Thanksgiving Address to Origen · §2.2 · Gregory Thaumaturgus

Afraid to walk into sacred hearing with unwashed feet

Gregory fears that a weak speech would insult holy things, yet resolves to explain why he has dared to speak.

And so it seems safe to keep quiet. Otherwise, on the pretext of giving thanks but in truth perhaps out of rashness, I might say undignified, cheap and trite things about solemn and holy matters, and not only fail to reach the truth, but even, as far as lies in me, take something away from them in the minds of those who believe these things are so. For a weak speech will sketch them by insulting them rather than by matching the deeds in power. And yet what is yours, dear friend, cannot be torn down or insulted; and much more do divine things remain as they are, unshaken, not harmed at all by our small and unworthy words. But I do not know how we shall escape a name for boldness and rashness, having leapt in our folly, with small mind and small preparation, upon great matters, perhaps beyond us.

If we had been eager to show off like this elsewhere and before other people, we would have been bold even so, and somewhat at fault. Yet the rashness would not have been put down to shamelessness, since the bold venture would not have been made in your presence. Now, however, we shall fill up the whole measure of folly, or have filled it already, for we have dared to step, as the saying goes, with unwashed feet into ears where the divine Word himself makes his home. He does not walk there as he walks in the ears of most people, with his feet covered, as it were, by thick hides of riddling and obscure words. He walks there with bare feet, so to speak, clear and plain. And we, carrying our human words like filth or mud, have dared to pour them into ears trained to hear divine and pure voices.

Is it enough, then, to have gone wrong this far? Must we now at least begin to be sensible, and go no further with the speech, but stop here? I would like to. Yet since I have once been bold, let me be allowed first to state the cause that led me into this contest, in the hope that I may be pardoned for this rashness.

Greek

Καὶ δῆτα τὴν ἡσυχίαν ἄγειν ἀσφαλὲς καταφαίνεται, μή πῃ προφάσει μὲν εὐχαριστίας, ὑπὸ δὲ προπετείας ἴσως περὶ σεμνῶν καὶ ἱερῶν ἄσεμνά τε καὶ εὐτελῆ καὶ καταπεπατημένα διεξιὼν, οὐ μόνον οὐκ ἐφικνῶμαι τῆς ἀληθείας, ἀλλὰ καὶ καθαιρῶ τι, τό γε ἐπ᾽ ἐμοὶ, παρὰ τοῖς οὕτως ἔχειν πιστεύουσιν, ὡς ἀσθενὴς ὢν ὁ λόγος περιυβρίζων μᾶλλον, ἤπερ ἐξομοιούμενος τοῖς ἔργοις τῇ δυνάμει ὑποτυπώσεται. καίτοι τὰ μὲν σὰ, ἀκαθαίρετα καὶ ἀνύβριστα, ὦ φίλη κεφαλὴ, καὶ πολὺ μᾶλλον τὰ θεῖα μένοντα ἑαυτῶν, ὡς ἔχει, ἀσάλευτα, οὐδὲν βλαπτόμενα ὑπὸ τῶν μικρῶν καὶ ἀναξίων ἡμετέρων λόγων. ἡμεῖς δὲ οὐκ οἶδ᾽ ὅπως τὴν τῆς θρασύτητος καὶ προπετείας δόξαν διαφευξόμεθα, ἐπιπηδήσαντες ὑπ᾽ ἀνοίας, μικρῷ καὶ νῷ, καὶ παρασκευῇ, μεγάλοις καὶ ὑπὲρ ἡμᾶς ἴσως πράγμασι. καὶ εἰ μὲν ἀλλαχόθι που καὶ ἐπ᾽ ἄλλων τοιαῦτα προεθυμήθημεν νεανιεύσασθαι, θρασεῖς μὲν καὶ οὕτως ἦμεν καὶ πλημμελεῖς τινες. οὐ μὴν ἀλλ᾽ ἀναίδεια τῆς προπετείας αἰτία, τῷ μὴ ἐπὶ σοὶ ταῦτα θρασύνεσθαι. νυνὶ δὲ πᾶν τὸ μέτρον τῆς ἀνοίας ἀποπλήσομεν, ἢ καὶ ἀπεπλήσαμεν ἤδη, ἐπεμβαίνειν τολμήσαντες ἀνίπτοις τοῖς ποσὶ, τοῦτο δὴ τὸ τοῦ λόγου, ἀκοαῖς αἷς αὐτὸς ὁ θεῖος λόγος οὐδὲν ἐσκεπασμένοις, ὡς ταῖς τῶν πολλῶν ἀνθρώπων, τοῖς ποσὶν, ὥσπερ ὑπὸ παχέων τινῶν δερμάτων τῶν αἰνιγματωδῶν καὶ ἀσαφῶν λέξεων, ἀλλὰ γυμνοῖς, ὡς ἂν εἴποι τις, σαφὴς καὶ πρόδηλος ἐμβατεύων ἐπιδημεῖ. ἡμεῖς δὲ ὥσπερ ῥύπον ἢ πηλόν τινα τοὺς ἀνθρωπίνους ἡμῶν λόγους φέροντες, ἐπαντλεῖν ἐτολμήσαμεν ἀκοαῖς θείων καὶ καθαρῶν ἀκούειν μεμελετηκυίαις φωνῶν. ἆρ᾽ οὖν ἀπόχρη μέχρι τούτου ἁμαρτεῖν, καὶ νῦν γοῦν σωφρονεῖν ἄρξασθαι χρὴ, μηκέτι μὲν περαιτέρω προβαίνοντας τῷ λόγῳ, αὐτοῦ δὲ καταπαύσαντας; ἐβουλόμην μέν· οὐ μὴν ἀλλ᾽ ἅπαξ μοι θρασυνομένῳ, ἐξέστω τὴν αἰτίαν πρῶτον εἰπεῖν, ὑφ᾽ ἧς ἐναχθεὶς ἐπὶ τοῦτον ἧκα τὸν ἀγῶνα, εἴ πῃ καὶ συγγνώμη γένοιτό μοι τῆς προπετείας ταύτης.

