Laying the Groundwork for Christian Theology
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This paper is a study of two writers who helped to lay the groundwork for Christian theology. The first, Origen, was one of the most influential early writers on the meaning of the scriptures and the basic underpinnings of Christian thought. He wrote at the time when Christianity itself was just beginning to take hold throughout the Roman empire. Fighting against paganism and Judaic traditions, followers of this new religion were also struggling with fundamental questions, and Origen's clearly thought-out answers bridged the gap between the old and the new. His thinking continues to influence modern theologians, especially regarding the nature of evil, sin, and free will. A hundred years later, Christianity had come to dominate the empire, and Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa, elaborated on Origen's seminal writing on these subjects. A sampling of these two viewpoints offers a fascinating portrait of the early development of the church as it matured into a mainstream faith. Origenes Adamantus was born around 185 A.D. of mixed Alexandrian-Greek and Egyptian parentage. His father and mother were both Christian converts, and his father was martyred for his faith in 203. W.H.C. Frend describes the world in which Origen grew up: "Christians were not only beginning to develop their distinctive culture parallel to that of pagan and Jewish society, but were also confronted with growing theological problems" (338). Origen was recognized early as a prodigy; when he was about 18 years
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at virtue without freedom is not virtue at all, since only the possibility of choosing not to be virtuous gives the decision to act virtuously any meaning at all.
Origen stirred up considerable controversy through this proposition, since it argues that even the devil fell by exercise of his own free will and consequently has the ability to repent. On this particular point, in fact, he was later attacked by other writers, both Christian theologians and apologists for pagan and other perspectives which were still held by the majority during Origen's time. Several hundred years after his death, Origen's writings lost favor in the church when several theologians put forward the notion that Origen had in fact attempted to placate the pagan majority with what they now saw as a sympathetic view of Satan. Fortunately for his posterity, this misreading of his works did not gain a permanent foothold.
Approximately 75 years after origen's death, the man who came to be known as Gregory of Nyssa was born. Gregory, along with the other Cappadocian Fathers, his brother Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nazanius, was a graduate of Athens University. One of the most acute intellects of the fourth century, Gregory's life and writings had a de
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2081
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)
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