In 2012 Marina Molin Pradel, an archivist at the Bavarian State Library discovered that CMG 314, a long-neglected Byzantine manuscript , contained twenty-nine homilies by Origen, the most important and most talented genius of early Christianity. He delivered these homilies around 259 CE, shortly before arrest and torture during the Decian persecution would put an end to his work. Thus, along with the Contra Celsum, Origen’s lengthy defense of Christianity, written after 248, when that persecution was clearly impending, they enable readers to appreciate Origen’s fully-developed thought.

Except for the four of these homilies that had been translated into Latin in the fifth century, scholars of Origen thought that all the homilies on the Psalms had been lost. In 2015 Lorenzo Perrone of the University of Bologna, an eminent Origen scholar, assisted by a team including Dr. Pradel, produced a magnificent critical edition of the text.

In 2017 the editors of this volume organized a colloquium in Washington, DC, generously hosted by the program in Early Christian Studies. The authors of this volume, a group of American and Canadian scholars, invited Professor Perrone to address the discovery of the homilies and his edition, and to join their discussion of their interpretation. This volume represents the group’s energetic investigations and discussion over the two days of the conference. The essays address Origen’s use of language, his philosophical interests, his relationship with Judaism, and his scholarly patrimony in the next century.

Joseph W. Trigg is a scholar of early Christianity and translator of early Christian texts. Robin Darling Young is associate professor of theology and religious studies at The Catholic University of America.