Weird Question: A Title for Origen Adamantius?

[Reader Antonius]

Pax, Ειρήνη, שלום!

Christ is Risen! Christus Resurréxit! Χριστός Ανέστη! !המשיח קם
Alleluia!!! Blessed Pascha to all!

Dear brethren and sistren,

As I believe I may have mentioned here before, I am quite a devotee of Origen Adamantius (c. 185 – c. 253), an early Christian theologian that the Catholic Church would call an "ecclesiastical writer" since he was not canonized. His surname means "Man of Steel" and reflected his asceticism, which, incidentally, was an important model for the creation of monasticism.

To the right is a Byzantine icon of Origen Adamantius by an Orthodox Presbytera. Note the lack of a halo:

Now many of you already know I am weird and a hopeless intellectual (lol), but I've long sought to apply an honorific title to my hero; much akin to "saint" among the canonized. Sadly, most know little about Origen, and many either see him as a formal heretic or under the ban of Ecumenical Council(s). Yet, the history & canonical issues are far more complex than that, and in modern times the Catholic Church (and many other Christians) no longer understands him in such a negative way. Perhaps a few quotes might suffice, but I'll keep them brief as they are not the thrust of this thread.

The first comes from Origen himself, demonstrating his own (very Catholic!) view of theology:

"The teaching of the Church has indeed been handed down through an order of succession from the Apostles and remains in the churches even to the present time. That alone is to be believed as the truth which is in no way at variance with ecclesiastical and Apostolic Tradition."

The second is more of a "clincher" as it comes from the esteemed Old Catholic Encyclopedia; well known for its orthodoxy & fidelity:

"The distinctive mark of the Catholic is to belong to the Church, to depend on the Church outside of which there is no salvation; on the contrary, he who leaves the Church walks in darkness, he is a heretic. It is through the principle of authority that Origen of Alexandria is wont to unmask and combat doctrinal errors. It is the principle of authority, too, that he invokes when he enumerates the dogmas of faith. A man animated with such sentiments may have made mistakes, because he is human, but his disposition of mind is essentially Catholic and he does not deserve to be ranked among the promoters of heresy."

The last, perhaps more controversial to some but indicative of Origen's importance is from Rev. Fr. Hans Urs von Balthasar:

"It is all but impossible to overestimate Origen [of Alexandria] and his importance for the history of Christian thought. To rank him beside Augustine and Thomas [Aquinas] simply accords him his rightful place in this history. [...] For there is no thinker in the Church who is so invisibly all-present as Origen."

Even our great Pope Benedict XVI (of blessed memory!) wrote highly of Origen in his 2007 addresses. I quote:

"Notwithstanding all the theological richness of [Origen's] thought, his is never a purely academic approach; it is always founded on the experience of prayer, of contact with God. Indeed, to his mind, knowledge of the Scriptures requires prayer and intimacy with Christ even more than study. He was convinced that the best way to become acquainted with God is through love, and that there is no authentic scientia Christi without falling in love with him."

Indeed, speaking as a Romano-Byzantine Thomist myself (think: Ven. Andrey Sheptytsky of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church), I couldn't agree more that Origen's legacy ranks up there with those luminaries who helped develop the Faith so vitally.

Regardless, my purpose here is not to go on an excursus regarding why I believe Origen "gets a bad rap." Rather, I'm wanting some feedback on my attempt to give him an honorific that is faithful to the Church's reticence in calling him "saint." This may seem pointless or odd, but it's actually a common problem for many who study him. For example, Greek Catholics will from time to time write icons of Origen – however, the tradition is that he cannot be depicted with a halo. But why write an icon at all if he is a "heretic"? Moreover, Roman Catholics have always had a hard time "categorizing" (our favorite thing to do, lol) the figure of Origen. To date he is generally referred to as an "ecclesiastical writer," which sort of bridges his importance in Patristics but halts at calling him a "Church Father." So I'm not alone in this.

That being said, like many others for whom this is permissible (trust me, I've checked!), I have a private devotion to Origen much as one would a canonized saint or even a saint not yet canonized for whatever reason. As far as I'm concerned (to put it cheekily), if Greek Catholics can venerate (as some would argue) a problematic theologian like St. Gregory Palamas, Origen isn't a problem!

But, back to my main question: What would be an appropriate title or honorific? I'm curious as to what y'all may think of this. What follows are my current hypotheticals with brief commentary, but I'd deeply appreciate outside insight, criticisms, or thoughts:

I. Father (the least problematic, but also the weakest. Any priest or Greek Catholic monk is "father").
II. Holy (naturally this is a distinction without a difference from saint, & doesn't work in other languages derived from Latin).
III. Reverend (better than Father, but having much the same drawbacks, lol).
IV. Godly (this is my favorite among the English titles. It conveys his holiness without implying canonized saintly status. I lean towards this one).

