Commentary on Romans 6.12–7.1

Origen · Commentary on Romans · ca. 244–246 (Rufinus's translation ca. 405–406) · Caesarea · 4 passages

Latin text: Migne, PG 14 (Latin text: Migne, Patrologia Graeca vol. 14 (1862), transcribed from library-scan OCR of the printed volume).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).

BothSource textEnglish

Show only the passage I followed

Chapter 6

6.12PG 14:1093b–1097b

Nam quod impossibile erat legi, in quo infirmabatur per carnem, Deus Filium suum mittens in similitudinem carnis peccati, et de peccato damnavit peccaturo in carne, ut jhstificatio legis impleretur in nobis, qui non sectmdum carnem ambulamus, sed secundum spiritum. Qui enim secundum berationis eligere. Puto tamen quod legem Moysi etiam hic, sient et in aliis saepe diximus, in duas partes Apostolus dividat, et aliud in ea carnem, aliud spiritum nominet : et illam quidem observantiam quze secundum litteram geritUr, sensum carnis appellet, sicuti dicit de hujusmodi Judtuu , Frustra inflatus a sensu carnis suae τι illam vero quae accipitur Spiritaliter, spiritum nominet, sicut et alibi dicit : Littera occidit, spiritus autem vivificat. Ει in hoc ergo loco quod dicit ‹ impossibile legi,» et in quo infirmabatur per carnem, intellectus qui secundum litteram est accipi potest. lpse enim et impossibilis erat, et infirmus, si secundum carnem, id est secundum litteram sentiretur. Quid enim tam impossibile quam Sabbatl observatio secundum litteram legis, ut in multis saepe jam diximus? Jubetur enim non exire de domo sua, non se movere de loco suo, nihil oneris levare. Quae quia impossibilia vident Judaei qui secundum carnem legem observant, inepta quadam et ridicula commentantur, quibus impossibilitatem legis sarcire videantur. Quid 589 autem dicam de sacrificiorum ratione, quae simul omnis ex integro impossibilis facta est?Quippe ubi nec templum est, nec altare, nec ullus prorsus sacrificando locus. lu quibus singulis lex non dicam impossibilis et infirma, sed et plane jam mortua est. Nam ante hanc mortem infirmabatur tuuccum sanguine vitulorum et hircorum conabatur, nec tamen poterat, auferre peccata : et infirmabatur in legibus lepr:e , quas nec explanare unquam potuit, nec implere. In his ergo omnibus aliisque innumeris et impossibilis erat le: , et iufirmabatur, quantum ad carnis intelligentiam spectat: et ideo Deus Filium suum mittens in similitudinem carnis peccati, et de peccato, vel, ut verius habetur apud Graecos, et pro peccato damnavit peccatum in carne. Quod dixit, ε in similitudinem carnis peccati, ostendit nos quidem habere carnem peccati, Filium vero Dei similitudinem habuisse carnis peccati, non carnem peccati. Omnes enim nos homines qui ex semine viri cum muliere convenientis concepti sumus, illa necessario utimur voce qua dicit David, quoniam in iniquitatibus concepit me mater mea . Verum qui ex nulla viri contagione, sed solo Spiritu sancto super Virginem veniente (8‘2), et virtute Altissimi obumbrante venit ad corpusimmaculatum, naturam quidem corporisnostri habuit, pollutionem tamen peccati quae ex concupiscentia motu conceptis traditur, omnino non habuit. Idcir. co ergo in similitudinem carnis peccati venisse dicitur Filius Dei. Et pro peccato, inquit, 1 damnavit peccatum in carne. Quod hostia pro peccato factus sit Christus, et oblatus sit pro purgatione peccatorum , omnes Scriptura: testantur, et praecipue Paulus ad Hebraeos scribens, cum dicit' : s Hoc enim l‘ecit semel, semetipsum oflerendo hostiam; et iterum : Qui proprio Filio non pepercit, sed pro nobis omnibus tradidit illum ’°. Per hanc ergo hostiam carnis suae. quae dicitur pro peccato, damnavit peccatum carne, sicut idem Apostolus in aliis dicit “, quia t apparuit in novissimis diebus ad destructionem peccati : et iterum propheta dicit : ipse peccata nostra tulit, et iniquitates nostras portavit . Pro peccato ergo, hoc est per hostiam carnis suze quam obtulit pro peccatu, damnavit peccatum in carne sua, ut justilicatio legis impleretur in nobis, qui non secundum carnem ambulamus , sed secundum spiritum. Per hanc etenim hostiam carnis, qua! oblata est pro peccato, et damnavit peccatum, hoc est fugavit peccatum, et abstulit, ut justifieatio legis impleretur in nobis qui legem secundum spiritum ε custodimus, et non secundum carnem : in qua parte, secundum ea quat: supra exposuimus, impossibilis erat lex et inlirma. Qui enim secundum carnem sunt, quae carnis sunt sapiunt : qui vero secundum spiritum, quas sunt spiritus. Hic jam apertius quasi inter nos et .Iudzeos in medio statuens legem Moysi dicit, Qui secundum carnem sunt, quae carnis sunt sapiunt, hoc eSt, Judazi, quos dicit secuudum carnem Israel, quae carnis legis sunt sapiunt, in co quod secundum carnem legem intelligunt : qui vero secundum spiritum (de his dicens quos Judreos dicit spiritu, non littera), quae sunt spiritus. Et adhuc satiat eumdem sensum, et aperit evidentius, cum dicit: Prudentia enim carnis, mors est : prudentia autem spiritus , ο vita et pax. Nunquid non unum atque idem est quod dicit, t Prudentia carnis mors est, et illud: Littera occidit “? Igitur prudentia carnis mort est. Cui tttors est ?Attitum sine dubio.0ai enim legem secundum carnem, id est secundum lito teram, intellexerit , nou venit ad Christum qui est vita, et ideo prudentia carnis, mors est : prudentia vero spiritus, vita et pax. Vitam namque et pacem, quae est Christus, habet qui spiritaliter intelligitlegem. Quoniam sapientia carnis iuitnica est Deo : legi enim Dei non est subjecta : nec enim potest. Videtur adhuc idem intellectus evolvi. Quomodo enim sapientia carnis, hoc est carnalis intelligentia, uott sit inimica Deo, quae adversatur Christo; quae non recipit eum quem misit Deus; quae dicit: Nos legem habemus, et secundum legem debet mori, quia Filium Dei se fecit “ 7 Quomodo ergo haec talis sapientia, et talis intelligentia in lege Deo non dicatur inimica, et legi ejusifii scilicet quae secundum spiritum est, non est subjecta, nec potest subjici: quia sicut contraria sibi sunt mors et vita, ita contraria sunt sibi littera legis occidens quae et sapientia carnis est, et spiritus vivificaris qui vere lex Dei est. Qui autem in carne sunt, Deo placere non possunt. Vos autem in carne non estis, sed 111 spiritti :si tamen Spiritus Dei habitat in vobis. Eadem perdurat intelligentia. Qui in carne sunt, inquit , hoc est, qui secundum litteram sequuntur legem , Deo placere non possunt. Hoc enim et olim per lsaiain pronuntiatum est a Deo,cutu dicit : Jejunia, et ierias,etdiem magnum vestrum non sustineo: nemnenias et Sabbata vestra odit anima mea . Sed et t vos, inquit, in quib-ts Spiritus Dei habitat, si tamen habitat, in carne non estis, sed in spiritu , 1 hoc est, non intelligentiam carnalem legis sequimini, sed spiritalem, per quam venistis ad Spiritum vivificantem, si tamen actus vestri tales sint et conv versatio, ut Spiritum Dei iu vobis habere mereamini. In duas ergo, ut diximus, partes dividens legem Moysi, id est, in spiritum, et carnem, quae sunt spiritus, quam et spiritalem legem appellavit, nobis tradidit : quae vero carnis sunt, carnalibus Judais reliquit. Sic denique et illud interpretatus est de Abraham cum dixit : Sed is quidem qui de aucilla, secundum carnem natus est: qui autem ex libera, per repromissiouetu. Et sicut tunc is qui secundum carnem natus est, persequebatur eum qui secundum spiritum; ita et nunc . Certum est enim quia illi qui secundum carnem stmt Judari, persequuntur nos qui sumus non in manifesto. sed in occulto Judaei, et legem secundum spiritum, non secundum carnem custodimus. llli ergo qui secundum carnem sapiunt, consequenter etiam repromissiones legis carnaliter sperant. Nos vero eas spiritaliter exspectamus secundum sermonem Pauli dicentis τι Ut repromissiones Spiritus accipiamus "; et iterum : Benedictus Deus et Pater Domini nostri Jesu Christi, qui benedixit nos in omni benedictione spiritali in coelestibus in Christo . Ex quibus omnibus et quae sit lex secundum carnem, et quae secundum spiritum, vel qure“ spes repromissionis carnalis, vel qua; spiritalis ostenditur. Potest et secundum aliam expositionem, si repetamus ab initio, Quod impossibile erat legi, in quo infirtoabatur per carnem, et de lege mentis intelligi, quam supra dixit velle facere bonum, sed per iulirmitatem et fragilitatem carnis implere non posse, et propterea misisse Demn Filium suum in similitudinem carnis peccati, et de peccato, hoc est per hostiam pro peccato oblatam, damnasse peccatum. Data enim nobis remissione peccatorum l‘ugatum est et exterminatum de carne nostra peccatum, et erepit in nobis justifieatiolegis implerl, illius duntaxat legis quas condelectatur legi Dei, quae impletur cito cum jam non resistit ei lex peccati quae erat in membris nostris, si tamen non sccundum carnem ambulemus, sed secundum spiritum. Nam donec in carne est quis, et secundm carnem vivit, quae carnis sunt sapit ; cum vero converterit se ad spiritum , et mortuus fuerit legi pecuui et carnis, quae sunt spiritus sapit. Nam secundum carnem sapere. mors est animae ; secundum spiritum vero, vita et pax est :quia sapientia carnis inimica est Deo, hoc est, dum caro resistit spiritui, et non est subjecta legi mentis quae lex Dei est, inimica est Deo : et ideo qui carnaliter vivunt, Deo placere non possunt. Sed ε vos, inquit, inoo estis in carne, hoc est non secundum carnem vivitis, sed secundum spiritum, si tamen Spiritus Dei habitat in vobis. illaec possunt et secundum aliam, ut dixintus, expositionem in hoc loco coaptari. Eligat tamen qui legit, et quod aptius probaverit. si tamen probaverit (l), hoc sequatur. ι)

