Editing Origen (section)

===Theology===
[[File:Shield-Trinity-Scutum-Fidei-English.svg|thumb|Origen significantly contributed to the development of the concept of the [[Trinity]]{{sfn|Olson|Hall|2002|p=24}}{{sfn|La Due|2003|p=37}}{{sfn|Ehrman|2003|pp=154–156}} and was among the first to name the Holy Spirit as a member of the Godhead,{{sfn|Olson|Hall|2002|p=25}} but he was also a [[Subordinationism|subordinationist]],{{sfn|La Due|2003|p=38}}{{sfn|Olson|Hall|2002|p=25}}{{sfn|Pollard|1970|p=95}}{{sfn|Greggs|2009|p=161}} who taught that the Father was superior to the Son and the Son was superior to the Holy Spirit.{{sfn|La Due|2003|p=38}}{{sfn|Olson|Hall|2002|p=25}}{{sfn|Greggs|2009|p=161}}]]

Origen's conception of God the Father is [[Apophatic theology|apophatic]]—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. The revelation was the first creation of God (cf. Proverbs 8:22), 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.

The Logos is the rational creative principle that permeates the universe.{{sfn|Greggs|2009|p=80}} The Logos acts on all human beings through their capacity for logic and rational thought,{{sfn|Greggs|2009|pp=79–80}} guiding them to the truth of God's revelation.{{sfn|Greggs|2009|pp=79–80}} As they progress in their rational thinking, all humans become more like Christ.{{sfn|Greggs|2009|p=80}} Nonetheless, they retain their individuality and do not become subsumed into Christ.{{sfn|Greggs|2009|pp=80–81}} 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".

The focused understanding of the Logos, along with the paradigms of participation carried from Greek philosophy, allowed Origen to have a major role in the development of the concept of human deification or {{translit|grc|[[Theosis (Eastern Christian theology)|theosis]]}}. Origen believed that Christ's humanity was deified and this deification spread to all the believers.<ref>Contra Celsum 3.28</ref> By participating in the very Logos himself, we become participants in divinity. Origen, however, concluded that only those who are created in God's image and live a life of virtue can deified; virtue for Origen is linked to the person of Jesus Christ.<ref name="Zakhary-2024">{{Cite journal |last=Zakhary |first=Beniamin |date=September 2024 |title=Μετοχῇ Θεότητος: Partakers of Divinity in Origen's Contra Celsum |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/936757 |journal=Journal of Early Christian Studies |language=en |volume=32 |issue=3 |pages=315–340 |doi=10.1353/earl.2024.a936757 |issn=1086-3184}}</ref> Thus, he excluded all inanimate objects or animals (previously seen as divine in some pagan polytheistic systems), and also excluded the pagan heroes from this perceived deification.<ref name="Zakhary-2024" />

Origen significantly contributed to the development of the idea of the [[Trinity]].{{sfn|Olson|Hall|2002|p=24}}{{sfn|La Due|2003|p=37}}{{sfn|Ehrman|2003|pp=154–156}} He declared the Holy Spirit to be a part of the Godhead{{sfn|Olson|Hall|2002|page=25}} and interpreted the [[Parable of the Lost Coin]] to mean that the Holy Spirit dwells within each and every person{{sfn|Greggs|2009|pp=159–160}} and that the inspiration of the Holy Spirit was necessary for any kind of speech dealing with God.{{sfn|Greggs|2009|p=160}} Origen taught that the activity of all three parts of the Trinity was necessary for a person to attain salvation.{{sfn|Greggs|2009|p=161}}

In one fragment preserved by Rufinus in his Latin translation of [[Pamphilus of Caesarea|Pamphilus]]'s ''Defense of Origen'', Origen seems to apply the phrase {{translit|grc|homooúsios}} ({{lang|grc|ὁμοούσιος}} 'of the same substance') to the relationship between the Father and the Son.{{sfn|La Due|2003|p=38}}{{sfn|Williams|2001|p=132}} But Williams states that it is impossible to verify whether the quote that uses the word {{translit|grc|homoousios}} really comes from Pamphilus at all, let alone Origen.{{sfn|Williams|2001|p=132}}

In other passages, Origen rejected the belief that the Son and the Father were one {{translit|grc|hypostasis}} as heretical.{{sfn|Williams|2001|p=132}} According to [[Rowan Williams]], because the words {{translit|grc|ousia}} and {{translit|grc|hypostasis}} were used synonymously in Origen's time,{{sfn|Williams|2001|p=132}} Origen almost certainly would have rejected {{translit|grc|homoousios}}, as a description for the relationship between the Father and the Son, as heretical.{{sfn|Williams|2001|p=132}}

Nonetheless, Origen was a [[Subordinationism|subordinationist]],{{sfn|La Due|2003|p=38}}{{sfn|Olson|Hall|2002|p=25}}{{sfn|Pollard|1970|p=95}}{{sfn|Greggs|2009|p=161}} meaning he believed that the Father was superior to the Son and the Son was superior to the Holy Spirit,{{sfn|La Due|2003|p=38}}{{sfn|Olson|Hall|2002|p=25}}{{sfn|Greggs|2009|p=161}} a model based on Platonic [[Proportionality (mathematics)|proportions]].{{sfn|Olson|Hall|2002|p=25}} Jerome records that Origen had written that God the Father is invisible to all beings, including even the Son and the Holy Spirit,{{sfn|Greggs|2009|pp=152–153}} and that the Son is invisible to the Holy Spirit as well.{{sfn|Greggs|2009|pp=152–153}} At one point Origen suggests that the Son was created by the Father and that the Holy Spirit was created by the Son,{{sfn|Greggs|2009|p=153}} but, at another point, he writes that: "Up to the present I have been able to find no passage in the Scriptures that the Holy Spirit is a created being."{{sfn|Olson|Hall|2002|p=25}}{{sfn|Greggs|2009|p=154}} At the time when Origen was alive, orthodox views on the Trinity had not yet been formulated{{sfn|Greggs|2009|pp=152–153}}{{sfn|Badcock|1997|p=43}} and subordinationism was not yet considered heretical.{{sfn|Greggs|2009|pp=152–153}}{{sfn|Badcock|1997|p=43}} In fact, virtually all orthodox theologians prior to the [[Arian controversy]] in the latter half of the fourth century were subordinationists to some extent.{{sfn|Badcock|1997|p=43}} Origen's subordinationism may have developed out of his efforts to defend the unity of God against the Gnostics.{{sfn|Pollard|1970|p=95}}