Origen
On First Principles, Reader's Edition
John Behr
Reviews and Awards
"Stirring and profound." -- M. J. Edwards, Journal of Ecclesiastical History
"If I were teaching a course on pre-Nicene Christianity, Behr's edition and translation of On First Principles would be required reading. It elucidates both the fundamentally narrative approach to theology from Irenaeus to Origen as well as the way in which the most significant thinker in the third century was fusing philosophical ideas into the story of God to fill out the "church's teaching." -- Dale M. Coulter, Pneuma
"This translation should now be the point of departure for readers who seek to consult Origen's On First Principles in English ... This is a translation that can be used with students, and on which scholars uncertain in their Latin can rely. This is then a worthy replacement for that by Butterworth which has been the staple for generations of English-speaking readers ... In sum, this is an excellent translation, and a beautifully laid out text. Behr's vision of the work's structure is insightful." -- Lewis Ayres, International Journal of Systematic Theology