Journey Back to God

Journey Back to God explores Origen of Alexandria's creative, complex, and controversial treatment of the problem of evil. It argues that his layered cosmology functions as a theodicy that deciphers deeper meaning beneath cosmic disparity. Origen asks: why does God create a world where some suffer more than others? On the surface, the unfair arrangement of the world defies theological coherence. In order to defend divine justice against the charge of cosmic mismanagement, Origen develops a theological cosmology that explains the ontological status and origin of evil as well as its cosmic implications. Origen's theodicy hinges on the journey of the soul back to God. Its themes correlate with the soul's creation, fall and descent into materiality, gradual purification, and eventual divinization. The world, for Origen, functions as a school and hospital for the soul where it undergoes the necessary education and purgation. Origen carefully calibrates his cosmology and theology. He portrays God as a compassionate and judicious teacher, physician, and father who employs suffering for our amelioration.

Mark S. M. Scott is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Thorneloe University.

Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1: Theodicy as Navigation: Toward a Theoretical Paradigm
Chapter 2: Framing Questions: God and Evil in Paradox
Chapter 3: Paradise Lost: Pre-existence, the Fall, and the Origin of Evil
Chapter 4: The Physician of Souls: Suffering as Remedial Punishment
Chapter 5: Theology of Ascent: The Journey of the Soul to Perfection
Chapter 6: Journey's End: The Triumph of Good and Universal Salvation
Conclusion
Bibliography