s first major work, completed while he was still in Alexandria, was On First Principles, written around 225 A.D. Along with Commentary on Gospel of John (c. 228), Exhortation to Martyrdom (236), and Against Celsus (248), this manuscript survives to establish origen's place as the most influential theologian of the early Greek church. In Frend's view, "No Christian writer has attempted so thorough and complete a statement of this religion. No one before him had defended it so thoroughly against its opponents, and with such success" (382)
Origen's reputation continued to grow through his writings, and, by the time of his death in either 253 or 254 (Frend cites both dates in different parts of his text), his importance to Christian thinking was undeniable. His thorough familiarity with Plato and with Philo allowed him to apply Greek views to his analysis of Christianity. Frend observes:
What Origen tried to do was to interpret Christian beliefs from a recognizably Platonic angle . . . Plato and philosophy were powerful allies for origen in his fight against the Gnostics. But emotionally Origen was a Christian through and through . . . His was the decisive influence that brought Greek philosophy and Christianity together at a crucial moment when Christianity was becoming second only to the religion of the immortal gods themselves (373-374).
Combining the Greek catechetical techniques of question and answer reasoning with a methodical reading of Biblical scripture in both its original language and the available translations, Origen's On First Principles proposed several concepts that would provide some of Christianity's most enduring theological foundations. Origen argued first that God is the embodiment of pure goodness and that evil is the absence of some measure of this goodness.
Origen put forward the idea that God created a finit
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