Sara Contini

This article explores the ethical and theological significance of humility and humiliation in the preaching of Origen of Alexandria (ca. 185–254). While modern scholarship has often emphasized Origen’s celebration of human dignity and freedom, this study argues that humility constitutes a complementary and essential dimension of his moral and spiritual anthropology. Drawing on Origen’s Greek and Latin homilies (especially the Eight Homily on Luke and the Third Homily on Judges) the article examines how Origen redefines humility, transforming what was traditionally viewed as a social defect into a virtue central to spiritual progress and peace. In Origen’s interpretation, humiliation functions as a curative descent that precedes exaltation, mirroring Christ’s own kenosis and glorification (Phil 2:5–9). The analysis highlights the pastoral and ecclesiological implications of this teaching, particularly for Church leaders, and considers the rhetorical strategies employed by Origen’s Latin translators, Rufinus and Jerome, in adapting this countercultural virtue to a Roman audience. Ultimately, Origen’s understanding of humility and humiliation emerges as a theology of peace: an ethical and ascetical pathway toward self-knowledge, reconciliation with God, and the restoration of divine order within the soul and the community.

Il Concilio di Nicea (325) è un evento cardine nella formazione della teologia cristiana e della cultura occidentale. Questo volume raccoglie lettere, canoni, credo, documenti imperiali e dichiarazioni sinodali circa le questioni teologiche, istituzionali e disciplinari discusse al Concilio di Nicea, non solo la controversia “ariana”. Il libro comprende testi scritti tra l’inizio della crisi meliziana (304 circa) e la morte di Costantino (337). Questi testi sono stati tramandati in greco, latino e siriaco, e sono qui accompagnati da traduzione italiana e note. Uno strumento imprescindibile per tutti gli studiosi di storia della Chiesa antica. Introduzione, testo greco e note a cura di Samuel Fernández. Traduzione dei testi antichi a cura di Sara Contini.

In his Homilies on Judges, Origen deals with the biblical narrative of the cyclical abandonment and renewal of the covenant between God and his people: the Israelites neglect their pact (διαθήκη, Judg. 2:1) with God, and God hands them over to their enemies; this punishment serves an educational purpose, as it prompts the Israelites to pray to God to raise a new leader amongst them. The heroes of the Book of Judges, such as Ehud or Gideon, are interpreted by Origen as mediators between humanity and heaven, in light of his notion of the journey of the human soul from the slavery of sin back to the triumph in Christ. This paper intends to investigate passages from the homilies where Origen, in Rufinus’ translation, reflects on the relationship between God and his children, and on the role of these coercive mediators who facilitate this connection, by employing an effective communication style based on powerful oppositions as a form of “hard power.”

The paper discusses Jerome’s attack against the belief that human beings share the same substance as the heavenly powers and even as the Trinity, according to the dignity (dignitas) of the soul: in polemical texts such as Ep. 124.14, Jerome attributes this belief to Origen. Jerome’s intent clearly to demarcate the difference in nature between human and divine beings is also reflected in his exegetical writings, especially when dealing with Psalm 81, where human beings are addressed as “gods.” The paper investigates Jerome’s understanding of the dignitas of humanity as it emerges from his Homily on Psalm 81: the comparison with Origen’s own passages on Psalm 81 reveals that Jerome closely follows Origen’s exegetical argument. However, through a careful definition of human dignitas Jerome intentionally distances himself from Origen when it comes to associating human beings with immortal beings, most notably Christ.

This article examines two of the several passages by Jerome concerning the “dignityµ ("dignitas") bestowed on human souls upon creation, with the aim of assessing the degree to which Jerome’s way of dealing with his Greek exegetical predecessors is reflected in his understanding of human dignity. Jerome’s exegesis of Isaiah 51:12–13 and Ecclesiastes 3:18–21 will be compared to the interpretation of the same biblical verses offered by Eusebius of Caesarea and Didymus the Blind, respectively. This comparison will shed light on the theological motivations of Jerome’s discourse on human dignity.

In his commentary on Psalm 118(LXX):73a, “Your hands made me and fashioned me” (Tract.118Ps. 10.1–8), Hilary of Poitiers provides a unique perspective on the creation of humanity and on its exceptional dignity. I will examine key aspects of Hilary’s exegesis of this verse, namely, the identification of the hands of God, the interpretation of the two verbs “made” and “fashioned”, and the connections with Genesis 1:26 and 2:7. I will also compare Hilary’s interpretation of Ps 118:73a to the views expressed by other authors such as Theophilus, Irenaeus, Origen, Tertullian, Ambrose, and Didymus, with the purpose of contextualising Hilary’s novel understanding of human dignity within the larger framework of Early Christian interpretations of Genesis.