THEORIA
Explore full early church libraryExplore library
Library
  1. Library
  2. Origen of Alexandria
  3. Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John

Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John

Origen of Alexandria · c. 230 AD

5h 16m read
Ante-Nicene

Origen's great commentary on the Gospel of John, of which substantial Greek portions survive — a searching theological and exegetical engagement with the Fourth Gospel that also preserves much of Heracleon's Valentinian commentary for refutation.

Table of Contents

1Letter of Origen to Gregory1Book I1How Christians are the Spiritual Israel2The 144,000 Sealed in the Apocalypse are Converts to Christ from the Gentile World3In the Spiritual Israel the High-Priests are Those Who Devote Themselves to the Study of Scripture4The Study of the Gospels is the First Fruits Offered by These Priests of Christianity5All Scripture is Gospel; But the Gospels are Distinguished Above Other Scriptures6The Fourfold Gospel. John's the First Fruits of the Four. Qualifications Necessary for Interpreting It7What Good Things are Announced in the Gospels8How the Gospels Cause the Other Books of Scripture Also to Be Gospel9The Somatic and the Spiritual Gospel10How Jesus Himself is the Gospel11Jesus is All Good Things; Hence the Gospel is Manifold12The Gospel Contains the Ill Deeds Also Which Were Done to Jesus13The Angels Also are Evangelists14The Old Testament, Typified by John, is the Beginning of the Gospel15The Gospel is in the Old Testament, and Indeed in the Whole Universe. Prayer for Aid to Understand the Mystical Sense of the Work in Hand16Meaning of “Beginning.” (1) in Space17(2) in Time. The Beginning of Creation18(3) of Substance19(4) of Type and Copy20(5) of Elements and What is Formed from Them21(6) of Design and Execution22The Word Was in the Beginning, I.e., in Wisdom, Which Contained All Things in Idea, Before They Existed. Christ's Character as Wisdom is Prior to His Other Characters23The Title “Word” Is to Be Interpreted by the Same Method as the Other Titles of Christ. The Word of God is Not a Mere Attribute of God, But a Separate Person. What is Meant When He is Called the Word24Christ as Light; How He, and How His Disciples are the Light of the World25Christ as the Resurrection26Christ as the Way27Christ as the Truth28Christ as Life29Christ as the Door and as the Shepherd30Christ as Anointed (Christ) and as King31Christ as Teacher and Master32Christ as Son33Christ the True Vine, and as Bread34Christ as the First and the Last; He is Also What Lies Between These35Christ as the Living and the Dead36Christ as a Sword37Christ as a Servant, as the Lamb of God, and as the Man Whom John Did Not Know38Christ as Paraclete, as Propitiation, and as the Power of God39Christ as Wisdom and Sanctification and Redemption40Christ as Righteousness; As the Demiurge, the Agent of the Good God, and as High-Priest41Christ as the Rod, the Flower, the Stone42Of the Various Ways in Which Christ is the Logos2Book II1“And the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”2In What Way the Logos is God. Errors to Be Avoided on This Question3Various Relations of the Logos to Men4That the Logos is One, Not Many. Of the Word, Faithful and True, and of His White Horse5He (This One) Was in the Beginning with God6How the Word is the Maker of All Things, and Even the Holy Spirit Was Made Through Him7Of Things Not Made Through the Logos8Heracleon's View that the Logos is Not the Agent of Creation9That the Logos Present in Us is Not Responsible for Our Sins10“That Which Was Made Was Life in Him, and the Life Was the Light of Men.” This Involves the Paradox that What Does Not Derive Life from the Logos Does Not Live at All11How No One is Righteous or Can Truly Be Said to Live in Comparison with God12Is the Saviour All that He Is, to All?13How the Life in the Logos Comes After the Beginning14How the Natures of Men are Not So