Refutation of Origen’s View on Creation
Augustine refutes Origen, who held that the world was created as a prison-house for fallen souls, whose bodies correspond to their sins. This contradicts Scripture’s declaration that creation was “very good.” Moreover, Origen’s view leads to absurdities: if bodies are punishments, the devil, being most wicked, should have the grossest body, yet he has an ethereal one. The world’s beauty testifies to a Creator who made all things good.
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