Origen's Homilies on Joshua

Dan Montgomery BITH 679 – Origen Spring 2013

Origen’s Homilies on Joshua: Jesus the Son of God as the Leader in the Battle of the Christian

Life

IntroductionOrigen of Alexandria has often been called the church’s

first systematic theologian. Much of the inspiration for this characterization comes from his work Peri Archon (On First Principles). Hisstated goal in that work was to build upon the “elementary and foundation principles” of the Apostolic teaching. By employing “clear and cogent arguments,” Origen hoped to “discover truths about each particular point and produce…a single body of doctrine.”1 However, to classify Origen as a systematic theologian is a misnomer. That title evokes images of an academicwhose life focused on scholarly work. Certainly Peri Archon, which was one of main the avenues for Origen’s enduring influence on the church centuries after his death, was systematic in the sensethat it was carefully structured according to a philosophical framework. Yet it was not a formal Systematic Theology in the sense that term is used today. Furthermore, calling Origen a systematic theologian not only misunderstands his purpose in Peri Archon but also fails to capture the whole of who he was. Origen was a skilled thinker, writer and speaker who used his gifts for the church. Although Origen was condemned in the sixth century, Jerome, at one point in his life, could say that Origen was only opposed “because men could not tolerate the incomparable eloquence and knowledge which, when once he opened his lips, madeothers seem dumb.”2 It is estimated that Origen published over 500 sermons during his lifetime. Thus, this paper intends to lookat Origen as a preacher, paying special attention to the sort of life to which he calls his hearers. While Peri Archon may deal withconjectural matters, much of Origen’s output dealt with the basicChristian life. In order to gain a better understanding of Origenthe preacher and the Christian life he promoted, we will focus specifically on his Homilies on Joshua. Through this study we will see that Origen was a preacher who employed his interpretive method out of concern for the

1 Origen, First Principles, 1.Preface.102 Jerome, Letter XXXIII, To Paula.

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spiritual advancement of his hearers. We will also see how the principles put forward in Peri Archon are applied. Homilies on Joshua will provide clarification on a few things which are ambiguous inPeri Archon. Specifically, we will see that although Christ may have only played a minor role in Origen’s most famous work work, Christ’s role was indispensable for the Christian in Origen’s preaching. Similarly, we will see that Origen’s grand proposals of apokatasis did not result in moral laxity. Instead, the soul’s ascent back to perfection was presented as a grueling battle.

Why Origen’s Homilies on Joshua?There are a number of reasons why a specific focus on

Origen’s Homilies on Joshua makes for a useful study. The first reason is rather basic: We have Origen’s Homilies on Joshua. Although only a few Greek extracts have been preserved, 26 homilies have been passed down in Latin, translated from the Greek by Rufinus. Learning that Rufinus is the midwife of our text may make some skeptical. This does not need to be the case. In places such as his Preface to On First Principles, Rufinus admits that he intentionally alters the meaning of a text in his translation work.3 Likewise, in his peroration to the Commentary onthe Epistle to the Romans, Rufinus, recalling his translation of Origen’s Homilies on Genesis, Homilies on Exodus and Homilies on Leviticus, remarks:

I made it my object to supplement what Origen spokeextempore in the lecture room of the church… This duty ofsupplying what was wanting I took up because I thought thatthe practice of agitating questions and then leaving them

3 “Wherever…I have found in his books anything contrary to the reverent statements made by him about the Trinity in other places, I have either omitted it as a corrupt and interpolated passage, or reproduced it in a form that agrees with the doctrine I have often found him affirming elsewhere. If, however, speaking as he does to men of knowledge and discernment, he has occasionally expressed himself obscurely in the effort to be brief, I have, tomake the passage clearer, added such remarks on the same subject as I have read in a fuller form In his other books, bearing in mind the need of explanation.” Peri Archon, Preface.3.

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unsolved, which he frequently adopts in his homiletic modeof speaking, might prove distasteful to the Latin reader.4

Rufinus then explicitly distances his translation of Origen’s Romans commentary as well as Origen’s Homilies on Joshua from this method. In contrast to the heavy editing he did to homilies on Genesis, Exodus and Leviticus, Rufinus says “I translated them just as I found them, literally and without great effort.”5 Thus,one good reason to focus on Origen’s Homilies on Joshua is that we have a relatively clear picture of Origen’s own words in it.

The second reason for focusing specifically on this text is for the unique picture it gives us of Origen. In these homilies we see Origen, not as the systematic thinker of Peri Archon, the apologist of Contra Celsum, nor as the academic exegete of his commentaries. Here, we have Origen the preacher. A homily would have been designed to apply a chosen text of scripture to a specific group with the hope that it would produce a certain course of action. Origen’s specific audience for his homilies, the ones to whose life he was connecting Scripture, was the church in Caesarea which gathered every morning. During this timean Old Testament passage was read each day. The homily would be based on that text. Catechumens, although not yet baptized and therefore not fully part of the church nor able to participate inthe Eucharist, were present for this portion of the gathering.6 Thus, Origen’s homilies show us a preacher who was committed to instructing and admonishing these catechumens.