“For what was impossible for the law, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending his own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin, and concerning sin, condemned sin in the flesh, so that the justification of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the spirit. For those who are according to …” [the scan has lost text here] … to choose. Yet I think that here too, as we have often said elsewhere, the Apostle divides the law of Moses into two parts, and names one thing in it flesh and another spirit; and the observance which is carried out according to the letter he calls the mind of the flesh, as he says of such a Jew, “vainly puffed up by the mind of his flesh”; but that which is taken spiritually he names spirit, as he also says elsewhere: “The letter kills, but the spirit gives life.” And in this place, then, what he says, “impossible for the law,” and, “in that it was weak through the flesh,” may be taken of the understanding which is according to the letter. For it was both impossible and weak, if it was understood according to the flesh, that is, according to the letter. For what is so impossible as the observance of the sabbath according to the letter of the law, as we have often said already in many places? For it is commanded not to go out of one’s house, not to move from one’s place, to lift no burden. And because the Jews who observe the law according to the flesh see that these things are impossible, they devise certain foolish and ridiculous things by which they may seem to patch up the impossibility of the law. And what shall I say of the system of sacrifices, which has all together become wholly impossible? For there is neither temple nor altar nor any place at all for sacrificing. In each of these, I will not say the law is impossible and weak, but it is plainly now dead. For before this death it was weak then, when it tried, yet could not, to take away sins with the blood of calves and goats; and it was weak in the laws of leprosy, which it could never either explain or fulfil. In all these, then, and others without number, the law was both impossible and weak, as far as the understanding of the flesh is concerned; and therefore “God, sending his own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin, and concerning sin,” or, as it is more truly read among the Greeks, “and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.”

What he said, “in the likeness of the flesh of sin,” shows that we indeed have flesh of sin, but the Son of God had the likeness of the flesh of sin, not the flesh of sin. For all of us men who have been conceived from the seed of a man coming together with a woman necessarily use that word in which David says that “in iniquities my mother conceived me.” But he who came to an immaculate body from no contact with a man, but by the Holy Spirit alone coming upon the Virgin and the power of the Most High overshadowing, had indeed the nature of our body, but had not at all the pollution of sin, which is handed on to those conceived by the movement of desire. For this reason, then, the Son of God is said to have come in the likeness of the flesh of sin. “And for sin,” he says, “he condemned sin in the flesh.” That Christ was made a sacrifice for sin and was offered for the cleansing of sins all the Scriptures testify, and especially Paul writing to the Hebrews, when he says: “For this he did once, offering himself as a sacrifice”; and again: “who did not spare his own Son, but handed him over for us all.” Through this sacrifice of his flesh, then, which is said to be for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh; as the same Apostle says elsewhere, that he appeared in the last days for the destruction of sin; and again the prophet says: “He bore our sins and carried our iniquities.” “For sin,” then, that is, through the sacrifice of his flesh which he offered for sin, “he condemned sin in his flesh, so that the justification of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the spirit.” For through this sacrifice of the flesh, which was offered for sin, he both condemned sin, that is, put sin to flight and took it away, so that the justification of the law might be fulfilled in us who keep the law according to the spirit and not according to the flesh; in which part, according to what we set out above, the law was impossible and weak.

