Names And Deeds And Gifts

Provoca nunc, ut soles, ad hanc Esaiae comparationem Christi, contendens illam in nullo convenire. Primo enim, inquis, Christus Esaiae Emmanuel vocari habebit, debinc virtutem sumere Damasci et spolia Samariae adversus regem Assyriorum. Porro iste, qui venit, neque sub eiusmodi nomine est editus neque ulla re bellica functus est.  At ego te admonebo, uti cohaerentia quoque utriusque capituli recognoscas. Subiuncta est enim et interpretatio Emmanuelis, Nobiscum Deus; uti non solum sonum nominis spectes, sed et sensum. Sonus enim Hebraicus, quod est Emmanuel, suae gentis est; sensus autem eius, quod est Deus nobiscum, ex interpretatione communis est. Quaere ergo an ista vox, Nobiscum deus, quod est Emmanuel, exinde quo Christus illuxit, agitetur in Christo. Et puto, non negabis, utpote qui et ipse dicas, Deus nobiscum dicitur, id est Emmanuel. Aut si tam vanus es, ut quia penes te Nobiscum deus dicitur, non Emmanuel, idcirco nolis venisse illum cuius proprium sit vocari Emmanuel, quasi non hoc sit et Deus nobiscum, invenies apud Hebraeos Christianos, immo et Marcionitas, Emmanuelem nominare, cum volunt dicere Nobiscum deus; sicut et omnis gens, quoquo sono dixerit Nobiscum deus, Emmanuelem pronuntiavit in sensu sonum expungens. Quodsi Emmanuel Nobiscum deus est, deus autem nobiscum Christus est, qui etiam in nobis est, quotquot enim in Christum tincti estis, Christum induistis, tam proprius est Christus in significatione nominis, quod est Nobiscum deus, quam in sono nominis, quod est Emmanuel. Atque ita constat venisse iam illum qui praedicabatur Emmanuel, quia quod significat Emmanuel venit, id est Nobiscum deus. Aeque et sono nominum duceris, cum virtutem Damasci et spolia Samariae et regem Assyriorum sic accipis quasi bellatorem portendant Christum creatoris, non animadvertens quid scriptura praemittat, quoniam priusquam cognoscat vocare patrem et matrem, accipiet virtutem Damasci et spolia Samariae adversus regem Assyriorum. Ante est enim inspicias aetatis demonstrationem, an hominem iam Christum exhibere possit, nedum imperatorem. Scilicet vagitu ad arma esset convocaturus infans, et signa belli non tuba sed crepitacillo daturus, nec ex equo vel de curru vel de muro, sed de nutricis aut gerulae suae collo sive dorso hostem destinaturus, atque ita Damascum et Samariam pro mammillis subacturus?  Aliud est si penes Ponticos barbariae gentis infantes in proelium erumpunt, credo ad solem uncti prius, dehinc pannis armati et butyro stipendiati, qui ante norint lanceare quam lancinare. Enimvero si nusquam hoc natura concedit, ante militare quam vivere, ante virtutem Damasci sumere quam patris et matris vocabulum nosse, sequitur ut figurata pronuntiatio videatur. Sed et virginem, inquit, parere natura non patitur, et tamen creditur prophetae. Et merito. Praestruxit enim fidem incredibili rei, rationem edendo, quod in signo esset futura. Propterea, inquit, dabit vobis dominus signum: Ecce virgo concipiet in utero et pariet filium. Signum autem a Deo, nisi novitas aliqua monstruosa, iam signum non fuisset. Denique et Iudaei, si quando ad nos deiciendos mentiri audent, quasi non virginem sed iuvenculam concepturam et parituram scriptura contineat, hinc revincuntur quod nihil signi videri possit res cotidiana, iuvenculae scilicet praegnatus et partus. In signum ergo disposita virgo et mater merito creditur, infans vero bellator non aeque. Non enim et hic signi ratio versatur. Sed signo nativitatis novae adscripto exinde post signum alius ordo iam infantis edicitur, mel et butyrum manducaturi.  Nec hoc utique in signum est, malitiae non assentaturi, et hoc enim infantiae est, sed accepturi virtutem Damasci et spolia Samariae adversus regem Assyriorum. Serva modum aetatis et quaere sensum praedicationis, immo redde evangelio veritatis quae posterior detraxisti, et tam intellegitur prophetia quam renuntiatur expuncta. Maneant autem orientales illi Magi in infantia Christum recentem auro et ture munerantes, et acceperit infans virtutem Damasci sine proelio et armis. Nam praeter quod omnibus notum est, orientis virtutem, id est vim et vires, auro et odoribus pollere solitam, certe est creatori virtutem ceterarum quoque gentium aurum constituere, sicut per Zachariam, Et Iudas praetendet apud Hierusalem et congregabit omnem valentiam populorum per circuitum, aurum et argentum. De illo autem tunc auri munere etiam David, Et dabitur illi ex auro Arabiae; et rursus, Reges Arabum et Saba munera offerent illi. Nam et Magos reges habuit fere oriens, et Damascus Arabiae retro deputabatur, antequam transcripta esset in Syrophoenicen ex distinctione Syriarum, cuius tunc virtutem Christus accepit, accipiendo insignia eius, aurum scilicet et odores; spolia autem Samariae ipsos Magos, qui cum illum cognovissent et muneribus honorassent et genu posito adorassent quasi Deum et regem sub testimonio indicis et ducis stellae. Tertullianus, Adversus Marcionem, Liber III, Caput XII  Migne PL 2 336-337