A third reason why Origen’s Homilies on Joshua make for an especially helpful study is that they were most likely given late in his life. Barbara Bruce argues that this may have been among the last sets of homilies Origen ever gave, possibly as late as 251. The reasons she gives for this are that Rufinus, in his preface, refers to Origen as Adamantius senex or Old Adamantius. Moreover, Origen refers to his Homilies on Jeremiah, usually thought to have been given around 240, yet also seems to make reference to a new round of persecution. This reemerging 4 Rufinus, The Peroration of Rufinus Appended to His Translation of Origen’s Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans. 5 Rufinus, Peroration to Romans.6 Ronald E. Heine, Origen: Scholarship in the Service of the Church, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), 173.

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persecution would probably be that which happened under the Emperor Decius.7 This is also the state sanctioned persecution under which Origen received the injuries which eventually led to his death. Therefore, we can read Origen’s Homilies on Joshua feelingas we have been provided with a look at Origen at his most mature.

The final reason for looking specifically at Origen’s Homilies on Joshua has less to do with the received text and its context but with its subject matter, namely Jesus. Origen’s Bible, as well as Rufinus’, would have rendered Jesus of Nazarethand Joshua the Son of Nun as having the same name (+Ihsou:s / Iesus). To one who, like Origen, cared deeply about every last jot and iota in Scripture this would have mattered greatly. The Book of Joshua was, therefore, not about the Old Testament figureJoshua but about Jesus:

The book does not so much indicate to us the deeds of the son of Nun, as it represents for us the mysteries of Jesus my Lord. For he himself is the one who assumes power after the death of Moses; he is the one who leads the army and fights against Amalek. (1.3)

That this Old Testament book was homonymous with Origen’s Lord meant that its entire narrative was understood, not merely in light of Jesus, but actually as if it described the very actions of the Savior.

However, +Ihsou:s is not the only subject of the Book of Joshua. All Israel is underneath the leadership of Joshua and follows him into Canaan. Thus, this book is also about how Christians follow Christ. They are the freed slaves who escape Egypt, the people who cross the Jordan, the army who battles the Canaanites, and nation which settles in the land flowing with milk and honey.

For all of these reasons, we can say that Homilies on Joshua gives us an exceptional portrait of Origen as an eloquent preacher who is presenting the work of Christ to catechumens as

7 Cynthia White, “Introduction” in Origen’s Homilies on Joshua, translated by Barbara J. Bruce, edited by Cynthia White (Washington D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2002), 19.

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well as other Christians so as to lead them along in their Christian life. It must be noted that the topics of Origen’s homilies are not arranged systematically. His message was controlled by the text. We do not find in these homilies abstracttreatments on Christology or Soteriology. Instead, we have the way in which Origen described Jesus to his congregation and called them to follow “our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (1.1).

I must stop at this point and admit that I have promised more than I intend to deliver. These homilies deserve a more thorough study and analysis than space allows. As a result, I will focus on just five important aspects: The significance of the name “Jesus”, the significance of baptism, the new life of the baptized, the role of Jesus in this new life, and finally therole of Scripture in that new life. These five themes allow us tosee Origen’s primary concerns as they arise throughout these homilies and to explore briefly their connection to the rest of Origen’s thought. The goal of this study is not to systematize these homilies, for that would be out of step with their nature. Instead, the goal is to accurately highlight that which was most significant to Origen.

Jesus: Name Above All Names.It was mentioned above that Origen collapsed the figures of

Jesus and Joshua into one. The temptation to see this as the result of fanciful allegory should be resisted. Simple contrasts between “allegorical” and “literal” interpretation rarely hold upwhen put into practice. Obviously Origen favored a method of interpretation which emphasized that Scripture had a higher meaning, beyond the historical referent of the text. This is different than the method preferred by most modern biblical interpreters in the West whose primary goal is to understand the (human) authorial intent. Because of this, Origen has been accused by some of being “more informed by the spirit of Platonism than by the Scriptural letter.”8 This is not a wholly fair critique. Certainly Origen’s thought was formed by the prominence of Platonism in Alexandria. It would be impossible to

8 Daniel Boyarin, “Origen as theorist of allegory: Alexandrian contexts,” in The Cambridge Companion to Allegory ed. Rita Copeland and Peter T. Struck (New York:Cambridge University Press, 2010), 39.

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imagine how this could have not been the case. Yet this does not mean that Origen’s interpretation was not shaped by his Christianbeliefs. As Boyarin argues: “Platonism provided a framework within which Origen could think about the question of how we interpret; and Christian Logos theology…provided a solution to problems left unsolved by Platonism.”9 Logos Christology gave Origen a certain foundation and goal in interpretation.

Furthermore, Origen’s allegorical interpretation did not mean that he (or other allegorists) did not care deeply about theipsissima verba of Scripture. Although he may not have placed a great emphasis on the literal interpretation as many often think of it, Origen still cared about the exact words which were used. His explanation of the connection between the names of Jesus and Joshua son of Nun is one example. Because of this, it is worth spending a bit of time following his argument.

