Psalm 91:1 "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty."
"Then [the devil] says, “Throw yourself down.” See how he acts as he does in many cases for the purpose of persuasion; he even cites the Scriptures. In this way he also conquers the heretics, but not Christ and His church. For the heretics never cite the Scriptures correctly, but always pick out only that by which they might promote their plague. But they are silent about what speaks against them, just as their father and master did here. For if the devil had cited only this part, “that they should keep You in all Your ways” (Matt. 4:6), indeed, according to Luke, who alone writes that he omitted this part, “in all Your ways,” don’t you think the Lord would immediately have hurled his own word back at him, saying, “If they will guard Me in all My ways, why do you not show Me one of these ways, so that you may see whether they will guard Me? But you show Me [a place] where there is no way for Me. But since it is written that they will guard Me in all My ways, you are surely citing that passage foolishly or maliciously, because it has nothing to do with the issue. For from this passage you have no warrant for the statement that they will guard Me in any ways whatever, as you want Me to think and believe, but only in all My ways.” Behold, a skillful enemy anticipated that these things would be raised in objection to him, and therefore he covered it up. So all heretics do also, who adjust all the Scriptures to themselves except for those passages by which they could be refuted. But why does not the Lord show him his trickery in order that he might be confounded? Why does He not show him in this way that He has won the victory, instead of countering with another statement? I believe He acted as He did, in the first place, to teach that a heretic cannot be overcome by staying with the same word, because he slips away and controversies arise. Therefore, “in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall stand” (Deut. 19:15; Matt. 18:16). Let law and prophet be adduced with the Gospel. One bare authority can be quibbled about by the contentious and the proud, even if they understand that their own stratagems have been destroyed and detected. Therefore they must be dismissed with the word in which they were uncovered and know themselves to have been uncovered, and we ought to add also other things and at the same time restore with another one the statement which they have corrupted. "
No comments:
Post a Comment