Origen of Alexandria rejected reincarnation

 Origen of Alexandria rejected reincarnation

Against a somewhat popular myth, Origen of Alexandria didn't accept the doctrine of reincarnation:

"In this place it does not appear to me that by Elijah the soul is spoken of, lest I should fall into the dogma of transmigration, which is foreign to the church of God, and not handed down by the Apostles, nor anywhere set forth in the Scripture" (Commentary on Matthew, book 13, chapter 1; source: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Ante-Nicene_Fathers/Volume_IX/Origen_on_Matthew/Origen%27s_Commentary_on_Matthew/Book_XIII/Chapter_1 )

"For, observe, [the angel Gabriel] did not say in the 'soul' of Elijah, in which case the doctrine of transmigration might have some ground, but 'in the spirit and power of Elijah.'" (Commentary on Matthew, book 13, chapter 1; source:https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Ante-Nicene_Fathers/Volume_IX/Origen_on_Matthew/Origen%27s_Commentary_on_Matthew/Book_XIII/Chapter_2 )

"But will not those narratives, especially when they are understood in their proper sense, appear far more worthy of respect than the story that Dionysus was deceived by the Titans, and expelled from the throne of Jupiter, and torn in pieces by them, and his remains being afterwards put together again, he returned as it were once more to life, and ascended to heaven? Or are the Greeks at liberty to refer such stories to the doctrine of the soul, and to interpret them figuratively, while the door of a consistent explanation, and one everywhere in accord and harmony with the writings of the Divine Spirit, who had His abode in pure souls, is closed against us? Celsus, then, is altogether ignorant of the purpose of our writings, and it is therefore upon his own acceptation of them that he casts discredit, and not upon their real meaning; whereas, if he had reflected on what is appropriate to a soul which is to enjoy an everlasting life, and on the opinion which we are to form of its essence and principles, he would not so have ridiculed the entrance of the immortal into a mortal body, which took place not according to the metempsychosis of Plato, but agreeably to another and higher view of things." (Against Celsus, book 4, chapter 17; source: https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/04164.htm )

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