Progress is a structural and systematic concept in the thought of Origen of Alexandria, which represents one of the most advanced syntheses of the Christian reading of the Old and the New Testaments’ legacy and the classical paideia, as well as a rational critique towards every kind of static objectification of the religious. Origen’s legacy was capable of radiating its influence through Western theology and philosophy, thus shaping its idea of theological, moral, intellectual, social and political progress. The volume follows the intellectual dynamism generated by the reception of Origen’s thought through seventeen articles, which span through the centuries, from the analysis of Origen’s thought to its reception history in the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the Modern Age, up until the 20th century.

Gaetano Lettieri is Full Professor of History of Christianity and Director of the Department of History, Anthropology, Religions, Art History, Media and Performing Arts at Sapienza University of Rome. He is specialized in the history of Christian theological thought from the origins to the contemporary age and the genesis of speculative theology at Alexandria. Maria Fallica (Ph. D., Sapienza) is a Post-Doc researcher in the history of Christianity at Sapienza University of Rome. Her research interests lie in the reception of the Fathers of the Church in the modern age, the history of the Reformations, the Italian Reformation of the 16th century, the history of methodism. Anders-Christian Jacobsen is Full Professor of Theology at Aarhus University. His research interests are Greek and Latin Patristics, reception of Patristic theology, theology of the Reformations, and modern systematic and constructive theology.