Paradise and the Cave

This chapter analyzes the final section of the Thanksgiving Address, an elaborate assembly of scriptural examples—the expulsion of Adam from Eden, Abraham’s departure from his homeland, the parable of the prodigal son, the Babylonian captivity of the Jews—which the author marshals in order to lament his own departure from his studies with Origen. The passage is not easily coordinated with the classical rhetoric of leave-taking—as described by Menander of Laodicaea and exemplified in an oration by the fourth-century bishop Gregory of Nazianzen—but may be closer to a form of rabbinic homiletics. Especially pronounced is the reversal of both classical and scriptural structures and the lack of clarity surrounding the necessity of departure. It is suggested that the Plato’s Republic and the necessity of the guardians to return to the cave, thus retracing their philosophical ascent, might have provided the effective model. Origen’s own writings are examined in order to bolster the hypothesis.

Introduction

This chapter provides an overview of the Thanksgiving Address, discussing the history of scholarship of the document and the peculiar problems that confront the reader of the text. Of particular concern in this regard is the highly rhetorical nature of the composition, a feature that has created a pronounced imbalance in research thus far and has prevented a full understanding of the work’s strength and significance. An emphasis is placed on the unappreciated importance of the address for our general understanding of late ancient paideia and especially for higher education in the Platonic philosophical tradition. The contents and major themes of the succeeding chapters are surveyed in brief.

Dialectic and the Training of the Mind

This chapter explores the initial phase of the author’s tutelage in Caesarea, one well known from the traditional Greco-Roman curriculum of encyclical studies (enkyklios paideia): dialectic, the training in the logical and precise analysis of articulation, and argumentation. This is described both as an investigation of the natural abilities of the student and a thoroughgoing process of breaking down acquired habits of thought and speech. These are examined in light of Origen’s own views as expressed throughout his works, as well as in the writings of earlier exponents of the Alexandrian theological tradition (Philo, Clement) and within contemporary philosophical, especially Platonic, traditions (Alcinous). This emphasis on dialectical training as a corrective to enclosed or habitual attitudes is coordinated with Origen’s striking understanding of a heresy as primarily a dogmatic or exclusivist system of thought and belief. His opposition to this sort of blind allegiance finds a number of interesting parallels, particularly in the writings of Galen of Pergamum.

Moral Formation and the Path to Scripture

This chapter examines the lengthy central portion of the address, in which the author presents his training in ethics and proceeds to discuss the study of theology and scripture. The description of ethics places an emphasis on the balanced control of the passions and the consequent flowering of the classical virtues, a widespread contemporary amalgam of Stoicizing psychology and Platonic moral theory. The emphasis on the interiorization of virtue leads to a discussion of the theme of deification and its relationship to the traditional Platonic goal of the attainment of a “likeness to God.” These concerns are reflected in the portrayal of Origen as the paradigmatic exegete of scripture, his unique achievements being dependent upon his direct communication with the divine spirit. The culminating description of Origen as a “copy of the Paradise of God” is investigated in light of the pedagogic context of that phrase within his eschatological thought.

Paideia, Loss, and Prospect

The final chapter reprises the major arguments of this study and attempts to point forward to the subsequent trajectories of some of the central themes of the Thanksgiving Address discussed above. Opening with a brief comparison of the role played by the Czech philosopher Jan Patočka in the life of Vaclav Havel—playwright, dissident, and president—the chapter reviews the extraordinary stature and significance accorded Origen by the author of the address. A series of themes then are surveyed in order to assess their salience in looking ahead to the development of Christianity during the succeeding centuries: the relative weight of ecclesiastic versus academic authority; the rise of Christian asceticism and the position of the holy man; and patterns of advanced education. Finally, there is a discussion of the possible relevance of modern pedagogical models and a return to the underlying question of the relationship between freedom and constraint in the formation of the individual.

Providence, Eros, and Constraint

This chapter focuses on the author’s narrative of the path that brought him from childhood in Asia Minor, via the progression of rhetorical and legal studies (in Berytus), to the study circle of Origen in Caesarea Maritima. One of the key themes explored is that of divine providence or management (oikonomia) by which the author is unwittingly led to the meeting with his master, accompanied along the way by a guiding angelic presence. Once in the company of Origen, a series of new themes come to the fore and are examined: the role of forceful constraint in the teacher’s control over his student; the use of imagery of binding and magic to describe the teacher’s effect and influence; and, finally, a description that draws on the language of a Platonic pedagogy of eros, while employing the scriptural example of Jonathan and David as a model of spiritual friendship. These themes jointly raise the central question of free will in the master-disciple relationship.