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Rating: 
Summary: The first great exposition of Romans
Review: This volume completes Origen's study of the book of Romans and deals with Romans 6:12-16:27. One has to admire Origen's mind since this volume is filled with Scriptural references and Origen attempts to build a Scripture based interpretation of Romans by combining the thoughts of all the biblical authors. Throughout the work Origen is confronting the teachings of gnostic teachers Valentinius, Basilides, and Marcion who interpreted Paul in a predestinarian manner and denied free-will. Origen emphatically rejects this idea and passionately argues for the idea that mankind is endowed with a free will from God and has it within his power to obey or disobey. For everyone who is screaming that this sounds like Semi-pelagianism or Pelagianism, Origen always upholds the doctrines of grace and God's intervention, but always does so in harmony with free will. The gnostics on the other hand taught that man is saved in accordance with his nature, either a good or bad one, that these natures were received at birth, and that man could not change his nature since his destiny was fixed. Origen teaches that man can change his nature through cooperation with God's grace and God's aid.One area where I did think this commenatary was weak was Origen's interpretation of Romans 9:15-19. Origen believes that these verses contain the words of an imaginary objector who is raising these objections towards Paul in an attempt to deny free will. Virtually all scholars today are agreed that this interpretation is incorrect since whenever Paul uses the phrase, may it not be, he always goes on to disprove an assertion stated in the verses above. This is really the only weakness I could find with Origen's scholarship. This commentary will be probably be extremely disliked by those of a Reformed persuasion since Origen argues for predestination based on foreknowledge and free will. Moreover, Calvinist's will find themselves agreeing with the positions of the gnostic heretics, and these are the same positions that Origen is attempting to refute. Individuals who are Catholic, Orthodox, or Weslyan/Arminian will enjoy reading this commentary since there is much common ground shared. If you are a student of the writings of the early Church or are simply just looking to understand the book of Romans from a different perspective, then by all means buy this commentary.
Rating:
Summary: The first great exposition of Romans
Review: This volume completes Origen's study of the book of Romans and deals with Romans 6:12-16:27. One has to admire Origen's mind since this volume is filled with Scriptural references and Origen attempts to build a Scripture based interpretation of Romans by combining the thoughts of all the biblical authors. Throughout the work Origen is confronting the teachings of gnostic teachers Valentinius, Basilides, and Marcion who interpreted Paul in a predestinarian manner and denied free-will. Origen emphatically rejects this idea and passionately argues for the idea that mankind is endowed with a free will from God and has it within his power to obey or disobey. For everyone who is screaming that this sounds like Semi-pelagianism or Pelagianism, Origen always upholds the doctrines of grace and God's intervention, but always does so in harmony with free will. The gnostics on the other hand taught that man is saved in accordance with his nature, either a good or bad one, that these natures were received at birth, and that man could not change his nature since his destiny was fixed. Origen teaches that man can change his nature through cooperation with God's grace and God's aid. One area where I did think this commenatary was weak was Origen's interpretation of Romans 9:15-19. Origen believes that these verses contain the words of an imaginary objector who is raising these objections towards Paul in an attempt to deny free will. Virtually all scholars today are agreed that this interpretation is incorrect since whenever Paul uses the phrase, may it not be, he always goes on to disprove an assertion stated in the verses above. This is really the only weakness I could find with Origen's scholarship. This commentary will be probably be extremely disliked by those of a Reformed persuasion since Origen argues for predestination based on foreknowledge and free will. Moreover, Calvinist's will find themselves agreeing with the positions of the gnostic heretics, and these are the same positions that Origen is attempting to refute. Individuals who are Catholic, Orthodox, or Weslyan/Arminian will enjoy reading this commentary since there is much common ground shared. If you are a student of the writings of the early Church or are simply just looking to understand the book of Romans from a different perspective, then by all means buy this commentary.
Rating:
Summary: Origen's Coherent Exposition of Romans is Completed
Review: This volume completes the first English translation of Origen's Commentary on Romans, the first patristic commentary on Romans. It contains Origen's detailed exegesis of Romans 6:12-16:27. Origen continues his consistent program of defending the Church against Gnostic or predestinarian interpretations of Paul. The schools founded by the heretics Marcion, Valentinus and Basilides are Origen's chief opponents. They had interpreted Paul in a way that denied human freedom and asserted the men are saved according to the nature he receives at birth, whether good or evil. In response to this Origen constructs a coherent and unified biblical theology. Origen stresses the role of God's free grace in salvation, and yet he views human beings as chosen or rejected by God deservedly, according to their merits. Everyone has free will, he says. That is, everyone has it within his own power whether he becomes a servant of God or of sin, a vessel of wrath or of mercy. Origen's interpretation of Romans will no doubt infuriate Calvinists, who will dislike his interpretation of predestination based upon divine foreknowledge; and Lutherans who will be stunned by the dramatic contrast between Origen's interpretive categories and those of Luther. On the other hand the work will probably be well-received among Catholics, Orthodox, and Arminian/Wesleyan-oriented Protestants. The work contains extremely interesting discussions of all the important theological themes of Romans: faith, hope, love, sin, death, flesh, law, Israel, Gentiles, Church, body, glory, foreknowledge, predestination, etc. This commentary was productive in its Latin translation throughout the history of the church, in writers such as Pelagius, Augustine, Abelard, Aquinas, Erasmus, and the Council of Trent. This enhances the significance of its first appearance in English translation.
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