Many of his students were then wrestling with contemporary philosophical issues. In an effort to help them, Origen made a careful study of the various schools of philosophy that were shaping his young students’ minds. He set out to provide his students with satisfying answers to their philosophical questions.

In an attempt to reconcile the Bible with philosophy, Origen relied heavily upon the allegorical method of interpreting the Scriptures. He assumed that Scripture always had a spiritual meaning but not necessarily a literal one. As one scholar noted, this allowed Origen “the means of reading into the Bible whatever non-biblical ideas were congenial to his own theological system, while professing (and no doubt sincerely imagining himself) to be a particularly enthusiastic and faithful interpreter of the thought of the Bible.”

A letter that Origen wrote to one of his students provides insight into his thinking. Origen pointed out that the Israelites made utensils for Jehovah’s temple out of Egyptian gold. In this he found allegorical support for his use of Greek philosophy to teach Christianity. He wrote: “How useful to the children of Israel were the things brought from Egypt, which the Egyptians had not put to a proper use, but which the Hebrews, guided by the wisdom of God, used for God’s service.” Origen thus encouraged his student to “extract from the philosophy of the Greeks what may serve as a course of study or a preparation for Christianity.”

This unrestrained approach to Biblical interpretation blurred the lines between Christian doctrine and Greek philosophy. For example, in his book entitled On First Principles, Origen described Jesus as ‘the only-begotten Son, who was born, but without any beginning.’ And he added: ‘His generation is eternal and everlasting. It was not by receiving the breath of life that he is made a Son, by any outward act, but by God’s own nature.’

Origen did not find this idea in the Bible, for the Scriptures teach that Jehovah’s only-begotten Son is “the firstborn of all creation” and “the beginning of the creation by God.” (Colossians 1:15; Revelation 3:14) According to religious historian Augustus Neander, Origen arrived at the concept of “eternal generation” through his “philosophical education in the Platonic school.” Thus, Origen violated this basic Scriptural principle: “Do not go beyond the things that are written.”​—1 Corinthians 4:6.

By mixing Bible teachings with Greek philosophy, Origen’s theology became littered with error, and the consequences were disastrous for Christendom. For instance, though most of Origen’s wild speculations were later rejected, his views about the “eternal generation” of Christ helped to lay the foundation for the non-Biblical doctrine of the Trinity. The book The Church of the First Three Centuries observes: “The taste for philosophy [introduced by Origen] was destined not to be soon extinct.” With what result? “The simplicity of the Christian faith was corrupted, and an infinity of errors flowed into the Church.”