Unit 4 rem mid
allotted in Christ. It will seem to answer to the former, because there are many winds of teaching that toss and carry about in men’s trickery, in craftiness toward the scheming of error, almost all or most. Yet one must make it one’s aim to arrive at the unity of the faith; and besides the unity of the faith, to come also into the unity of the knowledge of the Son of God.
When these have come about, putting away all infancy we shall be styled perfect men, having fully taken the measure of the stature that is in secret—which measure of stature is a measure of Christ’s fullness, all who have reached the said stature’s measure having held Christ’s fullness—when they will no longer be infants, nor because of being unmoored and doubtful about dogmas walk in an infant’s condition about them, as if carried about by a surge of the persuasive points for each falsehood and giving themselves to every wind of teaching: some people not disposed toward lying but teaching by dice-play, others deceiving with all craft and cleverness, because error uses countless methods against us.
And when the saints arrive at the said perfect man, then by having understood love, speaking truth in it, they will grow into Christ all the truth-seeds given them, using Christ as a body uses a head.
Since he says “that we may no longer be infants,” we ask whether he said this by moderation, including himself though not an infant, or whether seeing how far short the one who knows in part and prophesies in part falls of perfection he truly says he is an infant. The one who says he spoke by moderation will use “when I was a child, I spoke as a child, I thought as a child; when I became a man, I put away the things of the child.” The other will answer that by comparison with the many Paul had become a man, but toward the ends laid up for the saints he was still an infant; for the prophetic word names all “children,” saying, “Behold, I and the children God has given me.”
After this you will mark whether Paul by moderation says not only that he is an infant, but also tossed and carried about by every wind of teaching and the rest. Yet the one who says even this was not spoken from moderation will say that as a man he was sharp and quick to hit, and saw arguments attempted on both sides sufficient to distract and put in a surge the one who contemplates the persuasions; and for that reason, as a man, he was carried about by every wind of teaching—not dragged down or shipwrecked, but like a ship wrestling with varied winds; and he saw the opponents’ arguments, as of people teaching in dice-play, not contemptible but spoken most craftily, enough to deceive; and he hoped sometime to obtain God’s help toward putting away every distraction and speaking truth without distraction and growing in love into Christ, whom he knew as his head and the head of the whole body of the church.
