Origen of Alexandria

In his own words on Wisdom of Solomon

• Wisdom of Solomon 1:2

  Even if one who is pure of heart and another stained with impurity are found in the same place, the fact that they are in the same place cannot harm the one or benefit the other. The one whose heart is pure will see God; the one whose heart is not in the same condition, however, will not be able to see what the other sees. In my view, the same can also be said of Christ when he was visible in the body. Not all those who laid eyes on him were able to see him.They saw the body of Christ, but they did not see Christ as Christ. His disciples, however, saw him and contemplated the greatness of his divinity. I think this is the reason why, when Philip asks him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us," the Savior responds, "Have I been with you all this time and you do not know me? Philip, he who sees me sees the Father as well." In fact, neither Pilate nor Judas the betrayer gazed on the Father, for while they were gazing at Jesus, neither Pilate nor Judas gazed on Christ as Christ. Nor did the crowd that pressed around him. Only those whom Jesus deemed worthy of beholding him actually saw him. We too, therefore, should work in such a way that God might appear to us in the present (as the sacred words of Scripture promised, "He lets those find him who do not test him, and he appears to those who believe in him"). And, in the life to come, he may not be hidden from us. Rather, may we see him "face to face."

  HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 3

• Wisdom of Solomon 1:14

  "God did not make death, and he does not delight in the death of the living. For he created all things that they might exist, and the generative forces of the world are wholesome, and there is no destructive poison in them. And the dominion of Hades is not on earth." Then, a little further on in the text, it says, "But by the envy of the devil death entered the world." If therefore God made everything for us in the best possible way, it is we who have caused evil and sins.

  HOMILIES ON JEREMIAH 2:1

• Wisdom of Solomon 2:20

  My Lord Jesus Christ, when he assumed the flesh of the Virgin for our salvation, was surely glorified, because "he came to seek what was lost," though he was not "glorified gloriously." In fact, it is said precisely of him, "We saw him, and he had neither beauty nor splendor, and his face was more to be despised than all the sons of mortals." He was glorified also when he went to the cross and suffered death. Do you know why he was glorified? He said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son, so that your Son may glorify you." For him, therefore, even the passion of the cross was glory. This glory was not glorious, however, but humble. Finally, it is said of him, "He humbled himself even to death, death on a cross," and of this also the prophet had foretold, "Let us condemn him to a shameful death." But Isaiah also says of him, "He bore his judgment in humiliation." Thus in all these events the Lord was glorified, but humbly, so to speak. He was not "glorified gloriously."

  HOMILIES ON EXODUS 6:1

• Wisdom of Solomon 2:22

  Though such a great light had arisen, and though the Logos had been made manifest, declaring, "Here is a man whose name is Orient," they did not see the light, because "their wickedness blinded them, and they did not know the mysteries of God." Something paradoxical took place with that people and with the pagan nations. The Jews did see a lamp in each of the prophets, but they did not recognize the Sun of righteousness that arose. Therefore, even though it seemed that they had a lamp, this was taken from them. On the other hand, "the people"—the pagans—"who were in darkness saw a great light." Not a small light, as with Israel (though each of the prophets was actually not a small light), but "the people who were in darkness saw a great light," our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. His light shines, "extending from one end of the earth to the other with power and governing" the churches "with goodness," since his Spirit fills the whole earth. Thus the prophecy is fulfilled that says, "In the last days the mountain of God will be visible." And now, "all the nations stream toward it." This mountain is Jesus Christ.

  COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 16:3

• Wisdom of Solomon 3:6

  God removes evil from us in two ways, by "wind" and by "fire." If we are good and obedient to his teachings and allow ourselves to be instructed by his Word, the "wind" sweeps away our evils, according to what is written, "If by the Spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you will live." But if the Spirit has not taken away our evils, there is need of purification by fire. Observe closely, however, each combination of terms. The first is "wind" and "cloud," the second "fire" and "light," the third "electrum" and "splendor." Each of these, as though it were sad, is paired with something more cheerful. Indeed, if the wind dies down, immediately a cloud appears. If fire appears, there is light. If one speaks of electrum, there is brightness all around. We must, "like gold in the furnace" and electrum, be fused by an extremely hot fire. You will find, in the prophet we are commenting on, the Lord who sits in the middle of Jerusalem, fanning those who are a heap of silver, tin, iron and lead. With laments, he reproaches those who bear within themselves the dross of more base material. He says, "You have become the dross of silver, silver that is no longer pure like the grape." When we superimpose on God's creature, which at the beginning is good, the vices and passions that come from our wrongs, then we mix iron, tin and lead with gold and silver. To be purified, fire is necessary. As early as possible, then, we must act in such a way so as, when we arrive at this fire, to pass through it peacefully, like gold and silver and precious stones, which have no blemish of adultery. Not that we would be defeated by the fire, but that we might emerge from it approved.

  HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 1:13

• Wisdom of Solomon 3:16

  If the soul, joined to the spirit and, so to speak, conjugally united with it, now turns to the pleasures of the body, bending its senses to carnal enjoyments, then seems to obey the salutary admonitions of the spirit, only to again yield to the vices of the flesh—such a soul, contaminated by the body's adultery, cannot say that it would increase and multiply legitimately, because Scripture calls the children of adulterers imperfect. Such a soul, which sets aside its union with the Holy Spirit and entirely prostrates itself to the senses of the flesh and the desires of the body, shamelessly withdrawing from God, will hear the words, "Your face has become that of a prostitute, entirely without shame." It will be punished like a prostitute, with the command that its children be readied for slaughter.

  HOMILIES ON GENESIS 1:15

• Wisdom of Solomon 5:4

  First, the punishments and the torments of sinners are decreed. The righteous will see their fate and understand the difference between a good and a bad life and from how many evils they have escaped by living well. And those condemned to punishment will see the righteous in glory and exclaim, "And we fools thought their life was madness!" After having thus seen the end of sinners, the righteous will be exalted and lifted up to heaven so as to inherit the earth. Now the psalm speaks and comforts us concerning the problem that almost constantly disturbs the heart of every person. Because often, when we suffer and see that the wicked and impious live surrounded by good fortune in this life—full of success, abounding in riches and honors, having fruitful and numerous children—we are scandalized and murmur in our hearts, Where is God's justice? If human life were ruled by divine providence, would God allow this wicked and godless person to rise to such a degree of prosperity? That is why the divine word, speaking through the mouth of the righteous, says, "I have seen a godless person"—not merely exalted but "exalted and raised beyond all measure," and not above any tree but "above the cedars of Lebanon." He speaks of an exceedingly tall tree and a mountain above all, and yet, having seen all this, he says, "I passed by, and look—he was no more."

  HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS, PSALM 36, HOMILY 5:5

• Wisdom of Solomon 6:6

  "Their destiny will be of no benefit to them," because what is of benefit is not the mere fact of sitting in the presbytery but living a life worthy of that position, as the Word demands. The Word requires a good life from both you and from us, but if it is true that "the mighty will be mightily tested," then more is demanded of me than of a deacon, more of a deacon than of a layperson, and of the one entrusted with ecclesial power, even more is demanded.

  HOMILIES ON JEREMIAH 11:3

• Wisdom of Solomon 7:17

  In John it is written, "As the Father knows me, so I know the Father." And in Psalm 45 it is written, "Be still and you will know that I am God." Therefore the principal end of knowledge is to know the Trinity, and secondly to know what has been created by him, after the one who said, "Indeed, he gave me true knowledge of what exists."

  COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 1:8

• Wisdom of Solomon 7:17

  You see that the human heart is not small, because it understands many things. And you must not suppose that human greatness is in the size of the body but in the capacity of the senses, which can grasp so effectively the knowledge of the truth. And so that you might believe concerning the greatness of the human heart, I will offer some simple examples drawn from everyday life, such as the following. If we pass through a city, we preserve it in our spirit. In our heart are present the characteristics and locations of its squares, its walls and its buildings. We remember, both as an image and as a description, the street by which we entered and the sea we crossed to get there. As I said, the human heart is not small, which can understand so many things. Since it understands many things (and therefore is not small), in it the way of the Lord is prepared and the path straightened, so that the word and the wisdom of God might walk on them. Prepare the way of the Lord by good behavior, and level the path with excellent works, so that the Word of God might walk in you without encountering obstacles, making you know his mysteries and his coming.

  HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 21:6-7

• Wisdom of Solomon 7:21

  The writer of divine wisdom, after having listed everything one by one, concludes by saying that he has acquired knowledge of what is hidden and what is manifest. By this he showed that each of the things that are manifest has a relation with something hidden—that every visible thing, that is, has a likeness and a formal relationship with invisible things. Given, then, that it is not possible for a person who lives in the flesh to know anything about hidden and invisible realities unless he receives some image and likeness of it from visible things, for this reason I think that the one who created everything in wisdom created all the species of visible things on earth in such a way as to bear within them a principle of the knowledge of invisible and heavenly realities. Through them, therefore, the human mind can raise itself to spiritual understanding and seek in heavenly realities the principles and causes of things. Thus, instructed by the wisdom of God, it also can say, "I have known everything that is hidden and manifest." In this sense it also knows the essence of the world, not only the visible and corporeal world that is before the eyes of all but also that incorporeal and invisible world that is hidden. It knows the elements not only of the visible world but also of the invisible world, and the properties of the one and the other.

  COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 2:9

• Wisdom of Solomon 8:2

  I think therefore that Sarah, which means "principal," or what has primacy, is a figure of the aretē which is the virtue of the soul. This virtue is joined and clings to a wise and faithful husband, like that wise one who said of wisdom, "I sought to take her as my bride." For this reason God says to Abraham, "In everything that Sarah says to you, listen to her voice."

  HOMILIES ON GENESIS 6:1

• Wisdom of Solomon 8:2

  In many places the sacred Scripture has avoided the term "desire," replacing it with "love." At times, however, even if somewhat rarely, it uses precisely the term "desire" and invites and urges the soul to this, as in Proverbs when it says of wisdom, "Desire her, and she will serve you. Hold her close, and she will make you great. Honor her, that she would embrace you." And in the book entitled the Wisdom of Solomon, it is further written of wisdom, "I desired her beauty." Nevertheless, I think that the Scripture used the term "desire" only where there was no possibility of equivocation. Indeed, whatever is passionate or shameful can be found in the desire for wisdom or in the one who claims to desire wisdom. In fact, if the Scriptures had said that Isaac desired Rebecca or that Jacob desired Rachel, one could have thought of passion or of something shameful in the holy men of God because of these words, especially among those who do not know how to raise themselves from the letter to the spirit. And precisely in this book that we have before us, it is clear that the word desire has been replaced by "love," where it is said, "I implore you, daughters of Jerusalem: if you find my beloved, tell him that I am wounded by love." It is as if she were to say, I have been pierced by an arrow of love. Therefore there is no difference if the sacred Scriptures speak of love or of desire, except that the term "love" is held in such high esteem that even God is personally called love, as John says, "Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows him. The one who does not love, however, does not know God, because God is love."

  COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS, PREFACE

• Wisdom of Solomon 8:20

  Do you not know that when the male child is forty days old, he is presented at the altar to be purified, being impure from the conception itself, on account of both the paternal seed and the mother's womb? Thus every person is impure from his father and his mother, but only my Lord Jesus entered this life purely and was not defiled in the mother. He in fact entered an undefiled body. It was he who once said through Solomon, "Or rather, being good, I entered an undefiled body." Consequently, he was not defiled in the mother, and certainly not in the father. In his generation, Joseph offered nothing other than his service and affection. Thus Scripture, for his faithful service of a father, also gives him the name. Indeed, Mary says in the Gospel, "I and your father have been searching for you in sorrow." Christ alone, therefore, is "the high priest who was not defiled in either the father or the mother."

