Thanksgiving Address to Origen · §7.2 · Gregory Thaumaturgus

Training in logic: testing every claim before assent

Origen trains them in logic, so that they test every claim before giving or refusing assent.

As for whatever was undiscerning and rash in us, when we gave our assent to whatever came our way, whatever it might be, even if it happened to be false, and often spoke against things even when they had been said truly, this too he schooled, both by the arguments I have mentioned and by others of many kinds. For this part of philosophy is itself many-sided, and it trains us not to cast our testimony carelessly or at random and then back out of it again, but to examine with care not only what is plain but also what is hidden. For many things that looked reputable and grave at first sight slipped into our ears as true under fine-sounding words, though they were rotten beneath and false; they carried us away and won from us a verdict that they were true, and before long they were caught out as unsound and untrustworthy, playing the part of truth in vain. Then they easily made us look ridiculous, deceived as we were, for having carelessly borne witness to what we should least of all have vouched for. And again, other things, worthy indeed and making no show, or set out in words that do not win belief, strange and seeming the least credible of all, were rejected at once as false and treated with undeserved scorn; and then later, to those who tracked them down and examined them closely, the very things that had until then been thought worthless and spurious were found to be the truest of all and simply unanswerable.

So he taught us not to search only what is plain and catches the eye, which is sometimes deceitful and sophistical, but also what is within, tapping each thing to hear whether it rings hollow anywhere, and so, having first made ourselves sure of what lies within, to give our assent to what is outside as well, and to declare our judgment on each matter. In this way he trained, by logic, the critical part of our soul that deals with words and arguments: not as the fine rhetoricians judge, whether a word is good Greek or barbarous, for that is a small and unnecessary study, but in this study, which is most necessary for all, Greeks and barbarians, learned and unlearned alike, and in short, so that I need not make a long speech by going through every art and pursuit one by one, for all people who have chosen any way of life whatever, since everyone who discusses anything at all cares about not being deceived and is in earnest about it.

Greek

Ὅσον δὲ ἄκριτον καὶ προπετὲς συγκατατιθεμένων τε τοῖς ἐπιτυχοῦσιν, ὁποῖα ποτ᾽ ἂν ᾖ, κἂν ψευδῆ τύχῃ καὶ ἀντιλεγόντων πολλάκις κἂν ἀληθῆ τινα εἰρημένα ᾖ. καὶ τοῦτο ἐκπαιδεύων τούτοις τε τοῖς προειρημένοις καὶ ἑτέροις ποικίλοις λόγοις. πολυειδὲς γὰρ αὐτὸ τὸ μέρος τῆς φιλοσοφίας, συνεθίζον μὴ εἰκῇ, μηδ᾽ ὡς ἔτυχε ῥίπτειν τε τὰς μαρτυρίας καὶ πάλιν ἀναδύεσθαι. ἀλλ᾽ ἐξετάζοντας ἀκριβῶς μὴ τὰ προφανῆ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ κεκρυμμένα. πολλὰ γὰρ εὔδοξα αὐτόθεν καὶ σεμνοειδῆ, ὑπὸ εὐσχήμοσι ταῖς φωναῖς εἰσδραμόντα εἰς τὰς ἀκοὰς ἡμῶν ὡς ἀληθῆ. ὕπουλα ὄντα καὶ ψευδῆ συναρπάσαντα καὶ λαβόντα ψῆφισμα ἀληθείας παρ᾽ ἡμῶν, μετ᾽ οὐ πολὺ σαθρὰ καὶ οὐκ ἀξιόπιστα κατεφωράθη ὄντα, μάτην τὴν ἀλήθειαν ὑποκρινόμενα. καὶ ἡμᾶς εὐκόλως ἀπέφηνε καταγελάστους ἐξηπατημένους, κἀπιμαρτυρήσαντας εἰκῇ, οἷς ἥκιστα ἐχρῆν. πάλιν τε αὖ ἕτερα σεμνὰ μὲν, καὶ οὐκ ἀλαζονευόμενα μὲν, ἢ οὐκ ἀξιοπίστοις τῇ φωνῇ κείμενα παράδοξα, καὶ πάντων ἀπιστότατα δοκοῦντα, αὐτόθεν τε ἀποδοκιμασθέντα ὡς ψευδῆ, καὶ ὑβρισθέντα ἀναξίως. εἶθ᾽ ὕστερον ἐξιχνεύουσι καὶ κατανοοῦσιν ἀκριβῶς, πάντων ἀληθέστατα καὶ ἄμαχα ἀτεχνῶς εἶναι κατενοήθη, τὰ τέως ἀπόβλητα καὶ ἀδόκιμα νομισθέντα. μὴ δὴ τὰ προφανῆ μόνον καὶ προσκύπτοντα, ἔστι δ᾽ ὅτε δολερὰ καὶ σεσοφισμένα, τὰ δ᾽ ἔνδον διερευνωμένους μὲν καὶ περικρούοντας ἕκαστον, μή πῃ τι σαθρὸν ἠχήσῃ, καὶ ἐν αὐτοῖς πιστουμένους ἑαυτοὺς πρότερον, οὕτως καὶ τοῖς ἐκτὸς συνομολογεῖν καὶ ἀποφαίνεσθαι περὶ ἑκάστων ἐδίδασκεν. οὕτως μὲν τὸ περὶ τὰς λέξεις καὶ τοὺς λόγους κριτικὸν ἡμῶν τῆς ψυχῆς μέρος, λογικῶς ἐξεπαίδευεν. οὐ κατὰ τὰς καλῶν ῥητόρων κρίσεις, εἴ τι Ἑλληνικὸν ἢ βάρβαρόν ἐστι τῇ φωνῇ. τὸ μικρὸν τοῦτο καὶ οὐκ ἀναγκαῖον μάθημα· ἀλλὰ τοῦτο πᾶσιν ἀναγκαιότατον Ἕλλησί τε καὶ βαρβάροις, καὶ σοφοῖς, καὶ ἰδιώταις· καὶ ὅλως ἵνα μὴ μακρὸς εἴη μοι λόγος ἑκάστας τέχνας καὶ ἐπιτηδεύματα ἐπεξιὼν, πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις τοῖς ὁντινοῦν βίον ᾑρημένοις· εἴ γε πᾶσι τοῖς περὶ ὁτουδήποτε κοινολογουμένοις μέλει τε καὶ διεσπούδασται, μὴ ἠπατῆσθαι. καὶ μὴ τοῦθ᾽ ὅπερ εἶδος διαλεκτικὴ κατορθοῦν μόνη εἴληχε.

Report a mistake in this passage

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.

Report a mistake