Fixed from the First, But that They May Pass from Darkness to Light15Heracleon's View that the Lord Brought Life Only to the Spiritual. Refutation of This16The Life May Be the Light of Others Besides17The Higher Powers are Men; And Christ is Their Light Also18How God Also is Light, But in a Different Way; And How Life Came Before Light19The Life Here Spoken of is the Higher Life, that of Reason20Different Kinds of Light; And of Darkness21Christ is Not, Like God, Quite Free from Darkness: Since He Bore Our Sins22How the Darkness Failed to Overtake the Light23There is a Divine Darkness Which is Not Evil, and Which Ultimately Becomes Light24John the Baptist Was Sent. From Where? His Soul Was Sent from a Higher Region25Argument from the Prayer of Joseph, to Show that the Baptist May Have Been an Angel Who Became a Man26John is Voice, Jesus is Speech. Relation of These Two to Each Other27Significance of the Names of John and of His Parents28The Prophets Bore Witness to Christ and Foretold Many Things Concerning Him29The Six Testimonies of the Baptist Enumerated. Jesus' “Come and See.” Significance of the Tenth Hour30How John Was a Witness of Christ, and Specially of “The Light.”3Fragments of the Fourth Book4From the Fifth Book1From the Preface2How Scripture Warns Us Against Making Many Books3The Apostles Wrote Little4Chapter IV5Book VI1The Work is Taken Up After a Violent Interruption, Which Has Driven the Writer from Alexandria. He Addresses Himself to It Again, with Thanks for His Deliverance, and Prayer for Guidance2How the Prophets and Holy Men of the Old Testament Knew the Things of Christ3“Grace and Truth Came Through Jesus Christ.” These Words Belong to the Baptist, Not the Evangelist. What the Baptist Testifies by Them4John Denies that He is Elijah or “The” Prophet. Yet He Was “A” Prophet5There Were Two Embassies to John the Baptist; The Different Characters of These6Messianic Discussion with John the Baptist7Of the Birth of John, and of His Alleged Identity with Elijah. Of the Doctrine of Transcorporation8John is a Prophet, But Not the Prophet9John I. 2210Of the Voice John the Baptist is11Of the Way of the Lord, How It is Narrow, and How Jesus is the Way12Heracleon's View of the Voice, and of John the Baptist13John I. 24, 25. Of the Baptism of John, that of Elijah, and that of Christ14Comparison of the Statements of the Four Evangelists Respecting John the Baptist, the Prophecies Regarding Him, His Addresses to the Multitude and to the Pharisees, Etc15How the Baptist Answers the Question of the Pharisees and Exalts the Nature of Christ. Of the Shoe-Latchet Which He is Unable to Untie16Comparison of John's Testimony to Jesus in the Different Gospels17Of the Testimony of John to Jesus in Matthew's Gospel18Of the Testimony in Mark. What is Meant by the Saviour's Shoes and by Untying His Shoe-Latchets19Luke and John Suggest that One May Loose the Shoe-Latchets of the Logos Without Stooping Down20The Difference Between Not Being “Sufficient” And Not Being “Worthy.”21The Fourth Gospel Speaks of Only One Shoe, the Others of Both. The Significance of This22How the Word Stands in the Midst of Men Without Being Known of Them23Heracleon's View of This Utterance of John the Baptist, and Interpretation of the Shoe of Jesus24The Name of the Place Where John Baptized is Not Bethany, as in Most Copies, But Bethabara. Proof of This. Similarly “Gergesa” Should Be Read for “Gerasa,” In the Story of the Swine. Attention is to Be Paid to the Proper Names in Scripture, Which are Often Written Inaccurately, and are of Importance for Interpretation25Jordan Means “Their Going Down.” Spiritual Meanings and Application of This26The Story of Israel Crossing Jordan Under Joshua is Typical of Christian Things, and is Written for Our Instruction27Of Elijah and Elisha Crossing the Jordan28Naaman the Syrian and the Jordan. No Other Stream Has the Same Healing Power29The River of Egypt and Its