“For those who are according to the flesh mind the things of the flesh; but those who are according to the spirit, the things of the spirit.” Here now, more openly, setting the law of Moses as it were in the middle between us and the Jews, he says, “Those who are according to the flesh mind the things of the flesh,” that is, the Jews, whom he calls Israel according to the flesh, mind the things of the flesh of the law, in that they understand the law according to the flesh; “but those who are according to the spirit” (speaking of those whom he calls Jews in spirit, not in letter) “the things of the spirit.” And he still fills out the same sense and opens it more plainly when he says: “For the prudence of the flesh is death, but the prudence of the spirit is life and peace.” Is not what he says, “The prudence of the flesh is death,” one and the same as that: “The letter kills”? Therefore “the prudence of the flesh is death.” Death to whom? Without doubt to the soul. For he who has understood the law according to the flesh, that is, according to the letter, does not come to Christ, who is life; and therefore the prudence of the flesh is death, but the prudence of the spirit is life and peace. For he who understands the law spiritually has life and peace, which is Christ.

“Because the wisdom of the flesh is hostile to God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can it be.” The same understanding seems still to be unfolded. For how should the wisdom of the flesh, that is, the carnal understanding, not be hostile to God, which opposes Christ; which does not receive him whom God sent; which says, “We have a law, and according to the law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God”? How, then, should such a wisdom and such an understanding in the law not be called hostile to God, and not be subject to his law, namely that which is according to the spirit, nor be able to be subject; because, as death and life are contrary to each other, so the killing letter of the law, which is also the wisdom of the flesh, and the life-giving spirit, which is truly the law of God, are contrary to each other.

“And those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.” The same understanding continues. “Those who are in the flesh,” he says, that is, who follow the law according to the letter, “cannot please God.” For this too was declared long ago by God through Isaiah, when he says: “Your fasts and holidays and your great day I cannot bear; your new moons and sabbaths my soul hates.” “But you,” he says, “in whom the Spirit of God dwells, if indeed he dwells, are not in the flesh but in the spirit”; that is, you do not follow the carnal understanding of the law but the spiritual, through which you have come to the life-giving Spirit; if indeed your acts and conduct are such that you deserve to have the Spirit of God in you.

Dividing the law of Moses, then, as we said, into two parts, that is, into spirit and flesh, he has handed on to us the things that are of the spirit, which he also called the spiritual law; but the things of the flesh he has left to the carnal Jews. So, indeed, he interpreted that saying about Abraham too, when he said: “But he who was of the slave woman was born according to the flesh; but he of the free woman through the promise. And as then he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the spirit, so it is now also.” For it is certain that those who are Jews according to the flesh persecute us who are Jews not outwardly but in secret, and keep the law according to the spirit, not according to the flesh. Those, then, who mind the things of the flesh consequently hope for the promises of the law carnally too; but we await them spiritually, according to the word of Paul, who says, “that we may receive the promises of the Spirit”; and again: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” From all of which it is shown what the law according to the flesh is and what according to the spirit, and what the hope of the carnal promise is and what of the spiritual.

The passage can also be understood according to another exposition, if we go back to the beginning, “For what was impossible for the law, in that it was weak through the flesh,” of the law of the mind, which, he said above, wills to do good but cannot fulfil it through the weakness and frailty of the flesh; and that for this reason God sent his own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin, and concerning sin, that is, through the sacrifice offered for sin, condemned sin. For when the forgiveness of sins was given us, sin was put to flight and banished from our flesh, and the justification of the law began to be fulfilled in us, namely of that law which delights in the law of God, which is quickly fulfilled when the law of sin which was in our members no longer resists it; if indeed we walk not according to the flesh but according to the spirit. For so long as one is in the flesh and lives according to the flesh, he minds the things of the flesh; but when he has turned himself to the spirit and has died to the law of sin and the flesh, he minds the things of the spirit. For to mind according to the flesh is death to the soul, but according to the spirit is life and peace; because the wisdom of the flesh is hostile to God, that is, while the flesh resists the spirit and is not subject to the law of the mind, which is the law of God, it is hostile to God; and therefore those who live carnally cannot please God. “But you,” he says, “are not in the flesh,” that is, you do not live according to the flesh, but according to the spirit, “if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.” These things too can be fitted to this place according to another exposition, as we said. Yet let the reader choose, and follow what he has judged more fitting, if indeed he has judged.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Rom 8:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 8:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 8:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 8:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 8:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 8:8 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 8:9 (quotation, high confidence) · Col 2:18 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 3:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 16:29 (allusion, high confidence) · Jer 17:21 (allusion, high confidence) · Heb 10:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Lev 13:1 (allusion, medium confidence) · Ps 51:5 (50:7 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 1:35 (allusion, high confidence) · Heb 7:27 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 8:32 (quotation, high confidence) · Heb 9:26 (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 53:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 53:12 (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 Cor 10:18 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 2:29 (allusion, high confidence) · John 19:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 1:13 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 1:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Gal 4:23 (quotation, high confidence) · Gal 4:29 (quotation, high confidence) · Gal 3:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 1:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 7:22 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 7:23 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Origen reads Romans 8:3–9 of the law understood according to the letter (weak and now “dead”) versus according to the spirit, explains the Son’s “likeness of sinful flesh” and his sacrifice for sin, and gives a second reading based on the law of the mind.

