Scholia in Lucam
OF ORIGEN ON THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE.
17.312 CH. 1. V. 1. Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative about the things that have been fulfilled among us. Since the undertaking was immense, for a man to write down the teaching and words of God, he reasonably offers a defense in the preface. For just as among the people of old many professed prophecy, but some of them were false prophets, and some were truly prophets; and there was the gift of discernment of spirits, by which gift the true prophet and the false prophet were judged; so also now in the New Covenant, many have wished to write Gospels. But the approved money-changers did not approve all, but selected some of them. And perhaps the word "undertook" contains a hidden accusation against those who rashly and without a spiritual gift came to the writing of the Gospels. For Matthew did not "undertake," but wrote being moved by the Holy Spirit; likewise also Mark, and John similarly, and Luke. But those who wrote the Gospel entitled "according to the Egyptians," and the Gospel entitled "of the Twelve," did "undertake." And there is also extant the Gospel according to Thomas. And Basilides even dared to write a Gospel according to Basilides. Many therefore have "undertaken," also the one according to Matthias, and many others. But the Church of God prefers only the four. He did not say simply "believed," but "fully established," bearing witness to the unalterable nature of the things being said. And he said "things," refuting the heresy of those who say that the things done through the Savior, and his incarnation, were according to appearance. And by saying "concerning the things that have been fully established," he reveals his own disposition. For he was fully convinced, and did not doubt at all whether it was so, or not. And that he received it from those who saw with their own eyes and heard with their own ears, he clearly confessed, saying: Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the Word. And he affirms that he has traced from the very first, not some of the things spoken, but all of them. And it is likely some suppose that he wrote the Gospel to a certain Theophilus, 17.313 who was one of the believers, so fervent in spirit, and insatiably disposed toward the deeds and words of the Lord; whom the things now being written were making more certain. But another says: That if we are all such as to be loved and cherished by God, we are Theophiloi. But a Theophilus would not be weak; for every Theophilus is "most excellent," having strength and power from God and from His Word, and thus he will come to know the certainty of the words in which he was instructed. He promises, therefore, the certainty of knowledge, so that what he received by hearing, he might, by encountering it in writing, preserve his faith more securely. In Exodus it is written, That the people saw the voice of the Lord, and yet a voice is not seen, but heard; that it might be shown paradoxically, that the voice of God is seen by those by whom it is seen. But in the Gospel, it is not the voice that is seen, but the Word, which is greater than the voice. For this reason, Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the Word. For if to have seen the Lord in the body was to have been an eyewitness of this; then Pilate too was an eyewitness of the Word, when condemning him, and Judas the betrayer, and all those who said, "Crucify, crucify him." To know the Word, therefore, was meant there where the Savior said, "He who has seen me has seen the Father who sent me." And covertly Luke teaches us a good lesson here, that of some theorems the end is theory