And you challenge us now, as is your custom, with Isaiah's description of Christ, contending that it is in no way suitable. For firstly you say that Isaiah's Christ will have to be called Emmanuel, 1 and then that He must take way the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria against the king of Assyria. 2 And yet the one who has come was neither born under this name, nor engaged in any warfare. But I admonish you that you should look into the meanings of both passages. For there is added the interpretation of Emmanuel, 'God with us;' so that you should not merely attend to the sound of the name, but also the sense. The speech is Hebrew, of his own people, that is, 'Emmanuel,' but the sense of it, 'God with us,' is by translation made common to all. Seek, then, whether this name, 'God with us,' which is 'Emmanuel,' since Christ enlightened, be not used for Christ. And I think you will not deny it, since you say He is called 'God with us,' that is, Emmanuel. Else if you are so vain, that, because with you He is called 'God with us', not Emmanuel, you therefore are unwilling to allow that He has come whose right it is to be called Emmanuel, as if this were not God with us, you will find among the Hebrew Christians, and even the Marcionites, that they name Him Emmanuel when they mean God with us, just indeed as every nation, by whatever sound they would use to say 'God with us', has called Him Emmanuel, with the meaning erasing the word. Now since Emmanuel is 'God with us', and 'God with us' is Christ, who is even in us, for 'as many of you as are baptized into Christ, have put on Christ' 3, so Christ is in the meaning of the name, which is 'God with us', as He is in the pronunciation of the name, which is Emmanuel. And thus it holds that He has already come who was foretold as Emmanuel, because that which Emmanuel signifies has come, that is to say, 'God with us'. And you are equally led away by the sound of names, when you so understand the power of Damascus, and the spoils of Samaria, and the king of Assyria, as if they portended that the Creator's Christ would be a warrior, not attending to the prediction contained in the passage, 'For before the Child shall have knowledge to say father and mother, He shall take away the power of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria against the king of Assyria.' 2 You should first look to the description of age, whether it is able to show Christ as a man, much less a general. Although certainly by his cry the infant might be about to call to arms, he might be about to sound the alarm, not with a trumpet but with a little rattle, he might be about to seek the enemy, not on horseback, nor in chariot, nor from the wall, but from nurse's neck or maid's back, and so subjugate Damascus and Samaria from His mother's breasts. It is different, of course, when the babies of barbarian Pontus spring forth to battle. I believe they are anointed first in sunshine and then armed and rationed with bread and butter. 4 Now if it is allowed that nature nowhere grants that warfare be learned before life, to take the power of Damascus before he knows his father and mother's name, it follows that this is figurative speech. But, he may say, nature does not allow 'a virgin to conceive,' and yet the Prophet is believed. And with merit, for he has prepared beforehand trust in  the incredible thing, giving a reason for it, that it was to be a sign for the future. 'Therefore,' he says, 'the Lord himself shall give you a sign; behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son.' 5 Now a sign from God, unless it were something novel and notable, would not have been a sign. And then some Jews, attempting to disconcert us with falsehoods, say that Scripture does not read that a virgin is to conceive and give birth but only a young woman, but they are refuted because nothing can be a sign that is a daily occurrence, that is, a young woman being pregnant and giving birth. As a sign, then, a virgin and mother is rightly adjudged, but a warlike infant is not like this, for in this the sense of the sign is not grasped. But after the sign of the strange and novel birth, afterwards is declared as another sign the course of the Infant, who was to eat butter and honey. Not that this indeed is as a sign, nor is His 'refusing the evil,' for this, too, is of infancy, but His taking of the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria against the king of Assyria is indeed a sign. Attend to the statement of the age, and seek the sense of the prophecy, and do give back to the truth of the Gospel what you later took from it, and so, renouncing its omissions, the prophecy is understood. Let those eastern Magi wait on the new born Christ, offering to Him in His infancy, their gifts of gold and frankincense, and surely an Infant shall receive the might of Damascus without a battle and unarmed. For besides what is known to all, that the might of the East, that is, its strength and resources, usually consist of gold and spices, it is certainly true of the Creator, that He makes gold the riches of the other nations also, as He says by Zechariah: 'And Judah shall also fight at Jerusalem and shall gather together all the wealth of the nations round about, gold and silver.' 6 And then concerning that gift of gold, David also says: 'And there shall be given to Him of the gold of Arabia,' 7 and again: 'The kings of Arabia and Saba shall offer to Him gifts.'  8 For the East generally regarded the Magi as kings, and Damascus in the past was deemed to belong to Arabia, before it was transferred to Syrophœnicia in the division of the Syria, which riches Christ then received, accepting its tokens, gold and spices, while the spoils of Samaria were the Magi themselves, who when they found Him and honoured Him with their gifts, on bended knee adored Him as God and King, by the witness of the star which led their way and guided them. Tertullian, from Against Marcion, Book 3, Chap 12 1 Is 7.14   2 Is 8.4 3Gal 3.27  4 Marcion was from Pontus 5 Is 7:14   6 Zech 14.14  7 Ps 71.15  8 Ps 71.10

