Editing Origen (section)

===Travels and early writings===
{{Location map+|Mediterranean|width=400|float=left|caption=A map of the Mediterranean showing locations associated with Origen|places=
{{Location map~|Mediterranean|lat=31.205753|N|long=29.924526|E|region:IT_type:city(60157)|position=right|label_size=75 |label= [[Alexandria]]}}
{{Location map~|Mediterranean|lat=32.5012|N|long=34.8924|E|region:IT_type:city(60157)|position=right|label_size=75 |label= [[Caesarea Maritima|Caesarea]]}}
{{Location map~|Mediterranean|lat=40.7666636|N|long=29.916663|E|region:IT_type:city(60157)|position=right|label_size=75 |label= [[Nicomedia]]}}
{{Location map~|Mediterranean|lat=36.1968|N|long=36.1612|E|region:IT_type:city(60157)|position=right|label_size=75 |label= [[Antioch]]}}
{{Location map~|Mediterranean|lat=37.9838|N|long=23.7275|E|region:IT_type:city(60157)|position=right|label_size=75 |label= [[Athens]]}}
{{Location map~|Mediterranean|lat=38.7205|N|long=35.4826|E|region:IT_type:city(60157)|position=right|label_size=75 |label= [[Caesarea Mazaca]]}}
{{Location map~|Mediterranean|lat=33.2705|N|long=35.2038|E|region:IT_type:city(60157)|position=right|label_size=75 |label= [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]]}}
{{Location map~|Mediterranean|lat=41.9028|N|long=12.4964|E|region:IT_type:city(60157)|position=right|label_size=75 |label= [[Rome]]}}
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In his early twenties Origen became less interested in work as a [[Grammarian (Greco-Roman)|grammarian]]{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=7}} and more interested in operating as a rhetor-philosopher.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=7}} He gave his job as a catechist to his younger colleague [[Pope Heraclas of Alexandria|Heraclas]].{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=7}} Meanwhile, Origen began to style himself as a "master of philosophy".{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=7}} Origen's new position as a self-styled Christian philosopher brought him into conflict with Demetrius, the bishop of Alexandria.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=7}} Demetrius, a charismatic leader who ruled the Christian congregation of Alexandria with an iron fist,{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=7}} became the most direct promoter of the elevation in status of the bishop of Alexandria;{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|pp=7–8}} before Demetrius, the bishop of Alexandria had merely been a priest who was elected to represent his fellows,{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=8}} but after Demetrius, the bishop was seen as clearly a rank higher than his fellow priests.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=8}} By styling himself as an independent philosopher, Origen was reviving a role that had been prominent in earlier Christianity{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|pp=7–8}} but which challenged the authority of the now-powerful bishop.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|pp=7–8}}

Meanwhile, Origen began composing his massive theological treatise ''[[On the First Principles]]'',{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=8}} a landmark book which systematically laid out the foundations of Christian theology for centuries to come.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=8}} Origen also began travelling abroad to visit schools across the Mediterranean.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=8}} In 212 he travelled to Rome – a major center of philosophy at the time.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=8}} In Rome, Origen attended lectures by [[Hippolytus of Rome]] and was influenced by his {{translit|grc|[[Logos (Christianity)|logos]]}} theology.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=8}} In 213 or 214, the governor of the [[Province of Arabia]] sent a message to the prefect of Egypt requesting him to send Origen to meet with him so that he could interview him and learn more about Christianity from its leading intellectual.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=8}} Origen, escorted by official bodyguards,{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=8}} spent a short time in Arabia with the governor before returning to Alexandria.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|pp=8–9}}

In the autumn of 215, the Roman Emperor [[Caracalla]] visited Alexandria.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=9}} During the visit, the students at the schools there protested and made fun of him for having murdered his brother [[Geta (emperor)|Geta]]{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=9}} (died 211). Caracalla, incensed, ordered his troops to ravage the city, execute the governor, and kill all the protesters.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=9}} He also commanded them to expel all the teachers and intellectuals from the city.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=9}} Origen fled Alexandria and traveled to the city of [[Caesarea Maritima]] in the Roman province of [[Syria Palaestina|Palestine]],{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=9}} where the bishops [[Theoctistus of Caesarea]] and [[Alexander of Jerusalem]] became his devoted admirers{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=9}} and asked him to deliver discourses on the scriptures in their respective churches.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=9}} This effectively allowed Origen to deliver sermons even though he was not formally ordained.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=9}} While this was an unexpected phenomenon, especially given Origen's international fame as a teacher and philosopher,{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=9}} it infuriated Demetrius, who saw it as a direct undermining of his authority.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=9}} Demetrius sent deacons from Alexandria to demand that the Palestinian hierarchs immediately return "his" catechist to Alexandria.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=9}} He also issued a decree chastising the Palestinians for allowing a person who was not ordained to preach.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|pp=9–10}} The Palestinian bishops, in turn, issued their condemnation, accusing Demetrius of being jealous of Origen's fame and prestige.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=10}}

