Reading the Church Fathers discussion
This topic is about
Commentary on the Gospel According to John, Books 1-10
Origen: Commentary on John
>
Day 3: ANF09 I.7-9 or FC80 I.27-43
date
newest »
newest »
Elements of the Gospel (euangelion, the Good news):1. It must be Good to those who receive.
Lots of things appear good, but are in reality evil. If God alone is good and is the author of all things good, then the Gospel must be from God, and good for man. Therefore, the Gospel is God-man.
2. It must be believed and received.
No matter how good the tidings might be, unless one believes and receive it, it is no good, and does no good, to him personally.
3. It must be hoped for.
One does not hope for what he has possessed already, but for what he has not yet possessed. So the Gospel must be hoped for, as long as, and to the extent that, the Good has not been fully realized.
4. It must exhort the hearer to pursue and to praise.
Whatever is good is worthy of pursuit and praise. So if one does not zealously pursue and praise a thing, s/he does not think it good in reality.
5. The Good must be known, or appropriated (to use a philosophical term), by the receiver.
As long as, and to the extent that, the Good is not fully embodied and known, the Gospel is veiled, i.e., there is no Gospel; to the extent that the Good is believed and hoped for, and even realized, all is Gospel.
In the previous section, Origen engages in making distinctions and separating things, spiritual from corporeal, NT from OT, and Gospels from Epistles, whereas in this section, he engages in bring things together again, in a way that blows one's mind.
Without the analysis in the previous section, one would not perceive the width and depth of the Scriptures, as all would appear on the same (superficial) level; Without synthesis in this section, one would not know that all the depths and riches inherent in the Scripture are One, which is the Beginning and End of all who are called to be Him.
Origen is a very methodical teacher, and everything he writes has a purpose. I"m enjoying following him step by step through the Scriptures, and also looking back from time to time, to see how he has brought us along the way.