Rom 8:3–9. The rest of the lemma (from Rom 8:5) and the opening of the comment are lost in the scan (marked …; Origen there noted the many kinds of “law” named above and the difficulty of choosing which is meant). Origen’s statements about Jews who keep the law according to the letter, including that “Jews according to the flesh persecute us” (from Gal 4:29), are translated as written; they reflect his allegorical contrast of letter and spirit. His teaching that Christ was conceived without the “movement of desire” and so without the pollution of sin is translated as written. “More truly among the Greeks” is a remark on the Greek reading peri hamartias. Migne’s footnote references are removed by logged corrections. Compared privately with FOTC 104.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Migne's footnote references removed; Migne's note number and footnote reference removed): qua (8|) xm. 14. dicit David → qua dicit David; illud: Hebr. vtt, 27. llom. vnt, δε Psal. 1., 7. “ lsai. t, l3, Littera → illud: Littera.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Rom. 6.12 (PG 14:1093b–1097b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-romanos/6-12/#p-6-12). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-origen-commentarius-romanos-6-12) · Report an error

Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Rufinus's Latin translation of Origen's lost Greek (Migne PG 14, from the library scan's OCR, slips corrected as logged; lines lost in the scan are marked and noted); no public-domain English translation exists, so each batch was checked afterwards privately against a modern translation (never quoted or copied); the Latin decides.

6.13PG 14:1097b–1101b

Si quis autem Spiritutn Christi non habet, hic non est ejus. Si autem Christus in vobis est, corpus quidem mortuum est propter peccatum, spiritus vero vita propter justillcationem. Quod si Spiritus ejus qui suscitavit Jesutn a mortuis habitat in vobis; qui suscitavit Jesum Christum a mortuis vivilicabit etmortalia vestra corpora propter inhabitantem Spiritum ejus in vobis ". Quod constantibus et-dialectica arte collectis utatur syllogismis apostolus Paulus vel in hoc loco, vel itt aliis Epistolis suis, non mihi nunc exponendum videtur, ne forte non tam scientia: ejus , quam sermonis in quo non vult se peritum dici '°, assertores videamur esse : et ideo propositi magis capituli sensum discutere properabimus. ln superioribus ubi dixit: Vos autem in carne non estis, sed in spirilui εί tamen ε duillici modo quid est iu Spiritu esse explanavimus, id est, vel legem non secundum litteram, sed secundum spiritalem sensum intelligere; vel etiam mortillcazo corpore, spiritus, et non carnis legibus vivere. ιειυ nunc ergo quod dicit, Si quis autem Spiritum Christ: 591 non habet, hic non est ejus; et subjungit, Si autem Christus in vobis est, requirendum est utrum diversum sit Spiritum Dei esse in aliquo, an Spiritum Christi :vel etiam ipsum Christum, aut Spiritum ejus qui suscitavit .Iesum a mortuis. Sed quantum vel consequentiam loci prarseniis intueor, vel illud quod Salvator in Evangelio d. Spiritu sancto dicit, quia a Patre procedit, et, De meo accipiet “, et hujus verbi explanationem in consequentibus jungit, dicens : Pater, omnia mea tua sunt, et tua mea: propterea dixi quia de meo accipiet “ : cum, inquam, tantam hanc unitatis inter Patrem et Filium aspicio rationem, Spiritus Dei et Spiritus Christi unus atque idem mihi Spiritus dici videtur. Possumus tamen et hoc modo intelligere quod dixit, Si quis autem Spiritum Christi non habet, hic non est ejus (quia et revera abrupte pronuntiatumvidetur), ut, si quis non tantus et talis esse meruerit qui Spirio crucem suam, et sequitur me, non est me dignus η.» Et hic ergo qui non habet Spiritum Christi (l0), hoc est, qui non eodem Spiritu agitur, ιιι pro justiί tia, pro veritate, pro verbo Dei annuntiando, pro τέεηῖ) caelorum praedicando, pro littera legis abjicienda et spiritum ejus aperiendo, pro resistendo adversum peccatum, pro bis omnibus qui non usque ad mortem venire paratus est, non est ejus discipulus. Qui ergo non est talis, nec talem in se Spiritum gerit, hic creatura quidem ejus est sicut fera: silvarum, etjumenta in montibus, et boves, sed discipulus ejus non est. Sic ergo, Si quis Spiritum-Christi non habet, hic non eat eius; si autem Christus in vobis est, corpus quidem mortuum est propter peccatum, Spiritus vero vita ,ωομεν iursliiiam; Spiritum Christi, et Christum, ,Α . . , ‘in hoc loco unum mihi atque idem dicere videtur. In quo ergo Christus est, ipse dicit, quia semper mortem Christi in corpore nostro circnmlerimus .» Μοιιι autem corpori ipeccati causa, id est, ne peccet, imponitur. Quod si corpus peccato mortuum est, necessario spiritus ad faciendam justitiam vivit. Qui enim in corpore mortuus est, nec servit peccato, necesse est ut in spiritu vivat et iustitiae serviat. Sic et idem Apostolus in quodam loco dicit tradidisse se quemdam in interitum carnis, ut spiritus salvus liat. Quod si Spiritus ejus qui Suscitavitlesum a mortuis, habitat in vobis; qui suscitavit Jesum Christum a mortuis, vivificabit et mortalia corpora vestra propter inhabitantem Spiritum ejus in vobis. Quoniam supra dixerat de ε vel Spiritus Christi, vel Spiritus Dei, vel etiam ipse Christus in nobis habitare,quale sit intueriflii): utrumnam ex initio omnibus iste Spiritus datur, et postmodum pessimis et a Deo alienis'actibus eiugatur, secundum illud quod scriptum est: Non permanebit Spiritus meus in hominibus istis, quia caro sunt , an vita: merito, et fidei gratia postmodum datur, secundum ea quae in Actibus apostolorum docentur ", quia Spiritus sanctus tanquam linguae igneae venit super unumquemque eorum; vel certe sicut in Evangelia docemur, cum ipse Salvator posteaquam resurrexit ει mortuis ad discipulos dixit: Accipite Spiritum sanctum, et insuillavit in unoquoque eorum . Unde mihi videtur quod et meritis eonquiratur hoc donum, et vitae innocentia censervetur, et unicuique secundum profectum fidei augeatur et gratiae; et quanto ς purior anima redditur,vtanto largior ei Spiritus il- ξ fundatur. Quod autem dixit, Non permanebiti Spiritus meus in hominibus istis, quia eam sunt, illuc respicit ut, quoniam anima eorum, repudiata . Spiritus servitute, ad carnis servitia se tota cou- vertit, r593 etiam ipsa ejus cui se conjunxit carni, etcum qua unum ell‘ecta est, nomen accipiat (ιτ). Diversis ergo modis haberi potest Spiritus. Vel Spiritus Christi habetur, secundum id quodsupra diximus, ex inspiratione divina, ubi ιίιεῖ Accipite Spiritum sanctum, et insumavit iu eis";’ et rursum eo modo quo in Actibus apostolorum dicitur gestum (l9), ιιιι diversis linguis loquerentur apostoli . Est et ille modus, qui in Regnorum libris refertur, cum dicit Scriptura: Et insiluit Spiritus super Sani, et erepit prophetare . Εμι ει ille adhuc alius modus, ut, cum Salvator post resurrectionem cum Cleopha et alio discipulo iter agens et aperienseis Scripturas, ignivit eos Spiritu oris sui, ita ut illi dicerent: Nonne eor nostrum erat ardens intra nos, cum aperiret nobis Scripturas “l’ Vis autem seire quia non solum Jesus loquens tradidit audientibus Spiritum suum sed et qui in nomine ejus loquitur verbum Dei, tralium repletur Spiritu sancto ipse Cornelius, et qui cum eo erant . Unde et tu si loquaris verbum Dei, et loquaris fideliter ex conscientia pura, nec ipse redarguaris ex verbis‘tuis quasi qui aliter doceas et aliter agas, potest fieri ut loquente te auditorum corda sancti Spiritus ignis inflammet, et continuo concalescant et ardeant ad complenda universa quas doces, ut rebus impleant quae sermonibus didicerint, et ε quae sursum sunt quaerant, nhi Christus est in dextera Dei sedens : quae sursum sunt sapiant, non quae super terram . s Sed et sic unusquisque habere in se probatur Spiritum Christi. Christus sapientia est : si sit quis sapiens secundum Christum, et quae Christi sunt sapiat, habet in seper sapientiam Spiritum Christi. Christusjustitia est : si quis haheat in se justitiam Christi, per justitiam habet (Ἡ) in se Spiritum Christi. Christus pax est : si quis haheat in se pacem Christi, per Spiritum pacis habet in se Spiritum Christi. Sic et charitatem, sic et sanctificationem, sic et singula quaeque, quae Christus esse dititur qui habet. hic Spiritum Christi in se hahere credendus est, et sperare quod mortale corpus suum Vivificabitur propter inhabitantetn in se Spiritum Christi.

