Commentary on Lamentations

Origen of Alexandria (185–253)

"There is none good but one, God the Father." This word they declare is peculiar to the Father of Christ, who, however, is different from the God who is creator of all things, to which creator he gave no appellation of goodness. Let us see now if, in the Old Testament, the God of the prophets and the Creator and Legislator of the word is not called good. What are the expressions that occur in the psalms? "How good is God to Israel, to the upright in heart!" and, "Let Israel now say that he is good, that his mercy endures for ever," the language in the Lamentations of Jeremiah, "The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him." As therefore God is frequently called good in the Old Testament, so also the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is styled just in the Gospels. Finally, in the Gospel according to John, our Lord, when praying to the Father, says, "O just Father, the world has not known you." And lest perhaps they should say that it was owing to his having assumed human flesh that he called the Creator of the world Father and styled him just, they are excluded from such a refuge by the words that immediately follow, "The world has not known you." But…

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• More works by Origen of Alexandria

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