The Whole Law And The Prophets

Σαφῶς ἐν τούτοις παρίσταται ἡ κατὰ τὸν δημιουργὸν τοῦ κόσμου Θεὸν καὶ τὰς ἀπ' αὐτοῦ Γραφὰς κηρυσσομένη ζωὴ αἰώνιος, ἤν καὶ ὁ Σωτὴρ καταγγέλλει. Πυθομένου οὖν τοῦ νομικοῦ· Τί ποιήσας ζωὴν αἰώνιον κληρονομήσω; ἐπὶ τὸν νόμον ἀναπέμπει, ἐν ἐκεῖθεν συνάγῇ ἐντολὰς τὰς προσαγούσας τὸν ποιοῦντα αὐτὰς τῇ αἰωνίῳ ζωῇ. Μαρτυρεῖ γοῦν τῷ εδηνφατι ἀπὸ μὲν τοῦ Δευτερονομίου τὸ, Ἀγαπήσεις Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου· ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ Λευϊτικοῦ τὸ, Τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς σεαυτὸν, Ὁρθῶς ἀπεκρίθης, καὶ προστίθησι· Τοῦτο ποίει, καὶ ζήσῃ, δηλονότι τὴν ζωὴν τὴν αἰώνιον, περὶ ἦς κάκεῖνος τε ἐπύθετο, καὶ ὁ Σωτὴρ διδάσκει. Ταῦτα δὲ εἴρηται πρὸς τοὺς ἀπὸ Οὐαλεντίνου, καὶ βασιλίδου, καὶ τούς ἀπὸ Μαρκίωνος. Ἔχουσι γὰρ καὶ αὐτοὶ τὰς λέξεις ἐν τῷ καθ' ἑαυτοὺς Εὐαγγελίῳ· καὶ φήσομεν πρὸς αὐτούς· Ὁ μαρτυρήσας τῳ, ὅτι Ἀγαπήσεις Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου, τὴν ἐντολὴν ἀπὸ Νόμου εἰρηκότι, οὐ παρά τινος ἄλλου ἤ τοῦ δημιουργοῦ εἰρημένην, καὶ φήσας ἐπὶ τούτοις αὐτῷ, Ὀρθῶς ἀπεκρίθης, τί ἄλλο βούλεται ἡμᾶς πράττειν ὑπὲρ τοῦ ζῆσαι τὴν αἰώνιον ζωὴν, ἢ ἀγαπᾷν τὸν Θεὶν μ τὸν ἐν νόμῳ καὶ προφήταις, ἐν ὅλῃ καρδίᾳ; Ὁ Σωτὴρ δὲ γοῦν ἀπεφήνατο περὶ τῶν δύο ἐντολῶν λέγων· Καὶ ἐν αὐταῖς ὅλος ὁ νόμος καὶ οἱ προφῆται κρέμανται. Ὠριγένης, Εἰς Το Κατα Λουκαν Εὐαγγελιον, Κεφ Α'

