ACC ~ Mark 13 v10

ORIGEN: It is evident that the gospel of the kingdom has not yet been preached in all the world. It is not reported to have been preached among all the Ethiopians, especially among those beyond the river, [1] nor among the Serae, nor in the East. [2] What are we to say of the Britons, or of the Germans along the ocean, [3] or of the barbarians, Dacians, [4] Samaritans and Scythians, [5] the greatest part of whom have not yet [6] heard the word of the gospel, but who will certainly hear it by the time of the end? If any one is minded to say rashly that the gospel of the kingdom has already been preached in all the world as a testimony to all nations, he will consequently be constrained to say that the end has already come! [7] That would be a most rash statement indicating a lack of understanding. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 39. [8]

[1] Nile.

[2] Beyond Parthia.

[3] North Sea.

[4] Transylvania on the Danube.

[5] Both Scythians and Samaritans were in the region now known as Bulgaria and northwest of the Black Sea.

[6] Ca. A.D. 230.

[7] Origen here anticipates and meets the arguments that would later become known as “realized eschatology.”

[8] PG 13:1655; AEG 5:126-27*.