tion; as, in all that brilliant throng surrounding the throne of
the Master of the Roman world, there was not, perhaps, one to be
compared, with the poor catechist of Alexandria for varied and profound
scholarship. But his theological taste was sadly vitiated by his study
of the pagan philosophy. Clement, his early instructor, led him to
entertain far too high an opinion of its excellence; and a subsequent
teacher, Ammonius Saccas, the father of New Platonism, thoroughly imbued
his mind with many of his own dangerous principles. According to
Ammonius all systems of religion and philosophy contain the elements of
truth; and it is the duty of the wise man to trace out and exhibit their
harmony. The doctrines of Plato formed the basis of his creed, and it
required no little ingenuity, to shew how all other theories quadrated
with the speculations of the Athenian sage. To establish his views, he
was obliged to draw much on his imagination, and to adopt modes of
exegesis the most extravagant and unwarrantable. The philosophy of
Ammonius exerted a very pernicious influence upon Origen, and seduced
him into not a few of those errors which have contributed so greatly to
lower his repute as a theologian.

Origen was a most prolific author; and, if all his works were still
extant, they would be far more voluminous than those of any other of the
fathers. But most of his writings have been lost; and, in not a few
instances, those which remain have reached us either in a very mutilated
form, or in a garbled Latin version. His treatise "Against Celsus,"
which was composed when he was advanced in life, and which is by far the
most valuable of his existing works, has come down to us in a more
perfect state than, perhaps, any of his other productions. It is a
defence of Christianity in reply to the publication of a witty heathen
philosopher who wrote against it in the time of the Antonines. [378:1]
Of his celebrated "Hexapla," to which he is said to have devoted much of
his time for eight and twenty years, only some fragments have been
preserved. This great work appears to have been undertaken to meet the
cavils of the Jews against the Septuagint--the Greek translation of the
Old Testament in current use in the days of the apostles, and still most
appreciated by the Christians. The unbelieving Israelites now pronounced
it a corrupt version; and, that all might have an opportunity of judging
for themselves, Origen exhibited the text in si