Origen – Peri Archon I, 5: De contrariis virtutibus (Sources Chrétiennes 252)

The Peri Archon (De Principiis) of Origen (185-253), book I chapter 5 “De contrariis virtutibus”, is the first patristic systematization of the problem of the “contrary powers” (rebel angels and demons). Text in the critical edition Sources Chrétiennes 252 (1978), with Rufinus’s Latin text and a French translation. Origen was later partially condemned by the Second Council of Constantinople (553) for the apokatastasis, but a great part of his angelology was received in the later tradition.

Latin text – Peri Archon I, 5, 2 (Rufinus)

All must know that everything that is rational and turns aside from the limits and statutes of reason, without doubt, through prevarication of what is right and just, becomes sin. Every rational creature is capable of praise and of blame: of praise, if it progresses toward what is better according to the reason it possesses in itself; of blame, if it turns aside from reason and from its right course; therefore it is also rightly subject to penalties and torments.

Quod etiam de ipso diabolo et his, qui cum ipso sunt et dicuntur eius angeli, sentiendum est.”

English translation – Peri Archon I, 5, 2

“It must next be known that everything that is rational and turns aside from the limits and the precepts of reason, without doubt through the transgression of what is right and just, falls into sin. Every rational creature is therefore capable of praise and of blame: of praise, if according to the reason it possesses in itself it progresses toward what is better; of blame, if it turns aside from the good path and from the pursuit of the good. For this reason it is justly subject to penalties and torments.

The same must be thought concerning the Devil himself and those who are with him and are called his angels.”

Latin text – I, 5, 2 (continuation – the names of the devil)

“Diaboli igitur nomen et Satanae et maligni in multis scripturae locis designatur, qui et inimicus Dei esse describitur. Necnon et quidam angeli diaboli nominantur, sed et princeps mundi huius, qui utrum ipse sit diabolus an alius quis, nondum manifeste declaratum est. Principes quoque huius mundi quidam dicuntur sapientiam quandam habentes quae destruetur; sed utrum ipsi sint isti principes, qui et illi sunt principatus, adversum quos nobis est conluctatio, an alii sint, non facile mihi ab aliquo pronuntiandum videtur.”

English translation – I, 5, 2 (continuation)

“Names such as Devil, Satan and the Evil One are used in many places of Scripture to designate the one who is described as the enemy of God. There is also mention of angels of the Devil and of the Prince of this world, of whom it has not yet been clearly declared whether he is the Devil or another. There are princes of this world who possess a certain wisdom that will be destroyed; but whether these princes are the same as the principalities against which we have to struggle, or are others, it does not seem easy to me to pronounce with certainty.”

I, 5, 3 – The accidental character of rational creatures

Latin (Rufinus): Cumque tanta nomina ordinum atque officiorum (angelicorum) commemorata sint, certe naturas substantiales designantia, quaerendum est utrum Deus, omnium auctor et conditor, quaedam fecerit ita sancta et beata ut omnino contraria capere non possint, et quaedam ita ut virtutis et malitiae capacia sint.

English: Since so many names of (angelic) orders and offices are mentioned, certainly designating substantial natures, it must be asked whether God, the author and Creator of all, made some so holy and blessed that they cannot at all receive the contrary state, and others capable of both virtue and malice.

I, 5, 3-4 – The conclusion on original freedom

“…it is absurd to think that both the evil and contrary powers may be, it is certainly absurd to attribute necessarily to the Creator the cause of their malice, without questioning the deliberation of their free will. We are not therefore forced to acknowledge the same of the good and holy virtues, that is, that the good is not in them something substantial, the exclusive privilege of Christ, of the Holy Spirit and of the Father… It remains therefore that, in all creatures, it is in consequence of their action and movements that these virtues which seem to exercise over others their princedom, their power or their dominion were placed in that office by their merits, and not by a prerogative due to their creation.

Origen’s five central theses in Peri Archon I, 5

1. All rational creatures are free, capable of praise or of blame
2. The difference between good and evil angels is not substantial but the result of free choice
3. The Devil and his angels follow the same law of freedom as the other rational beings
4. The “Princes of this world” (1 Cor 2:6) are angelic powers in struggle against Christ
5. The final apokatastasis (the restoration of all things), a problematic thesis that would be condemned at the Second Council of Constantinople (553)

What was condemned at the Second Council of Constantinople (553)

The 15 anti-Origenist anathemas of the Second Council of Constantinople (553) condemned specifically:

• Anathema 1: The pre-existence of souls
• Anathema 2: Angels as pre-existent souls
• Anathema 9: Apokatastasis, the temporary punishment of the demons

These specific points of the Peri Archon were rejected, but the general doctrine of the freedom of the angels and of the original goodness of creation was received and deepened by:

• Saint Athanasius
• Saint John Chrysostom
• Saint Augustine, De Civitate Dei XI-XII
• Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite
• Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae I, qq. 50-64

Later influence

Despite the partial condemnations, Origen remained a fundamental patristic reference for angelology. His central thesis, that the angels are free and their condition (good or evil) is the fruit of their choice, was consecrated as dogma at the Fourth Lateran Council (1215) and taken up again by the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992).

Further reading

Constantinople II – Anti-Origenist anathemas | Patristic Angelology | Lateran IV – Firmiter | Saint Thomas – Treatise on the Angels