“But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his. But if Christ is in you, the body indeed is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of justification. But if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Jesus Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit dwelling in you.” That the apostle Paul uses sound syllogisms gathered by the art of dialectic, whether in this place or in his other letters, does not seem to me something to set out now, lest we seem to be defenders not so much of his knowledge as of his speech, in which he does not wish to be called skilled; and therefore we shall hasten rather to discuss the sense of the passage before us.

In the passages above, where he said, “But you are not in the flesh but in the spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you,” we explained in a twofold way what it is to be in the Spirit: that is, either to understand the law not according to the letter but according to the spiritual sense; or else, the body having been put to death, to live by the laws of the spirit and not of the flesh. Now, then, as to his saying, “But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his,” and his adding, “But if Christ is in you,” it must be asked whether it is different for the Spirit of God to be in someone, or the Spirit of Christ, or Christ himself, or the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead. But as far as I look either at the sequence of the present place, or at what the Savior says in the Gospel of the Holy Spirit, that he proceeds from the Father, and, “He will take of what is mine,” and joins the explanation of this word in what follows, saying, “Father, all that is mine is yours, and yours is mine; therefore I said that he will take of what is mine”: when, I say, I behold this so great principle of unity between the Father and the Son, the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ seem to me to be called one and the same Spirit.

Yet we can also understand what he said, “But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his” (for in truth it seems to be pronounced abruptly), in this way: that if anyone has not deserved to be so great and of such a kind as to have the Spirit … [the scan has lost text here] … “his cross and follow me, is not worthy of me.” Here too, then, he who does not have the Spirit of Christ, that is, who is not driven by the same Spirit, so that for righteousness, for truth, for announcing the word of God, for preaching the kingdom of heaven, for casting off the letter of the law and opening its spirit, for resisting sin, for all these he who is not ready to go even to death, is not his disciple. He, then, who is not such, and does not bear such a spirit in himself, is indeed his creature, as the beasts of the forest and the cattle on the mountains and the oxen, but he is not his disciple. So, then, “if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his.”

“But if Christ is in you, the body indeed is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness.” The Spirit of Christ and Christ seem to me to mean one and the same thing in this place. In whom, then, Christ is, he himself says, because we always carry about the death of Christ in our body. And death is laid on the body because of sin, that is, so that it may not sin. And if the body is dead to sin, the spirit necessarily lives to do righteousness. For he who is dead in the body and does not serve sin must live in the spirit and serve righteousness. So the same Apostle too says in a certain place that he handed someone over to the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit might be saved.

“But if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Jesus Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit dwelling in you.” … [the scan has lost text here] … Since above he had spoken of the Spirit of Christ, or the Spirit of God, or even Christ himself, dwelling in us, I should like to consider of what kind this is: whether this Spirit is given to all from the beginning, and afterward is driven out by most wicked actions estranged from God, according to what is written, “My Spirit shall not remain in these men, because they are flesh”; or whether it is given afterward by the merit of life and the grace of faith, according to what is taught in the Acts of the Apostles, that the Holy Spirit came upon each one of them like tongues of fire; or certainly as we are taught in the Gospel, when the Savior himself, after he rose from the dead, said to the disciples, “Receive the Holy Spirit,” and breathed on each of them. Hence it seems to me that this gift is both acquired by merits and preserved by innocence of life, and increased in each according to the progress of faith and grace; and the purer the soul is made, the more largely the Spirit is poured into it. And what he said, “My Spirit shall not remain in these men, because they are flesh,” looks to this: that because their soul, having rejected the service of the Spirit, turned itself wholly to the service of the flesh, it took the name too of the flesh to which it joined itself and with which it was made one.

The Spirit, then, can be had in various ways. Either the Spirit of Christ is had, according to what we said above, from divine inbreathing, where he says, “Receive the Holy Spirit,” and breathed on them; and again in the way in which it is said in the Acts of the Apostles to have happened, so that the apostles spoke in various tongues. There is also that way which is related in the books of the Kingdoms, when Scripture says: “And the Spirit leapt upon Saul, and he began to prophesy.” There is still another way: when the Savior after the resurrection, walking with Cleopas and another disciple and opening the Scriptures to them, kindled them with the Spirit of his mouth, so that they said: “Was not our heart burning within us when he opened the Scriptures to us?” And do you wish to know that not only did Jesus, speaking, hand on his Spirit to his hearers, but also he who speaks the word of God in his name … [the scan has lost text here] … Cornelius himself, and those who were with him, is filled with the Holy Spirit. Hence you too, if you speak the word of God, and speak it faithfully from a pure conscience, and are not yourself convicted by your own words, as one who teaches one thing and does another, it may be that, while you are speaking, the fire of the Holy Spirit inflames the hearts of the hearers, and at once they grow warm and burn to fulfil all that you teach, so that they fulfil in deeds what they have learned in words, and seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God, and mind the things above, not those upon the earth.

