Origen and Scripture

Kyle Strobel
martens.jpg
Peter W. Martens, Origen and Scripture: The Contours of the Exegetical Life. Oxford Early Christian Studies (Oxford: OUP, 2012) xii +280. $117.00 hb. $34.00 pb 

The reception of Origen is nothing if not tumultuous. Unquestionably one of the greatest minds of church history, Origen's ideas were often condemned as a little too fertile, to put it mildly. So why bother reading a book on Origen's understanding of Scripture and exegesis? Two quick answers should confront us. First, Origen was originally seen as one of the great defenders of the faith, who sought to wield a distinctively Christian view of Scripture (and hermeneutic) against Gnostic and certain Jewish interpreters. At times, this entailed a critique of sub-Christian allegorization, a charge often leveled at Origen himself. Second, and perhaps more to the point, this volume is guided by an incredibly important inclination: that to address the "how-to" of exegesis, we have to analyze the ideal interpreter. In other words, at the heart of this exposition of Origen on Scripture is a vision of a certain kind of reader of Scripture. In our own context, where hermeneutics is one of the "hot-button" topics of the day, the question of who the ideal interpreter is, and what they look like, is often ignored. What this volume offers is a picture, through Origen, of how we should conceive of interpretation through a depiction of the exegetical life. Even if, at the end of the day, we are not interested in retrieving Origen's view of Scripture and interpretation, it is nonetheless a helpful endeavor to assess our notions of what an ideal interpreter might look like. This volume gives us a glimpse into what that might entail. 

In painting a picture of the exegetical life, we find that this is more than just hermeneutical theory - as if exegesis were simply a skill to be honed - but a certain partaking of the Christian calling. The exegetical life that Origen envisioned was more than simply an academic calling, although, as we will see, that was essential. The exegetical life, more robustly, entailed a way of salvation that was oriented by the vision of God. What we might call "Christian spirituality" was at the heart of exegesis for Origen, because progress in Christianity entails a movement away from vice towards virtue. To embark on this process meant giving one's mind to the Scriptures to devote oneself to God and his way, and therefore to reject the way of the world and flesh that binds hearts and minds to death. To give oneself to the study of the Scriptures was to turn to the Lord, away from the disordered affections of the flesh. What the interpreter was doing in giving oneself to the exegetical life, was to locate the interpretation of Scripture within the drama of salvation. This was not simply a study of texts for the academically interested, nor was it the secret wisdom of Gnosticism. The true Christian interpreter was one who knew God and contemplated the divine truth. Therefore, at its heart, interpretation was a way of life - a distinctively Christian way of life. 

So what does this way look like? Keeping in mind that Origen understood this as a scholarly endeavor as much as a spiritual one, it proves helpful to use these two notions to organize what follows. First, the interpretation of Scripture entails giving oneself to the scholarly features of the exegetical life. This notion, in part, is less provocative than it might appear at face value. Many moderns might balk at the idea that reading Scripture well necessitates a scholarly approach, but, of course, this is a feature of ancient wisdom carried over by the Reformed faithful. It is commonly recognized that everyone, to read Scripture, needs to hone certain skills, such as reading, ability to attend to the big picture of redemption-history, and a certain knowledge of historical circumstances and events. Presumably, as we develop these skills, we are able to engage Scripture better. Origen had a similar notion, but with far more nuance and depth. 

Grounding his depiction of Origen as a model for the exegetical life, Martens starts with philology as the foundation discipline. Philology, in Origen's context, is primarily the study of Greek language and its literature, but also included knowledge of Greco-Roman / Jewish exegetical techniques, and entailed a certain knowledge of manuscript evidence and criticism. A failure to grow in one's knowledge in these areas would lead, Origen feared, to a superficial reading of the biblical text. While he was not naïve to the reality that the masses would rarely take up his challenge to a thorough-going exegetical life, Origen nonetheless cast a broad vision for people to take up this educationally-challenging call to study the Scriptures. This call was particularly difficult for most, since Origen was looking for an army of well-rounded students with some background in geometry, music, rhetoric and astronomy, as well as general philology and philosophy. Importantly, these disciplines should not dominate the Scriptural text, as if "secular" education was all one needed to read the Scriptures well, but they could serve as handmaids to the exegetical task. 

Second, while the student of the biblical text is growing in "worldly" knowledge to wield for the glory of God, he also needs to be growing in wisdom according to the rule of faith. Only those who are growing in holiness could interpret the Scriptures well. Negatively, those who rejected the way of life portrayed in the drama of salvation in Scripture would attempt, inevitably, to conform the Scriptures to their life, and not the other way around. Positively, the one who is participating in the drama of salvation is able to see, with an increasing depth of discernment, the way of God. This allows the interpreter to read according to the Spirit, and not merely the letter. Furthermore, by aligning one's life with the way of God, the student of Scripture should be growing in virtue (and this means growing in certain exegetical virtues), that serve to further their growth in Christ. Some of these virtues were: inquisitiveness, fairness and open-mindedness, watchfulness, and exertion, what we might call fortitude. As you can see, a certain picture of the exegetical life comes into view as the sword of the Spirit acts as a scalpel upon the heart of the one faithful to the biblical text. But this kind of reading is only possible if it is a reading by faith, and a reading in prayer. 

While many of Origen's ideas of metaphysics and cosmology might frustrate the modern reader, it is clear that his vision of the Christian life as a life of deep biblical interpretation is an attractive one to Protestants. Even if we eventually reject certain aspects of Origen's methodology, it seems that the contours he traces can serve as a fruitful picture of how we might train up pastors and Christian scholars. The focus on philology and textual analysis is well accepted in our own day, but often, left behind, is any notion of spiritual depth and wisdom for interpretation. Our own educational context could learn something from Origen's program on this point specifically. Furthermore, like the Reformed high orthodox who linked faith here and now with the vision of God in eternity, Origen grounds our own knowledge of God through Scripture with the knowledge we will one day have. In a helpful image, Origen links our own inquiry now with the artist who uses light pencil markings to sketch where the brush strokes will go. But in sanctification, and ultimately in glory, the artist, God himself, will use the bold colors of paint to cover these pencil sketchings according to the intent of his will. The scriptural inquiry done here is not fruitless for eternity, but offers the initial formation, however minimal, for God's continuing work. We could all use, I think, a vision of our interpretation of Scripture that is endowed with such depth and significance.  

Kyle Strobel is assistant professor of Spiritual Theology at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University, and is the author of Jonathan Edwards's Theology: A Reinterpretation (T&T Clark) and Formed for the Glory of God: Learning from the Spiritual Practices of Jonathan Edwards (IVP), and, along with Jamin Goggin, has written, Beloved Dust (Thomas Nelson)