Excommunicatum:the Mono-Episcopate, the Third-Century Church, and Origen

Abstract

Origen's departure from Alexandria is a well-known event in the history of the early church. According to Eusebius, who provides the most thorough account of Origen's life, this move had everything to do with Origen's rocky personal relationship with the bishop of Alexandria, Demetrius. Origen's relocation to Caesarea, however, is best understood within the framework of the structure and evolution of the third-century church, especially the emergence of ecclesiastical authority and communal organisation. Rather than a centralised church under the authority of the bishop, Christian communities at this time were more decentralised, with presbyters and house churches holding considerable autonomy. The fact of this communal structure raises questions about the nature of excommunication: while it is possible that all the Alexandrian churches chose not to receive Origen, it is unlikely that all the churches would have reached this consensus. It is more probable that Origen chose not to return to Alexandria after he left.