Yes, it is fun when the Proddie quotes the Fathers and the Catholic responds with the Greek of the NT. (Smile)
I think this is the appropriate quote from Origen. Origen Passage
As for the Greek, I think the grammar would indicate Peter is the rock. However, how a passage is understood by the readers in a culture is probably at least as important as the grammar that readers removed from the sitz em leben by 2000 years read. And, yes, that cuts both ways.
As to the Origen quote, I'd refer you to the same document (Commentary on Matthew) Book XIII Chapter 31.
424 Moved by the grace of the Holy Spirit and drawn by the Father, we believe in Jesus and confess: 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. On the rock of this faith confessed by St. Peter, Christ built his Church.
To be fair, the CCC also teaches Peter is the rock of his Church.
This is a major distinction.
EARLY SAINTS, SINNERS, AND SCHOLARS
Origen
"In the history of the early Church there is no name nobler or more remarkable than that of Origen," declares Frederic W. Farrar in Lives of the Fathers. "He was by general admission the greatest, in almost every respect, of all the great Christian teachers of the first three Christian centuries."
Origenes Adamantius (185-254) was born in Alexandria, Egypt, to Christian parents. As a youth, Origen was encouraged to memorize one Scripture passage each day. As an older boy he attended the Catechetical School of Alexandria, where he was a pupil of Clement. When persecution erupted in Alexandria and Clement was forced to flee the city, he turned the leadership of the Catechetical School over to Origen, who was gifted but only eighteen.
Origen proved to be a magnetic teacher who was thoroughly loyal to the basic Christian message but able to present it in philosophical form. According to the historian, Eusebius, thousands came to hear Origen's lectures including many prominent non-Christians such as the mother of the emperor Alexander Severus. Origen is considered to be one of the first systematic Bible commentators. His writings number some 6,000 volumes, most of which have been lost. He was so prolific, and so popular, that many writings were wrongly attributed to him by his followers-and many of his own works were misread.
Some of Origen's teachings have the distinction of having been condemned several centuries after his death. There was never any question that Origen himself was a faithful Catholic-indeed, he refused to apostatize even after lengthy and cruel torture. Modern scholars, such as Henri de Lubac, have reestablished his reputation as a spiritual teacher.
Origen
"For we do not hold that which the heretics imagine, that some part of the substance of God was converted into the Son, or that the Son was procreated from the Father from non-existent substance, that is, from a substance outside himself, so that there were a time when he did not exist" (The Fundamental Doctrines 4:4:1 [A.D. 220]).
Angels and devils
Origen
"In regard to the devil and his angels and opposing powers, the ecclesiastical teaching maintains that these beings do indeed exist, but what they are or how they exist is not explained with sufficient clarity. This opinion, however, is held by most: that the devil was an angel and, having apostatized, he persuaded as many angels as possible to fall away with himself; and these, even to the present time, are called his angels" (The Fundamental Doctrines 1:Preface:6 [inter A.D. 220-230]).
"To every man there are two attending angels, the one of justice and the other of wickedness. If there be good thoughts in our heart, and if righteousness be welling up in our soul, it can scarcely be doubted that an angel of the Lord is speaking to us. If, however, the thoughts of our heart be turned to evil, an angel of the devil is speaking to us" (Homilies on Luke Hom. 12 [A.D. 233]).