Exhortation to Martyrdom 12
Summary: At baptism we agreed to the gospel's terms: to deny ourselves, take up the cross, and lose our life for Christ; only Christ's blood could ransom a lost soul.
Greek text · Koetschau 1:11–13
Καὶ τοῦτο δὲ ἡμᾶς εἰδέναι χρὴ, ὅτι τὰς καλουμένας τοῦ θεοῦ διαθήκας ἐπὶ συνθήκαις παρεδεξάμεθα αἷς πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐποιησάμεθα ἀναδεχόμενοι τὸ κατὰ χριστιανισμὸν βιοῦν. καὶ ἐν ταῖς πρὸς θεὸν συνθήκαις ἡμῶν ἦν πᾶσα ἡ κατὰ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον πολιτεία, λέγον· „εἴ τις θέλει ὀπίσω μου ἐλθεῖν, ἀρνησάσθω ἑαυτὸν καὶ ἀράτω τὸν σταυρὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀκολουθείτω μοι. ὃς γὰρ ἂν θέλῃ τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ σῶσαι, ἀπολέσει αὐτήν· ὃς δʼ ἂν ἀπολέσῃ τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ, οὗτος σώσει αὐτήν.“ πολλάκις δὲ ἐμπνουστότεροι γεγόναμεν ἀκούοντες καὶ τοῦ· „τί γὰρ ὠφεληθήσεται ἄνθρωπος, ἐὰν τὸν κόσμον ὅλον κερδήσῃ, τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ζημιωθῇ; ἢ τί δώσει ἄνθρωπος ἀντάλλαγμα τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ; μέλλει γὰρ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἔρχεσθαι ἐν τῇ δόξῃ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ μετὰ τῶν ἀγγέλων αὐτοῦ, καὶ τότε ἀποδώσει ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὴν πρᾶξιν αὐτοῦ.“ τὸ δὲ δεῖν ἀρνεῖσθαι ἑαυτὸν καὶ αἴρειν τὸν ἑαυτοῦ σταυρὸν καὶ τῷ Ἰησοῦ ἀκολουθεῖν οὐ μόνος Ματθαῖος, οὗ τὴν λέξιν παρεθέμεθα, ἀνέγραψεν ἀλλὰ καὶ Λουκᾶς καὶ Μάρκος. ἄκουε γὰρ Λουκᾶ μὲν λέγοντος· „ἔλεγε δὲ πρὸς πάντας· εἴ τις θέλει ὀπίσω μου ἔρχεσθαι, ἀρνησάσθω ἑαυτὸν καὶ ἀράτω τὸν σταυρὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀκολουθείτω μοι. ὅς γὰρ ἂν θέλῃ τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ σῶσαι, ἀπολέσει αὐτήν· ὃς δʼ ἂν ἀπολέσῃ τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ, οὗτος σώσει αὐτήν. τί γὰρ ὠφελεῖται ἄνθρωπος κερδήσας τὸν κόσμον ὅλον, ἑαυτὸν δὲ ἀπολέσας ἢ ζημιωθείς;“ Μάρκου δέ· „καὶ προσκαλεσάμενος τὸν ὄχλον σὺν τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· εἴ τις θέλει ὀπίσω μου ἀκολουθεῖν, ἀπαρνησάσθω ἑαυτὸν καὶ ἀράτω τὸν σταυρὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀκολουθείτω μοι. ὃς γὰρ ἂν θέλῃ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχὴν σῶσαι, ἀπολέσει αὐτήν· ὃς δʼ ἂν ἀπολέσῃ ἕνεκεν τοῦ εὐαγγελίου, σώσει αὐτήν. τί δὲ ὠφελήσει τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ἐὰν κερδήσῃ τὸν κόσμον ὅλον καὶ ζημιωθῇ τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ; τί γὰρ δώσει ἄνθρωπος ἀντάλλαγμα τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ;“ πάλαι τοίνυν ὀφείλομεν ἀρνεῖσθαι ἑαυτοὺς καὶ λέγειν· „ζῶ οὐκέτι ἐγώ·“ καὶ νῦν δὲ φανήτω, εἰ ἄραντες ἑαυτῶν τὸν σταυρὸν τῷ Ἰησοῦ ἠκολουθήσαμεν· ὅπερ γέγονεν, εἰ „ζῇ“ ἐν ἡμῖν „Χριστός“. εἰ θέλομεν ἡμῶν σῶσαι τὴν ψυχὴν, ἵνα αὐτὴν ἀπολάβωμεν κρείττονα ψυχῆς, καὶ μαρτυρίῳ ἀπολέσωμεν αὐτήν. ἐὰν γὰρ ἀπολέσωμεν αὐτὴν ἕνεκεν Χριστοῦ αὐτῷ ἐπιῤῥιπτοῦντες αὐτὴν ἐν τῷ διʼ αὐτὸν θανάτῳ, τὴν ἀληθῆ σωτηρίαν περιποιήσομεν αὐτῇ· ἐὰν δὲ τὸ ἐναντίον, ἀκούσομεν ὅτι οὐδὲν ὠφελεῖται ὁ τὸν ὅλον κερδήσας αἰσθητὸν κόσμον διὰ τῆς ἰδίας ἀπωλείας ἢ διὰ τοῦ ἑαυτὸν ἐζημιῶσθαι. ἅπαξ δὲ ἀπολέσας τις τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχὴν ἢ ζημιωθεὶς αὐτὴν, κἂν τὸν ὅλον κερδήσῃ κόσμον, οὐ δυνήσεται αὐτὸν δοῦναι „ἀντάλλαγμα τῆς“ ἀπολλυμένης „ψυχῆς“. ἡ γὰρ „κατʼ εἰκόνα θεοῦ“ δεδημιουργημένη τιμιωτέρα ἐστὶ πάντων σωμάτων. εἷς μόνος δεδύνηται δοῦναι ἀντάλλαγμα τῆς ἀπολλυμένης πρότερον ψυχῆς ἡμῶν, ὁ ὠνησάμενος ἡμᾶς τῷ ἑαυτοῦ „τιμίῳ αἵματι“.
