The law of faith or the deeds of the law? The dilemma of the first Christians in Origen’s "Commentarium in Epistulam ad Romanos"
Jerzy Duda
Wyższe Seminarium Duchowne im. Jana Pawła II w Siedlcach , PolandAbstract
One of the most crucial problems that split the newly developing Church was the argumentation between the baptized Jews, the Christians deriving from pagans and Gnostics mainly concerned the issue of respecting Moses Law and connected with it circumcision. That problem was deeply analyzed in the preaching of one of the most prominent Early-Christian writers and Church exegetes Origen (around 253 AD). Origen stressed that both the law of faith as well as Moses Law are strictly connected with God’s Law, which every human should respect in order to reach salvation. And neither the deeds of natural law nor Moses Law have the justification power, since this is actually given directly from Christ via our faith and christening. So humans receive the remission of sins and blessing on the basis of faith, and it is the faith that contributes to salvation. Humans, who have been given salvation, are obliged to respect the law faith in their life, which concerns all Christ’s disciples. And that should be manifested by fasting, mercy, penance, seeking wisdom, etc. We can state though that the law of faith, being God’s gift, is fundamental in a Christian’s life, and the reflection of that is justice and sainthood.
Keywords:
Origen, patristic theology, faith, the Law of Moses, the law of faith, Christian’s lifeReferences
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