[[File:1 QIsa example of damage col 12-13.jpg|thumb| While in [[Jericho]], Origen bought an ancient manuscript of the [[Hebrew Bible]] which had been discovered "in a jar",{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=10}} a discovery which prefigures the later discovery of the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] in the twentieth century.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=10}} Shown here: a section of the [[Isaiah scroll]] from [[Qumran]].]]

Origen obeyed Demetrius's order and returned to Alexandria,{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=10}} bringing with him an antique scroll he had purchased at [[Jericho]] containing the full text of the Hebrew Bible.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=10}} The manuscript, which had purportedly been found "in a jar",{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=10}} became the source text for one of the two Hebrew columns in Origen's {{translit|grc|Hexapla}}.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=10}} Origen studied the [[Old Testament]] in great depth;{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=10}} Eusebius even claims that Origen learned Hebrew.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=11}}{{sfn|Marcos|2000|p=205}} Most modern scholars regard this claim as implausible,{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=11}}{{sfn|Marcos|2000|pp=204–205}} but they disagree over how much Origen knew about the language.{{sfn|Marcos|2000|p=205}} H. Lietzmann concludes that Origen probably only knew the Hebrew alphabet and not much else,{{sfn|Marcos|2000|p=205}} whereas R. P. C. Hanson and G. Bardy argue that Origen had a superficial understanding of the language but not enough to have composed the entire {{translit|grc|Hexapla}}.{{sfn|Marcos|2000|p=205}} A note in Origen's ''On the First Principles'' mentions an unknown "Hebrew master",{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=11}} but this was probably a consultant, not a teacher.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=11}}

[[File:OrigenStudentsLuyken.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Dutch illustration by Jan Luyken (1700), showing Origen teaching his students]]

Origen also studied the entire [[New Testament]],{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=10}} but especially the [[Pauline epistles|epistles of the apostle Paul]] and the [[Gospel of John]],{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=10}} the writings which Origen regarded as the most important and authoritative.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=10}} At Ambrose's request, Origen composed the first five books of his exhaustive ''Commentary on the Gospel of John'',{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=12}} He also wrote the first eight books of his ''Commentary on Genesis'', his ''Commentary on Psalms 1–25'', and his ''Commentary on Lamentations''.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=12}} In addition to these commentaries, Origen also wrote two books on the resurrection of Jesus and ten books of {{translit|grc|Stromata}} ('Miscellanies').{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=12}} It is likely that these works contained much theological speculation,{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=13}} which brought Origen into even greater conflict with Demetrius.<ref>{{cite book
 | last1 = McGuckin
 | first1 = John Anthony
 | author-link1 = John Anthony McGuckin
 | chapter = The Life of Origen (ca. 186–255)
 | editor1-last = McGuckin
 | editor1-first = John Anthony
 | editor1-link = John Anthony McGuckin
 | title = The Westminster Handbook to Origen
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=riEdrWEDFq0C
 | series = The Westminster Handbooks to Christian Theology
 | location = Louisville, Kentucky
 | publisher = Westminster John Knox Press
 | date = 2004
 | page = 13
 | isbn = 9780664224721
 | access-date = 6 September 2020
 | quote = The writings brought to a head the growing tension between the philosopher theologian Origen and the local bishop Demetrios. One could suspect that his doctrine of incorporeal resurrection bodies and the other speculations that must have been contained in the {{translit|grc|Stromata}}, as well as many of the unusual points of doctrine still extant in the ''On the First Principles'', would have been enough to give Demetrios grounds for complaint. The latest conflict between Origen and his bishop seems to have been the last straw [...]
 | archive-date = 28 April 2021
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210428104459/https://books.google.com/books?id=riEdrWEDFq0C
 | url-status = live
 }}</ref>