Origen’s Understanding of Genesis 1:1–5

Abstract This essay addresses two key questions that Origen raised about the creation story: the nature of the heaven and earth referred to in Gen 1:1, and the identity of the abyss and the darkness mentioned in Gen 1:2. It argues that he understood the heaven and earth of Gen 1:1 to refer to an immaterial plan for creation conceived and held in God’s Wisdom, and that the abyss and darkness refer to the realm of Satan and the demonic elements. It suggests that Origen’s understanding, at least about the second set of questions, had shifted in his later thinking from what it was earlier.