Teologiczne podstawy egzegezy Orygenesa i jej aktualność

Abstract

Origen’s exegesis is based on serious assumptions, both philosophical and theological. The philosophical foundation of his exegesis, as it is widely known, derives from the Platonic concept of the world. The article concentrates on a number of theological aspects. Origen obviously recognizes the Holy Scriptures as the Word of God. With this as a starting point, Origen compares the fact of writing down the Word of God as the Scriptures to the Incarnation and creation. Just as Logos assumes a human form, and thus humanity with all its consequences, the written Word is, in some way, „incarnated” in human speech and writing. Consequently, Origen perceives the structure of the Scriptures as analogous to that of man: the Scriptures have their body, soul and Spirit. The comparison between the Holy Scriptures and the fact of creation has the following implications: the whole world is the work of God, though in its numerous aspects it does not seem worthy of the good and almighty God. In the same way, the Scriptures are the work of God, though their numerous texts seem unworthy of God’s perfection. The analogy between the Scriptures and the Incarnation and creation makes it possible for Origen to perform a thorough study of biblical texts and develop all the necessary exegetic techniques, as the subject of his study is not Logos Him self, but H is work: human words and writings. It is only through such a study that one gradually grasps the mystery of the Word, Logos. It seems that those intuitions of Origen are also meaningful today: they are in line with the modern practice of biblical studies, making use of all the available scientific tools to analyze the texts of the Scriptures.