ealgeone:
Ok, so you have problems with Origen. He is one of the earliest fathers to propose the multiple sense of Scriptures [The Literal and the Allegorical] and is really the first to do in-depth Scripture commentaries, and do serious theological study of the sacred text etc. While some of his theology seen in the context of later Dogmatic statements on the Trinity do not meet precise Trinitarian orthodoxy, he was a theologian and remained in communion with the Church and was faithful, it is just his attempts to give us a precise understanding of the Trinity were not what the Church went with, but he strove to be loyal to the Catholic faith and questions of his orthodoxy never arose while he was alive, only after his death. He is still a great scholar and theologian while some of his views are seen as heretical in hindsight, I do not see him as heretic as I see Tertullian, for example, who broke with the Catholic Church and joined the Montanist sect, which was indeed heretical.
Now, Saint Jerome, Saint Augustine and Saint Basil the Great all understand sin and have a doctrine of sin 100% consistent with Origen’s doctrine of sin. The orthodoxy of Jerome, Augustine and Basil the Great is not in question. If Origen were the only theologian positing the doctrine of sin distinguishing mortal vs. venial, it would raise some questions as to the orthodoxy of it, but it is so clearly taught by the early Church that to take a view opposite of the one that the Catholic Church holds is the anomaly or novel doctrine that is departing from the consensus of Apostolic Tradition.
I didn't catch this the first go round, but this may be part of the problem...if he is using allegory to interpret the Bible then he is on shaky grounds to begin with. It is my understanding that with allegory you can read something into the text that isn't there as opposed to exegesis.
I've always been taught that the proper way to understand the Bible is to read the verse in context. If there is a word that is giving you trouble, then you do a word study to see how else the word is used in the Bible.
But context always remains the key.