Judgment and the Second Coming
Origen of Alexandria, On First Principles
Since human senses and common understanding are not enough to commit the whole matter to them and, so to speak, to pronounce visibly on invisible things, we must also take up the testimonies of divine scriptures for the proof of what we say. It seems necessary first to show that the scriptures themselves are divine — that is, inspired by the Spirit of God — so that these testimonies may have certain and undoubted authority, whether in what we must still say or in what has already been said. We will therefore briefly set this out from the divine scriptures themselves, which have fittingly moved us, bringing forward the witness of Moses, the first lawgiver of the Hebrew nation, and of the words of Jesus Christ, the author and prince of the Christian religion and doctrine (Matthew 10:18; Matthew 24:14; Matthew 7:22-23).
Many lawgivers have existed among Greeks and barbarians, and innumerable teachers or philosophers have promised to assert the truth; yet we recall no lawgiver who could instill any affection or zeal into the minds of foreign nations, so that they would either receive his laws willingly or defend them with all their heart’s intent. No one could insinuate the truth that seemed true to him, not even to a single nation, so that its knowledge or belief would reach everyone. It cannot be doubted that lawgivers wished their laws to be observed by all people, if possible, and that teachers wished the truth they saw to become known to all. But knowing they could not do this at all, and that no such great virtue existed in them to provoke foreign nations to observe their laws or assertions, they did not even dare to try or begin, lest they be marked as imprudent and their undertaking prove ineffectual and unending.
Yet in the whole world, in all Greece, and in all foreign nations, innumerable multitudes have abandoned their fathers’ laws and the gods they thought were gods, and have given themselves to the observance of Moses’ law and the discipleship of Christ. They have done this despite great hatred stirred up against them by those who venerate idols, so that they are often afflicted by torments and sometimes even led to death; yet they embrace and guard the word of Christ’s teaching with all affection. It is evident how the religion itself has grown in a short time, profiting from the punishments and deaths of its adherents, and also from the plundering of goods and every kind of suffering they endured. And it is all the more wonderful that the teachers themselves are neither sufficient nor numerous enough: ‘the sermon is preached in the whole world’, so that ‘Greeks and barbarians, wise and foolish’ receive the religion of Christian doctrine. From this there is no doubt that ‘these things are not done by human strength or power’, so that the sermon of Christ Jesus may prevail with all power and credibility in the minds and souls of all.
For it is manifest that these things were predicted by him and confirmed by divine responses, when he says that ‘you will be led before governors and judges on account of me, as a testimony to them and to the nations’; and again: ‘This gospel will be preached in all nations’; and again: ‘Many will say to me on that day: Lord, Lord, did we not eat and drink in your name, and cast out demons in your name? And I will say to them: Depart from me, workers of iniquity, for I never knew you’ (Matthew 10:18; Matthew 24:14; Matthew 7:22-23). If these things had been said by him but had not yet reached the fulfillment of what was predicted, they might seem less true and carry no authority. But now, since the things he predicted have come to pass, and were predicted with such great power and authority, it is most clearly declared that God is truly he who, having become man, handed down salutary precepts to men.
What then must be said of the fact that the prophets foretold of him beforehand: ‘The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs, and until the expectation of the nations arrives’? It is manifest from history itself and from what is seen today that since the time of Christ no kings have existed among the Jews. All those Jewish boasts in which they gloried and exulted — whether about the temple’s beauty, the altar’s distinction, or all those priestly vestments and high-priestly garments — have been utterly destroyed at once. For the prophecy has been fulfilled that said: ‘For many days the children of Israel shall sit without a king, without a prince; there shall be no sacrifice, no altar, no priesthood, no oracle’ (Genesis 49:10). We use these testimonies against those who seem to assert that what was said of Judah in Genesis still applies, claiming a ruler from Judah’s line still remains — namely, the one they call their patriarch — and that his line cannot fail until the coming of the Christ they describe for themselves. But if the prophet’s word is true — ‘For many days the children of Israel shall sit without a king, without a prince; there shall be no sacrifice, no altar, no priesthood’ — and certainly since the temple was overthrown sacrifices are not offered, no altar is found, no priesthood stands: it is certain that ‘the scepter has departed from Judah’ and ‘the ruler’s staff from between his feet’, just as scripture says, until he comes to whom it belongs. Therefore it is established that ‘he has come, to whom it belongs, in whom also the expectation of the nations’ resides. This is manifestly fulfilled in the multitude of those who through Christ have believed in God from diverse nations.
