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Books 1-5 ISBN 9780813201030
Description
Origen of Alexandria's "Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans" is the oldest extant commentary on Romans. This volume presents a translation of the commentary from Latin. Origen's exegesis predates the controversy between Augustine and Pelagius by 170 years and opposes Gnostic interpretations of Paul which is one of its important characteristics. Above all Origen defends the Church against the "doctrine of natures" - the belief that all human beings are born with unalterable natures, either good or evil, and thus bound for either salvation or damnation, and that their conduct in life cannot alter their destiny. He refutes this teaching, showing that freedom of will abides in rational beings. Provoked by Marcion's repudiation of the Old Testament, Origen emphasizes the harmony between Gospel and Law. He highlights as one of Paul's main themes in Romans the transfer of religion from Judaism to Christianity, from the letter to the spirit, in terms both of salvation history and of the transformation of the individual. Origen claims that the key to unlocking Romans is understanding Paul's use of homonyms with divergent meanings.
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Books 6-10 ISBN 9780813201047
Description
This volume completes the first English translation of Rufinus' Latin version of Origen of Alexandria's "Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans" and contains Origen's detailed exegesis of Romans 6:12-16:27. Origen's much neglected commentary, which stands out in isolation at the fountainhead of Greek and Latin exegesis, is now completely accessible to English readers. In Books 6-10 Origen carries through to completion his programme, begun in Books 1-5, of defending human freedom and of opposing the natural predestinarian doctrine of the sects founded by the Gnostic heretics Marcion, Valentinus and Basilides. These schools relied heavily on texts from Paul, interpreted in isolation from the rest of Scripture, not only to deny free will but to support the doctrine that salvation is determined by the nature one receives at birth, whether good or evil. In contrast, Origen clarifies passages in Romans by citations from Paul's other letters, from the Gospels, and from the Old Testament. He attempts to construct a coherent and unified "biblical theology".
Origen views human beings as chosen or rejected by God deservedly; everyone has it within his own power whether he becomes a servant of God or of sin, a vessel of wrath or of mercy. This book contains interesting and thought-provoking discussions of all the important theological themes and terms of Romans: faith, hope, love, works, justification, election, law, Israel, Gentiles, Church, sin, death, flesh, body and glory. The importance of these discussions is magnified by the fact that they stand alone in their detail and breadth and stem from the Church's most important theologian of the third century. Moreover, because Origen's work was productive in subsequent centuries in Rufinus' Latin translation, the commentary is of importance for the history of New Testament exegesis.
by "Nielsen BookData"