  HOMILIES ON LEVITICUS 12

• Wisdom of Solomon 11:24

  Let us take an example from God. In fact, "he loves everything that exists" equally, "and he hates nothing that he has made: in fact, he created nothing that should be hated." Nonetheless, this did not mean that he loved Jews and Egyptians in the same way, or Pharaoh as Moses and Aaron. At the same time, he did not love the other children of Israel as he loved Moses and Aaron and Miriam, and further, he did not love Aaron and Miriam as he loved Moses. Although what is said is true, "You have mercy on all, because all is yours, Lord and lover of souls. In fact, a spirit of incorruptibility is in all," nevertheless the one who arranged all "with measure, number and weight" unquestionably also proportions his love to the measure of each one's merits. Do we perhaps think that Paul, when he persecuted the church of God, was loved in the same way as when he underwent persecutions and torments for it and when he said that he bore within himself concern for all the churches?

  COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 2:4

• Wisdom of Solomon 12:10

  The God who "judges little by little" those he punishes "gives space for repentance." By not punishing all at once for the sin, he delays the consummation of the punishment for the sinner. He thus punishes, "judging little by little." We have an example of this in Leviticus. In the curses against those who transgress the Law, after the first punishments it is written, "The Lord says, if you do not repent after these things, I will multiply my blows sevenfold." And again he sets forth another punishment, "And if, despite these punishments, you do not want to correct yourselves and turn to me but oppose yourselves to me, I will also oppose you with fury." You will note that God metes out punishments stingily, as it were, since he wants to lead the sinner to conversion instead of making him pay for everything all at once. With respect to the text, then, these are the things that befell the people. And threatening them with how much they might have suffered afterward, the Word says, "And yet in those days, I will not wholly destroy you."

  HOMILIES ON JEREMIAH 7:1

• Wisdom of Solomon 14:8

  By the disposition of the universe you find an angel appointed for the earth and another appointed for the waters, another appointed for the air and a fourth appointed for fire. Arise, then—I beg of you—with your reason, and consider the disposition of the animals, the plants and the stars of heaven. There is an angel appointed for the sun, another of the moon and others of the stars. These angels, who accompany us during our time on earth, either rejoice or mourn over us when we sin. "Grieve," it says, "over the earth because of its inhabitants." It calls the angel for the earth using the same name as the earth itself, "earth," as when it says, "The work of human hands and the one who has done it are accursed." It is not that the inanimate thing itself is accursed, but what resides in the inanimate statue is indicated by the expression "human hands," and from this it receives its name. In this way I would say that the angel appointed for the earth is designated also by the name "earth," and the angel appointed for the water is designated by the name "water," as when it is said, "The waters saw you, O God, the waters saw you and feared. The abyss trembled, a great crash of waters, and the clouds sent out their voice. Behold, your arrows pass."

  HOMILIES ON JEREMIAH 10:6

• Wisdom of Solomon 16:7

  In the meantime, the priestly Levitical order must show the way to the people of God—who are leaving Egypt! It is they, in fact, who teach the people to flee Egypt, which is to say from the errors of the world, and to pass through the immense desert, that is, to pass through various kinds of temptations without being harmed by the serpents, which are the bites of demons, and to avoid the poison of perverse counsel. And if it happens that someone is bitten by a serpent in the desert, they also show him the bronze serpent hanging on the cross. The one who sees it, who believes, that is, in him whom the serpent symbolized, by this very fact will escape the devil's poison.

  HOMILIES ON JOSHUA 4:2

• Wisdom of Solomon 16:28

  It seems to me that, to complete the argument of the prayer, it would not be out of place after this to discuss briefly the disposition and the attitude that one who prays must have, as well as the place where one should pray and the direction he should face (if circumstances permit) and the choice of the appropriate time for praying, and topics of this kind. Disposition refers to the soul, attitude to the body. Thus Paul says … one must pray "without anger or dissension." The attitude consists in "raising pure hands," expressions that seem to me to be derived from the psalms, which say, "May the raising of my hands be like the evening sacrifice." Regarding the place, "I want therefore that people pray in every place." Regarding the orientation, the Wisdom of Solomon says, "To make it known that one must rise before the sun to give you thanks and worship you before the dawning of the light."