Even in the Song of Deuteronomy it is marked out by prophecy that for the sins of the former people there would be a future election of a foolish nation — none other than this one, which has come about through Christ. For it says: ‘They provoked me to jealousy with their idols; I will provoke them to jealousy with a foolish nation’ (Deuteronomy 32:21). It is therefore sufficiently evident to recognize how the Hebrews, who are said to have ‘provoked’ God by things that are not gods and to have angered him ‘with their idols,’ have themselves been provoked to jealousy ‘by a foolish nation,’ which God ‘chose’ through the coming of Christ Jesus and his disciples. For the apostle says: ‘Consider your calling, brothers; not many wise according to the flesh, not many powerful, not many noble; but God chose the foolish things of the world and the things that are not, to bring to nothing the things that were before’. Therefore let not ‘carnal Israel glory’.
Latin
1. Verum quoniam de tantis et talibus rebus disserentibus non suffieit humanis sensibus et communi intellectui summam rei committere et, ut ita dixerim, visibiliter de invisibilibus pronuntiare, assumenda sunt nobis ad probationem horum, quae dicimus, etiam divinarum scripturarum testimonia. Quae testimonia ut certam et indubitatam "tree d o habeant fidem sive in his, quae dicenda a nobis, sive quae iam dicta sunt, necessarium prius videtur ostendere quod ipsae scripturae divinae sint, id est dei spiritu inspiratae. lgitur quam poterimus breviter etiam de hoc adsignabimus ex ipsis divinis scripturis quae nos conpetenter moverint proferentes, id est de Moyseo primo, legislatore gentis Hebraeae, et ex verbis lesu Christi, auctoris et principis Christianorum religionis et dogmatis. Cum enim permulti legislatores extiterint apud Graecos et barbaros, innumeri quoque doctores vel philosophi veritatem se pollicentes adserere, nullum meminimus legislatorem adfectum quendam et studium etiam exterarum gentium animis inicere potuisse, ut leges suas vel susciperent libenter vel cum omni animi intentione defenderent. Nemo ergo eam quae sibi visa est veritatem non solum pluribus aliis exteris nationibus, ‚sed ne uni quidem genti ita insinuare atque inolescere potuit, ut ad omnes eius scientia vel credulitas perveniret. Et quidem dubitari non potest quod et legislatores optaverint observari ab omnibus, si fieri posset, hominibus leges suas, et magistri, omnibus innotescere eam quae sibi visa fuerat veritatem. Sed scientes quia id omnino non possent, nee virtus in eis aliqua tanta subsisteret, quae etiam exteras nationes ad legum suarum vel adsertionum observantiam provocaret, ne conari quidem hoc aut incipere omnino ausi sunt, ne inprudentes eos etiam in hoc inefficax et inexplebile notaret inceptum. At vero in omni orbe terrarum, in omni Graecia atque universis exteris nationibus innumeri sunt et inmensi, qui relictis patris legibus et his, quos putabant deos, ad observantiam Moysi legis et discipulatum se Christi ceultumque tradiderunt, et hoc non sine ingenti odio adversum se commoto eorum, qui simulacra venerantur, ita ut ab his frequenter et cruciatibus adfligantur, nonnumquam etiam agantur in mortem; amplectuntur tamen et cum omni affectu custodiunt doctrinae Christi sermonem. Et est videre quomodo brevi tempore ipsa religio creverit, poenis eultorum mortibusque proficiens, sed et bonorum direptionibus atque omni ab his suppliciorum genere tolerato; et eo maxime mirum est quod ne doctores quidem ipsi vel satis idonei sunt vel satis plures: “praedicatur’ tamen sermo iste -in omni orbe terrarum”, ita ut ‘Graeci ac barbari, sapientes et insipientes’ religionem Christianae doctrinae suscipiant. Ex