Early Church Reading Group: Origen
A reading group to work through a number of excerpts from Origen’s writings, seeking (orthodox!) insights from Scripture in the company of Origen and each other, and sharing our inspiration as we go.
Origen (c. 185 – 254 AD) was an ascetic scholar, teacher, priest, apologist and prolific author with a prodigious output. He was called upon as a theological trouble-shooter to resolve disputes in the world-wide Church of his day and in old age was tortured and died a confessor of the faith and virtually a martyr.
His legacy had an enormous impact, especially on the Eastern Church, with his work being a source of inspiration to many saints and doctors of the early church as well as the nascent monastic movement. In short, he was arguably the most important & influential figure in the early Church between St Paul and St Augustine.
As you’d expect from such a figure, the absolute primacy of Scripture was a given in Origen’s work as shown by the advice he gave in a letter to one of his departing pupils (Gregory Thaumaturgus)… “Devote yourself above all to the reading of the divine Scriptures”.
This Reading Group will give us a chance to follow his advice and accompany the master exegete at work as he scrutinises every single word of the text for its spiritual significance…
Meeting Series
We’ll meet in the Pusey House Library on Monday evenings, 6:30 – 8pm, using the following schedule:
Mon 6th Oct Introduction – “Origen & Scripture”
Mon 13th Oct On First Principles (4.1.1 to 4.2.6)
Mon 20th Oct On First Principles (4.2.7 to 4.3.15)
Mon 27th Oct Homily 27 on Numbers
Mon 3rd Nov NO MEETING
Mon 10th Nov First Homily on the Song of Songs
Mon 17th Nov Second Homily on the Song of Songs
The initial session on 6th October will provide an introduction to how Origen viewed and worked with Scripture in the production of his numerous homilies and commentaries. You won’t need to have read anything before this session.
For the next two sessions we’ll meet to discuss portions of Book 4 of his work “On First Principles” in which Origen sets out his hermeneutical approach (i.e. the theory and methodology he used when interpreting Scripture). We all have a “hermeneutic” (whether we know it or not!) so examining Origen’s might help us to surface and challenge the assumptions we ourselves bring to the reading of Scripture today.
Having been exposed to the foundation of Origen’s approach, we’ll move on to see how he applies this in his twenty seventh homily on the Book of Numbers (because clearly 26 homilies on Numbers is not enough…)! After a break on Mon 3rd Nov the series concludes with two of his beautiful homilies on the Song of Songs.
Preparation…
Except for the first session, you’ll need to have read the stated passage in advance of the meeting. So, for example, for the meeting on Monday 13th October you need to have read the first portion of Book 4 of “On First Principles” – sections 4.1.1 to 4.2.6
Having already read the excerpt, each session will then provide an opportunity for us to come together and share something of the inspiration and/or wrestling we’ve encountered from that text in a reflective setting.
It will really help if, as you read, you could make a note of the exact section number and ideally copy out/ highlight/ bookmark the exact passage(s) which strike/ inspire/ perplex you and come prepared to read them out.
If you do find yourself wrestling with something as you read, someone else is almost certainly thinking exactly the same thing, so please do flag it for discussion.
Which edition of the texts?
Each of the texts have been translated in a number of editions over the years which could create confusion if people in the group are reading different versions. This is especially problematic for the text of “On First Principles”, and a discussion of the differences between editions itself would take more than a few sessions! So, to try to keep us together, we’ll be using the following editions for each of the readings:
- On First Principles
- Homily 27 on Numbers
- First/Second Homily on the Song of Songs
I’ve provided links to each text for both Amazon and Abebooks (but other retailers are available!). Note: I do receive a small commission for items purchased from Amazon via their Associates scheme from these links, but at no additional cost to you.
These texts are also all available in the Pusey House library.
In the event of any difficulty obtaining a copy of these texts, or if the cost is prohibitive, please get in touch.
If any of the above sounds complicated don’t worry! You’ll be reminded what to read for the following week in each session.
Do I need any specific background for this Reading Group?
No knowledge of Church history or theology is assumed.
However, if you’ve not come across Origen before, or know little about him, there’s a Study Day providing an overview of his life, work and contribution on Saturday 4th October 2025. That day will provide an ideal introduction before starting to work through some of Origen’s texts in this Reading Group.
In addition, background reading on Origen and some extracts from his work can be found on this page of the website.
Location
These sessions will be held in the Library at Pusey House, Oxford. The entrance for Pusey House is on St Giles’ – you can try the door, but may need to press the intercom buzzer to speak to someone to gain access. Once inside, go up a few steps straight ahead of you and then turn right down the corridor. Follow this corridor as far as it goes (you can’t go wrong!) and up the stairs.
Any questions?
If you have any questions about this series of meetings, please get in touch.