Origen's View of the Bible

Origen is perhaps more keen to display his deep knowledge of the pagan tradition than his biblical erudition. Kelsus had depicted Christians as ignorant, unquestioning low-lifes - a slander Origen can refute by displaying his own knowledge of philosophy and Hellenic culture. None of this is to say that Origen saw the Bible as just one more philosophical text. To the contrary, he admits in against Kelsus and in his surviving commentaries on Scripture that the Bible nearly defies correct interpretation at times. It even contains outright historical impossibilities and contradictions,. something eagerly pointed out by critics like Kelsu and Porphyry. These do not, however, undermine the