543–553

The Controversies over Origen and His Condemnation (543/553)

Controversies over Origen's orthodoxy never ceased from the time of his activity. Various synods condemned positions that he held or that were attributed to him; among the first opponents was Methodius of Olympus, and Jerome in 393, after studying Origen's system, turned from admirer to fierce opponent. In 543 Justinian issued an edict against the Origenists, and in 553 the council in Constantinople (the Fifth Ecumenical) approved the condemnation, issuing fifteen anathemas against the teaching of Origen and Evagrius. Lane considers both Origen's desire to be orthodox and the thoroughly Platonic character of his theology beyond dispute.