Origen of Alexandria (185 - 254 A.D.) is recognized as one of the greatest thinkers of early Christianity. He was head of a n important neoplatonist theological school, where he succeeded Clement.

Only nine books of his Commentaries on the Gospel of St John remain. Begun in Alexandria, Origen finished them after his move to Palestine. It has been said of his Commentaries on St. John that they were a continuous and well-developed interpretation of the inspired text. An idea of their magnitude may be formed from the fact that the words of St. John: "In the beginning was the Word", furnished material for a whole roll.