A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years

by Diarmaid MacCulloch

Origen’s importance was twofold as biblical scholar and speculative theologian, in which roles he exhibited interestingly different talents. As a biblical scholar, he had no previous Christian rival. He set standards and directions for the giant task which was already occupying the Church, of redirecting the Tanakh to illuminating the significance of Jesus Christ in the divine plan: creating the text of the Bible as Christians now know it. His biblical commentaries became foundational for later understanding of the Christian sacred texts.91 Origen’s biblical work showed a concern for exactness and faithfulness to received texts, something very necessary in an age when the text was still uncertain in many details;