Dragon, Contrasted with the Jordan30Of What John Learned from Jesus When Mary Visited Elisabeth in the Hill Country31Of the Conversation Between John and Jesus at the Baptism, Recorded by Matthew Only32John Calls Jesus a “Lamb.” Why Does He Name This Animal Specially? Of the Typology of the Sacrifices, Generally33A Lamb Was Offered at the Morning and Evening Sacrifice. Significance of This34The Morning and Evening Sacrifices of the Saint in His Life of Thought35Jesus is a Lamb in Respect of His Human Nature36Of the Death of the Martyrs Considered as a Sacrifice, and in What Way It Operates to the Benefit of Others37Of the Effects of the Death of Christ, of His Triumph After It, and of the Removal by His Death of the Sins of Men38The World, of Which the Sin is Taken Away, is Said to Be the Church. Reasons for Not Agreeing with This Opinion6Book X1Jesus Comes to Capernaum. Statements of the Four Evangelists Regarding This2The Discrepancy Between John and the First Three Gospels at This Part of the Narrative, Literally Read, the Narratives Cannot Be Harmonized: They Must Be Interpreted Spiritually3What We are to Think of the Discrepancies Between the Different Gospels4Scripture Contains Many Contradictions, and Many Statements Which are Not Literally True, But Must Be Read Spiritually and Mystically5Paul Also Makes Contradictory Statements About Himself, and Acts in Opposite Ways at Different Times6Different Accounts of the Call of Peter, and of the Imprisonment of the Baptist. The Meaning of “Capernaum.”7Why His Brothers are Not Called to the Wedding; And Why He Abides at Capernaum Not Many Days8How Christ Abides with Believers to the End of the Age, and Whether He Abides with Them After that Consummation9Heracleon Says that Jesus is Not Stated to Have Done Anything at Capernaum. But in the Other Gospels He Does Many Things There10Significance of Capernaum11Why the Passover is Said to Be that of the “Jews.” Its Institution: and the Distinction Between “Feasts of the Lord” And Feasts Not So Spoken of12Of the Heavenly Festivals, of Which Those on Earth are Typical13Spiritual Meaning of the Passover14In the First Three Gospels the Passover is Spoken of Only at the Close of the Ministry; In John at the Beginning. Remarks on This. Heracleon on the Passover15Discrepancy of the Gospel Narratives Connected with the Cleansing of the Temple16The Story of the Purging of the Temple Spiritualized. Taken Literally, It Presents Some Very Difficult and Unlikely Features17Matthew's Story of the Entry into Jerusalem. Difficulties Involved in It for Those Who Take It Literally18The Ass and the Colt are the Old and the New Testament. Spiritual Meaning of the Various Features of the Story. Differences Between John's Narrative and that of the Other Evangelists19Various Views of Heracleon on Purging of the Temple20The Temple Which Christ Says He Will Raise Up is the Church. How the Dry Bones Will Be Made to Live Again21That the Son Was Raised Up by the Father. The Charge Brought Against Jesus at His Trial Was Based on the Incident Now Before Us22The Temple of Solomon Did Not Take Forty-Six Years to Build. With Regard to that of Ezra We Cannot Tell How Long It Took. Significance of the Number Forty-Six23The Temple Spoken of by Christ is the Church. Application to the Church of the Statements Regarding the Building of Solomon's Temple, and the Numbers Stated in that Narrative24The Account of the Building of Solomon's Temple Contains Serious Difficulties and is to Be Interpreted Spiritually25Further Spiritualizing of Solomon's Temple-Building26The Promises Addressed to Jerusalem in the Prophets Refer to the Church, and are Still to Be Fulfilled27Of the Belief the Disciples Afterwards Attained in the Words of Jesus28The Difference Between Believing in the Name of Jesus and Believing in Jesus Himself29About What Beings Jesus Needed Testimony30How Jesus Knew the Powers, Better or Worse, Which Reside in Man