English · Claude translation
And this too we must know: that we received what are called God's covenants on the terms which we made with him when we undertook to live the Christian life. And in our agreements with God was the whole way of life according to the gospel, which says: “If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” And we have often been more inspired on hearing also this: “For what will a man profit, if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man is to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will repay each according to his deeds.” That one must deny oneself and take up one's cross and follow Jesus was recorded not only by Matthew, whose wording we have set out, but also by Luke and Mark. For hear Luke saying: “And he said to all, If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for my sake, he will save it. For what does a man profit if he gains the whole world, but loses or forfeits himself?” And Mark: “And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, If anyone wishes to follow after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his own life will lose it; but whoever loses it for the sake of the gospel will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? For what will a man give in exchange for his life?” Long ago, then, we ought to have denied ourselves and said, “It is no longer I who live”; and now let it be seen whether we have taken up our cross and followed Jesus, which has happened if “Christ lives” in us. If we wish to save our soul, so as to receive it back better than a soul, let us also lose it by martyrdom. For if we lose it for Christ's sake, casting it upon him in death for him, we shall gain true salvation for it; but if the opposite, we shall hear that one who has gained the whole world of the senses profits nothing through his own destruction or through having forfeited himself. And once a man has lost his own soul or forfeited it, even if he gains the whole world, he will not be able to give it “in exchange for the” lost “soul.” For the soul created “in the image of God” is more precious than all bodies. One alone has been able to give an exchange for our soul that was formerly lost: he who bought us with his own “precious blood.”
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Matt 16:24–27, Luke 9:23–25, Mark 8:34–37, Gal 2:20, Gen 1:27, and 1 Pet 1:19. ψυχή means both “life” and “soul”; the translation uses “life” in the Gospel quotations and “soul” in Origen's argument, which plays on both senses.
Cite this passage
Origen, Mart. 12 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-exhortatio/12/).
Plain text
Origen, Mart. 12 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-exhortatio/12/).
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