Origen opened his first homily on Joshua by citing Philippian 2:9. Before Origen even began to discuss Joshua he reminded his hearers of the prominence of the name of Jesus:

God gave the name that is above every name to our Lord andSavior Jesus Christ. For this “name that is above everyname” is Jesus. Because this is the “name that is aboveevery name, at the name of Jesus, ever knee is bowed ofthose in heaven and on earth and beneath the earth.” Andbecause this is “the name above every name,” for manygenerations it was given to no one. (1.1)

Origen chronicled all of the great saints whose lives are described in Genesis and Exodus: Abraham, Abel, Noah, Isaac, Jacob and Moses all had wonderful things said about them but theycould not be given the name Jesus. In light of what is said aboutthe very name Jesus in Philippians, Origen finds special meaning in Exodus 17:8; the first appearance of the name Jesus in all of Scripture. Commenting on this verse in his Homilies on Exodus, Origen claimed that “here first the splendor of the name shines forth.”10 Jesus is introduced in this passage as the one to whom Moses turned to when it became apparent that he was incapable of

9 Boyarin, 39.10 Origen, Homilies on Exodus 11.3.

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leading the Army of Israel. According to Origen, “Moses acknowledges that he cannot lead the army; he acknowledges that he cannot even gather it…Therefore he called Jesus and said ‘choose men for yourself and go out.” (1.1) Moses himself understood Jesus’ superiority.

Origen also placed significance on that fact that “when Jesus [Joshua] is first mentioned, the name of his father is not indicated, even in the second or third time.” (1.2) In contrast, Origen pointed out that “when his father, Nun, is mentioned, Jesus is not called Jesus, but Hoshea [Num 13:8, 16].” (1.2) Clearly the specific name Jesus was being preserved for a specialpurpose.

Origen’s conclusion was that the book of Joshua could not beread as mere history about the Son of Nun but as the revelation of mysteries regarding Jesus the Lord. Thus, reading the book of Joshua as primarily about Jesus was not the result of allegoricalimposition but, according to Origen, a canonical imperative. To ignore the presence of the name of Jesus in the text would be to forget what Paul taught in Philippians 2.

Jesus and MosesJesus is not better than Moses simply because of his name.

The text of Joshua, which begins with the assertion that Moses had died, helped Origen to explain how it was that Jesus completely displaced Moses. For the Christian, all that Moses represented has been superseded by Jesus. “Moses is dead,” said Origen, “for the Law has ceased, because ‘the Law and the Prophets extend only up to John.’”(1.3) Moses could only lead forso long. After his death, a better leader took his place. So although Moses’ leadership was important, the leadership of Jesuswas clearly better. This was demonstrated by the different natures of those who follow the different leaders. Under Moses, in the flight from Egypt, “there was no discipline among the people, no ritual order among the priests.” (1.4) Compare this tothe situation under Jesus. “When my Lord leads the army,” claimedOrigen, “…’the priests precede, and the ark of the covenant is carried on the shoulders of the priests.’” (1.4) Order and puritywere the results of Jesus’ leadership.

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If the superiority of Jesus had not already been proven, Origen added one final detail:

During the transfiguration Moses’ face so weakened thevision of the sons of Israel that no one could look at hisface, Jesus however, not only looks directly at his face buteven stays inside the tabernacle as a sharer of themysteries. (1.2)

In PArch II.6.3 Origen described Jesus’ soul as the only soul which never departed from perfect goodness in God. According to Origen, it was “this soul which joined itself so firmly in love to God as to be worthy of being called ‘one spirit’ with him.” Noother soul, on its own merits, could be so close to God. Thus, inHomJosh, Jesus is the one who, amongst all of Israel, was uniquely qualified to look at the deep mysteries of God.

Additionally, the death of Moses was not merely the death ofone Old Testament figure but also the end of the entire Old Testament ritual system. Origen claimed that “If…you should observe that…there are no sacrifices, victims, or libations; nowhere priests, nowhere high priests, nowhere services of the Levites…then say, ‘Moses, the servant of God is dead.’” (2.1) Thenew leadership of Jesus, therefore, was no longer marked off by rituals but by what those rituals were truly meant to be. Thus:

When you see that “Christ, our paschal lamb, has beensacrificed”, and that we are eating the unleavened bread of“integrity and truth”, when you see the fruit of the goodland in church…when you see the seed of Israel multipliedfrom these “who are born not of blood, nor from the will ofman nor from the desires of the flesh, but from God”…whenyou see “these people of God observe the Sabbath,” notenjoying rest from everyday life but from the work of sin;when you see all these things, say that “Moses, the servantof God is dead” and Jesus, the Son of God holds theleadership. (2.1)

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The leadership of Jesus was what took the lower forms of spiritual life according to the law and escalated it to the higher form of spiritual life according to the spirit.

Because of this, Origen was able to draw out many contrasts between Moses and Jesus as the leader of God’s people. Even something as simple as the location of river-crossing was improved under Jesus. Under Moses, Israel “passed through the water of the sea, a salty water with not sweetness at all in it.”(1.4) Yet under Jesus:

Nowhere now is the sea, nowhere does the salty billow roll’but with my Lord Jesus as the leader I come to the Jordan,not in the confusion of flight and not terrified by fear,but with the priests who carry on their necks and shouldersthe ark of the covenant or the Lord in which the Law of Godand the divine letters are kept. (1.4)

The leadership of Jesus provided a sweeter and purer leadership than that of Moses.