  ON PRAYER 31:1

• Wisdom of Solomon 17:1

  In the Apocalypse we see "a Lamb, as though sacrificed." This is the Lamb that, for certain ineffable reasons, became the sacrifice of expiation for the entire world, having accepted even to be sacrificed, according to the measure of the Father's love for humanity. By his blood he bought us back from him who had bought us, in that we were corrupted by sins. Leading this lamb to the sacrifice was the God who was in the man, the great high priest, as he himself attests, saying, "No one takes my life from me, but I myself give it. I have the power to give it and the power to take it up again." All of the other sacrifices are related to this sacrifice by affinity, the sacrifices prescribed by the Law being a symbol of it. And in my opinion, the shedding of blood on the part of the noble martyrs are sacrifices similar to this one; not without reason does John the disciple contemplate them as surrounding the heavenly altar. "Who is wise enough to understand these things, intelligent enough to know them?" To grasp somewhat more contemplatively the reason for these sacrifices, which purify those for whom they are offered, we must understand the significance of the sacrifice of the daughter of Jephthah. Jephthah had defeated the Ammonites because of a vow, to which she who was to be sacrificed adhered, responding to her father's words, "I have given my word to the Lord against you," by saying, "Even if it is against me that you have given your word to the Lord, fulfill your vow." In considering such events one could be led to attribute an element of great cruelty to God, to whom such sacrifices are offered for the salvation of human beings. One needs a more open and farsighted mind to reconcile this in light of the designs of providence, so as to be able to justify these things as both ineffable and beyond human nature, saying, "The judgments of God are great and difficult to tell. For this reason, ignorant souls fell into error." Moreover, it is also attested among the pagans that in times of pestilence, many were given over to sacrifice for the common salvation. The faithful Roman Clement also admits that this occurred, basing himself on history; Paul testifies of him saying, "Together with Clement and my other coworkers, whose names are in the book of life." Someone wanting to insult mysteries that escape the comprehension of the many finds the precepts regarding martyrs similarly absurd. God, however, considers that it would be better for us to confess his divinity at the price of the most atrocious sufferings than to free ourselves for a brief time from apparent evils, declaring our acquiescence to the will of the enemies of truth.

  COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 6:53-54

• Wisdom of Solomon 18:24

  The name "world" is often used in the Scriptures with different meanings. What in Latin we call "world," the Greeks call kosmos, and kosmos not only means "world" but also "ornament." In fact, in Isaiah, when a reproach is made against the powerful children of Zion, it is said, "Instead of golden ornaments you will be bald, because of your works," where "ornament" is indicated with the word that means "world," that is, kosmos. And it is also said that the explanation of the world was contained in the pontifical vestment, as we find in the Wisdom of Solomon, where it says, "The entire world was in the priestly vestment." Our earth with its inhabitants is also called world, as when the Scripture says that "the whole world is in the possession of the evil one." And Clement, disciple of the apostles, refers to those places that the Greeks called antipodes and to the other parts of the earth where no one can reach (just as none of the people there can reach us), and he calls them "world," saying, "The ocean cannot be crossed by people, nor the worlds that are beyond them, which are governed by the very dispositions of the Lord God." We also call world this universe that is formed by the heavens and the earth, as Paul says, "The form of this world is passing away." And our Lord and Savior also speaks of another beyond this visible world, which is difficult to describe and define in its reality. He says, "I do not come from this world." As though he came from another world, he said, "I do not come from this world." We said that it is difficult to describe this world, so as to not provide anyone with occasion to claim that we assert the existence of the images that the Greeks call ideas. In fact, it is foreign to our way of thinking to assert the existence of an incorporeal world, consisting solely in the fantasy of the mind and fallacious thoughts.

  ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 2:3.6