Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Having made these declarations regarding the Unity of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, let us return to the order in which we began the discussion. God the Father bestows upon all, existence; and participation in Christ, in respect of His being the word of reason, renders them rational beings. From which it follows that they are deserving either of praise or blame, because capable of virtue and vice. On this account, therefore, is the grace of the Holy Ghost present, that those beings which are not holy in their essence may be rendered holy by participating in it. Seeing, then, that firstly, they derive their existence from God the Father; secondly, their rational nature from the Word; thirdly, their holiness from the Holy Spirit—those who have been previously sanctified by the Holy Spirit are again made capable of receiving Christ, in respect that He is the righteousness of God; and those who have earned advancement to this grade by the sanctification of the Holy Spirit, will nevertheless obtain the gift of wisdom according to the power and working of the Spirit of God. (Book I, Chapter 3, Part 8)

This is potentially helpful. It is a concise, precise summary of how Origen views three aspects of God working together, just as my eye, brain and hand also works together.

Is it equally helpful to offer the following? By participating in the wisdom of God, we can more fully experience the teachings and example of the Son, and become ambassadors of the Holy Spirit.

If supported with scriptural evidence and reasonable argument this might be as helpful. It would not, however , be anything close to the same. Origen is interweaving a purposeful neo-Platonism into his argument.

Is this neo-Platonic framework helpful? Sometimes, yes. Often, no. There is in the framing a tendency toward abstraction that, it seems to me, distracts from rather than amplifies the meaning of Jesus.

The Trinity is interesting. Loving our neighbor is closer to holy.

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