Scholia in Lucam
ΩΡΙΓΕΝΟΥΣ ΕΙΣ ΤΟ ΚΑΤΑ ΛΟΥΚΑΝ ΕΥΑΓΓΕΛΙΟΝ.
17.312 ΚΕΦ. Αʹ. Στίχ. αʹ. Ἐπειδὴ πολλοὶ ἐπεχείρησαν ἀνατάξα σθαι διήγησιν περὶ τῶν πεπληροφορημένων ἡμῖν πραγμάτων. Ἐπειδὴ ὑπέρογκον ἦν τὸ ἐπιχείρημα, ἄνθρωπον ὄντα, Θεοῦ διδασκαλίαν καὶ ῥήματα συγγράφειν, εἰκότως ἀπολογεῖται ἐν τῷ προοιμίῳ. Ὥσπερ δὲ ἐν τῷ πάλαι λαῷ πολλοὶ προφητείαν ἐπηγγέλλοντο, ἀλλὰ τούτων τινὲς μὲν ἦσαν ψευδοπροφῆται, τινὲς δὲ ἀληθῶς προφῆται· καὶ ἦν χάρισμα διάκρισις πνευμάτων, ἀφ' οὗ χαρίσματος ἐκρίνετο ὁ ἀληθὴς προφήτης καὶ ὁ ψευδοπροφήτης· οὕτω καὶ νῦν ἐν τῇ καινῇ διαθήκῃ, τὰ Εὐαγγέλια πολλοὶ ἠθέλησαν γρά ψαι. Ἀλλ' οἱ δόκιμοι τραπεζῖται οὐ πάντα ἔκριναν, ἀλλά τινα ἐξ αὐτῶν ἐξελέξαντο. Τάχα δὲ καὶ τὸ, ἐπεχείρησαν, λεληθυῖαν ἔχει κατηγορίαν τῶν προ πετῶς καὶ χωρὶς χαρίσματος ἐλθόντων ἐπὶ τὴν ἀναγραφὴν τῶν Εὐαγγελίων. Ματθαῖος γὰρ οὐκ ἐπεχείρησεν, ἀλλ' ἔγραψεν ἐξ ἁγίου κινούμενος Πνεύ ματος· ὁμοίως καὶ Μάρκος, καὶ Ἰωάννης παραπλη σίως, καὶ Λουκᾶς. Τὸ μέντοι ἐπιγεγραμμένον κατὰ Αἰγυπτίους Εὐαγγέλιον, καὶ τὸ ἐπιγεγραμμένον τῶν δώδεκα Εὐαγγέλιον, οἱ συγγράψαντες ἐπεχείρησαν. Φέρεται δὲ καὶ τὸ κατὰ Θωμᾶν Εὐαγγέλιον. Ἤδη δὲ ἐτόλμησε καὶ Βασιλείδης συγγράψαι κατὰ Βασιλεί δην Εὐαγγέλιον. Πολλοὶ μὲν οὖν ἐπεχείρησαν καὶ τὸ κατὰ Ματθίαν, καὶ ἄλλα πλείονα. Ἀλλὰ τὰ τέσσαρα μόνα προκρίνει ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ Ἐκκλησία. Οὐχ ἁπλῶς δὲ εἶπε πεπιστευμένων, ἀλλὰ πεπληροφορημένων, τὸ ἀπαράβατον τοῖς λεγομένοις μαρτυρῶν. Πραγμάτων δὲ εἶπεν, ἀναιρῶν τὴν αἵρεσιν τῶν κατὰ φαντασίαν λεγόντων τὰ διὰ τοῦ Σωτῆρος γεγενῆσθαι, καὶ τὴν σάρκωσιν αὐτοῦ. Περὶ τῶν πεπληροφορημένων δὲ εἰπὼν, τὴν διάθεσιν αὐτοῦ ἐμφαίνει. Πεπληροφόρητο γὰρ, καὶ οὐδὲν ἐδίσταζε, πότερον οὕτως ἔχει, ἢ οὔ. Ὅτι δὲ παρὰ τῶν αὐτοψίᾳ θεασαμένων καὶ αὐτ ηκόων παρέλαβε, σαφῶς ὡμολόγησεν εἰπών· Καθὼς παρέδοσαν ἡμῖν οἱ ἀπ' ἀρχῆς αὐτόπται καὶ ὑπ ηρέται γενόμενοι τοῦ Λόγου. ∆ιαβεβαιοῦται δὲ, ὅτι ἄνωθεν παρηκολούθησεν, οὔ τισι τῶν εἰρημένων, ἀλλὰ πᾶσι. Εἰκὸς δὲ ὑπολαμβάνειν τινὰς, ὅτι Θεοφίλῳ τινὶ 17.313 ἔγραψε τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον, ὃς εἷς ἦν τῶν πεπιστευκότων, οὕτως ζέων τῷ πνεύματι, καὶ ἀπλήστως ἔχων περὶ τὰς τοῦ Κυρίου πράξεις τε καὶ λόγους· ὅνπερ ἐποίει ἀσφαλέστερον καὶ τὰ νῦν γραφόμενα. Ἄλλος δέ φη σιν· Ὅτι ἐὰν πάντες τοιοῦτοι ὦμεν, ὡς ἀγαπᾶσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ φιλεῖσθαι, Θεόφιλοί ἐσμεν. Οὐκ ἂν δέ τις εἴη Θεόφιλος ἀσθενής· πᾶς γὰρ Θεόφιλος κρά τιστός ἐστιν ἔχων τὸ κράτος καὶ τὴν δύναμιν τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ τοῦ Λόγου αὐτοῦ, καὶ οὕτως ἐπιγνώσε ται εἰς τὴν περὶ ὧν κατηχήθη λόγων ἀσφάλειαν. Ἐπαγγέλλεται τοίνυν τῆς γνώσεως τὸ βέβαιον, ἵνα ἅπερ ἐκεῖνος ἀκοῇ παρέλαβε, ταῦτα καὶ γράμμασιν ἐντυγχάνων ἀσφαλέστερον τὴν πίστιν διατηρῇ. Ἐν τῇ Ἐξόδῳ γέγραπται, Ὅτι ὁ λαὸς ἑώρακε τὴν φωνὴν τοῦ Κυρίου, καίτοιγε φωνὴ οὐ βλέπεται, ἀλλ' ἀκούεται· ἵνα δηλωθῇ παραδόξως, ὅτι ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ φωνὴ βλέπεται οἷς βλέπεται. Ἐν δὲ τῷ Εὐαγγελίῳ οὐχ ἡ φωνὴ βλέπεται, ἀλλ' ὁ κρείτ των τῆς φωνῆς Λόγος. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο, Καθὼς παρέδοσαν ἡμῖν οἱ ἀπ' ἀρχῆς αὐτόπται καὶ ὑπηρέται γενό μενοι τοῦ Λόγου. Εἰ γὰρ τὸ ἑωρακέναι τὸν Κύριον κατὰ σῶμα αὐτόπτην τούτου γενέσθαι ἦν· καὶ Πιλά τος αὐτόπτης ἦν τοῦ Λόγου, καταδικάζων αὐτὸν, καὶ Ἰούδας ὁ προδότης, καὶ πάντες οἱ λέγοντες· Σταύ ρωσον, σταύρωσον αὐτόν. Τὸ οὖν εἰδέναι τὸν Λό γον ἐκεῖ ἐνοεῖτο, ὅπου ἔλεγεν ὁ Σωτήρ· Ὁ ἑωρακὼς ἐμὲ, ἑώρακε τὸν Πατέρα, τὸν πέμψαντά με. Καὶ λεληθότως δὲ καλὸν μάθημα διδάσκει ἡμᾶς ὁ Λουκᾶς ἐνταῦθα, ὅτι τινῶν μὲν θεωρημάτων τὸ τέλος ἡ θεω ρία