Exclusivist or universalist? Origen the 'wise steward of the word' (CommRom. V.1.7) and the issue of genre

This is the author's PDF version of an article published in International Journal of Systematic Theology© 2007. The definitive version is available at www3.interscience.wiley.comThis article explores the issue of Origen's universalism. It identifies the two seemingly self-contradictory strands in the Origen corpus which have led to dual pictures of Origen as either an arch-universalist or an exclusivist. To make sense of this, the hermeneutical key of CommRom. V.1.7 (in which Origen states Paul covers over his universalism to be a 'wise steward of the word') is applied to Origen's own texts. Identifying the different genres in Origen's works, it is clear that different stances on universalism are taken dependent upon the genre of his work. The question is posed as to whether such a move in theology is justifiable and biblical.This article was submitted to the RAE2008 for the University of Chester - Theology, Divinity and Religious Studies