Origenist controversies
c. 393–553
attested. Attested. Whether the 553 council formally ratified the 15 anathemas is disputed.
These were attacks on speculative teachings associated with Origen and his monastic followers: the pre-existence of souls, the final restoration of all (apokatastasis) and the nature of resurrection bodies. They erupted around 400 (Epiphanius, Jerome and Theophilus against Rufinus, John of Jerusalem and the Tall Brothers) and again in the 6th century in the Palestinian lavras.
Sides
Origenists
Leaders: Rufinus of Aquileia, Evagrius Ponticus, The Tall Brothers, John of Jerusalem, Nonnus and the New Lavra monks (6th c.)
Origen's spiritual exegesis and cosmology, monastic contemplation (Evagrius).
Anti-Origenists
Leaders: Epiphanius, Jerome (after 393), Theophilus of Alexandria, Sabas' successors, Justinian I
Origen's speculations contradict the faith.
Councils and places
- Kellia and Nitria (Origenist monks) 4th–6th
- New Lavra, Palestine (6th-century Origenists) 6th
- Second Council of Constantinople (553) 6th
Outcome
Theophilus expelled the Nitrian Origenists (c. 400). Justinian's edict (543) and the anathemas around 553 condemned Origen and Evagrius.
What happened to the losers
Many Greek works of Origen and Evagrius were lost. Evagrius survived under other names in Greek and in full in Syriac and Armenian, influencing East Syriac and Byzantine monasticism.