And certainly, in a place where we have been discussing the subject of rational natures, it is not proper to be silent regarding ourselves, who are human beings, and are called rational animals; nay, even this point is not to be idly passed over, that even of us human beings certain different orders are mentioned in the words, The portion of the Lord is His people Jacob; Israel is the cord of His inheritance. Other nations, moreover, are called a part of the angels; since when the Most High divided the nations, and dispersed the sons of Adam, He fixed the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the angels of God. And therefore, with other rational natures, we must also thoroughly examine the reason of the human soul. (Book I, Chapter 5, Part 2)
Origen is almost certainly referring to Deuteronomy chapter 31, verses 8-9 near the start of the Song of Moses:
When the Most High apportioned the nations,
when he divided humankind,
he fixed the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the gods,
the Lord's own portion was his people,
Jacob his allotted share.
The word used at the close of verse 8 - meaning gods, angels, even sons of Israel - is not entirely clear in the original Hebrew.
But there was a clearly a sense that all peoples shared in God's design and blessing.
No comments:
Post a Comment