Augustine Reisenauer: Polymorphism and Protomorphism of the Word of God in Origen’s Contra Celsum

In his Contra Celsum, Origen intends his response to the pagan philosopher Celsus’s criticisms of Christianity to serve the particular benefit of those whose faith in Christ is weak or even nonexistent. In providing an apologetic response for the benefit of such persons, Origen takes their spiritual and intellectual competencies into sincere consideration. Origen thus imitates and participates in the loving consideration that God's Word displays in sharing his divinity with all of humanity, and in accommodating himself to the diverse spiritual and intellectual capabilities of various human persons. Such loving consideration for everyone, including the least capable, not only by Christ, but also by Christians, lends credence to Christianity as the true doctrine. Origen appreciates that God’s Word humbles himself, both in his incarnation in Jesus and in his inscription in Scripture, and presents himself in a multiplicity of forms to differently abled humans. This polymorphism of the incarnate and inscribed Word appears on three distinct but inseparable levels of his divinity, his humanity, and his textuality. The Word appears in many forms so that each human person can experience, to an appropriate degree, the primary form of the loving God, and gradually be purified, strengthened, and drawn up in love to the ultimate encounter of contemplating God in his most sublime form. This paper explores Origen’s understanding of these two features of the polymorphism and protomorphism of the Word, and their structural relationship in the process of encountering, interpreting, and uniting with God’s Word.