Origen and the Three-Fold Path

Ethics: L. ethic-us, Gr. , f. character, pl. manners. Cf. Fr. éthique.] Current meanings:

1. The science of morals; the department of study concerned with the principles of human duty.

2. The moral principles by which a person is guided.

3. The rules of conduct recognized in certain associations or departments of human life.

For Origen: Learning virtue and the habits conducive to it. Gradual cleansing of worldly habits. Equated with grammar in education. The book of Proverbs. The path of purification.

Physics: Plural of PHYSIC a. used subst., rendering L. physica neut. pl., a. Gr. lit. ‘natural things’, the collective title of Aristotle's physical treatises; as an Eng. word, plural in origin and form, but now construed as a singular: cf. dynamics, mathematics, etc.]

1. Natural science in general; in the older writers esp. the Aristotelian system of natural science; hence, natural philosophy in the wider sense. Also, a treatise on natural science, as Aristotle's Physics.

2. In current usage, restricted to The science, or group of sciences, treating of the properties of matter and energy, or of the action of the different forms of energy on matter in general (excluding Chemistry, which deals specifically with the different forms of matter, and Biology, which deals with vital energy).

For Origen: Learning about the phenomenal world, the world of things. Gradual understanding that worldly things are transitory and weak. Equated with logic in education. The book of Ecclesiastes. The path of illumination.

Enoptics: Contemplation. Beholding God. Union with God. Soul becomes what it sees.

For Origen: Contemplation. The soul gradually becomes what it sees. Continues after death until the soul sees God "face to face". The highest phase of the mystical path. The book of the Song of Songs. The path of contemplation.