Origenism exerted a strong influence on the spirituality of the Palestinian monasteries in late Antiquity. What should we understand by the generic word ‘Origenism’ in terms of theoretical contents? Maximus occupies a very important place in the reaction against a metaphysical theory rooted particularly in the De principiis of Origen which includes the sources of the logoi. The author analyses the doctrine of rational creatures pre-existing before the foundation of the sensible world considered as the consequence of the Fall of pre-existing souls. The beginning of the chapter focusses on a comparison between the critical interpretation of the ‘foundation of the world’ in the De principiis and its radical transformation by Maximus in Q.Thal. 60. The interpretation of ‘foundation’ (καταβολή) by both Origen and Maximus is the key to understanding their radically opposed views of the created sensible world and the status of the human soul.