Origen of Alexandria

Origen was a controversial spiritual teacher, biblical scholar, and priest in the early third century in Alexandria and Caesarea. He produced an unprecedented number of commentaries, homilies, a major apology, and the first comprehensive theology. Reading scripture allegorically was the primary means of encountering the living Word, and therefore the accessible way of transformation for all Christians. The son of a martyr, he was later tortured for his faith. Pronounced a heretic after his death, yet also continually defended and read for his theological brilliance and exegetical insight, he remains an uneasy ancestor for Christians as unfailingly faithful and original.