The Devil Can Cite Scripture

'Adduxit ergo sum in Jerusalem, et posuit super pinnam templi, et dixit: Si Filius Dei es, mitte te deorsum.' Adduxit eum in culmen ad summitatem templi et hortatur ut se inde praecipitet. Quod cum ille fraudulentur proponeret, et sub ostentatione gloriae niteretur, dicebat Salvator: 'Scriptum est: Non tentabis Dominum Deum tuum. Simulque considera quomodo tentet diablous. Non aliunde tentare audet, nisi de divinis libris, et de psalmis sumens testimonium, ait 'Si Filius Dei es, mitte te deorsum; scriptum est enim: quia angelis suis mandavit de te, et in manibus tollent te, ne forte offendas ad lapidem pedem tumm.' Unde tibi, diabole, hoc scire quod ista scripta sunt? Nunquid legisti prophetas, vel divina eloquia cognovisti? Licet tu taceas, ego pro te respondebo. Legisti non ut ipse ex lectione sanctorum melior fieres, sed ut simplicitate eos qui amici sunt litterae, interficias. Scis quia si de aliis ei voluminibus loqui volueris, non decipies, neque habere poterunt auctoritatem assertiones tuae. Sic legit Scripturas Mercion ut diabolus, sic Basilides, sic Valentinus, ut cum diabolo dicerent Salvatori: Scriptum est quia angelis suis mandavit de te, et in manibus tollent te, ne forte offendas ad lapidem pedem tuum. Si quondo testimonium de Scriptura audieris, vide ne statim loquenti acquiescas, sed considera illum cujus sit, ac cujus sententiae, cujus sit voluntatis: ne forte simulet sanctum se esse quomodo non est, et venenis infectus haereseos, sub ovis pelle lupus latitet, ne forte loquatur in eo diabolus per occasionem temporum de Scripturis loquitur. Origenes, Homilia XXXI, Homiliae in Lucam, Interprete Sancto Hieronymo Source: Migne PG 13.1879b-1880b

'The devil led him into Jerusalem, placed him upon the parapet of the temple and said: If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down from here.' 1 He led Him onto the roof, to the highest point of the temple, and exhorted Him to throw himself from there. The devil proposed this dishonestly, under the pretext of having Christ display His glory. The Saviour said, 'It is written: You shall not test the Lord your God.' 2 Consider also how the devil tests. He does not dare test by anything else but the Divine books, and taking the text from the Psalms, he says, 'If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down from here, for it is written: 'He commanded His angels concerning you, that they will lift you up in their hands, lest perhaps you strike your foot against a stone.' 3 How is it that you, O devil, know that these words have been written? Have you read the prophets, or do you know the Divine speeches? You may be silent, I shall answer for you. You read, not so that you become better by the reading of holy things, but so that by the literal sense you might kill those who are friends of the letter. You know that if you chose to speak from other books, you would not deceive, nor would your assertions have any authority. Marcion reads the Scriptures like the devil does. So does Basilides and Valentinus, so that with the devil they say to the Saviour, 'It is written: He commanded his angels concerning you, that they will lift you up in their hands, lest perhaps you strike your foot against a stone.' When you hear texts from the Scriptures, see that you do not agree with the speaker too quickly, but consider the man, his opinions, and what his intention might be, lest perhaps he feign to be holy and not be so, and being infected with the poison of heresy, he is a wolf hiding beneath sheepskin, lest perhaps the devil is in him, he who when the time suits him can cite the Scriptures. Origen, from Homily 31 on Luke, Translated by Saint Jerome. 1 Lk 4.9 2 Deut 6.13 3 Ps 90.11-12