The entire journey of those who follow their leader was improved under Jesus. Those who followed Moses through the wilderness were provided with manna. However, manna was no longerprovided once one crossed the Jordan. Once one entered into the Promised Land, their first meal was made of the fruits of the region of palms (1.4, Joshua 5.12). Similarly, peace was only achieved under Jesus’ leadership. “In the time of Moses it was not said, as it is in the Jesus’ time, that ‘the land rested fromwars’” (1.7) According to Origen, all of the struggles of the believer could only be won through Jesus. “This land of ours,” asOrigen put it, “in which we have struggles and endure contests, will be able to rest from battles by the strength of the Lord Jesus alone.” (1.7) For Origen, Jesus was the consummate spiritual leader whom his hearers are wise to follow. The advancement of one’s soul came only under the tutelage of Jesus, the perfect soul.

Baptism and Crossing the JordanWhile Origen drew an exceptional amount of attention to the

very name of Jesus, he was less concerned with the historical

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veracity of the texts. The Book of Joshua’s narrative, as well asthat of the rest of Scripture, had its main relevance for Origen in the guide it provided for the contemporary narrative of the journey of the Christian’s soul. Some modern scholars have critiqued Origen’s spiritual exegesis as insufficiently grounded in the historical. For example, R.P.C. Hanson refuses to classifyOrigen amongst the great interpreters of the Bible throughout history such as Augustine, Luther, Westcott and Barth because of this. “Origen’s thought,” contends Hanson, “remained outside the Bible and never penetrated within it.”11 Hanson asserts that, unlike those interpreters he considers worthy of veneration, Origen brought too much into Scripture from the outside and therefore mutes important aspects of Scripture. “The critical subject upon which Origen never accepted the biblical viewpoint,”according to Hanson, “was the significance of history.”12 He further explains that “for the writers of the Bible history is par excellence the field of God’s revelation of himself.”13 This appreciation of historical events as the arena of God’s redemption permeates both the Old and New Testament. Yet, “to this insight Origen is virtually blind.” As a result, Origen “perilously reduces the significance of history…In his view history, if it is to have any significance at all, can be no morethan an acted parable, a charade for showing forth eternal truthsabout God.”14

Hanson levels a legitimate critique regarding the discrepancy between Origen’s and Scripture’s appreciation of history qua history. Yet, this cannot be dismissed merely as a crude Platonization of Scripture. As Boyarin argued earlier, there is a difference between enslavement to Platonism which distorts the Christian message and Christian reflection done within a Platonic framework. Consequently, the discrepancy between Origen’s appreciation of history and that of the Old Testament writers has less to do with Origen’s purportedly pagan interpretation and more to do with his unique goal in interpretation.

11 R.P.C. Hansen, Allegory & Event (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2002), 363.12 Ibid.13 Ibid.14 Hanson, 364.

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Origen famously described Scripture as having been given forhumanity’s salvation in three parts; body (soma), soul(psychos), and spirit (pneuma), “just as man consists of body, soul and spirit.”15 These three parts sat in a hierarchy with the pneumatic on the top and the somatic on the bottom. The somatic level was important, yet its importance for Origen lay in its ability to carry the reader the next level. Thus, history was notdenied or ignored. Instead, history itself served the higher levels: “Whenever the Word found that things which had happened in history could be harmonized with these mystical events he usedthem, concealing from the multitude their deeper meaning.”16 Origen praised the historical books, not because of what they were, but because of what they accomplished.

The most wonderful thing is, that by means of stories ofwars and the conquerors and the conquered certain secrettruths are revealed to those who are capable of examiningthese narratives…All these having been recorded in a serieswith a power which is truly appropriate to the wisdom ofGod. For the intention was to make even the outer coveringof the spirituals truths, I mean the bodily part of thescriptures, in many respects not unprofitable but capable ofimproving the multitude in so far as they receive it.17

The deeper meaning was the more beneficial. The bare letter of history could only, at best, serve as somatic interpretation. Thus Origen had no reason to value the somatic meaning over a deeper psychic or pneumatic level of interpretation. The goal forhim and his goal for his hearers was to reach the pneumatic meaning. In the words of Louis Bouyer; “[Origen’s method] does not cause history to evaporate into an idea. On the contrary, it makes us grasp in past history and achieve in our own history thecoming of the Spirit, thanks to the incarnate Word.”18 For Origenit was inconceivable that the historical text could be inspired

15 PArch, IV.2.4. 16 PArch, IV.2.9.17 PArch, IV.2.8.18 Louis Bouyer, The Spirituality of the New Testament and the Father, translated by Mary P Ryan (Minneapolis: Winston Press, 1960), 284.

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by God and only of somatic use. History was not what Origen’s audience needed.