Then I considered perhaps taking ideas from ranks of nobility, to convey both honor but in a secular way. Additionally, many of these have Greek origins:

I. Déspota (a Greek title used for priests in the Greek Rite; although it has connotations not so...savory).
II. Mar/Mari (a Syriac Christian title [ܡܵܪܝܼ ] meaning "my lord" which has often been applied to both living hierarchs and saints).
III. Philosopher (on one level apt, but a bit clunky and obscures his immense role as a theologian).

Given that he was Egyptian (his name even means "son of Horus" in Greek), I considered Coptic honorifics:

I. ⲟⲩⲁⲁⲃ – Ouaab (Coptic for "holy, pure," creating the same problem as "saint").
II. ϩⲟⲙⲟⲗⲟⲅⲏⲧⲏⲥ – Homologetes (Coptic for "confessor of the Faith," which Origen was/is as he died from torture under Decius).
III. ⲥⲁⲃⲏ – Sabeh (Coptic for "wise man").
IV. ⲇⲓⲕⲁⲓⲟⲥ – Dikaios (Coptic for "righteous"; cognate with Greek).

I also turned to Christian Greek for some ideas. Origen was Egyptian, but he was Hellenized & wrote in Greek:

I. Ἱέριος – "Hierós" (Greek for "priest/holy," Origen was ordained a priest albeit controversially due to jurisdictional issues).
II. ῐ̔ερᾰ́ρχης – "Hierárkhēs" (Greek for "hierarch" meaning "high priest"; may also refer to a bishop in Byzantine Catholicism).

Lastly, given that Origen was a Hebreophile – and one of the greatest of the ante-Nicene period! – I looked at some Hebrew:

I. צַדִּיק – "Tzadik" or "Sadiq" (Hebrew for "a righteous man"; not quite a saint but close).
II. מוֹרֶה – "Moréh" (Hebrew for "teacher"; usually referent to a teacher of Divine things).

To conclude, I know many of you might think this silly or pointless; perhaps even a prodigal exercise. Yet, Origen of Alexandria's star has risen high in recent Catholic Christian theology, East & West. Indeed, he is being rediscovered and widely appreciated throughout Christendom, from Eastern Orthodoxy to Protestantism (the Oriental Orthodox, especially Copts, never forgot him).

Hence, how we refer to this extremely important Christian theologian – who laid the basis for much of the Catholic theology, including Trinitarianism & Christology! – isn't insignificant. How much longer shall we call this immensely crucial figure simply "Origen" with no qualification, thus akin to calling the schismatic Tertullian by his name only?

So what think y'all?

 

[SashaMaria]

This is way above my level of understanding and I’m not competent to really answer but I’ll try.

I’ve recently begun a book by Aidan Nichols O.P. titled The Singing-Masters, Church Fathers from Greek East and Latin West. He writes chapters about each father and describes who, what, when and where. Chapter 2 is about Origen and the chapter is titled Pious Speculator: Origen. He also calls Origen a spiritual master.

As for an honorific title, I can only give my own preference

”Holy” — the Scriptures call baptized Christians “ holy”, “saints”, and “set apart”
”Godly” is good too and also IMO, true.

The Hebrew “tzadik” is also possible.

 

[Reader Antonius]

This is way above my level of understanding and I’m not competent to really answer but I’ll try.

I’ve recently begun a book by Aidan Nichols O.P. titled The Singing-Masters, Church Fathers from Greek East and Latin West. He writes chapters about each father and describes who, what, when and where. Chapter 2 is about Origen and the chapter is titled Pious Speculator: Origen. He also calls Origen a spiritual master.

As for an honorific title, I can only give my own preference

”Holy” — the Scriptures call baptized Christians “ holy”, “saints”, and “set apart”
”Godly” is good too and also IMO, true.

The Hebrew “tzadik” is also possible.

Many thanks for the insights. I find that threads can get "buried" fast here in OBOB. In any case, I really like your pointing to "Godly." I seems to capture both his obvious sanctity (albeit uncanonized), his love of God which animated his vast theological & philosophical influence, and his extremely ascetic lifestyle which he lived out of devotion.

I'm thinking a particular Byzantine Catholic term used often may bring it all together: "Godbearing" (Θεοφόρος – Богоносний). It's normally used in liturgy to refer to the "Godbearing Fathers" which I've always understood as the Church Fathers and saints. So it may not apply perfectly to Origen of Alexandria...but I think close enough, for what is "Godly" but an English form of "Godbearing"? (The English particle "-ly" comes from Middle English -ly, -li, -lik, -lich, and means "having the body or form of." I think I might go with that, but Godly is always a good fallback if I get...resistance.

O Origen of Alexandria, how sad was your fall from grace...so long after your falling asleep in Christ!

P.S. Thanks for the book title! I've gotta get my hands on it, lol.