Treatise on the Passover and Dialogue of Origen With Heraclides and His Fellow Bishops on the Father, the Son, and the Soul

Ancient Christian Writers #54

by Origen (Editor), Robert J. Daly

The Treatise on the Passover dates from around 245. Its central insight is that the passover is not a figure or type of the passion of Christ, but a figure of Christ himself, of Christ's passing over to the Father. The Dialogue with Heraclides probably comes from between the years 244 and 249. It seems to be the record of a synod-like meeting of bishops, in the presence of lay people, called to discuss matters of belief and worship. Both pieces seem to come from the last decade of Origen s activity, when he was at the height of his powers.

128 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1992

About the author

Origen of Alexandria (c. 184 – c. 253), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an early Christian scholar, ascetic, and theologian who was born and spent the first half of his career in Alexandria. He was a prolific writer who wrote roughly 2,000 treatises in multiple branches of theology, including textual criticism, biblical exegesis and biblical hermeneutics, homiletics, and spirituality. He was one of the most influential figures in early Christian theology, apologetics, and asceticism. He has been described as "the greatest genius the early church ever produced".

Reviews

[John Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading Origen was and is fascinating. I cannot bring myself to agree with how he reads the Bible, however. Which isn't to say he's wrong or bad, just that I can't like his writing beyond finding it interesting. Origen re-frames almost the entirety of the Old Testament as if Christ were the original intended meaning all along, as if the real meaning of scripture couldn't be known until Christ. In other words, the Passover, for instance, isn't just given more meaning by Christ's sacrifice; the Passover is given its meaning by Christ. Likewise with everything. Nearly every word in the Old Testament apparently had a deeper, symbolic meaning that can only be understood through the lens of Christ.

I don't disagree that a Christian should read the entire Bible from the lens of Christ, but changing or ignoring the obvious meaning of a text to fit that of Christ doesn't make sense to me.

[Dan Glover · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've only read the Treatise on the Passover portion of this work but thoroughly enjoyed it. I found myself sometimes thinking, "Origen is on to something," and other times thinking, "Hmmm, Origen is on something." Still, overall this was so very good and it is so enlightening to see our fathers in the faith handled the Word. We may not always agree with them but there is never any doubt that their first commitment in handling the Word is to Christ.

[Ted · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was reading another book which mentioned this work a couple of times - I bought the book but discovered that probably the best ideas were incorporated in the book I was already reading, and so I didn't find much new in this book. It does serve as a short introduction to the writings of Origen, and gives a sense of how he used scripture in his teaching.

[Patrick Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It should be known that the Peri Pascha exists in a fragmented form which is unfortunate because the pieces that we have are very interesting. The Dialogue with Heraclides is wonderful and shows both Origen's skill as a theologian but also his skill as an orator. The section where he prays to be dissolved in Christ is absolutely beautiful.

[Thomas Myers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alas, part of the transcript is lost, and some of the discussion are rather esoteric. But I definitely appreciate Origen's theological insights here.