In this way too each one is proved to have the Spirit of Christ in himself. Christ is wisdom: if someone is wise according to Christ and minds the things of Christ, he has in himself, through wisdom, the Spirit of Christ. Christ is righteousness: if someone has in himself the righteousness of Christ, through righteousness he has in himself the Spirit of Christ. Christ is peace: if someone has in himself the peace of Christ, through the Spirit of peace he has in himself the Spirit of Christ. So too love, so sanctification, so each of the things which Christ is said to be: he who has them is to be believed to have the Spirit of Christ in himself, and to hope that his mortal body will be given life because of the Spirit of Christ dwelling in him.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Rom 8:9 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 8:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 8:11 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 11:6 (allusion, high confidence) · John 15:26 (quotation, high confidence) · John 16:14 (quotation, high confidence) · John 16:15 (quotation, high confidence) · John 17:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 10:38 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 50:10 (49:10 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 4:10 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 5:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 6:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Acts 2:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Acts 2:4 (allusion, high confidence) · John 20:22 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Sam 10:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 24:18 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 24:32 (quotation, high confidence) · Acts 10:44 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Tim 3:9 (allusion, medium confidence) · Col 3:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Col 3:2 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 1:30 (allusion, high confidence) · Eph 2:14 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Origen identifies the Spirit of God with the Spirit of Christ, explains what it is to have the Spirit of Christ, how the Spirit is received in various ways and increased by merit, and how the virtues that Christ is show his Spirit in us.

Rom 8:9–11. Lines are lost in the scan in three places (marked …): after “to have the Spirit” (where Origen quoted Ps 50:10 and began Matt 10:38), after the second lemma (where he spoke of being raised in the likeness of Christ by the Spirit), and in the account of Cornelius (Acts 10:44). Garbled letters are removed by logged correction. Origen’s identification of the Spirit of God and of Christ from John 15:26, 16:14–15, and his view that the Spirit is acquired by merits and increased by progress, are translated as written. Compared privately with FOTC 104.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (garbled letters in the scan removed and the word restored): unicuique secul- ε 1,. _ _,._p (2.1“: ..ι -..τίει-ι. ιιι ινα-...1η duui profectum → unicuique secundum profectum.

Topics: Trinity

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Rom. 6.13 (PG 14:1097b–1101b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-romanos/6-12/#p-6-13). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-origen-commentarius-romanos-6-13) · Report an error

6.14PG 14:1101b–1103a

Ergo, fratres, debitores sumus, non carnis, ut secundum carnem vivnmus. Si enim secundum carnem vixeritis, moriemini ; si autem spiritu nctus carnis mortificctis, vivetis ". Spiritum Christi habitare in nobis, et dona Spiritus nobis collata, superius docuit. Consequenter ergo nunc addit quia t debitores sumus, eorum sine dubio rpite a Spiritu Christi consecuti sumus. ε Carnis autem, inquit, ε debitores non sumus. Νοη enim propterea nos fecit Deus ad imaginem suam, ut carnis servitio essemus obnoxii, sed potius ut creatori suo anima deserviens, ipsa servitio ac ministerio carnis uteretur. Sed fortasse dicat aliquis: Quomodo carnis non sumus debitores, cum et victum ei et indumentum providere natura: necessitate cogantur? Sed ut ostendatnou carni aliquid ronierre, sed ipsam vitam carni mancipare culpahile haberi, ideo addit : Si ettim secundum carnem vixeritis, moriemini. Quid autem sit secundum carnem vivere saepe jam dictum est. Hoc est “02 carnis desideriis indulgere. ln hoc ergo negat nos esse carnis debitores, sicut et alibi dicit : α Ει carnis curam ne feceritis in concupiscentiis ": non utique negans curam carnis habendam iu necessariis, sed in concupiscentiis. Ita ergo et hic, t Si enim, inquit, secundum carnem vixeritis, moriemini. Et addit: Si autem spiritu actus carnis mortificaveritis, vivetis. Ει de hoc iam supra dictum est ", quomodo corpus quidem mortuum esse debeat propter peccata, spiritus vero vita propter justificationem. Qui ergo secundum spiritum agens mortificat actus carnis, vivet propter inltabitantem in se spiritum vitae. Mortificat autem quis actus carnis hoc modo. Fructus est Spiritus charitas δ’, odium carnis cst actus: odium ergo per charitatem mortificatur et' exstinguitur. Gaudium similiter fructus est spiritus, tristitia vero hujus saeculi, quae mortem operatur , carnis est actus: haec ergo exstinguitur, si sit in nobis gaudium Spiritus. Pax fructus est spiritus; dissensio et discordia carnis est actus ; sed certum est discordiam mortificari posse per pacem. Sic et patientia spiritus, impatientiam caruis exstinguit, et bonitas malitiam perimit, et mansuetudo ferociam, et continentia intemperantiam (3|), 593 et castitas impudicitiam necat, talique ordine qui per spiritum actus carnis mortificaverit. vivet. Intuendum sane est, quod sicut mortem non istam communem, sed illam peccati dicit, Si enim secundum carnem vixeritis, moriemini, ita et vitam non hanc communem, sed illam dicit aeternam , ad quam perveniet omnis qui secundum ea quae supra esposuimus, perlectus spiritu mortificaverit actus carnis. Sed et illud‘scire debemus, quod ista mortificatio actuum carnis per patientiam llat, et non ad subitum, sed paulatim. Primo languescere eos necesse est in his qui incipiunt ('54); tum deinde cum ardentius prolicere cmperint, et ahundantiore spiritu repleri, actus carnis non solum languescere, sed et tabescere incipient : ubi vero ad perrectum jam venerint, ita ut nulla in eis prorsus vel in facto, vel in dicto, vel in cogitatu peccati oriantur indicia, tunc plane actus carnis mortificasse, et ad integrum morti tradidisse credendi sunt.

