Origen and the Final Restoration

Dear Mr. Steenberg, I have read your article “Origen and the Final Restoration” (http://www.monachos.net/patristics/origen_apokatastasis.shtml) with interest. I found the link to your article from the home page of http://www.theandros.com where your article is listed under “church fathers”. I am especially happy about your pro-Origen comments, but I am disappointed at your conclusions from those same comments and sightings. Being listed as a church father, I was surprised to see him being confirmed as a heretic in your article. You presented enough arguments to the contrary which would give him the benefit of the doubt. If we were able to study all of his teachings supporting each of the nine points of the anathematism issued against him by Justinian, we would be able to make the judgement for ourselves as to the validity of his heresy. Unfortunately, most all of his writings that support his teaching of these nine points have been outright destroyed or “translated” to accommodate the dogma of the emperors of Rome. We all know, from his meticulous work on the Hexapla, that he would not have made the claims of “pre-existence of the soul” and “apokatastasis of the demons” without solid reasoning. That this reasoning did not survive aftermath of he being declared a heretic is a tragedy. I ask you to please reconsider the conclusion in your paper, based on my end-noted comments and based on the paper from Edward Moore. Best regards, Shawn Murphy