Thanksgiving Address to Origen · §4.1 · Gregory Thaumaturgus

Only the Word can give the Father worthy thanks

Gregory leaves the praise owed to the King of all to the Word, who alone can give the Father worthy thanks.

But the praises and hymns due to the King and Guardian of all, the unfailing fountain of all good things, we shall leave to him who heals our weakness even in this, and who alone can supply what is lacking: to the Protector and Savior of our souls, his firstborn Word, the Maker and Governor of all. He alone can send up to the Father unceasing and uninterrupted thanksgivings, both for himself and for all, for each one separately and for all together at once. For he is himself the Truth (John 14:6), and the Wisdom and Power of the very Father of all (1 Corinthians 1:24). Moreover, he is in the Father and wholly united to him, so there is no way that through forgetfulness, or lack of wisdom, or some weakness, as though he were a stranger to him, he should either fail to reach the Father's power with his own power, or reach it and yet willingly (which it is not lawful even to say) leave the Father unpraised.

He alone is able to fulfill most perfectly the full worth of the praises due to the Father. The Father of all himself has made him one with himself, and through him all but encompasses himself; honoring him in a way with a power equal in every respect to his own, he is himself honored. This, first and alone of all beings, his Only-begotten was given to have: God the Word who is in him (John 1:1). All others can be thankful and godly only in this way: if we ascribe to him alone, in return for all the good things we have from the Father, the power of worthy thanksgiving, confessing that this is the one way of godliness, that every remembrance of the Cause of all is made through him.

Therefore, for the unceasing providence over all things, which cares for us in the greatest things and in the least, and which has come even this far, let it be confessed that he is the worthy and unceasing Word of thanksgivings and hymns; for he is most perfect and living, the animate Word of the First Mind himself.

Greek

Ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν εἰς τὸν πάντων βασιλέα καὶ κηδεμόνα, τὴν διαρκῆ πηγὴν πάντων ἀγαθῶν, εὐφημίας καὶ ὕμνους, τῷ κἂν τούτῳ τὴν ἀσθένειαν ἡμῶν ἰωμένῳ, καὶ τὸ ἐνδέον ἀναπληροῦν μόνῳ δυναμένῳ ἐπιτρέψομεν, τῷ προστάτῃ τῶν ἡμετέρων ψυχῶν καὶ σωτῆρι, τῷ πρωτογενεῖ αὐτοῦ λόγῳ, τῷ πάντων δημιουργῷ καὶ κυβερνήτῃ, αὐτῷ μόνῳ ὑπέρ τε ἑαυτοῦ, καὶ ὑπὲρ πάντων ἰδίᾳ τε καὶ ἑκάστου, καὶ ἀθρόον ἅμα δυνατὸν ὂν ἀναπέμπειν διηνεκεῖς καὶ ἀδιαλείπτους τῷ πατρὶ τὰς εὐχαριστίας, ὅτι αὐτὸς ἡ ἀλήθεια ὢν, καὶ ἡ αὐτοῦ τοῦ πατρὸς τῶν ὅλων καὶ σοφία καὶ δύναμις· πρὸς δὲ, καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ ὢν καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀτεχνῶς ἡνωμένος, οὐκ ἔστιν ὅπως ἢ διὰ λήθην, ἢ ἀσοφίας, ἢ ὑπ᾽ ἀσθενείας τινὸς ὥσπερ τις ἀπεξενωμένος αὐτοῦ, ἢ οὐκ ἐφίξεται τῇ δυνάμει τῆς δυνάμεως, ἢ ἐφίξεται μὲν, ἑκὼν δὲ, ὃ μὴ θεμιτὸν εἰπεῖν, ἐάσῃ τὸν πατέρα ἀνευφήμητον· μόνῳ τούτῳ δυνατὸν ὂν τελεώτατα πᾶσαν ἀποπληρῶσαι τὴν ἀξίαν τῶν αὐτῷ προσηκόντων αἴνων· ὅν τινα αὐτὸς ὁ τῶν ὅλων πατὴρ ἓν πρὸς αὐτὸν ποιησάμενος, δι᾽ αὐτοῦ μονονουχὶ αὐτὸς αὐτὸν ἐκπεριιὼν, τῇ ἴσῃ πάντῃ δυνάμει τῇ αὐτοῦ τρόπον τινὰ τιμῶν καὶ τιμᾶται· ὅπερ πρῶτος καὶ μόνος, ἔχειν ἔλαχεν ἐκ πάντων τῶν ὄντων, ὁ μονογενὴς αὐτοῦ, ὁ ἐν αὐτῷ Θεὸς λόγος. τῶν ἄλλων πάντων οὕτω μόνον εὐχαρίστων καὶ εὐσεβῶν εἶναι δυναμένων, εἰ ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ φέροντες μόνῳ ἀντὶ πάντων τῶν παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῖν ἀγαθῶν, τὴν δύναμιν τῆς ἀξίας εὐχαριστίας ἀναθήσομεν· μίαν ὁδὸν εὐσεβείας ταύτην εἶναι ὁμολογήσαντες, τὴν δι᾽ αὐτοῦ πᾶσαν μνήμην, τῷ τῶν ὅλων αἰτίῳ. διὸ δὴ τῆς μὲν ἐπὶ πᾶσι διηνεκοῦς προνοίας, ἔν τε μεγίστοις καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἐλαχίστοις κηδομένης ἡμῶν, καὶ εἰς τοῦτό γε προηγμένης, ἐκεῖνος ἄξιος διηνεκὴς εἶναι λόγος εἰς εὐχαριστίας καὶ ὕμνους ὁμολογείσθω, τελειότατος ὢν καὶ ζῶν, καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ πρώτου νοῦ λόγος ἔμψυχος ὤν.

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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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