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, as it were, under the veil of the outward letter. . . . And they turned the whole force of their genius and application to the unfolding of the letter." (Cent. II, Part 2, Chap. iii, § 4,5.)

And, speaking of "the principal writers that distinguished themselves" in the third century by their learned and pious productions, the same historian says:—

"The most eminent of these, whether we consider the extent of his fame or the multiplicity of his labors, was Origen, presbyter and catechist of Alexandria, a man of vast and uncommon abilities, and the greatest luminary of the Christian world that this age exhibited to view. His virtues and labors deserve the admiration of all ages." (Cent. III, Part 2, Chap. ii, § 7.)

And the same authority tells us that this illustrious man believed and taught that the highest and chief wisdom of the written Word lies within or above the sense of the letter. To quote again from his history of the third century:—

"Origen alleged . . . that there were, indeed, certain notions conveyed under the outward terms [of Scripture] according to their literal force and import; yet it was not in these that the true meaning of the sacred writers was to be sought, but in a mysterious and hidden sense arising from the nature of the things themselves. This hidden sense he endeavors to investigate throughout his commentaries." (Ibid., Chap. iii, § 5.) And he adds: "A prodigious number of