A rectangular woodcut headpiece features symmetrical floral scrolls and a central blossom.

MAGNIFICENT

AND

MOST PRUDENT MEN:

LORDS AND MOST GRACIOUS

PATRONS:

A large ornamental drop cap 'S' is decorated with vines and leaves.

If I were the first or the only one to bring Origen an early Christian scholar into the light from the shadows, I would scarcely escape the mark of rashness, to say nothing harsher. For who could publish the writings of a man without danger—a man proscribed by the edicts of Emperors, condemned by the decrees of Popes, noted by the censure of the Fathers, and to most people hated, or suspected, or at least unwelcome? Certainly, I would consider it a sin to rise up against so many and such great names, were it not that a double reason persuaded me otherwise. The first is that even the fiercest adversaries of Origen have admitted in a common proverb: Where Adamantius a surname of Origen is good, no one is better; where he is bad, no one is worse. When, however, it is the Apostle’s command: Test everything; hold fast what is good; why, because of the weeds of error, should the better crop also be eradicated? I do not see.