Constantinople [[545]] and then, in an aside, by the [[Second Council of Constantinople]] in [[553]].
 At the council of 553, the anathema against him in his person, declaring him, among others, a heretic, reads as follows:
@@ Line 72: / Line 59: @@
 :If anyone does not anathematize Arius, Eunomius, Macedonius, Apollinaris, Nestorius, Eutyches and Origen, as well as their impious writings, as also all other heretics already condemned and anathematized by the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, and by the aforesaid four Holy Synods and [if anyone does not equally anathematize] all those who have held and hold or who in their impiety persist in holding to the end the same opinion as those heretics just mentioned: let him be anathema.[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/const2.html]
-As a result of this condemnation, the Roman Catholic Church does not regard Origen as a [[Church Father]], while some in the Orthodox Church do though with reservations and qualifications.  In any event, the Orthodox do not draw up official lists of Church Fathers, and neither church regards Origen as a [[saint]].
+As a result of this condemnation, the Roman Catholic Church does not regard Origen as a [[Church Father]], while some in the Orthodox Church do though with reservations and qualifications. In any event, the Orthodox do not draw up official lists of Church Fathers, and neither church regards Origen as a [[saint]]. In centuries much later his work has been revisited by more sympathetic eyes, and his thought has been recognized as formative for the development of Christian theology.
 ==Reference==