Encyclopedia of world history (facts on file library of world history) 7 volume set ( PDFDrive ) 359

Origen brought monasticism to Europe long before Benedict’s monastery in Italy Europeans flocked to the Egyptian monasteries in the fifth and sixth centuries, along with their pilgrimages to Syria’s Simeon the Stylite Because of their extensive contacts with the imperial Roman and Byzantine world, Copts incorporate a fair number of Greek words in their theology and liturgy Even their alphabet utilizes Greek characters However, their vocabulary is from their native Coptic language By the reign of Justinian (565) they had a completely separate ecclesial hierarchy, spirituality, and even architecture, reflecting their native character The Coptic faith is intensely biblical and monastic, like many of the ancient Oriental Orthodox Churches Its early literature centered on the Bible, the interpretations of the Bible, and the writings of Coptic holy men and women Valuable manuscripts of holy writings go back to the second and third centuries Thousands of papyri survive in the Egyptian desert, making it easy to detail the Coptic culture from the fifth century onward The writings give the sense that Egypt’s upper classes were well educated and piously Christian by the early sixth century Eventually, Coptic speech and writing gave way to Arabic as the language of the conqueror The Copts themselves became dhimmis (“protected people” of the state) strictly restricted and monitored by the Muslims See also Christianity, early; Desert Fathers and Mothers; Ephesus and Chalcedon, Councils of; Nicaea, Council of; persecutions of the church; Roman Empire; Syriac culture and church Further reading: Atiya, A S., and M N Swanson “Coptic Church.” In Encyclopedia of Religion, edited by Lindsay Jones Detroit, MI: MacMillan Reference, 2005; Marsh, Richard, ed Prayers from the East: Traditions of Eastern Christianity Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress, 2004 Mark F Whitters Origen (c 185–c 253 c.e.) theologian and church leader Origen of Alexandria represents one of the most fascinating yet controversial figures of the early church Specific details of Origen’s life are somewhat ambiguous, and we must rely largely on the efforts of the fourthcentury historian Eusebius Origen was born around 185 c.e in Alexandria and lived during one of the most intense periods of Christian persecution under the 321 Roman emperor Decius His parents raised him in a Christian home so devout that his father died willingly as a martyr around 201, and he received a strong Hellenistic education From a young age Origen taught at the catechetical school in Alexandria, reportedly succeeding Clement as its head at just 18 years of age Origen led a lifestyle of strict ascetic discipline, earning him the nickname Adamantios, or Man of Steel He gained a wide reputation for his extensive teaching and scholarship on biblical exegesis, doctrine, exhortation, and apologetics Origen encountered some difficulties, however, when Demetrius, the bishop of Alexandria, convened a synod that excommunicated Origen for preaching as a layman before bishops and for being ordained a priest despite his reputed self-castration Shortly thereafter, Origen left Alexandria for Caesarea to head a school of theology He died there around 253 as the result of imprisonment and torture inflicted upon him by Roman persecutors, leaving behind a body of work so vast that it was not all preserved One of Origen’s greatest contributions to patristic theology consists of his biblical exegesis Writing in both commentary and homily form, Origen interpreted almost every book of the Old and New Testaments With his characteristic style Origen usually interpreted scripture in a line-by-line, even word-by-word manner in great detail, sometimes producing multivolume commentaries on a single biblical book, such as Genesis and the Gospel of John Those commentaries that have survived offer a wealth of insight and testimony to Origen’s exegetical method, which influenced such great patristic figures as Jerome, Ambrose, Augustine of Hippo, and Basil the Great Origen is particularly known for his use of allegory As Origen explains in book of On First Principles, scripture, with its divine authorship, is capable of yielding meaning on many different levels, including the literal, moral, and spiritual plains With the guidance of church teaching and the Holy Spirit, one can determine these levels of meaning as one grows in faith Origen’s reputation unfortunately suffered posthumously with the Origenist controversies in the fourth through the sixth centuries Following the Council of Nicaea in 325, some of Origen’s theological views were questioned, including the tendencies to claim that in essence the Son and the Holy Spirit are less than the Father (subordinationism) and to view resurrection in terms of soul rather than body While these views were undeniably unorthodox, Origen lived before the ecumenical councils that