it is good and could and should [be so]. This must also be understood concerning the devil himself, who is described in the sight of the almighty Lord as having resisted, and having abandoned his state in which he had been immaculate: who indeed could have persevered in this state in which he was from the beginning, until the end, had he so willed. As I believe, I have designated and described for you who and what sort of person a heretic is, and what his doctrines might be, and where his false opinions are found, and what the purity of ecclesiastical observance is. *And after a few things:* They have inquired, indeed, whether those who are called Cataphrygians ought to be called heretics or schismatics, since they observe false prophets and say: “Do not come near to me, for I am clean: for I have not taken a wife, nor is my throat an open sepulchre, but I am a Nazarite of God, not drinking wine as they do.” *Afterwards, however:*
A it is the same offense of impiety in the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, which those who, as much as in them lies, sever the nature of the Deity, and divide the one God of the Law and the Gospels. But also those who do not say that all human souls are of one and the same nature or substance, but [say there are] diverse natures of souls—among these must be numbered those heresies which speak iniquity against the Highest and accuse his justice and iniquity. Furthermore, those also who strive to take away the power of free will from souls, as if by pernicious dogmas, are to be judged as bringing a certain stain upon common human life and the virtue of continence, lest any good thing done, said, or thought of human purpose be considered, from which the human mind is formed for contempt and negligence of divine judgment. Let there be, then, in the ecclesiastical order also a faith concerning the punishments of sins, and regarding those who are about to receive the rewards of good conduct and life in the kingdom of the Lord by His just judgment. If, therefore, anyone attempts to change or subvert any of these things which we have expounded above, he is to be held by us, who follow his commandment, as perverse and self-condemned, according to the opinion of the Apostle. Let faith—along with all these things we have mentioned above—also designate an ecclesiastical man regarding the resurrection of the dead, concerning which the holy apostle Paul so declares, that if anyone denies the resurrection of the dead, it follows that he denies the resurrection of Christ. Let there be held B nonetheless in the ecclesiastical order a doctrine also concerning the devil and all his army, that they stir up certain struggles and contests against all men, but especially against those who believe in Christ the Lord Jesus; and that, while they are not able to impose a necessity of sinning through these struggles and contests, they are nevertheless able to persuade and deceive for their subversion those who do not fully fortify their hearts with all protection. Furthermore, it must be held in ecclesiastical observations that no man is delivered by God unto perdition, but that each one of those who perish perishes by his own negligence and fault, who, possessing the freedom of will, chooses what C But there are also certain other dogmas which are not held in the apostolic traditions, concerning which you ask whether those who think or treat of any of these should be considered heretics; as, for example, if I may say, if someone inquires into the nature of the human soul, since the ecclesiastical rule has handed down nothing regarding it, neither that it is derived from the transmission of seed, nor that it is more honorable and ancient than the framing of the body. Because of this, many have not even been able to comprehend how one ought to think about the nature of the soul; but also those who have appeared to think or discuss something are held by some in suspicion as if introducing something new. *Then after a few things he says:* But you yourself also, discussing it with yourself, consider whether it is proper to rashly define someone who has thoughts of any kind on these matters as either a heretic or an ecclesiastical man; or whether it is not dangerous to pronounce upon him that he is himself perverse and sins, and is self-condemned, which is said of heretics, if by chance he seems to introduce any opinion—even if it is new and strange to very many—out of those things which we have said above.
FROM THE COMMENTARY OF ORIGEN ON THE EPISTLE TO PHILEMON (92)
D And also concerning each of the saints who are written down in the holy Scriptures, and whom Scripture testifies were just and elect of God, there ought to be faith by those who desire to be saved. For there cannot be perfect faith in God unless one also has this faith by which it is believed concerning the saints that they are saints. What we say is such as this. Whoever has believed in God, and has accepted as true the doctrine of Him, he also believes this, that Adam indeed was the first man to be formed; he believes also concerning Eve, that God, taking one of the ribs of Adam, built her that she might be his wife: he believes also that Enos truly hoped to call upon the name of the Lord God, and that Enoch, because for two hundred years he pleased God, after he begat Mathusalam, was trans-