Origen envisioned scriptural interpretation as a symbolic drama of passage with the
Logos-Christ reuniting what is originally one. During the first three centuries C.E. s¿µß¿¿¿¿
(symbol) became a prominent term along with ä¿¿¿µa (enigma) and ¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿a (allegory) in forming
a cosmic formula popular across the Mediterrnean world: symbol encodes the divine mystery in
enigmatic forms and allegory decodes them. Having considered Scripture as full of divine
symbols Origen envisioned and practiced allegorical interpretation of Scritpure as a symbolic
act of bringing comparing and matching its letters under the divine paideia of the
Logos-Christ. In seeking three levels of scriptural meaning Origen construed the cosmos as a
tripartite reality and defined the essence of Christianity as a symbolic drama of passage. For
Origen the main actor of this drama is the Logos-Christ in the divine action of gradually
leading his bride (i.e. the church) from the visible reality through the invisible reality to
the divine reality.
