Theological Motives for Condemning “Origenism”

Abstract

The article examines the controversial issues of the orthodoxy of Origen’s theology and the condemnation of “Origenism”. It is taken in quotation marks, since it significantly differs from the teaching of Origen itself. The purpose of this article is to establish the theological motives for the condemnation of “Origenism”. Disputes between Origen’s epigones and his opponents touched on a wide variety of theological issues. Accusations against Origen and his followers are quite contradictory from the standpoint of theology. The condemnation of Origen was directly initiated by the monks of the Eastern monasteries, disagreeing rather with the spiritual practices of the so‑called “Origenists”, and in fact – the followers of Evagrius Ponticus. In many ways, it was the works and activities of Evagrius Ponticus that provoked the condemnation of Origenism to a greater extent than the theology of Origen himself. At the same time, the accusations of heresy against Origen promoted by Emperor Justinian I in 543 differed from the accusations contained in the 15 rules of the Fifth Ecumenical Council against Origenism (553). It is concluded that the main reason for the condemnation was Origen’s freethinking, which encouraged his followers to independently study Christian theology. The Alexandrian theologian presented his views in the form of “exercises” and not as dogmas; he proposed ideas and did not prescribe thinking in a certain way. This clearly contradicted the tendencies of dogmatization of the Christian doctrines and the growing influence of the imperial power on the Church.