“So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the flesh, you will live.” He taught above that the Spirit of Christ dwells in us and that the gifts of the Spirit have been bestowed on us. Consequently he now adds that “we are debtors,” without doubt for the things we have obtained from the Spirit of Christ. “But to the flesh,” he says, “we are not debtors.” For God did not make us in his own image for this purpose, that we should be liable to the service of the flesh, but rather that the soul, serving its Creator, should itself use the service and ministry of the flesh. But perhaps someone will say: How are we not debtors to the flesh, when we are compelled by the necessity of nature to provide it with food and clothing? But to show that it is not blameworthy to give something to the flesh, but to hand over life itself to the flesh, he therefore adds: “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die.” And what it is to live according to the flesh has often been said already: it is to indulge the desires of the flesh. In this, then, he denies that we are debtors to the flesh, as he also says elsewhere: “And make no provision for the flesh in its desires”; certainly not denying that provision for the flesh is to be made in necessities, but in desires. So here too: “For if,” he says, “you live according to the flesh, you will die.” And he adds: “But if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the flesh, you will live.” And of this too it has been said above how the body ought indeed to be dead because of sins, but the spirit life because of justification. He, then, who, acting according to the spirit, puts to death the deeds of the flesh will live because of the spirit of life dwelling in him.

And one puts to death the deeds of the flesh in this way. The fruit of the Spirit is love; hatred is a deed of the flesh: hatred, then, is put to death and quenched by love. Joy likewise is a fruit of the Spirit; but the sorrow of this world, which works death, is a deed of the flesh: this, then, is quenched if the joy of the Spirit is in us. Peace is a fruit of the Spirit; dissension and discord are a deed of the flesh; but it is certain that discord can be put to death by peace. So too the patience of the spirit quenches the impatience of the flesh, and goodness destroys malice, and gentleness fierceness, and self-control intemperance, and chastity slays shamelessness; and in this order he who by the spirit has put to death the deeds of the flesh will live.

It must be observed, indeed, that just as he means not this common death but that of sin when he says, “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die,” so too he means not this common life but that eternal one, to which everyone will come who, according to what we have set out above, has by the spirit put to death the deeds of the flesh. And this too we ought to know, that this putting to death of the deeds of the flesh comes about through patience, and not suddenly but little by little. First they must grow faint in those who are beginning; then, when they begin to make progress more ardently and to be filled with a more abundant spirit, the deeds of the flesh will begin not only to grow faint but also to waste away; but when they have now come to the perfect, so that no signs at all of sin arise in them, whether in deed or word or thought, then they are to be believed to have fully put to death the deeds of the flesh and wholly handed them over to death.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Rom 8:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 8:13 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 1:26 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 13:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 8:10 (allusion, high confidence) · Gal 5:22 (quotation, high confidence) · Gal 5:23 (allusion, high confidence) · Gal 5:20 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 7:10 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Origen explains that we owe nothing to the flesh beyond necessities and that the fruits of the Spirit gradually put to death the deeds of the flesh, ending Book 6.

Rom 8:12–13, the end of Book 6. Migne’s footnote references and variant readings at the end are removed by logged correction. “Through patience” (per patientiam) is the reading of this text; FOTC follows a text reading “through repentance.” Compared privately with FOTC 104.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Migne's footnote references, variant readings, and a column number removed; the word restored): credendi ευιιιο ὤ. Rom. xm, M. Rom. vtu, l0. “ Calat. enim. εἷεν '. °!°.- .. - . Ἦ) Alias, t Quid enim sit, etc. Editi, ne feceritis in desideriis et in con- 1105 → credendi sunt..

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Rom. 6.14 (PG 14:1101b–1103a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-romanos/6-12/#p-6-14). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-origen-commentarius-romanos-6-14) · Report an error

Chapter 7

7.1PG 14:1103a–1104b

Sicut diversas commemorari leges in hac Epistola a Paulo sub uno vocabulo legis ostendimus, et diversas mortes sub una mortis appellatione nominari, ita et diversos spiritus nunc videmus sub uno nomine Spiritus indicari. Ait ergo in przesenti capitulo : « Quicunque enim Spiritu Dei aguntur, hi filiisunt 1101;1 in quo utiqueipsum Dei Spiritum dicit. Et iterum in sequenti : « Non enim accepistis, inquit, spiritum servitutis iterum in timore . 1 111 1100 ostendit spiritum servitutis alium esse quam illum quem supra dixit Spiritum Dei. Et propterea subjungit : «Sed accepistis spiritum adoptionis filiorum, in quo clamamus: Abba [Pater]. 1 hoc spiritum adoptionis ostendit ipsum esse quem dixit supra Spiritum Dei, de quo et repetit : «Ipse enim Spiritus testimonium reddit spiritui nostro , hoc est, ipse Spiritus Dei, in quo Patrem Deum clamamus, testimonium reddit spiritui nostro. Qui spiritus noster alius sine dubio est quam vel ille spiritus servitutis, qui datur in timore, vel hic qui ei de invocatione Patris testimonium reddit. Omnes ergo homines, ut videtur, aguntur aliquo spiritu, sicut 111εο Paulus scripsit: Scitis autem et vos. cum essetis gentes, quomodo ad idola muta agebamini . 1 hoc ostendit quia etiam gentes ad idola aguntur aliquo spiritu. Est ergo Spiritus Dei idem qui est et Spiritus Christi, idemque ipse et Spiritus sanctus est. Sed et spiritus adoptionis idem dici videtur, sicut praesens apostolicus declarat sermo. David quoque qui dicit, «Spiritum sanctum tuum ne aufer—as 11- me ς et, θ’ « Spiritu principali confirma me , de eodem dicere videtur : quemque principalem Spiritum propterea arbitror nominatum, ut ostenderetur esse quidem multos spiritus, sed in 1118 principatum et dominationem hunc Spiritum sanctum, quiet principalis appellatur, tenere. Sicut enim multi sunt lilii Dei, ut Scriptura dicit : « Ego dixi ; Dii esus, et 11111 Excelsi omnes ,1 unus tamen est natura Filius et Un—igenitus de Patre, per quem omnes filii appellantur, ita et spiritus multi quidem sunt, sed unus estqui vere ex ipso Deo procedit, et caeteris omnibus vocabuli ac 8111101111- Ῑ) cationis sua: gratiam donat. Quod autem plures sint IS llOl spiritus, declarat idem Apostolus ad llebrteos scribens et dicens : Nonne omnes sunt ministerialcs spiritus ad ministerium missi propter eos qni bzereditatem capiunt salutis "‘2 Sed et David dicit ς 1 Qui facit angelos suos spiritus ”. 1 Ε1 Daniel nihilominus testatur, et dicit: 595 « Benedicitc, spiritus et anima: iustorum, Dominum . Et in praesenti loco Paulus, « Ipse Spiritus, inquit, testimonium reddit spiritui nostro; et in aliis ε1 Ut integer spiritus vester, et anima, et corpus in die Domini nostri Jesu Christi servetur. Quae omnia dubium non est quin de rationabilibus spiritibus dicta sint. Appellantur praeterea spiritus mali et angeli mali , sicut et David dicit : « Emisit eis iram indignationis suae, emissionem per angelos 11111108ς1 et ut Regnorum libris scriptum est de Saul 1 Et Spiritus Domini discessit θ Saul, et sulfocabat eum spiritus malignus a Dominou utque in libro Judicum refertur : « Et immisit Deus spiritum malignum inter medium Altinio-led), et inter medium virorum Sichimorum .» llic ergo spirilus malignus, qui dicitur vel exisse ut sufloearet Saul, vel Abimelech Sichimosque ut dirimeret, et a Domino exisse ac missus esse memoratur, tanquam carnifex quidam intelligendus est missus ad exigendas de peccatoribus poenas. Et quamvis mali propter propositum suum voluetatemque dicantur, in bis tamen qui ptena digni sunt divinae voluntati exhibent ministerium, sicut et ille, de quo refert Michaeas propheta, spiritus mendax, qui, cum a Deo dictum fuisset, ’1 Quis seducet mihi Achab? respondit : « Ego sedttcam. Et dixit Dominuszln quo? At ille:Ero. inquit (£3). spiritus mendax in ore omnium prophetarum, et dicant ut ascendat in Galaad, et ibi cadet. « Et dixit Dominus: Vade; seduces, et quidem poteris 5‘. Sic ergo etiam hi qui dicuntur mali spiritus, ollicium Deo erga pinnarum exhibent ministeria. Sunt praeterea et alii spiritus , de quibus dicit David : « lo spiritu violento conteres naves Tharsis ’7; et « spiritus procellae dicuntur ’, et « spiritus ardoris . Quos tamen ego materiales magis quam rationabiles spiritus dixerim.

