Savrey, V. Ya. The Philosophy of Religion in Origen’s Fourth Book ‘On First Principles’

Abstract: The author of the article makes an attempt to explicate the theoretical grounds for the philosophical understanding of religious phenomena by one of the most distinguished philosophers of early Christianity, Origen of Alexandria. Out of all teachers of the School of Alexandria Origen was mostly discussed and debates over him and his works lasted for centuries. He was the author of the greatest number of works in ancient literature and his works had a significant influence on the development of the linguistics of the early Christian theology. One may talk not only about religious philosophy but also about philosophy of religious of both Origen and the fathers although the term ‘religion’ did not have the same meaning at that time. The author of the present article believes Origen’s fourth book ‘On First Principles’ to be the most important for philosophy of religion. Based on his interpretation of the world as a parable and a representation of Logos as the mystery of mysteries, Origen viewed all the historical forms of worshipping God as a sensual intuition of rationally understood truths. Noteworthy that unorthodox attitude of a philosopher to the Christian dogma about Resurrection predetermined the ‘dramaturgical’ nature of his vision of religious life in general.

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