Das Evangelium nach

The interpretation of the Gospel of John by Origen is the oldest surviving Christian commentary on the New Testament and one of the first works of the Alexandrian exegete, the greatest and most influential theologian of the Eastern Church, who is now indispensable to the tradition. He began working on it in 218 at the age of 32 and completed the 32nd book at the age of 50. Due to the storms against Origenism, only about a quarter of the commentary – on verses from chapters 1, 2, 4, 8, 11, and 13 – has survived. It is considered a fundamental work, one of the theologically richest, but also one of the most difficult to access and understand commentaries. For Origen, theology was always scriptural interpretation. Even this lesser-known work contains his decisive ideas in its fundamentals and can reveal his innermost concerns more deeply than his frequently cited "Peri Archon." The present selection, translated by Rolf Gögler, was published in 1959 in collaboration with Hans Urs von Balthasar as the fourth volume of the series "People of the Church in Testimony and Document" and is reproduced here unchanged.