SOURCE: "Origen," in The Cambridge History of Later Greek and Early Medieval Philosophy, Cambridge at the University Press, 1967, pp. 182-92.

In this essay, Chadwick generally discusses the ways in which Origen's theological and philosophical thinking as well as his principles of allegorical exposition of the Scriptures are distinct from those of his Jewish and pagan contemporaries and predecessors and how they were deeply influenced by them, showing that Origen's thought is a complex patchwork that has been controversial since the sixth century.

Origen was born about 184-5 at Alexandria, probably of Christian parents (Porphyry and Eusebius contradict one another on this point). When he was nearly seventeen his father was martyred in the persecution of Severus in 202/3, and the event left a deep mark on Origen's mind. He always writes with an impassioned sense of belonging to a church called to fearless martyrdom and resistance to all compromise...