On the First Principles

Origen · Frederick Crombie

Origen of Alexandria (c. 185–253) — the greatest scholar of the early Church and a fellow pupil, under Ammonius Saccas, of Plotinus. On the First Principles (Περὶ Ἀρχῶν / De Principiis) is the first systematic exposition of Christian doctrine, ranging over God, Christ, the Spirit, rational souls, free will, and the consummation of all things. English translation by Frederick Crombie (1869), preserving Rufinus’s Latin together with the surviving Greek. Use the A / B switch for the Greek text. Translated by Frederick Crombie, 1885 This treatise is now regarded as the first systematic exposition of Christian theology. Origen was a young man when he wrote it, between the years 220 and 230, while still living in Alexandria. Fragments from Books 3.1 and 4.1-3 of Origen’s Greek original are preserved in Origen’s Philokalia. A few smaller quotations of the original Greek are preserved in …

Editions (plain text / reader):

• Frederick Crombie (this edition) — read
• Greek text — read

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