Patently it is shown in these things under consideration that the creator is God, and these things are found in the Scriptures when the Saviour was preaching about eternal life, for asked by the lawyer, 'What shall I do to inherit eternal life,' 1 He sends him to the law so that he might gather from the commandments and by the practice of them be led to eternal life. He then quotes from Deuteronomy: 'Love the Lord your God,' and from Leviticus: 'Your neighbour as yourself' 2 'Rightly you have answered,' he is told, and then it is added, 'Do this and live,' giving clarity regarding eternal life, about which the man asked, and about which the Saviour taught. And these things may be used against the followers of Valentinus and Basilides and Marcion. For they have the same words in their Gospel, and thus we say to them: 'He who said, 'Love the Lord your God', that commandment is taken from the law, and it cannot be anyone else but the Creator who spoke, and on account of it He says, 'Rightly you have answered,' and so if we are to have eternal life what would He have us do but love the God of the law and the prophets with the whole of the heart? Therefore with these two commandments the Saviour declares: 'And on these depend the whole law and the prophets.' 3 Origen, Commentary On Luke, Fragment 1 Luke 10.25 2 Deut 6.5 3 Mt 22.40

Birth and Baptism

At ubi venit plenitudo temporis, misit Deus Filium suum factum ex muliere, factum sub Lege, ut eos qui sub Lege erant, redimeret, ut adoptionem filiorum reciperemus.   Diligenter attendite quod non dixerit, 'factum per mulierem', quod Marcion et caeterae haereses volunt, quae putativam Christi carnem simulant: sed ex muliere, ut non per illam, sed ex illa natus esse credatur. Quod autem sanctam et beatam Matrem Domini, mulierem, non Virginem nominavit, hoc idem et in Evangelio κατὰ Ματθαῖον scriptum est: quando uxor appelatur Joseph, et ab ipso Domino quasi mulier increpatur . Non enim necesse erat semper quasi caute et timide Virginem dicere, cum mulier sexum magis significet quam copulam viri: et secundum intelligentiam Graecitatis γυνὴ tam uxor, quam mulier valeat interpretari. Sed ut cuncta praeteream: quomodo sub lege factus est, ut eos qui sub lege erant, redimeret: sic propter illos qui nati erant ex muliere, ex muliere nasci voluit. Nam et baptismum in Jordanis fluento idcirco quasi poenitens, cum esset a peccatis liber, accepit: ut caeteros edoceret mundandos esse per baptismum, et in filios nova Spiritus adoptione generari. Quod nequaquam intelligens Joannes Baptista, eum ad lavacrum prohibebat accedere, dicens: Ego a te debeo baptizari  Et statim sacramentum docetur: 'Sine modo: sic enim decet nos adimplere omnem justitiam,' ne qui ob hominum salutem venerat, aliquid de conversatione hominum praeteriet. Sanctus Hieronymus, Comentariorum In Epistolam Beati Pauli Ad Galatas, Lib II, Cap IV

