Natural and Individual Participation, and Their Relationship in Origenes’ Doctrine

Abstract

Two main discourses of participation used by Origenes—natural participation (N) and individual participation (I)— are identified in this article. N refers to participation of the beings of the created world in the divinity according to their natural capacities, or to participation of the beings of the material world in the principles and logoi of the intellectual world according to the natural qualities of the beings. This type of participation is employed when Origenes addresses the relationship between the Persons of the Holy Trinity, or the connection of the humans with God. Having analyzed these discourses in Origenes, the author identifies four subtypes in N and two subtypes in I. First subtype of N indicates the order in the participation of species of the created beings in the Persons of the Holy Trinity. According to the second subtype of N, all created beings naturally participate in the logoi contained in the Logos-Wisdom. The third subtype is associated with the natural capacity of all intellectual beings to participate in the divine substance (the union with God). According to the fourth subtype, all humans naturally participate in the capacity of reasoning which constitutes the human nature.