Origen and the History of Justification: The Legacy of Origen's Commentary on Romans

by Thomas P. Scheck, Joseph T. Lienhard S.J. (Foreword)

Standard accounts of the history of interpretation of Paul’s Letter to the Romans often begin with St. Augustine. As Thomas P. Scheck demonstrates, however, the Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans by Origen of Alexandria (185-254 CE) was a major work of Pauline exegesis which, by means of the Latin translation preserved in the West, had a significant influence on the Christian exegetical tradition. Scheck begins by exploring Origen’s views on justification and on the intimate connection of faith and post-baptismal good works as essential to justification. He traces the enormous influence Origen’s Commentary on Romans had on later theologians in the Latin West, including the ways in which theologians often appropriated Origen’s exegesis in their own work. Scheck analyzes in particular the reception of Origen by Pelagius, Augustine, William of St. Thierry, Erasmus, Cornelius Jansen, the Anglican Bishop Richard Montagu, and the Catholic lay apologist John Heigham, as well as Martin Luther, Philip Melanchthon, and other Protestant Reformers who harshly attacked Origen’s interpretation as fatally flawed. But as Scheck shows, theologians through the post-Reformation controversies of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries studied and engaged Origen extensively, even if not always in agreement. An important work in patristics, biblical interpretation, and historical theology, Origen and the History of Justification establishes the formative role played by Origen’s Pauline exegesis, while also contributing to our understanding of the theological issues surrounding justification in the western Christian tradition.

Genres: Christianity

310 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2008

Reviews

[Tony Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

Below is just a collection of notes I made while reading this book.

Origen’s commentary on Romans is neglected by current scholarship as essential to the West. Figures from St. Jerome to Pelagius to the reformation participants Luther and Melanchthon (who vehemently opposed Origen’s doctrine of justification. ) all received Origen as a Pauline exegete in one way or another. Origen opposed the doctrine of natures, that he attributed to the Marcion school. (The idea that there is a group of souls that would always be saved and a group of souls who would always be damned.) Origen constantly describes Christ’s death in the language of penal satisfaction. Origen while decidedly Catholic in terms of justification still benefits all traditions with his exegetical work.

[Tony Ross II · Rating 4 out of 5]

Below is just a collection of notes I made while reading this book.

Origen’s commentary on Romans is neglected by current scholarship as essential to the West. Figures from St. Jerome to Pelagius to the reformation participants Luther and Melanchthon (who vehemently opposed Origen’s doctrine of justification. ) all received Origen as a Pauline exegete in one way or another. Origen opposed the doctrine of natures, that he attributed to the Marcion school. (The idea that there is a group of souls that would always be saved and a group of souls who would always be damned.) Origen constantly describes Christ’s death in the language of penal satisfaction. Origen while decidedly Catholic in terms of justification still benefits all traditions with his exegetical work.

[Tony Ross Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Origen’s commentary on Romans is heavily neglected today. Re-reading his commentary could help us solve the divide between denominations on their doctrines of justification.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tom Scheck comes to this study as a leading expert on Origen's interpretation of Romans, as he is the translator of Origen's Commentary on Romans (CUA, 2001-2). His goal is to demonstrate continuity between Origen's interpretation of this epistle and subsequent interpretations in the Catholic tradition. He achieves this to a considerable degree. The only caveats are some omissions in Augustine's doctrine of nature and grace and the heavy handed polemic against Protestant exegesis. Regardless, this is still an important work on the history of Romans interpretation and will be of particular interest, among other things, to those interested in the Augustinian/Pelagian debates of the fifth century.