Origen on the reading of Scripture

One aspect of Origen's hermeneutics is examined in this study: his account of the reading of Christian Scripture. Some elements of this topic have been overlooked by the literature and others have at times been significantly misunderstood. Drawing from a wide selection of Origen's writings I gather some of his most important statements on the reading of Scripture and organize them into two main parts: in the first I examine his account of philology and in the second his account of the disposition with which the reader applies philology to Scripture. The awareness that Origen's exegetical practice cannot be reduced to the procedures of philology but also includes the manner in which philology is practiced is one of the main contributions of this study.; The most significant results of each main part are as follows. With respect to the former, I offer a unique integration of "literal" and "allegorical" exegesis into "philology," provide an extensive annotated list of Greek expressions for literal and allegorical exegesis, and challenge the literature when its account of Origen's allegory is at odds with Origen's own. In the second part I correct the misconception that the ecclesiastical rule endorses allegorical exegesis, amend how we understand Origen's critique of the literalism of his adversaries, and finally, offer for the first time in the literature an extensive account of the reading virtues and vices.; The basic thesis which is first introduced in chapter five and is then developed in each subsequent chapter is that biblical scholarship, in Origen's hermeneutics, was a Christian exercise. This is a unique thesis in the literature and pertains to both the philology and the manner of its appropriation. For the former, philology itself is Christian insofar as it is a discipline derived from the Wisdom of God. For the latter, the acquisition of philology as well as how it is practiced, i.e. in adherence to the ecclesiastical rule, with a set of reading virtues, in faith and prayer, and ultimately with divine aid, all indicate how the worthy reader of Scripture, for Origen, was the advanced Christian.