opposed both Jews and Gnostics, as the two parties
interpreted the Scriptures in a literal sense. And he invited
them all to pass from the carnal sense to the sense of the
Spirit; from the visible to the invisible; from the Law to the
Gospel, declaring that "the lamp is certainly useful until the
sun shines".
And like Clement, Origen also opposed the heretic
Gnostics by emphasising the Orthodox Gnosticism. In this
way he conformed to the mode of defence followed by the
Alexandrian Fathers.
- In all his writings he aimed at clarifying his two main
themes: a loving, beneficent Creator, and free creatures. All
his teachings revolved around these two main Christian
principles. Human beings, being free and mutable, are liable
to fall, and actually did fall, then bore the consequences of
their fall. History discloses how God, while respecting Man's
liberty of choice and never resorting to constraint,
endeavoured to restore him through countless eons-to his
pristine uprightness, the final example of which was
manifested in Christ. The time will come when the total of
humanity will be restored, and then it will be submitted to the
Son, who will bring its submission to the Father. But no
human being will conform to this Divine Plan except of his
own free will.
Hence, Origen counselled: "Behave like the sculptor
of a statue; he carves, he scrapes, he polishes until he
produces something beautiful. Like unto the sculptor, do not
cease from shaping your own self until the Divine Radiance
lows within you".^18 - After twenty-eight years of relentless service, the
unfortunate incident which angered Abba Demetrius took
place. Origen had been asked to go on to Achaia to teach