Origen: Homilies on Leviticus, 1–16
Overview
This new translation of Origen’s Homilies on Leviticus may be read as a companion to Ronald E. Heine’s translation of Origen’s Homilies on Genesis and Exodus, volume 71 in the Fathers of the Church series. Both volumes reveal Origen’s tenacious belief that, although the meaning of Scripture was threefold, that is, literal, moral, and spiritual, the most important interpretation was the spiritual.
The Homilies on Leviticus were delivered during a three-year cycle between 238 and 244 in Alexandria where Origen was a brilliant teacher, theologian, churchman, and exegete until his imprisonment and torture under Decian and his reluctant death in Tyre in 253/254. They were translated by Rufinus, who admitted to having changed the text by condensing the homilies and, at the same time, expanding some of the explanations. Nevertheless they provide valuable insights on the third-century Church, touching on topics of conversion from sin, works of piety, baptism, Lent and fasting, the ordination of a priest, and the process of Christian discipline. Perhaps Origen’s most significant theological contribution, however, is his doctrine of the Trinity which influenced the Trinitarian debates of the fourth and fifth centuries.
Origen was the most prolific writer of the Early Church. Eusebius numbers his books at 2000, and St. Jerome writes of 786 works. But Origen’s chief aim, as an interpreter of the Scriptures, was to draw out the historical meaning of the text and communicate that wisdom of perception to his flock. It was this that inspired his profound spiritual interpretation in the Homilies on Leviticus so finely translated in this volume.
In the Logos edition, this volume is enhanced by amazing functionality. Important terms link to dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a wealth of other resources in your digital library. Perform powerful searches to find exactly what you’re looking for. Take the discussion with you using tablet and mobile apps. With Logos Bible Software, the most efficient and comprehensive research tools are in one place, so you get the most out of your study.
For more of the church fathers, check out the Fathers of the Church: Fathers of the Ante-Nicene Era (23 vols.).
Top Highlights
“Observe that there always ought to be ‘fire on the altar.’ And you, if you want to be a priest of God, as it is written, ‘For every one of you will be priests of the Lord.’50 For it is said that you are ‘an elect race, a royal priesthood, an acquired people.’51 If, therefore, you want to exercise the priesthood of your soul, let the fire never depart from your altar. This is what the Lord also taught in the Gospels that ‘your loins be girded and your lamps burning.’52 Thus, let the ‘fire’ of faith and the ‘lamp’ of knowledge always be lit for you.” (Page 78)
“And so, there are these three in which it says the sacrifice ought to be prepared, ‘in an oven, on a gridiron, in a frying pan.’ I think that ‘the oven’, by reason of its form, signifies some things more profound which are unmentionable in divine Scriptures. ‘The gridiron’ is those which, if they are frequently and often thought upon, can be understood and explained. But ‘the frying pan’ is those which are well known and are understood without any covering. For often we have said that a triple mode of understanding is to be found in divine Scriptures: the historical, the moral, the mystical. From this we understood the body, the soul, and the spirit. This threefold method of preparation of the sacrifices shows the threefold form of this understanding.” (Page 100)
“For that reason, if anyone wants to be a high priest not just in name but in worthiness, let him imitate Moses; let him imitate Aaron. What is said about them? ‘They did not leave the Tent of the Lord.’57 Moses was constantly in ‘the Tent of the Lord.’ What was his work? That he should either learn something from God or teach the people. These are the two works of the high priest: that he either learn from God by reading the divine Scriptures and by meditating often on them, or teach the people. But let him teach those things that he has learned from the Lord, not ‘from his own heart,’58 or from human understanding, but what the Spirit teaches.” (Page 128)
- Title: Origen: Homilies on Leviticus 1–16
- Author: Origen
- Series: The Fathers of the Church
- Volume: 83
- Publisher: Catholic University of America
- Print Publication Date: 1990
- Logos Release Date: 2014
- Pages: 312
- Era: era:ante-nicene
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Bible. O.T. Leviticus › Sermons--Early works to 1800; Sermons, Latin › Translations into English
- ISBNs: 0813214327, 0813200830, 9780813214320, 9780813200835
- Resource ID: LLS:HMLSLVTCS116
- Resource Type: text.monograph.sermons
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-03-25T19:59:41Z
Origen of Alexandria (ca. 182–ca. 251) was a Christian scholar and presbyter in the third century. He is thought to have been born at Alexandria, and died at Caesarea.