Thus, in the context of Origen’s Joshua homilies, the journey of Israel was the journey of each individual believer and—even more mysteriously—the journey of the Church. This journey stretched back to one’s allegorical departure from Egypt. According to Jacobsen, “Egypt in Origen’s interpretation symbolizes the negative and sinful way of life which the catechumens and the newly baptized Christians must leave behind in order to live the new life after baptism.”19 Entering into thecatechumen was the moment when one left that land of slavery behind and crossed the Red Sea.

Indeed you who long to draw near to the hearing of thedivine law have recently forsaken the darkness of idolatryand are now for the first time forsaking Egypt. When you arereckoned among the number of catechumens and have undertakento submit to the precepts of the Church, you have parted theRed Sea and, placed in the stations of the desert, you dailydevote yourself to hearing the Law of God and to lookingupon the face of Moses, through which the glory of the Lordis revealed. (4.1)

Becoming a catechumen was no mere institutional decision. It was a deeply spiritual moment. It was the beginning of one’s journey across the desert.

Origen’s description in HomJosh 4.1 which was cited above isquite literal too. The main responsibility of the catechumens was, through a three year cycle, to hear the entirety of the Old Testament read and commented upon.20 Moses did indeed become their tutor. It was also during this period that the most basic pagan, or “Egyptian”, characteristics were given up. Although thecatechumenate was essentially open to all, some such as sculptorsof idols, those involved in gladiatorial shows, and military

19 Anders-Christian Jacobsen, “Allegorical Interpretation of Geography in Origen’s Homilies on the Book of Joshua,” Religion & Theology 17 (2010), 294.20 For a fuller discussion of the development early Christian baptismal preparation see E. Glenn Hinson, “The Evangelization of the Roman Empire” (Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press, 1981). Especially pages 76-81.

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governors were called to give up their occupation.21 However, this desert period was only the beginning of the soul’s journey.

After one crossed the Red Sea they proceeded not merely awayfrom Egypt and the idolatry it represented but also towards the Jordan.

But if you also have entered the mystic font of baptism andin the presence of the priestly and Levitical order havebeen instructed by those venerable and magnificentsacraments, which are known to those who are permitted toknow those things, then with the Jordan parted, you willenter the land of promise by the services of the priests. Inthis land, Jesus receives you after Moses, and becomes foryou the leader of a new way. (4.1)

The catechetical school served as a sort of wilderness test. Oncecompleted the convert would reach the time of baptism and received a period of intense instruction regarding in the doctrines of the faith.22

Admittedly, throughout his various homilies and commentaries, Origen was able to use both the Red Sea and the Jordan River as types of baptism. However, is must be noted againthat these homilies are not systematic works intended to assign afixed meaning (or even application) to the biblical text. Origen operated with an interpretive flexibility throughout the whole ofhis works, but in his Homilies on Joshua the Red Sea was consistently connected with entrance into the catechumenate, while the Jordan River was consistently connected with the baptism which marked the beginning of one’s Christian life. It ispossible that on the surface this process may have seemed mundane. These homilies, however, gave Origen an opportunity to demonstrate the incredible meaning in these rituals. Although baptism was a physical act, it was “not an event, but rather the 21 For one example of an early church discussion of who should be admitted to the catechumen see Hippolytus of Rome, The Apostolic Tradition II.16.22 Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechesis 18.33 provides a description of one way in which the early church coordinated baptism. For Cyril, the catechumens were baptized on Easter and then gather together for a week to “be taught the reasons for everything which has been done and received the proofs from the Old and New Testament.”

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inauguration of a process which should be continued after the concrete act of baptism.”23 It is important, therefore, to look at how Origen described the post-baptismal life of the Christian in his Homilies on Joshua.

The Battle of the Baptized LifeIn Book of Joshua, the crossing of the Jordan is portrayed

as a monumental moment. Yet even at that moment, the Israelite’s exodus from Egypt was not truly complete. “The great work of redemption from bondage in Egypt,” according to one modern Old Testament survey, “cannot be separated from the inheritance of land that God had promised. The book of Joshua takes us into thatinheritance: it describes the conquest and distribution of the land.”24 Israel had been delivered by YHWH out of one place, Egypt, and into a new one, Canaan. Yet merely crossing the river did not achieve the final goal. Within the book of Joshua this scene was merely a beginning. It set the stage for what the book is really about: The conquest of the Promised Land. In Origen’s scheme, all of this which was true for the book of Joshua was also true for the Christian life. Becoming a catechumen was vitaland baptism was also a glorious moment. Yet these events merely ushered in a new life of escalated battle for the ultimate goal. The baptized became a soldier in what was to later be called Militia Christi, an army engaged in spiritual warfare. Throughout muchof early church history, baptismal vows were explicitly related to the oath of a Roman soldier.25 The Christian life was one spent in pursuit of the full attainment of the Promised Land; blessed rest in God.

In light of this, it is not surprising that the Apostle Paul’s military language in Ephesians 6 is taken very seriously. Paul describes the Christian’s battles as ones not against “fleshand blood” but against “principalities, against powers, against

23 Jacobsen, 297.24 Raymond B. Dillard and Tremper Longman III, “Joshua” in An Introduction to the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1994), 107.25 Hinson, Evangelization of the Roman Empire, 87. “It was in baptism that converts first learned the meaning of belonging to a people who had made an exclusive covenant with god. By baptism they became soldiers in an army which waged war not through physical force but through spiritual, one that conquered by witness of a holy life and of love, not by the sword.”