Eph. 4:17–19: “This therefore I say and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the nations also walk in the vanity of their mind, being darkened in understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart, who having become past feeling gave themselves up to licentiousness for the working of every uncleanness in greed.” Origen says: when the mind is either toward the things of life, misusing its power on them, or toward certain dogmas shaped as true that are not true, it is in vanity; for every worldly care is vain, and all false words that pretend to be truth. And when the understanding, which is a rational discourse, is somewhat confused, neither seeing the nature of what is said nor able to follow the varied things said, then it might reasonably be said to be darkened.
So one must neither be in the mind’s vanity nor darkened in understanding, lest we be alienated from God’s life while ignorance is in us and hardness of heart. And if these spread further through our soul—I mean mind’s vanity and understanding’s darkness, the things that alienate from God’s life and give ignorance an entry and allow hardness of heart—
Greek
κληρωθέντες ἐν Χριστῷ. δόξει δὲ πρὸς τὸ πρότερον ἀποδεδόσθαι, διὰ τὸ πολλοὺς ἀνέμους εἶναι τῆς διδασκαλίας τοὺς κλυδωνίζοντας καὶ περιφέροντας ἐν τῇ κυβείᾳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἐν πανουργίᾳ πρὸς τὴν μεθοδείαν τῆς πλάνης, σχεδὸν τοὺς πάντας ἢ τοὺς πλείστους. πλὴν φιλοτιμητέον ἐπὶ τὴν ἑνότητα τῆς πίστεως καταντῆσαι· καὶ πρὸς τῇ ἑνότητι τῆς πίστεως, γενέσθαι καὶ ἐν τῇ ἑνότητι τῆς ἐπιγνώσεως τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ. ὧν ἐ<γ>γενομένων, πᾶσαν νηπιότητα ἀποθέμενοι ἄνδρες χρηματίσ<ο> μεν τέλειοι, τὸ μέτρον τῆς ἐν κρυπτῷ ἡλικίας ἄκρως ἀπειληφότες· ὅπερ μέτρον ἡλικίας πληρώματος μέτρον ἐστὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, πάντων τῶν ἐπὶ τὸ μέτρον τῆς προειρημένης ἡλικίας ἐφθακότων τὸ πλήρωμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ κεχωρηκότων, ὅτε οὐκέτι ἔσονται νήπιοι, οὐδὲ διὰ τὸ περὶ τῶν δογμάτων ἀνερμάτιστον καὶ ἀμφί βολον περὶ αὐτῶν ἐν νηπίων ἕξει περιπατοῦσιν, ὥσπερ ὑπὸ κλύδωνος τῶν ὑπὲρ ἑκάστου ψεύδους πιθανῶν περιφερόμενοι καὶ παντὶ ἀνέμῳ διδασκαλίας ἐπιδιδόντες ἑαυτούς· τινῶν μὲν ἀνθρώπων οὐ <πρὸς τὸ ψεύδεσθαι> διακειμένων ἀλλὰ κυβευτικῶς διδασκόντων, ἄλλων δὲ μετὰ πάσης πανουργίας καὶ ἐντρεχείας ἀπατώντων, τῷ τὴν πλάνην μεθόδοις χρῆσθαι μυρίαις καθ' ἡμῶν. καὶ ὅταν γε καταντήσωσιν οἱ ἅγιοι εἰς τὸν προειρημένον τέλειον ἄνδρα, τότε τῷ νενοηκέναι τὴν ἀγάπην ἀληθεύοντες ἐν αὐτῇ αὐξήσ<ουσιν> εἰς τὸν Χρίστον πάντα τὰ δοθέντα αὐτοῖς τῆς ἀληθείας σπέρματα, χρώμενοι ὡς σῶμα κεφαλῇ τῷ Χριστῷ. ἐπειδὴ δέ φησιν ἵνα μηκέτι ὦμεν νήπιοι, ζητοῦμεν πότερον ταῦτα κατὰ μετριότητα εἶπε, συμπεριλαμβάνων ἑαυτὸν οὐκ ὄντα νήπιον, ἢ ὁρῶν ὅσον ἀπολείπεται ὁ ἐκ μέρου γινώ κων καὶ ἐκ μέρου προφητεύων τῆς τελειότητος ἀληθῶς φησιν εἶναι νήπιος. πλὴν ὁ λέγων αὐτὸν κατὰ μετριότητα ταῦτα εἰρηκέναι, χρήσεται τῷ ὅτε ἤμην ὡς νήπιο , ἐλάλουν ὡ νήπιο , ἐφρόνουν ὡ νήπιο · ὅτε δὲ γέγονα