On Prayer 25.1
Summary: The kingdom of God is within us; to pray “your kingdom come” is to ask that God's rule may grow and be perfected in our souls, displacing the rule of sin.
Greek text · Koetschau 2:356–357
„Ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου.“ εἰ „ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ“ κατὰ τὸν λόγον τοῦ κυρίου καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν „μετὰ παρατηρήσεως“ „οὐκ ἔρχεται, “ „οὐδὲ ἐροῦσιν· ἰδοὺ ὧδε ἢ ἰδοὺ ἐκεῖ, “ ἀλλὰ „ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ ἐντὸς“ ἡμῶν „ἐστιν“ („ἐγγὺς“ γὰρ „τὸ ῥῆμά ἐστι σφόδρα ἐν τῷ στόματι“ ἡμῶν „καὶ ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ“ ἡμῶν), δῆλον ὅτι ὁ εὐχόμενος ἐλθεῖν τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ περὶ τοῦ τὴν ἐν αὐτῷ βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ ἀνατεῖλαι καὶ καρποφορῆσαι καὶ τελειωθῆναι εὐλόγως εὔχεται· παντὸς μὲν ἁγίου ὑπὸ θεοῦ βασιλευομένου καὶ τοῖς πνευματικοῖς νόμοις τοῦ θεοῦ πειθομένου, οἱονεὶ εὐνομουμένην πόλιν οἰκοῦντος ἑαυτόν· παρόντος αὐτῷ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ συμβασιλεύοντος τῷ πατρὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐν τῇ τετελειωμένῃ ψυχῇ κατὰ τὸ εἰρημένον, οὗ πρὸ βραχέος ἐμνημόνευον· „πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐλευσόμεθα καὶ μονὴν παρʼ αὐτῷ ποιησόμεθα“ (καὶ οἶμαι νοεῖσθαι θεοῦ μὲν βασιλείαν τὴν μακαρίαν τοῦ ἡγεμονικοῦ κατάστασιν καὶ τὸ τεταγμένον τῶν σοφῶν διαλογισμῶν, Χριστοῦ δὲ βασιλείαν τοὺς προϊόντας σωτηρίους τοῖς ἀκούουσι λόγους καὶ τὰ μὲν ἐπιτελούμενα ἔργα δικαιοσύνης καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ἀρετῶν· λόγος γὰρ καὶ δικαιοσύνη ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ)· παντὸς (δὲ) ἁμαρτωλοῦ κατατυραννουμένου ὑπὸ τοῦ ἄρχοντος „τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου, “ ἐπεὶ πᾶς ἁμαρτωλὸς τῷ ἐνεστῶτι αἰῶνι πονηρῷ ᾠκείωται, μὴ ἐμπαρέχων ἑαυτὸν τῷ δόντι „ἑαυτὸν περὶ τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν ἡμῶν, ὅπως ἐξέληται ἡμᾶς ἐκ τοῦ αἰῶνος τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος πονηροῦ“ καὶ „ἐξέληται“ „κατὰ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πατρὸς ἡμῶν“ κατὰ τὰ ἐν τῇ πρὸς Γαλάτας εἰρημένα ἐπιστολῇ. ὁ δὲ κατατυραννούμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ ἄρχοντος τούτου τοῦ αἰῶνος τῷ ἑκουσίῳ τῆς ἁμαρτίας καὶ βασιλεύεται ὑπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας· διόπερ κελευόμεθα ὑπὸ τοῦ Παύλου μηκέτι ὑποτάσσεσθαι θελούσῃ τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ βασιλεύειν ἡμῶν, καὶ προστασσόμεθά γε διὰ τούτων· „μὴ οὖν βασιλευέτω ἡ ἁμαρτία ἐν τῷ θνητῷ ἡμῶν σώματι εἰς τὸ ὑπακούειν ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις αὐτῆς.“
English · Claude translation
“Your kingdom come.” If, according to the word of our Lord and Savior, “the kingdom of God does not come with observation,” “nor will they say, Look, here it is, or, Look, there,” but “the kingdom of God is within” us (for “the word is very near, in” our “mouth and in” our “heart”), clearly the one who prays for the kingdom of God to come reasonably prays that the kingdom of God within him may rise, bear fruit, and be perfected. For every saint is ruled by God and obeys the spiritual laws of God, dwelling in himself as in a well-governed city; the Father is present with him, and Christ reigns with the Father in the perfected soul, according to the saying I mentioned a little before: “We will come to him and make our dwelling with him.” (And I think that by the kingdom of God is meant the blessed condition of the ruling faculty and the order of wise thoughts; and by the kingdom of Christ the saving words that go out to the hearers, and the works of righteousness and of the other virtues that are accomplished; for the Son of God is Word and righteousness.) But every sinner is tyrannized by the ruler “of this age,” since every sinner has made himself at home in the present evil age, not yielding himself to him who gave “himself for our sins, to deliver us from the present evil age,” and to deliver us “according to the will of our God and Father,” as is said in the Letter to the Galatians. And the one who is tyrannized by the ruler of this age through voluntary sin is also ruled by sin; that is why we are commanded by Paul no longer to submit to sin when it wishes to reign over us, and we are ordered in these words: “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its desires.”
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Luke 17:20–21, Deut 30:14 (Rom 10:8), John 14:23, John 12:31, Gal 1:4, and Rom 6:12; “the Son of God is Word and righteousness” alludes to 1 Cor 1:30. ἐντὸς ὑμῶν in Luke 17:21 can mean “within you” or “among you”; Origen takes it as “within.”
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (missing accent and breathing in the digital text): δῆλον οτι → δῆλον ὅτι.
Cite this passage
Origen, Or. 25.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/25/1/).
Plain text
Origen, Or. 25.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/25/1/).
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