Description

Jon Dechow's "Dogma and Mysticism in Early Christianity", first published in 1988, is the most thorough study of the history of anti-Origenism in the fourth century. In detailed interpretations of a wealth of sources, Dechow demonstrates the type of Origenism against which the anti-Origenism of bishop Epiphanius of Salamis on Cyprus is directed. At the center of the study is a meticulous analysis of the charges that Epiphanius made against Origen of Alexandria in Chapter 64 of his "Panarion", written in 376. This core of the book is embedded in a biography of Epiphanius, an account of Origenism in Egyptian monasticism, which forms an important background for Epiphanius' critique, and an outlook on the influence that Epiphanius exerted on the Origenist controversies in late antiquity. The reprint of Dechow's study, edited by Alfons Fürst, might be useful for future research on Origen's always controversial legacy.