Origen of Alexandria was declared a heretic but later re-instated by the Church. Apparently his statute was too great too crucify him despite that his goal in life to be crucified, he was imprisoned and tortured by the emperor Decius in 250. It is alleged that his father and later his son were all crucified by the Romans.

Origen of Alexandria

Unlike most hard-line, dogmatic believers of his day Origen believed that the Bible

...contains three levels of meaning, corresponding to the threefold Pauline (and Platonic) division of a person into body, soul and spirit. The bodily level of Scripture, the bare letter, is normally helpful as it stands to meet the needs of the more simple. The psychic level, corresponding to the soul, is for making progress in perfection.… [The] spiritual interpretation deals with 'unspeakable mysteries' so as to make humanity a "partaker of all the doctrines of the Spirit's counsel".[Trigg, Origen, 120-121, 126]