Etudes Epistémè (Feb 2021)
Deux figures de l’hérésie chez Origène. De la transgression de la règle du lévirat (ComMt XVII, 31-32) aux agissements des fils d’Ephraïm (H77PsII)
Abstract
Among the representations of heresy which Origen emphasizes, two denunciations have been selected here. One is found in a commentary, the other in an homily. Both allegorize the Scripture, the first in reference to the “levirate”, the second in connection with the words about Ephraim in Os 6-7, which are expained to elucidate Ps 77, 9-11. The scholarly exegesis follows the rules of demonstration, leads the reader in a search which scrutinizes some variations of the main interpretation, refers objectively to institutional procedures and gives the polemics a general form, starting from the implicit refutation of a particular doctrine, a Valentinian one in this case. The “strife from the pulpit” is different: the preacher practises upon an affective relation with the hearers to impart the hostility against the heretic which is infused by the meaning given to the biblical texts. By multiplying proofs and examples, using anaphora, invoking his own experience, the preacher, without rationally confuting the heretic, commits him to the abhorrence of the faithful. The intention to convince prevails for Origen, as a preacher, over the wariness he enjoins, as a scholar, when he feels how grevious it is to accuse somebody of heresy.
