In the Beginning — Christ the Firstborn
In the beginning God made heaven and earth. What is the beginning of all things if not our Lord and Savior of all, Jesus Christ, the firstborn of all creation? In this beginning, that is in his Word, God made heaven and earth, as the evangelist John says: In the beginning was the Word. He does not mean some temporal beginning, but says that heaven and earth were made in the Beginning — that is, in the Savior. The earth was invisible and unordered, and darkness was over the abyss, and the Spirit of God was borne over the waters.
Latin
In principio fecit Deus coelum et terram. Quod est omnium principium nisi Dominus noster et Salvator omnium Iesus Christus, primogenitus omnis creaturae? In hoc ergo principio, hoc est in Verbo suo, Deus coelum et terram fecit, sicut Evangelista Iohannes ait: In principio erat Verbum. Non temporale aliquod principium dicit, sed in principio, id est in Salvatore, factum esse dicit coelum et terram. Terra autem erat invisibilis et incomposita, et tenebrae erant super abyssum, et spiritus Dei ferebatur super aquas.
About this text
Origen’s Homilia I on Genesis (Rufinus’s Latin). Complete on this page: §§1–17.
English follows Baehrens, Origenes Werke VI (GCS 29, 1920), Rufinus’s Latin of Homilia I. Heine FOTC 71 was not used as wording. This page is Homilia I §§1–17 (closeout).
Witnesses
- Copy-text Baehrens, Origenes Werke VI = GCS 29 (1920) (Latin · Homilia I §§1–17)
English is newly prepared for study from the stated edition. Open Latin on each section (or the Latin source witness link) for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.