Theologian Thursday: Origen on the Bible

Origen was an incredibly intelligent scholar during the early days of the Christian Movement. He was able to go toe-to-toe with the best pagan philosophers and critics of Christianity in his day. In fact, the writings and oratory of Origen went a long way towards making Christianity intellectually respectable. The world began to realize that they could no longer dismiss Jesus' teachings as just the simple fantasies of the poor and uneducated.

Like many famous geniuses Origen sometimes went overboard in his ideas, like his speculation that maybe even the devil could be saved. That's why he never became a saint. But many of his ideas contributed a lot to the process of understanding the ramifications of the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.

Today he discusses how the Old Testament showed that Jesus was the Messiah... and Jesus showed that the Old Testament was true.

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But as it is not sufficient, in the discussion of matters of such importance, to entrust the decision to the human senses and to the human understanding, and to pronounce on things invisible as if they were seen by us, we must, in order to establish the positions which we have laid down, adduce the testimony of Holy Scripture. And that this testimony may produce a sure and unhesitating belief, either with regard to what we have still to advance, or to what has been already stated, it seems necessary to show, in the first place, that the Scriptures themselves are divine, i.e., were inspired by the Spirit of God.

We shall therefore with all possible brevity draw forth from the Holy Scriptures themselves, such evidence on this point as may produce upon us a suitable impression, (making our quotations) from Moses, the first legislator of the Hebrew nation, and from the words of Jesus Christ, the Author and Chief of the Christian religious system...

These points now being briefly established (that is regarding the deity of Christ, and the fulfillment of all that was prophesied respecting Him), I think that this position also has been made good: that the Scriptures themselves, which contained these predictions, were divinely inspired—those, namely, which had either foretold His advent, or the power of His doctrine, or the bringing over of all nations (to His obedience).

To which this remark must be added: that the divinity and inspiration both of the predictions of the prophets and of the law of Moses have been clearly revealed and confirmed, especially since the advent of Christ into the world. For before the fulfillment of those events which were predicted by them, they could not, although true and inspired by God, be shown to be so, because they were as yet unfulfilled. But the coming of Christ was a declaration that their statements were true and divinely inspired, although it was certainly doubtful before that whether there would be an accomplishment of those things which had been foretold.

Origen (AD 185 - 254)
(On First Principles, book 4 chapter 1 sections 1, 6)

What Kind of Messiah Did They Expect?

Coins minted by a Messiah

courtesy of Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. 

Jesus of Nazareth came as Israel's Messiah and did the Messiah's work, inaugurating the the new age of God's Kingdom promised by ancient prophets by being resurrected from the dead. That's what we were talking about on Monday.

I've never felt right making major assertions without giving something to support them. Especially on a site dedicated to explaining Christianity to interested parties, asking you to just trust me isn't terribly convincing.

So today is going to be a bit of a wonky day. Today I'd like to show you all the technical information that lies behind saying, as I did in the last post, that, "broadly speaking most people agreed [the Messiah] would: be a warrior, ride into Jerusalem, defeat the enemies of God (i.e., the Romans, naturally), purify the temple, and set up the Kingdom of God, which ushered in an age of unending bliss."

Just to warn you ahead of time, this may be incredibly boring. Then again, you might find it fascinating. I sure do...

Good Friday: "...Our suffering he took on himself"

The Lord says, “Look, my servant will succeed in what he has to do, and he will be raised to a position of high honor. It is true that many were shocked when they saw him. He was beaten so badly that he no longer looked like a man. But it is also true that many nations will be amazed at him. Kings will look at him and be unable to speak. They will see what they had never been told. They will understand what they had never heard.”

Who really believed what we heard? Who saw in it the Lord’s great power?

He was always close to the Lord. He grew up like a young plant, like a root growing in dry ground. There was nothing special or impressive about the way he looked, nothing we could see that would cause us to like him. People made fun of him, and even his friends left him. He was a man who suffered a lot of pain and sickness. We treated him like someone of no importance, like someone people will not even look at but turn away from in disgust.

The fact is, it was our suffering he took on himself; he bore our pain. But we thought that God was punishing him, that God was beating him for something he did. But he was being punished for what we did. He was crushed because of our guilt. He took the punishment we deserved, and this brought us peace. We were healed because of his pain. We had all wandered away like sheep. We had gone our own way. And yet the Lord put all our guilt on him.

He was treated badly, but he never protested. He said nothing, like a lamb being led away to be killed. He was like a sheep that makes no sound as its wool is being cut off. He never opened his mouth to defend himself. He was taken away by force and judged unfairly. The people of his time did not even notice that he was killed. But he was put to death for the sins of his people. He had done no wrong to anyone. He had never even told a lie. But he was buried among the wicked. His tomb was with the rich.

But the Lord was pleased with this humble servant who suffered such pain. Even after giving himself as an offering for sin, he will see his descendants and enjoy a long life. He will succeed in doing what the Lord wanted. After his suffering he will see the light, and he will be satisfied with what he experienced.

The Lord says, “My servant, who always does what is right, will make his people right with me; he will take away their sins. For this reason, I will treat him as one of my great people. I will give him the rewards of one who wins in battle, and he will share them with his powerful ones. I will do this because he gave his life for the people. He was considered a criminal, but the truth is, he carried away the sins of many. Now he will stand before me and speak for those who have sinned.”


Book  of Isaiah chapter 52 verse 13 through chapter 53 verse 12, ERV