Sophia Scriptura

On Prayer 29.19

Origen · On Prayer · ca. 233–234 · Caesarea · Read in context

Summary: Between trials we should prepare for every possible temptation; God will make up what our weakness lacks.

Greek text · Koetschau 2:392–393

διὰ τοῦτο ἐν τοῖς μεταξὺ καιροῖς τῆς τῶν πειρασμῶν διαδοχῆς ἱστάμενοι πρὸς τὰ ἐνεστηκότα, παρασκευαζώμεθα πρὸς τὰ δυνατὰ πάντα συμβῆναι, ἵνʼ ὅ τι ποτʼ ἂν γένηται, μὴ ἐλεγχθῶμεν ὡς ἀνέτοιμοι ἀλλὰ φανερωθῶμεν ὡς ἐπιμελέστατα ἑαυτοὺς συγκροτήσαντες· τὸ γὰρ ἐλλεῖπον διὰ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην ἀσθένειαν. ἐπὰν πάντα τὰ καθʼ ἑαυτοὺς ἐπιτελέσωμεν, πληρώσει ὁ θεὸς, ὁ „τοῖς ἀγαπῶσιν“ αὐτὸν „πάντα“ συνεργῶν „εἰς ἀγαθὸν, τοῖς κατὰ“ τὴν ἀψευδῆ πρόγνωσιν αὐτοῦ, ὅ τι ποτὲ ἔσονται παρʼ αὑτοὺς, προεωραμένοις.

English · Claude translation

Therefore, in the intervals between the succession of temptations, let us stand firm against what is present and prepare ourselves for everything that can possibly happen, so that whatever occurs we may not be exposed as unprepared but shown to have trained ourselves most carefully. For what is lacking through human weakness, when we have done all that is in our power, God will fill up, who works “all things” together “for good for those who love” him, who are foreseen “according to” his unerring foreknowledge as to what they will be of themselves.

About this passage

Source
Koetschau 2:392–393 · Paul Koetschau, ed., Origenes Werke 2: Buch V–VIII gegen Celsus, Die Schrift vom Gebet, GCS 3 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1899), 297–403 · Greek text: P. Koetschau, Origenes Werke 2 (GCS 3, 1899), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library and published by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in Koetschau, GCS 3. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.
Translation
Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Koetschau, GCS 3; made independently of existing English translations. No public-domain English translation exists; reviewed against the Greek.
Scripture
Topics
Prayer

Notes

Translation notes

  • The allusion is Rom 8:28–29, with “purpose” replaced by God's foreknowledge of what each will be by his own choice.

Cite this passage

Origen, Or. 29.19 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/29/19/).

Plain text
Origen, Or. 29.19 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/29/19/).

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