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the rulers of the darkness of this world, against the spiritual wickedness in the heavens.” These are the “battles” and “wars” which “await us after baptism” according to Origen (5.2). This war is distinctly and strictly spiritual as well. It is not a violent fight between bodies. Origen tells his hearers that they do not need to look around for a battle field:

You require nothing from without, beyond your own self.Within you is the battle that you are about to wage; on theinside is that evil edifice that must be overthrown; yourenemy proceeds from your heart. This is not my voice; it isthe voice of Christ. Indeed hear him saying, “For from theheart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries,fornications, thefts, false testimonies, slanders.” You seehow great and what sort of army of your enemies proceedsagainst you from your heart. We must cast them out with thefirst onslaught; we must overthrow them with the firstbattle line. If we should be able to demolish their wallsand strike them down to utter destruction, so that we do notleave anyone to carry back word or recover…then throughJesus that rest will be given us. (5.2)

The baptized Christian was called to engage in battle against theenemies that came from their very own heart.

In relating the way in which Joshua and the rest of Israel defeated Ai, Origen brought to his listeners’ attention the strategic importance of fleeing in order to achieve victory. In the Scripture passage, Joshua and the army intentionally fled into the wilderness. This retreat was part of their winning strategy. It may have been disconcerting to some that, Joshua (Jesus) was said to have fled before the army of Ai. Origen answered them with the question: “Why do you think it is that Jesus is described as fleeing?” The reason he gave was that “there may be something that we may conquer by fleeing, and that there is perfect virtue in flight.” The fleeing Origen had in mind was to “flee fornication…flee wrath, flee avarice, flee greed and envy, flee detractions and slanders.” (8.6) It was a flight from vice. Origen imagined the Christian life to be

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centrally characterized by a rigorous fight against impurity for the sake of holiness.

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Excursus: The Apologetic Significance of AllegoryOrigen’s interpretation of Joshua as a spiritual battle also

served an important apologetic purpose. Many objected to the Old Testament as a source of divine revelation due to its violent content. One of the most notorious proponents of this position during the first three centuries after Christ was Marcion. To Marcion, the religion which Jesus Christ presented seemed irreconcilable with the religion presented by the Jewish Scriptures. Thus, he rejected that the creator God described in those Scriptures was the same God who sent Jesus. The Gnostic sects represented by Valentinus and Basilides likewise despised the Hebrew Scriptures and the God they portrayed. However, this aversion was not something that was simply felt by a few wayward heretics and therefore easily dismissed. Even the venerable Augustine admitted to struggling with this aspect of the Old Testament. Although he was committed to the Christian faith, it was not until Ambrose of Milan presented him with an allegorical interpretation of the Jewish Scriptures that Augustine felt confident that he could defend them as fittingly Christian.26

Multiple times throughout his Homilies on Joshua Origen drew attention to these teachers by name even though they had been dead for decades. The teaching they represented still needed to be refuted. In warning his congregation of the dangers of taking “tongues of gold” from Jericho, Origen claimed that one would “pollute the whole Church of the Lord. [For] this the unhappy Valentinus did and Basilides; Marcion also did this. Those persons stole the ‘tongues of gold’ from Jericho. They attempted to introduce into the churches sects not fitting to us, and to pollute all the Church of the Lord.” (7.7) Similarly, Origen was on the defensive in HomJosh 11.6 when he claimed the “Jesus destroyed the enemies, not teaching cruelty through this, as the heretics think, but representing the future sacraments in these affairs.”

Origen was, in some ways, sympathetic to the heretical objections to the Old Testament. When confronted with these arguments he did not primarily attempt to justify the violence and jealousy. Instead, he claims that these ideas stemmed from anincomplete interpretation of Scripture: 26 See Augustine, Confessions V.10-14.

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The reason why all those [who] hold false opinions and makeimpious or ignorant assertions about God appears to benothing else but this, that scripture is not understood inits spiritual sense, but is interpreted according to thebare letter.27

If Scripture actually taught what Marcion and others like him claimed then they would be right to reject Christianity. According to Origen, it did not do this, at least in its deepest and most important sense. Spiritual interpretation provided a rebuttal to these blasphemous interpretations. His sympathy to the objections was balanced with a commitment to the Christian canon. Allegorical interpretation allowed Origen to resolve the tension of these commitments.

Jesus as the Leader of the ArmyEarlier it was argued that Origen characterized the

Christian life as a zealous pursuit of virtues. This characterization may cause some to wonder what made his understanding particularly Christian. What difference did Christ make for a Christian according to Origen? How would a Christian have been differentiated from a pagan who similarly pursued virtue? There are two answers to these questions which emerge from Origen’s Homilies on Joshua.

