VATICAN CITY (AP) The Vatican newspaper reported Tuesday that 29 previously unpublished homilies said to be the work of one of the most important and prolific early church fathers have been discovered in a German library.The 3rd Century theologian Origen of Alexandria is considered to have played a critical role in the development of Christian thought. Pope Benedict XVI, himself a theologian, dedicated two of his 2007 weekly church teaching sessions to the importance of Origen's life and work.Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano said that despite Origen's importance, few of his original texts remain in part because he was condemned by the Ecumenical Council of Constantinople in 553.
Not much else. I did find some more via the blog of Roger Pearse. What will homilies say? Orthodoxy? Heresy? Just lovely musings on the Psalms? I'm thanking God that at least they didn't turn up another Gnostic gospel, or another Secret Gospel of Mark...UPDATE: Via the Rev. Michael Heintz, director of the University of Notre Dames Master of Divinity Program, a specialist in the history of Christianity whose own translation of Origens homilies is forthcoming from Catholic University of America Press:
Much of the original Greek of Origens works has been lost through the centuries, and we have been dependent upon the Latin translations of Rufinus and Jerome. Finding Origens work in the original Greek is a rare and wonderful find. Additionally, these may provide one of the earliest (if not the earliest) examples of early Christian preaching on the psalms. This will help us not only better understand Origens theology and preaching, but will also help scholars who study the Greek translations of the Old Testament.
