54 MANUAL OF INSTRUCTION 



bedside in thankfulness to God for such a son, and 

 would kiss the child's breast as a temple of the 

 Holy Ghost. That father became a martyr, but in 

 the hours of his trouble was comforted by the ex- 

 hortations of his son. When Origen was but 

 eighteen years old he was nominated as the head 

 of the school for catechumens at Alexandria. The 

 higher classes of this school virtually comprised a 

 department for preparing ) oung men for the sacred 

 ministry. Origen's fame rapidly increased, and schol- 

 ars flocked to be benefitted by his teaching. All over 

 Egypt and in many other places his writings were 

 copied and spread. He became a complete master 

 of the heathen systems of philosophy, and con- 

 vinced many of the learned of his day that Christi- 

 anity answered the deepest needs of their souls. 

 With an intellect so keen, and with learning so 

 great and profound, he yet became the advocate 

 of some errors, which were partly the result of the 

 very depths to which his researches carried him. 

 If he had been content to receive simply what 

 had been revealed for man's instruction by the 

 Holy Spirit, he would have kept from error ; but his 

 wonderful intellect led him to explore fields of 

 thought where no clear revelation has been made, 

 and hence his errors. His life was a painful one. 

 It became so partly through the mortifications he 

 inflicted upon himself, and partly through the 

 Bufferings into which his opinions led him. He 



