Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume IV/Origen/Introductory Note/Exegetical Works

The works of the great Adamantinus may be classed under the following divisions:

(1)&#160; Exegetical Works.

These comprise &#931;&#967;&#8057;&#955;&#953;&#945;, brief notes on Scripture, of which only fragments remain:&#160; &#932;&#8057;&#956;&#959;&#953;, Commentaries, lengthened expositions, of which we possess considerable portions, including those on Matthew, John, and Epistle to the Romans; and about 200 Homilies, upon the principal books of the Old and New Testaments, a full list of which may be seen in Migne&#8217;s edition.&#160; In these works his peculiar system of interpretation found ample scope for exercise; and although he carried out his principle of allegorizing many things, which in their historical and literal signification offended his exegetical sense, he nevertheless maintains that &#8220;the passages which hold good in their historical acceptation are much more numerous than those which contain a purely spiritual meaning.&#8221; &#160; The student will find much that is striking and suggestive in his remarks upon the various passages which he brings under review.&#160; For an account of his method of interpreting Scripture, and the grounds on which he based it, the reader may consult the fourth book of the treatise On the Principles.