Origen Corrects Beryllus

Beryllus, who was mentioned a little earlier as bishop of Bostra in Arabia, turned aside from the Church’s rule and tried to bring in certain ideas foreign to the faith. He dared to say that our Savior and Lord did not exist, in a distinct being of his own, before he came to dwell among people, and that he has no divinity of his own, but only the Father’s divinity dwelling in him. [a] On this account a great many bishops held inquiries and discussions with the man. Origen was called in along with others. He first went down to talk with the man, to find out what he really thought. When he learned what he was saying, he corrected him as not holding the right belief, persuaded him by reasoning, set him firmly on the truth of the doctrine, and restored him to his former sound opinion. Written records of Beryllus and of the synod held on his account are still in circulation even now. They contain Origen’s questions to him, the discussions held in his own church community, and everything that was done at that time.

The elders of our time hand down countless other things about Origen, which I think I should pass over, since they do not belong to the present work. Whatever needed to be known about him can be read in the defense of him that Pamphilus, the holy martyr of our time, and I labored over. We wrote it together, with care, because of the faultfinders. [c]