SOURCE: "Book VI," in Ecclesiastical History, Vol. II, n. p., c. 339? pp. 51-95..

In this excerpt, Eusebius, the first historian of the Church, defends Origen's reputation as an orthodox theologian against his detractors while reviewing his life and work.

And so accurate was the examination that Origen brought to bear upon the divine books, that he even made a thorough study of the Hebrew tongue, and got into his own possession the original writings in the actual Hebrew characters, which were extant among the Jews. Thus, too, he traced the editions of the other translators of the sacred writings besides the Seventy; and besides the beaten track of translations, that of Aquila and Symmachus and Theodotion, he discovered certain others, which were used in turn, which, after lying hidden for a long time, he traced and brought to light, I know not from what recesses. With regard to...