The first answer is provided as Origen shows the importance of having Jesus as the leader of the army. Because Jesus, and notsomebody else, was at the head, success was assured for “whoever fights under the leadership of Jesus against opposing authorities.” In Joshua 10.21 (according to Origen’s reading) “noone muttered with his tongue” after returning from a victorious battle. This was because “no one boasted about the victory, no one attributed it to his own power that he conquered.” Although the entire army fought, it was “Jesus who bestowed the victory.” (12.2) For Origen, it was not enough simply to fight. It was imperative to fight for the right army. Hence he needed to tell the listening catechumens “not to remain catechumens indefinitelyafter Jesus…revealed spiritual understanding to your hearts.” 27 PArch, IV.2.2.

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Rather, “make haste to lay hold of the grace of God so that you too may be numbered with the church of the sons of Israel.” (9.10) Advancement in virtue was a battle. This battle was only won if one fought it as part of the army led by Jesus. His victory was shared with the rest of the army. The fact that Origen’s primary way of differentiating between the homonymous names of Joshua and Jesus was to call on “the Son of Nun” and theother “My Lord” highlights this orientation. Origen spoke of an intimate connection with Jesus. He was no mere cosmic figure but the one to whom Origen was personally subservient.

The second answer Origen provided to the earlier questions related to what Jesus accomplished on the cross. Trying to place Origen within a modern atonement theory category will not work. These distinctions do not fit within his entire system and are especially ill suited to collection of homilies such as these. However, Origen did give various interpretations of the crucifixion’s significance. In discussing the episode in which the King of Ai was “hanged on a twofold wood,” (8.3)28 Origen noted that this could be “connected with the Devil.” Yet, how is that the Devil was crucified? The answer was that “the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ was twofold.” Origen then explained what hemeant by this.

Perhaps to you it seems an astonishing and novel word that Isay, “The cross was twofold,” that is, it is twofold and fora double reason. For the Son of God was indeed visibly crucified in the flesh, but invisibly on that cross the Devil “with his principalities and authorities was affixed to the cross.”…Therefore, there is a double reason for the cross of the Lord: the one, by which the apostle Peter says that Christ crucified leaves behind an example for us, and this second one, by which the cross was a token of victory over the Devil, on which he was both crucified and triumphed. (8.2)

Not only did Jesus provide an example through his crucifixion, healso demonstrated his victory over the Devil. The spiritual enemywhich the church did battle against was defeated at that moment. 28 Joshua 8.29

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They fought against a defeated foe, even if the Devil’s full defeat was only “dimly shadowed” so that he can still be said to “walk about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (8.4)So we see that Jesus was absolutely necessary for the individual Christian’s spiritual battle. Rebecca Lyman summarized Origen’s portrayal of Christ’s victory as one which provides “essential freedom from fate and demons, [providing] the possibility of a steady course of virtue through union with the Logos, and ultimately complete union with God.” 29Jesus defeated the ultimate foe and provided the proper leadership so as to preservehis army as they marched forward (or strategically retreated) in battle.

The Scriptural LifeFor Origen, the central track along which all Christians

made progress in their spiritual battle was Scripture. In Origen and Scripture, Peter W. Martens argues that for early biblical interpreters like Origen, “exegetical activity…became a moment for their reception of divine aid.” It was God’s means of carrying the interpreter onward. “Scripture, for Origen, was a resource—and arguably the privileged resource—that expedited Christians along their journey toward salvation.”30 Rebecca Lymanmakes the claim that Origen’s ascetic intellectualism meant that,even as he preached to large congregations in Caesarea, “his style and focus continued to rest on the education and development of individual insight.”31 One may be tempted to assume that Origen was therefore only concerned with the spiritually elite and philosophically sophisticated. Homilies on Joshua shows us that this was not the case. The salvific interaction with Scripture was not reserved solely for exegetes. In HomJosh Origen consistently commended the importance of Scripture for his hearers’ spiritual progress, even though many were catechumens or only recently baptized. The somatic and psychic senses of Scripture would, as Lauro argues, “serve the pneumatic sense by offering a temporal means to increasingly

29 Rebecca Lyman, Christology and Cosmology (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993), 80-81.30 Peter W. Martens, Origen and Scripture: Contours of the Exegetical Life, Oxford Early Christian Studies (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), 193.31 Lyman, 40.

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understand and prepare for its eternal truths.”32 These homilies were Origen’s attempt to coach his hearers along in their abilityto understand Scripture’s profound truth.

It seems that in teaching from the Old Testament Origen faced some of the same challenges which modern preachers face, namely indifference, boredom, and confusion. In Homily 8.2 he lamented that “when people hear these things, it is likely they say, “What is this to me? What does it contribute to me?” To fight against this, in the midst of some of the more mundane sections, Origen would pause to remind his hearers about Scripture’s inherent importance. One example of this is Homily 20. This homily is a continuation of 19 which had for its text Joshua 15 which describes the borders of Judah’s inheritance. Origen even admitted that “the divine discourse and the reading may become tedious to hearers if it does not receive an explanation.” However, this was not a reason to ignore these passages. For “from this recitation itself no small amount of benefit is conveyed to the soul.” (20.1) Scripture did not need to be understood in order to beneficial. It could often affect its hearers and their unholy tendencies like a snake handler affects a venomous snake:

If any serpent of a hostile authority is within us, or ifany snake lies concealed for an ambush, if you patientlypersevere and if you do not stop listening, wearied orbored, it is driven away by the incantation of Scripture andby a constant repetition of the divine discourse. (20.1)

Since scripture could be of spiritual benefit even when it was obscure, the Christian should be eager to listen to it. “Hearing alone” is its “chief benefit.” For, “there is a certain strength in Holy Scripture that may avail the reader, even without explanation.” (20.2) This basic hearing provided a starting pointfor even the most immature. Because of Scripture’s power as divinely inspired, it was able to act upon any of its hearers. This bare act of listening would then allow one to advance to

32 Elizabeth Ann Dively Lauro, The Soul and Spirit of Scripture Within Origen’s Exegesis (Boston: Brill Academic, 2004), 194.

