In his early twenties, Origen became less interested in being a grammarian and more interested in being a rhetor-philosopher.
He gave his job as a catechist to his younger colleague Heraclas.
Meanwhile, Origen began to style himself as a "master of philosophy".
Origen's new position as a self-styled Christian philosopher brought him into conflict with Demetrius, the bishop of Alexandria.
Demetrius was a charismatic leader who ruled the Christian congregation of Alexandria with an iron fist, and he was the one who was most directly responsible for the elevation of the bishop of Alexandria; prior to Demetrius, the bishop of Alexandria had merely been a priest who was elected to represent his fellows, but after Demetrius, the bishop was seen as clearly a rank higher than his fellow priests.
By styling himself as an independent philosopher, Origen was reviving a role that had been prominent in earlier Christianity but which challenged the authority of the now-powerful bishop.

Meanwhile, Origen began composing his massive theological treatise On the First Principles, a landmark book which systematically laid out the foundations of Christian theology for centuries to come.
Origen also began travelling abroad to visit schools across the Mediterranean.
In 212, he travelled to Rome, which was a major center of philosophy at the time.
In Rome, Origen attended lectures by Hippolytus of Rome and was influenced by his logos theology.
In 213 or 214, the governor of Arabia sent a message to the prefect of Egypt requesting him to send Origen to meet with him so that he could interview him and learn more about Christianity from its leading intellectual.
Origen was escorted by official bodyguards and spent a short time in Arabia with the governor before returning to Alexandria.

In the autumn of 215, Roman Emperor Caracalla visited Alexandria.
During the visit, the students at the schools there protested and made fun of him for having murdered his brother Geta.
Caracalla was incensed and ordered his troops to ravage the city, execute the governor, and kill all the protesters.
He also commanded them to expel all the teachers and intellectuals from the city.
Origen fled Alexandria and travelled to the city of Caesarea Maritima in the Roman province of Palestine, where the bishops Theoctistus of Caesarea and Alexander of Jerusalem became his devoted admirers and asked him to deliver discourses on the scriptures in their respective churches.
This effectively amounted to letting Origen deliver homilies, even though he was not formally ordained.
While this was an unexpected phenomenon, especially given Origen's international fame as a teacher and philosopher, it infuriated Demetrius, who saw it as a direct undermining of his authority.
Demetrius sent deacons from Alexandria to demand that the Palestinian hierarchs immediately return "his" catechist to Alexandria.
He also issued a decree chastising the Palestinians for allowing a person who was not ordained to preach.
The Palestinian bishops, in turn, issued their own condemnation, accusing Demetrius of being jealous of Origen's fame and prestige.

Origen obeyed Demetrius's order and returned to Alexandria, bringing with him an antique scroll he had purchased at Jericho containing the full text of the Hebrew Bible.
The manuscript, which had purportedly been found "in a jar", became the source text for one of the two Hebrew columns in Origen's Hexapla.
Origen studied the Old Testament in great depth; Eusebius even claims that Origen learned Hebrew.
Most modern scholars agree that this is implausible, but they disagree on how much Origen actually knew about the language.
H. Lietzmann concludes that Origen probably only knew the Hebrew alphabet and not much else; whereas, R. P. C. Hanson and G. Bardy argue that Origen had a superficial understanding of the language but not enough to have composed the entire Hexapla.
A note in Origen's On the First Principles mentions an unknown "Hebrew master", but this was probably a consultant, not a teacher.

Origen also studied the entire New Testament, but especi
In his early twenties, Origen became less interested in being a grammarian and more interested in being a rhetor-philosopher. He gave his job as a catechist to his younger colleague Heraclas. Meanwhile, Origen began to style himself as a "master of philosophy". Origen's new position as a self-styled Christian philosopher brought him into conflict with Demetrius, the bishop of Alexandria. Demetrius was a charismatic leader who ruled the Christian congregation of Alexandria with an iron fist, and he was the one who was most directly responsible for the elevation of the bishop of Alexandria; prior to Demetrius, the bishop of Alexandria had merely been a priest who was elected to represent his fellows, but after Demetrius, the bishop was seen as clearly a rank higher than his fellow priests. By styling himself as an independent philosopher, Origen was reviving a role that had been prominent in earlier Christianity but which challenged the authority of the now-powerful bishop.
Meanwhile, Origen began composing his massive theological treatise On the First Principles, a landmark book which systematically laid out the foundations of Christian theology for centuries to come. Origen also began travelling abroad to visit schools across the Mediterranean. In 212, he travelled to Rome, which was a major center of philosophy at the time. In Rome, Origen attended lectures by Hippolytus of Rome and was influenced by his logos theology. In 213 or 214, the governor of Arabia sent a message to the prefect of Egypt requesting him to send Origen to meet with him so that he could interview him and learn more about Christianity from its leading intellectual. Origen was escorted by official bodyguards and spent a short time in Arabia with the governor before returning to Alexandria.
In the autumn of 215, Roman Emperor Caracalla visited Alexandria. During the visit, the students at the schools there protested and made fun of him for having murdered his brother Geta. Caracalla was incensed and ordered his troops to ravage the city, execute the governor, and kill all the protesters. He also commanded them to expel all the teachers and intellectuals from the city. Origen fled Alexandria and travelled to the city of Caesarea Maritima in the Roman province of Palestine, where the bishops Theoctistus of Caesarea and Alexander of Jerusalem became his devoted admirers and asked him to deliver discourses on the scriptures in their respective churches. This effectively amounted to letting Origen deliver homilies, even though he was not formally ordained. While this was an unexpected phenomenon, especially given Origen's international fame as a teacher and philosopher, it infuriated Demetrius, who saw it as a direct undermining of his authority. Demetrius sent deacons from Alexandria to demand that the Palestinian hierarchs immediately return "his" catechist to Alexandria. He also issued a decree chastising the Palestinians for allowing a person who was not ordained to preach. The Palestinian bishops, in turn, issued their own condemnation, accusing Demetrius of being jealous of Origen's fame and prestige.
Origen obeyed Demetrius's order and returned to Alexandria, bringing with him an antique scroll he had purchased at Jericho containing the full text of the Hebrew Bible. The manuscript, which had purportedly been found "in a jar", became the source text for one of the two Hebrew columns in Origen's Hexapla. Origen studied the Old Testament in great depth; Eusebius even claims that Origen learned Hebrew. Most modern scholars agree that this is implausible, but they disagree on how much Origen actually knew about the language. H. Lietzmann concludes that Origen probably only knew the Hebrew alphabet and not much else; whereas, R. P. C. Hanson and G. Bardy argue that Origen had a superficial understanding of the language but not enough to have composed the entire Hexapla. A note in Origen's On the First Principles mentions an unknown "Hebrew master", but this was probably a consultant, not a teacher.
Origen also studied the entire New Testament, but especi
Origen