The Life of Jesus in the Writings of Origen of Alexandria

Origen of Alexandria stands at the headwaters of the entire history of Gospel reading. In this study of the earliest extant Gospel commentaries, Samuel Johnson explores questions, often associated with modern Gospel criticism, that were already formative of the first moments of the Christian interpretative tradition. Origen's approach to the Gospels in fact arose from straightforward historical and literary critical judgments: the Gospel narratives interweave things that happened with things that did not. Origen discerned that the Gospels depict events in Jesus's life not merely as matters of historical fact, but also figuratively. He did not just interpret the Gospels allegorically. Johnson demonstrates that Origen believed the Gospel writers themselves were figurative readers of the life of Jesus. Origen thus found no contradiction between discerning the truth of the Christian Gospels and facing the critical challenges of their literary form and formation. Johnson's study shows how they constitute a single unified vision.

• Presents Origen's first principles for discerning what the Gospels are and how to approach the historical and literary challenges occasioned by their differing narratives of Jesus's life
• Challenges contemporary Gospel scholarship by surfacing an ancient figure's rigorous engagement with fundamental questions more often associated with modern historical and literary criticism
• Offers a reimagining of the principles and practice of early Christian Gospel interpretation through Origen's own Gospel readings