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deeper understandings. To advance in Scriptural understanding wasto advance in the spiritual battle.

ConclusionThis inadequate survey of some important themes in Origen’s

Homilies on Joshua has provided a glimpse of Origen as a preacher and given a taste of his pastoral concerns. His vision of the Christian life was that of a spiritual journey and battle. It began with the departure from idolatry represented by Egypt through the wilderness which was marked by the leadership of Moses. After the completion of that wilderness journey one underwent baptism which carried them across the Jordan River and completed their exodus from Egypt. Jesus then became their Lord. However, once they are across that river their journey turned into a deeply spiritual yet incredibly real battle under the leadership of Jesus the Son of God. Scripture was the primary weapon in this battle against spiritual powers. The ultimate goalof this struggle was spiritual freedom: Restoration to perfect union with God.

In many ways this vision presented in Origen’s Homilies on Joshua matches up well with what he presented in Peri Archon. However, it is worth noting two things which were highlighted in these homilies. The first is the prominence of Jesus. One concernwhich some have with the system presented in PArch is the seemingly limited place of Christ in the process of redemption. Yet Jesus was absolutely necessary and central for the Christian life which Origen commended in his Homilies on Joshua. Christ was morethan an example or the first soul to complete its journey. Christwas the one who enabled all souls to conquer their spiritual adversaries and rest in the blessedness of restoration. The second thing worth noting is Origen’s urgency in calling his hearers along in the journey. Implied in many people’s concerns regarding the apokatastasis which Origen promoted in PArch is the seeming inevitability of salvation it included. If restoration were inevitable, then it might be asked why it would be importantfor souls to resist temptation and discipline themselves. This laxity had no place in Origen’s preaching. The Christian life wasnot an indifferent cruise down a lazy river leading to God. It

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was a fierce battle against real spiritual enemies who posed genuine dangers to the Christian.

While Peri Archon gives us an invaluable portrait of Origen’s understanding of the process of salvation, his Homilies on Joshua let us see this theory in action. In these homilies, Scripture isbeing applied to a large congregation. They were at a diverse range of places in regards to their spiritual maturity and capabilities. To them Origen presented Christ as the leader who would bring his faithful subjects to full celestial victory. By this we see that Origen took seriously his duty to exhort his fellow soldiers to stay diligent in their spiritual fight.

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Bibliography

Origen. Homilies on Genesis and Exodus, Translated by Ronald E. Heine, Edited by Cynthia White. The Fathers of the Church. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2002.

——. Homilies on Joshua, Translated by Barbara J. Bruce, Edited by Cynthia White. The Fathers of the Church. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2002.

——. On First Principles, Translated by G.W. Butterworth. Eugene, Oreg.: WIPF & Stock, 1936.

Bouyer, Louis. The Spirituality of the New Testament and the Fathers. Translated by Mary P. Ryan. New York: Desclee Company, 1963.

Boyarin, Daniel. “Origen as Theorist of Allegory: Alexandrian Contexts.” In The Cambridge Companion to Allegory. Edited by Rita Copeland and Peter T. Struck. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Dillard, Raymond B. and Tremper Longman III. An Introduction to the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1994.

Dively Lauro, Elizabeth. The Soul and Spirit of Scripture within Origen’s Exegesis. Leiden: Brill Academic, 2005.

Finn, Thomas M. Early Christian Baptism and the Catechumenate: Italy, North Africa, and Egypt. Message of the Fathers of the Church, Volume 6, General Editor Thomas Halton. Collegeville, Minn.: The Liturgical Press, 1992.

Hanson, Richard P.C. Allegory & Event: A Study of the Source and Significance of Origen’s Interpretation of Scripture. London: Westminster John Knox, 2002.

Heine, Ronald E. Origen: Scholarship in Service of the Church. Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press, 2010.

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Hinson, E. Glenn. The Evangelization of the Roman Empire: Identity and Adaptability. Macon, GA.: Mercer University Press, 1981.

Jacobsen, Anders-Christian, “Allegorical Interpretation of Geography in Origen’s Homilies on the Book of Joshua.” Religion & Theology 17 (2010) 289-301.

Lymann, J. Rebecca. Christology and Cosmology: Models of Divine Activity in Origen, Eusebius, and Athanasius. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993.

Martens, Peter W. Origen and Scripture: The Contours of the Exegetical Life. Oxford Early Christian Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.

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Origen's Homilies on Joshua

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Transcript of Origen's Homilies on Joshua