Making gods from doctrines of the soul
'If a man will make gods for himself.' Not only from statues do men make gods for themselves, but you will also find them making gods for themselves from moldings of the mind. For as many as can mold another god and another world-making besides the one written up by the Spirit—a management of the world besides the true world—all these have made gods for themselves and have worshiped the works of their hands. Consider, for example, among the Greeks those who generated doctrines of this philosophy or that, or among the heresies those who first generated doctrines: these made idols for themselves and moldings of the soul, and turning they worshiped the works of their hands, accepting their own moldings as truth.
Therefore the word, refuting all who make gods for themselves both sensibly and intelligibly, says: 'If a man will make gods for himself—and these are not gods? For this reason I will show them my hand at this time, and I will make known to them also my power.' At what time, if not this one—pointing to the time of the Lord’s presence? 'And they will know,' he says, 'that my name is Lord.'
Greek
«Εἰ ποιήσει ἑαυτῷ ἄνθρωπος θεούς. οὐ μόνον ἀπὸ τῶν ἀγαλμάτων ποιοῦσιν ἑαυτοῖς ἄνθρωποι θεούς, ἀλλ᾿ εὑρήσεις καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἀναπλασμάτων ποιοῦντας ἀνθρώπους ἑαυτοῖς θεούς· ὅσοι γὰρ δύνανται ἀναπλάσαι θεὸν ἕτερον καὶ κοσμοποιίαν ἄλλην παρὰ τὴν ὑπὸ τοῦ πνεύματος ἀναγεγραμμένην, οἰκονομίαν κόσμου παρὰ τὸν ἀληθῆ κόσμον [περὶ οἰκονομίας κόσμου], οὗτοι πάντες ἐποίησαν ἑαυτοῖς θεοὺς καὶ προσεκύνησαν τοῖς ἔργοις τῶν χειρῶν. οἷον νόησόν μοι εἴτε ἐν Ἕλλησι τοὺς γεννήσαντας δόγματα, φέρ᾿ εἰπεῖν, τῆςδε τῆς φιλοσοφίας ἢ τῆςδε, εἴτε ἐν ταῖς αἱρέρσεσι τοὺς γεννήσαντας πρώτους δόγματα, οὗτοι ἐποίησαν ἑαυτοῖς εἴδωλα καὶ ἀναπλάσματα τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ στραφέντες προσεκύνησαν τοῖς ἔργοις τῶν χειρῶν αὐτῶν, ἀποδεξάμενοι ὡς ἀλήθειαν τὰ ἴδια ἀναπλάσματα. πάντας οὖν τοὺς αἰσθητῶς καὶ τοὺς νοντῶς ποιοῦντας ἑαυτοῖς θεοὺς διελέγχων ὁ λόγος φησίν· «εἰ ποιήσει ἑαυτῷ ἄνθρωπος θεούς, καὶ οὗτοι οὐκ εἰσὶ θεοί; διὰ τοῦτο ἐγὼ δηλώσω αὐτοῖς τὴν χεῖρά μου ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τούτῳ, καὶ γνωγριῶ αὐτοῖς καὶ τὴν δύναμίν μου. ποίῳ καιρῷ ἢ τούτῳ; δεικνύων δὲ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς παρουσίας τοῦ κυρίου·«καὶ γνώσονται« φησίν «ὅτι ὄνομά μοι κύριος.
About this text
Origen on Jeremiah. Twenty Greek homilies survive. This page publishes the Pass B English for Homilies 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. Homily 8 remains a machine draft and is not shipped yet. The rest of the volume is still being translated.
English follows Erich Klostermann, Origenes Werke III (GCS, 1901). A second transcription of that same edition (First1KGreek TEI) was checked; where the TEI drops or garbles a line, the page image wins. This is a reading translation for study, not a new critical edition of the Greek. Homilies that survive only in Jerome’s Latin are not on this page yet. When they are, they will be marked at those homilies.
Witnesses
- Copy-text Klostermann, Origenes Werke III (GCS, 1901) (Greek · Homilies 1–20 Greek (this page: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20))
- Checked print Archive.org page image and DjVu of GCS III (Greek · Same print as the copy-text)
- Checked print First1KGreek TEI of GCS III (Greek · Same print; encoding errors deferred to the page image)
Where the prints differ
- Homily 1.1 — The TEI omits Ἑβραῖον. English follows the GCS page image: Jonah is “a Hebrew prophet.”
- Homily 1.5 — The TEI dropped Ἰσαάκ. English follows the GCS page image: Isaac born of promise.
- Homily 1.11 — The TEI/OCR of this line is garbled. English follows the GCS page image and the quoted verse: “I have sanctified you.”
- Homily 3.2 — The TEI gaps Matthew 5:45 (sun on the evil and [gap]; rain on [gap] and the unjust). English follows the Gospel wording.
English is newly prepared for study from the stated edition. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.