one of the most celebrated ecclesiastical writers, greatest geniuses, and most learned men of the primitive church, during the third century, was born at Alexandria, in the year 185; and was surnamed Adamantus, either from his indefatigable application to study, or the firmness he discovered amidst the torments he suffered for the faith. Leonides his father educated him with care, and made him apply to the study of the Holy Scriptures from his infancy, in which he made surprising progress. He had afterwards St. Clement of Alexandria for his master in divinity, and at 18 years of age succeeded that great man in the office of catechist, an important employment, which consisted in teaching divinity, and expounding the Scriptures. Leonides his father had suffered martyrdom the year before, during the persecution of Severus in 202; and Origen had shewn such eagerness to follow his father to martyrdom, that his mother was obliged to hide his cloaths, to prevent his going abroad. Origen had a great concourse of auditors who attended his school, some of whom were of the faithful, and the others pagans. He confirmed and strengthened the first in their faith, and converted most of the others; and there were such a number of martyrs amongst his disciples, that it might be said, that he kept rather a school of martyrdom than of divinity. He taught the doctrines of Christianity to the girls and women as well as to the men; and, taking in a too literal sense what Christ says of becoming voluntary eunuchs, castrated himself, to prevent his deriving serving or suffering scandal. He took a voyage to Rome in 214; and at his return published many works, by which he acquired an extraordinary reputation, that drew to him a great number of auditors. But Demetrius, bishop of Alexandria, conceiving a jealousy of him, endeavoured by various pretences to injure him. At length Origen went to Antioch, whither the empress Mammæa had sent for him to hear him discourse on the Christian religion; he did not however stay long there, but returned to Alexandria, where he continued to teach till the year 288, when he left that city, and travelled into Acliaia. In that journey he went into Palestine, and was ordained by the bishops of that province at 42 years of age. His being ordained by foreign bishops without the permission of Demetrius, renewed that prelate's resentment against him; on which Origen hastily returned to Alexandria, to endeavour to mollify him; but Demetrius drove him from thence in 231, and caused him to be excommunicated, and even deposed in a council held in Egypt. Origen then retired to Caesaria in Palestine, where he raised a celebrated school, and had St Gregory Thaumaturgus, and a great number of other persons who were illustrious for their virtue and learning, for his disciples. He afterwards travelled to Athens; and then, at the desire of Firmilianus, stood sometime at Caesarian Cappadocia; whence he was invited into Arabia, to convince and bring back to the truth Beryllus, bishop of Bosra, who maintained that the Word had no existence before his incarnation. Origen had the happiness to make him sensible of his mistake; and some years after was sent for into Arabia by an assembly of bishops, to dispute again the Arabians, who maintained that the souls of the dead remained in a state of insensibility till the general resurrection. At length the seventh persecution of the Christians began in the reign of Decius, and none were used with greater severity than Origen. He supported with incredible constancy the dreadful torments which the persecutors of the Christians invented against them; torments that were more intolerable, as they were made to continue a long time, and as they took the greatest care to prevent his expiring in the midst of his tortures; but in the midst of the most excruciating torments, he discovered an heroic courage, and suffered nothing to escape him that was unworthy a disciple of Jesus Christ. He died at Tyre in 254, aged 69. He was the author of a great number of excellent works. The principal of those which have been handed down to us are, 1. A Treatise against Celsus, of which Spencer has given a good edition in Greek and Latin, with notes; this learned treatise has been translated into French by Elias Bouhéreau, a protestant minister, born at Rochelle. 2. A great number of Homilies, with Commentaries on the Holy Scriptures. 3. Philocalia, and several other treatises. 4. Fragments of his Hexaples, collected by father Montfaucon, in two volumes folio. Of all Origen's books, the lost of the Hexaples is most to be regretted. This work was thus named from its containing six columns; in the first of which was the Hebrew text of the Bible; in the second, the same text in Greek characters; in the third, the Greek version of the Septuagint; in the fourth, that of Aquila; in the fifth, that of Symmachus; and in the sixth, Theodotion's Greek version. This admirable work gave the first hint for our Polyglot Bibles.

5. The book of Principles; of which we have only an incorrect Latin version. In all his writings he discovers a surprising degree of modesty, candour, and humility; a noble and sublime genius, profound learning, and vast erudition. His manners were extremely pure, and he had a warm zeal for spreading the truths and morals of the gospel. The most complete edition of his works is that of father de la Rue, a Benedictine, in Greek and Latin.

He ought not to be confounded with another Origen, a Platonic philosopher, and the disciple and friend of Porphyry, who studied philosophy under Ammonius.