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About this text

Gregory's farewell speech to his teacher Origen: how a pagan boy bound for law school in Berytus was led to Caesarea, how Origen taught him logic, natural science, ethics and the reading of Scripture, and his grief at leaving. A fresh English translation of the whole address.

Gregory Thaumaturgus (c. 213–c. 270) wrote this address to his teacher Origen. The speech is an expression of thanks and praise, though Gregory feels inadequate to the task of honoring his teacher.

The occasion is Gregory's farewell to Origen's school at Caesarea. He begins by explaining that he has neither spoken nor written for eight years, and has only listened to philosophers who value accurate investigation over polished speech. He then tells how a guardian angel led him, a pagan boy bound for law studies in Berytus, to Origen, and how Origen trained him in logic, natural science, ethics and the reading of Scripture. He ends by lamenting his departure and asking Origen to pray for him.

A reader will meet Gregory himself as the speaker, and Origen as the subject of the speech. Origen is described as a man who appears human, but to those who can perceive the greatness of his character and habits, seems endowed with greater and nearly divine ornaments.

The opening section (to the point where Gregory turns to his subject) was translated from the Latin column of the Opera omnia print (Paris, 1622). Everything after it, to the closing prayer, was translated from that print's Greek column, read from the page images; the facing Latin was used to settle damaged or abbreviated words. Where the print is hard to construe, a few readings follow Koetschau's edition (1894); each one is named in the translator notes. The older Ante-Nicene Fathers English was used only as a sense check for the opening section.

Printed text used

Translated from Opera omnia, Greek and Latin (Paris: Sonnius, Morel and Cramoisy, 1622), page images (Greek and Latin · Whole address: Latin column for section 1, Greek column for sections 2.1-19)
Translated from Latin of the opening section (Latin · Section 1)
Also checked DjVu text of the same print (Latin and Greek (machine-read text) · Opening)

Where the prints differ

Section 1 — Translated from the Latin column; the Greek of this opening was not used. Long-s and column joins expanded (ductu; nec aut scripsi; historiamve; arte nostra); the editor's argument and notes left out.
Sections 5.1, 5.3 and 6.2 — Abbreviated words read from the page images and the facing Latin: 'father' (πατρός), 'toward our sister' (πρὸς τὴν ἀδελφήν), 'through the whole of this life' (διὰ παντός), 'handing over his charge' (τὴν οἰκονομίαν παραδιδούς), 'with difficulty' (δυσχερῶς).
Section 6.3 — The print's doubtful participle (βλέψαν) is rendered with Koetschau's reading βλάψαν ('without doing it any harm').
Sections 7.2 and 8 — The print runs one sentence across the break; it is translated once, at the start of section 8, where Koetschau begins chapter 8.

We have not yet re-checked this work against its source. We made this study translation with AI help. No scholar has yet certified it as faithful and complete. Open Greek on any section to see the source text. It is not a critical edition.

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