As we have shown that various laws are mentioned by Paul in this letter under the one word “law,” and various deaths named under the one name of “death,” so now too we see various spirits indicated under the one name of “spirit.” He says, then, in the present passage: “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God”; in which he certainly means the Spirit of God himself. And again in what follows: “For you did not receive,” he says, “a spirit of servitude again in fear”; in which he shows that the spirit of servitude is other than the one he called above the Spirit of God. And therefore he adds: “But you received the Spirit of adoption of sons, in whom we cry: Abba, Father”; in this he shows that the Spirit of adoption is the same as the one he called above the Spirit of God, of whom he also repeats: “The Spirit himself bears witness to our spirit,” that is, the Spirit of God himself, in whom we cry to God as Father, bears witness to our spirit. And this spirit of ours is without doubt other than either that spirit of servitude, which is given in fear, or this one which bears witness to it about calling on the Father.

All men, then, as it seems, are led by some spirit, as Paul himself wrote: “But you know that when you were Gentiles you were led to dumb idols”; by this he shows that the Gentiles too are led to idols by some spirit. The Spirit of God, then, is the same as the Spirit of Christ, and the same is also the Holy Spirit. And the Spirit of adoption too seems to be called the same, as the present apostolic word declares. David also, who says, “Take not your Holy Spirit from me,” and, “Strengthen me with your governing Spirit,” seems to speak of the same; and I think he is named the governing Spirit to show that there are indeed many spirits, but that among them this Holy Spirit, who is also called governing, holds sovereignty and dominion. For just as there are many sons of God, as Scripture says, “I said: You are gods, and all sons of the Most High,” yet there is one Son by nature, the Only-begotten from the Father, through whom all are called sons; so too there are indeed many spirits, but one who truly proceeds from God himself and gives to all the rest the grace of his name and of sanctification.

And that there are many spirits the same Apostle declares, writing to the Hebrews and saying: “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent to minister for the sake of those who inherit salvation?” And David says: “Who makes his angels spirits.” And Daniel no less testifies and says: “Bless the Lord, you spirits and souls of the righteous.” And in the present place Paul says, “The Spirit himself bears witness to our spirit”; and elsewhere: “That your spirit and soul and body may be kept whole on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” There is no doubt that all these were said of rational spirits. Besides, evil spirits and evil angels are spoken of, as David too says: “He sent upon them the wrath of his indignation, a sending through evil angels”; and as is written in the books of the Kingdoms of Saul: “And the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord choked him”; and as is related in the book of Judges: “And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem.” This evil spirit, then, which is said either to have gone out to choke Saul or to divide Abimelech and the Shechemites, and is recorded to have gone out from the Lord and been sent, is to be understood as a kind of executioner sent to exact punishments from sinners. And although they are called evil because of their purpose and will, yet in those who are worthy of punishment they render service to the divine will; as also that lying spirit of which the prophet Micaiah tells, who, when God had said, “Who will deceive Ahab for me?”, answered: “I will deceive him. And the Lord said: By what means? And he said: I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all the prophets, and they will say that he should go up to Gilead, and there he will fall. And the Lord said: Go; you will deceive him, and indeed you will prevail.” So, then, even those who are called evil spirits render to God the service of punishments. There are besides other spirits too, of which David says: “With a violent wind you will shatter the ships of Tarshish”; and there are spoken of “a spirit of storm” and “a spirit of burning.” These, however, I should call material rather than rational spirits.

Rom 8:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 8:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 8:16 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 12:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 51:11 (50:13 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 51:12 (50:14 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 82:6 (81:6 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:14 (allusion, high confidence) · John 15:26 (allusion, high confidence) · Heb 1:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 104:4 (103:4 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Thess 5:23 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 78:49 (77:49 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Sam 16:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Judg 9:23 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Kgs 22:20 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Kgs 22:21 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Kgs 22:22 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 48:7 (47:8 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 148:8 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Opening Book 7, Origen distinguishes the many senses of “spirit” in Scripture: the Holy Spirit, the spirit of servitude, the human spirit, angelic and evil spirits, and winds.

Rom 8:14–16, the opening of Book 7. The governing Spirit is from Ps 51:12 (50:14 LXX); the “spirits and souls of the righteous” from the Song of the Three (Dan 3:86 LXX, Pr Azar 64); the lying spirit is from 1 Kgs 22 (called Micaiah in the Hebrew Bible; the Latin names Micah). Origen’s account of evil spirits as executioners serving God’s punishments is translated as written. Compared privately with FOTC 104.

Extrabiblical texts: Pr Azar 64 (Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Young Men [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)

Topics: Trinity

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Rom. 7.1 (PG 14:1103a–1104b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-romanos/6-12/#p-7-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-origen-commentarius-romanos-7-1) · Report an error