Logos, sin, and moral transformation in Origen’s De Principiis 3.1
| dc.contributor.author | Falk, Jerome | |
| dc.contributor.examiningcommittee | Joyal, Mark (Classics) | |
| dc.contributor.examiningcommittee | Barter, Jane (University of Winnipeg) | |
| dc.contributor.supervisor | Marx, Heidi | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-03-28T16:49:24Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-03-28T16:49:24Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2025-03-27 | |
| dc.date.submitted | 2025-03-27T21:30:43Z | en_US |
| dc.degree.discipline | Religion | |
| dc.degree.level | Master of Arts (M.A.) | |
| dc.description.abstract | Origen of Alexandria’s treatise on “self-determination” (De Principiis 3.1) has proven highly influential for subsequent theological and philosophical discussions of free will. There is still considerable debate about the finer points of Origen’s understanding of “self-determination” (to autexousion) and where his notion of it fits within the broader Ideengeschichte of free will. In this thesis I examine the free will treatise, but focus instead on the role of the Logos in his understanding of human freedom and moral transformation. In chapter one, I trace the historical development of the Logos concept from Heraclitus and the Stoics through Middle Platonism and the Biblical Platonists, particularly Philo and Clement of Alexandria, to provide a contextualization of Origen's doctrine. Then, on the basis of this contextualization, I argue (in chapters two and three) that Origen's Logos is not a neutral rational faculty but possesses a paraenetic quality, actively prompting moral agents toward virtuous action. By analyzing Origen's psychology of self-determination, especially his use of aphormē (“prompting”), I demonstrate how the Logos influences the moral choices of rational beings. In chapter four I articulate and motivate what I call the "problem of noetic sanctification" in Origen's theology, and in the fifth and final chapter I propose a solution to the problem on Origen’s behalf in which the Logos within each rational being provides a persistent, pre-cognitive motivation towards goodness, thereby facilitating noetic sanctification through interaction with Christ as the cosmic Logos and "light." | |
| dc.description.note | May 2025 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/1993/38969 | |
| dc.language.iso | eng | |
| dc.subject | Logos | |
| dc.subject | sin | |
| dc.subject | free will | |
| dc.subject | Origen of Alexandria | |
| dc.title | Logos, sin, and moral transformation in Origen’s De Principiis 3.1 | |
| local.subject.manitoba | no |