Rufinus of Aquileia: Apologia ad Anastasium

Rufinus of Aquileia, the monk, scholar and translator who had spent many years in Egypt and Jerusalem, addressed this short defence to Pope Anastasius I when he was accused over his Latin translation of Origen’s On First Principles. He writes that he had heard that some people had mentioned his name in controversies before the pope, and explains that he cannot come to Rome in person, having only just returned to his family after some thirty years. He then sets out his faith on the Trinity, the incarnation of the Word, the resurrection of the body, the eternal judgment and the damnation of the devil, and the origin of the soul, and declares that he was Origen’s translator, not his defender.

The apology is a key document of the Origenist controversy at the turn of the fifth century, which divided Rufinus from his former friend Jerome. It shows how a suspect translator sought to clear himself by a profession of faith, and in the middle passage he insists that the devil and his angels will share eternal fire. Anastasius was not convinced and condemned Origen’s writings, but Rufinus was never personally condemned.