ἀνήρ, κατήργηκα τὰ τοῦ νηπίου. ὁ δὲ ἕτερος πρὸς τοῦτο ἀποκρινεῖται, ὅτι συγκρίσει μὲν τῶν πολλῶν ἐγεγόνει μὲν ὁ Παῦλος ἀνήρ, πρὸς δὲ τὰ ἀποκείμενα τοῖς ἁγίοις τέλη ἔτι νήπιος ἦν· καὶ πάντας γὰρ ὁ προφητικὸς λόγος παιδία ὀνομάζει λέγων ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ καὶ τὰ παιδία ἅ μοι ἔδωκεν ὁ Θεό . μετὰ ταῦτα ἐπιστήσεις εἰ μὴ κατὰ μετριότητα ὁ Παῦλος οὐ μόνον νήπιος εἶναί φησιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ κλυδωνιζόμενος καὶ περιφερόμενος παντὶ ἀνέμῳ διδα σκαλίας καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. ὁ μέντοιγε καὶ τοῦτο λέγων μὴ ἀπὸ μετριότητος αὐτ<ῷ> εἰρῆσθαι, φήσει ὅτι ἄνθρωπος ἦν ὀξὺς καὶ εὐεπήβολος καὶ ἑώρα τοὺς ἐπὶ ἑκάτερα ἐπιχειρουμένους λόγους ἱκανοὺς ὄντας περισπάσαι καὶ ἐν κλύδωνι ποιῆσαι γενέσθαι τὸν θεωροῦντα τὰς πιθανότητας· διὰ τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ὡς ἄνθρωπος περιεφέρετο παντὶ ἀνέμῳ διδασκαλίας, οὐ κατασπώμενος μὲν οὐδὲ ναυαγῶν, ὥσπερ δὲ ναῦς παλαίων ποικίλοις πνεύμασιν· ἑώρα δὲ καὶ τοὺς τῶν ἀντικει μένων λόγους οἱονεὶ ἐν κυβείᾳ διδασκόντων οὐκ ὄντας εὐκαταφρονήτους ἀλλὰ πανουργότατα λεγομένους, ὥστε ἱκανοὺς εἶναι πλανῆσαι· καὶ ἤλπιζε τεύξεσθαί ποτε τῆς ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ βοηθείας πρὸς τὸ ἀποθέ θαι πάντα περισπασμὸν καὶ ἀληθεῦσαι ἀπερι πά τω καὶ ἐν ἀγάπῃ αὐξῆσαι εἰς τὸν Χριστόν, ὃν ᾔδει αὐτοῦ ὄντα κεφαλὴν καὶ παντὸς τοῦ τῆς ἐκκλησίας σώματος. 18 Eph. iv17–19 τοῦτο οὖν λέγω καὶ μαρτύρομαι ἐν Κυρίῳ, μηκέτι ὑμᾶς περιπατεῖν καθὼς καὶ τὰ ἔθνη περιπατεῖ ἐν ματαιότητι τοῦ νοὸς αὐτῶν, ἐσκοτισμένοι τῇ διανοίᾳ ὄντες, ἀπηλλοτριωμένοι τῆς ζωῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ, διὰ τὴν ἄγνοιαν τὴν οὖσαν ἐν αὐτοῖς, διὰ τὴν π<ώ>ρωσιν τῆς καρδίας αὐτῶν, οἵτινες ἀπηλγηκότες ἑαυτοὺς παρέδωκαν τῇ ἀσελγείᾳ εἰς ἐργασίαν ἀκαθαρσίας πάσης ἐν πλεονεξίᾳ. [Ὠριγένης φησίν] ὅτε μὲν ὁ νοῦς ἤτοι πρὸς τοῖς βιωτικοῖς ἐστι, τῇ δυνάμει ἑαυτοῦ πρὸς ταῦτα καταχρώμενος, ἢ πρός τισι δόγμασιν ἀναπεπλασμένοις ὡς ἀληθέσιν, οὐκ οὖσιν ἀληθέσιν, ἐν ματαιότητί ἐστιν· ματαία γὰρ καὶ πᾶσα φροντὶς βιωτικὴ καὶ πάντες οἱ προσποιούμενοι εἶναι ἀλήθεια ψευδεῖς λόγοι· ὅτε δὲ ἡ διάνοια, ἥτις ἐστὶν διέξοδος λογική, ὑποσυγκέχυται, οὔτε τὴν φύσιν τῶν λεγομένων θεωροῦσα οὔτε ἐφέπεσθαι τοῖς ποικίλοις τῶν λεγομένων δυναμένη, τότε ἐσκοτῶσθαι εὐλόγως ἂν λέγοιτο. οὔτε οὖν ἐν ματαιότητι τοῦ νοὸς εἶναι δεῖ οὔτε ἐσκοτισμένους τῇ διανοίᾳ, ἵνα μὴ ἀπηλλοτριωμένοι τυγχάνωμεν τῆς ζωῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἀγνοίας ἐνυπαρχούσης ἡμῖν καὶ πωρώσεως καρδίας. ταῦτα δὲ ἐὰν ἐπίπλεον νεμηθῇ τὴν ψυχὴν ἡμῶν–λέγω δὲ ματαιότης νοὸς καὶ σκότωσις διανοίας, τὰ ἀλλοτριοῦντα τῆς ζωῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ παρείσδυσιν διδόντα ἀγνοίᾳ πώρωσίν τε τῆς καρδίας
About this text
Origen of Alexandria, Fragmenta ex commentariis in epistulam ad Ephesios (Greek).
Catalogue & scope
Khazarzar scan
Witnesses
- Copy-text PG 14 (Khazarzar) (Greek)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.