Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Baptismal Regeneration in Origen, Homilies on Numbers 7 (c. A.D. 244)

  

Formerly there was Baptism, in an obscure way, in the cloud and in the sea; now, however, in full view, there is regeneration in water and in the Holy Spirit. Formerly, in an obscure way, there was manna for food; now, however, in full view, there is the true food, the Flesh of the Word of God, as He Himself says: “my Flesh is truly good, and My Blood is truly drink.” (Origen, Homilies on Numbers 7.2, c. A.D. 244, in The Faith of the Early Fathers, 3 vols. [trans. William A. Jurgens; Collegeville, Minn.: The Liturgical Press, 1970], 1:206)