{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p class=\"c006\">4. This point, indeed, is not to be idly passed by, that the\r\nholy Scriptures have called the creation of the world by a\r\nnew and peculiar name, terming it <span lang=\"grc\">καταβολή</span>, which has been\r\nvery improperly translated into Latin by <span lang=\"la\">“constitutio;”</span> for\r\nin Greek <span lang=\"grc\">καταβολή</span> signifies rather <span lang=\"la\">“dejicere,”</span> <i>i.e.</i> to cast\r\ndownwards,—a word which has been, as we have already\r\nremarked, improperly translated into Latin by the phrase\r\n<span lang=\"la\">“constitutio mundi,”</span> as in the Gospel according to John,\r\nwhere the Saviour says, “And there will be tribulation in\r\nthose days, such as was not since the beginning of the world;”<a id=\"r733\"></a><a class=\"c007 pginternal\" href=\"#f733\"><sup>[733]</sup></a>\r\nin which passage <span lang=\"grc\">καταβολή</span> is rendered by beginning (<span lang=\"la\"><i>constitutio</i></span>),\r\nwhich is to be understood as above explained. The\r\napostle also, in the Epistle to the Ephesians, has employed\r\nthe same language, saying, “Who hath chosen us before the\r\nfoundation of the world;”<a id=\"r734\"></a><a class=\"c007 pginternal\" href=\"#f734\"><sup>[734]</sup></a> and this foundation he calls <span lang=\"grc\">καταβολή</span>,\r\nto be understood in the same sense as before. It seems\r\nworth while, then, to inquire what is meant by this new term;\r\nand I am, indeed, of opinion<a id=\"r735\"></a><a class=\"c007 pginternal\" href=\"#f735\"><sup>[735]</sup></a> that, as the end and consummation\r\n<span class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_257\">257</span>of the saints will be in those [ages] which are not\r\nseen, and are eternal, we must conclude (as frequently pointed\r\nout in the preceding pages), from a contemplation of that\r\nvery end, that rational creatures had also a similar beginning.\r\nAnd if they had a beginning such as the end for which they\r\nhope, they existed undoubtedly from the very beginning in\r\nthose [ages] which are not seen, and are eternal. And if this\r\nis so, then there has been a descent from a higher to a lower\r\ncondition, on the part not only of those souls who have\r\ndeserved the change by the variety of their movements, but\r\nalso on that of those who, in order to serve the whole world,\r\nwere brought down from those higher and invisible spheres\r\nto these lower and visible ones, although against their will—“Because\r\nthe creature was subjected to vanity, not willingly,\r\n<span class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_258\">258</span>but because of him who subjected the same in hope;”<a id=\"r736\"></a><a class=\"c007 pginternal\" href=\"#f736\"><sup>[736]</sup></a> so\r\nthat both sun, and moon, and stars, and angels might discharge\r\ntheir duty to the world, and to those souls which, on\r\naccount of their excessive mental defects, stood in need of\r\nbodies of a grosser and more solid nature; and for the sake of\r\nthose for whom this arrangement was necessary, this visible\r\nworld was also called into being. From this it follows, that\r\nby the use of the word <span lang=\"grc\">καταβολή</span>, a descent from a higher to\r\na lower condition, shared by all in common, would seem to\r\nbe pointed out. The hope indeed of freedom is entertained\r\nby the whole of creation—of being liberated from the corruption\r\nof slavery—when the sons of God, who either fell away\r\nor were scattered abroad,<a id=\"r737\"></a><a class=\"c007 pginternal\" href=\"#f737\"><sup>[737]</sup></a> shall be gathered together into\r\none, or when they shall have fulfilled their other duties in\r\nthis world, which are known to God alone, the Disposer of\r\nall things. We are, indeed, to suppose that the world was\r\ncreated of such quality and capacity as to contain not only\r\nall those souls which it was determined should be trained in\r\nthis world, but also all those powers which were prepared to\r\nattend, and serve, and assist them. For it is established by\r\nmany declarations that all rational creatures are of one nature:\r\non which ground alone could the justice of God in all His\r\ndealings with them be defended, seeing every one has the\r\nreason in himself, why he has been placed in this or that\r\nrank in life.</p>","headings":["The Writings of Origen, Vol. 1 of 2","ORIGEN DE PRINCIPIIS.","BOOK III.","CHAPTER V. THAT THE WORLD TOOK ITS BEGINNING IN TIME."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg70561-paragraph-269"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"721aa3b87adea462d9525573cf10e6f2556e0ee3f1956de294cc14cf8d5494ba","edition_title":"The writings of Origen, Vol. 1 (of 2)","edition_translators":["Frederick Crombie"],"edition_year":1869,"explicit_reference_candidates":[],"headings":[],"id":"pg70561-f737","license_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html","public_import_allowed":false,"record_kind":"original-editor-translator-note","review_required":["work and recension attribution","original-work chronology","Bible reference numbering and citation kind","English edition rights and attribution"],"review_status":"needs_review","rights_evidence":"Project Gutenberg metadata: Public domain in the USA. Existing 1869 English translation; translator died 1889. Electronic transcription subject to Project Gutenberg reuse terms.","source_anchor":"f737","source_ebook":70561,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\" id=\"f737\">\n<p class=\"c006\"><span class=\"label\"><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#r737\">737</a>. </span><span lang=\"la\">Dispersi.</span></p>\n</div>","source_sha256":"de125e213d16053354f22b34a1c8d477ac23f201e660e4f4841b2ed7e05bb367","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/70561/pg70561-images.html#f737","text_sha256":"e349fa793b970e8b2d8e10db3412206f2e28952314e3f97c583ee20a685e3e2c","verified":false,"work_id":null}