quo dubium non est “non haec humanis’ viribus aut ‘opibus” agi, ut cum omni potestate et creduhtate sermo Christi lesu apud omnium mentes atque animos convalescat. Nam et praedicta esse ab eo haec ipsa et divinis ab eo responsis confirmata, manifestum est cum dicit quia “apud praesides et iudices adducemini propter me, in testimonium ipsis et gentibuse; et rursum: “Praedieabitur hoe evangelium in omnibus gentibus”; et iterum: “Multi mihi dicent in illa die: Domine, domine, nonne in tuo nomine mandueavimus et bibimus, et in tuo nomine daemonia eiecimus? et dicam eis: Discedite a me, operarii iniquitatis s numquam cognovi vosc”. Quae si ita quidem dicta ab eo fuissent nee tamen ad finem ea, quae praedicta sunt, pervenissent, fortassis minus esse vera viderentur nec habere aliquid auctoritatis. Nune vero cum in effectum res, quae fuerant ab eo praedictae, perveniant, cum tanta autem potestate atque auctoritate praedictae sint, manifestissime declaratur deum vere esse, qui homo factus salutaria praecepta hominibus tradidit. 3. Quid vero inde dicendum est quod prophetae de ipso antea praedixerant ‘non cessaturos principes ex luda neque duces ex femoribus eius, usquequo veniat ille, cui repositum este regnum scilicet, et "usquequo veniat expectatio gentium-? Manifestissime enim ex ipsa bistoria apparet et ex his, quae hodie pervidentur, quia ex temporibus Christi ultra reges apud ludaeos non extiterunt. Sed et omnes illae ambitiones Iudaicae, in quibus iactantiae quam plurimum gerebant et in quibus exultabant, id est vel de templi decore vel de altaris insignibus atque omnibus illis sacerdotalibus infulis indumentisque pontificum, simul universa destructa sunt. Completa est enim prophetia, quae dixerat: “Per dies multos sedebunt fili Israhel sine rege, sine principe; non erit hostia nec altare nec sacerdotium nec responsa”. His ergo testimonis utimur adversum eos, qui videntur adse rere de his, quae in Genesi ab lacob dicta sunt, quod de luda dieta sint et dicunt permanere adhue principem ex genere ludae, istum videlicet, qui est gentis ipsorum princeps, quem nominant patriarcham, nec deficere posse de semine eius qui permaneant usque ad adventum eius Christi, quem sibi ipsi describunt. Sed si verum est quod ait propheta, quia “dies multos sedebunt fili Israhel sine rege, sine principe; nec erit hostia nec altare nec sacerdotium”, et utique ex quo subversum est templum -nec hostiae- offeruntur “nec altare- invenitur “nec sacerdotiumconstat: certissimum est defecisse “principes ex luda-, sieut scriptum est, et -ducem ex femoribus eius, usquequo venit ille, eui repositum est Constat ergo quia ‘venit ille, cui repositum este, in quo et ‘expectatio gentium- est. Quod manifeste videtur impletum de multitudine eorum, qui per Christum deo ex diversis gentibus crediderunt. 4. Sed et in Deuteronomii cantico per prophetiam designatur pro peccatis prioris populi futura esse insensatae gentis electio, non alia utique quam haec, quae per Christum facta est. Sie enim ait: “Exacerbaverunt me in simulacris suis, et ego in zelo concitabo eos, in gente insipiente inritabo eos”. Est ergo satis evidenter agnoscere, quemammodum Hebraei, qui deum ‘exacerbasse’ dieuntur in his, qui non sunt du, et inritasse eum ‘in simulacris suis. inritati sunt et ipsi in zelotypia per ‘gentem insipientem”, quam deus -elegit- per adventum Christi lesu et discipulos eius. Sie enim dicit apostolus: “Videte enim vocationem vestram, fratres, quoniam non multi sapientes inter vos secundum carnem, non multi potentes, non multi nobiles; sed quae stulta sunt mundi elegit deus et ea, quae non sunt, ut ea, quae erant prius, destrueret”. Non ergo ‘glorietur- ‘carnalis Israhel-;