'And when came the fullness of time God sent his own Son, born from a women, born beneath the law, that those who were beneath the law he might redeem, that they receive the adoption of sons.1  Carefully attend that it is not said, 'through a woman,' which Marcion and other heretics would wish, that they might claim the flesh of Christ to be putative, but 'from a women', that not through her but from her He is born. That even the holy and blessed Mother of the Lord, is named women and not virgin, is the same as in the Gospel according to Matthew, where it is written, that she is called the wife of Joseph 2, and the Lord Himself refers to her as 'woman'3, so it was not always necessary to be so cautious and fearful as to use the word Virgin, for with the word 'woman' the sex is more signified than coupling with a man, and according to the understanding of the Greeks, 'gyne' may be understood as wife or woman. But I will pass over all this, for beneath the Law he was born, that he might redeem those who were beneath the Law, so for those who were born from woman, from a woman he wished to be born. For although free of sin he received baptism in the waters of the Jordan as one penitent, that he might teach others to be cleansed through baptism, that they be born sons by the new adoption of the Spirit. Which John the Baptist not at all understanding, tried to dissuade him from, saying, ' I by you should be baptised.' And instantly he is taught the mystery: 'Let it be so, even it befits us to fulfill all righteousness.' Lest he who had come on account of the salvation of man, pass over something concerning the conversion of men. Saint Jerome,Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians, Book 2, Chap 4 1 Gal 4.4 2 Mt 1.18 3 Jo 2.4

The Corruption of Works

Quidam eorum qui libenter habent criminari proximos suos, ascribunt nobis et doctrinae nostrae crimen blasphemiae, quod a nobis nunquam audierunt: de quo ipsi viderint, nolentes observare mandatum illud quod dicit, quia maledici regnum Dei non possidebunt, dicentes me, patrem malitiae ac perditionis et eorum qui de regno Dei ejiciuntur, id est diabolum, dicere esse salvandum: quod ne aliquis quidem mente motus, et manifeste insaniens dicere potest. Sed nihil mirum mihi videtur, si adulteretur doctrina mea ab inimicis meis, et tali adulterio corrumpatur, quali adulterio corrupta est Epistola Pauli apostoli. Quidam enim sub nomine Pauli falsam epistolam conscripserunt, ut conturbarent Thessalonicenses, quasi instaret dies Domini, et seducerent eos. Propter hanc ergo Epistolam in secunda Epistola quam ad Thessalonicenses scribit, haec dixit: Rogamus autem vos, fratres, per adventum Domini nostri Jesu Christi, et nostrae congregationis in ipsum, ut non moveamini cito a sensu vestro, neque terramini, neque per spiritum, neque per verbum, neque per epistolam tanquam per nos missam, quasi instet dies Domini. Nemo vos seducat ullo modo. Talia ergo quaedam video etiam nobis accidere. Nam quidam auctor haereseos, cum sub praesentia multorum habita inter nos fuisset disputatio, et descripta, accipiens ab his qui descripserant codicem, quae voluit addidit, et quae voluit abstulit, et quod ei visum est permutavit, circumferens tanquam ex nomine nostro, insultans et ostendens ea quae ipse conscripsit. Pro quibus indignantes fratres qui in Palestina sunt, miserunt ad me Athenas hominem qui acciperet a me ipsum authenticum exemplar, quod ne relectum quidem vel recensitum a me antea fuerat, sed ita neglectum jacebat, ut vix inveniri potuerit. Misi tamen, et sub Deo teste loquor, quoniam, eum convenissem illum ipsum qui adulteraverat librum, arguens quare hoc fecisset, velut satisfaciens mihi respondit: Quoniam magis ornare volui disputationem illam, atque purgare. Videte quali purgatione disputationem nostram purgavit. Tali nempe, quali purgatione Marcion Evangelia purgavit, vel Apostolum; vel quali successor ejus post ipsum Appelles. Nam sicut illi subverterunt Scripturarum veritatem: sic et iste, sublatis quae vere dicta sunt, ob nostri criminationem inservit quae falsa sunt. Sed licet homines haeritici et impii sint qui haec facere ausi sunt, tamen habebunt et illi judicem Deum, qui talibus adversum nos criminationibus accommodant fidem. Origenes, ex Epistola ad quosdam charos suos Alexandriam, Interprete Rufino Aquileiense

Some of those who freely accuse their neighbours ascribe to us and our teaching the crime of blasphemy, which they have never heard from us, concerning which let them look to themselves who are unwilling to observe the command that says 'Speakers of evil shall not possess the kingdom of heaven,'1 that is, those who say that I say that the father of wickedness and perdition and those who were cast out of the kingdom of heaven, that is the devil, shall be saved, which is something not one of disturbed mind or stark mad would be able to say. But it does not seem amazing to me if my teaching has been falsified by my enemies and by such a falsification corrupted as was an epistle of the Apostle Paul. For they wrote under the false name of Paul that they might trouble the Thessalonians, as if the day of the Lord were near, and that they might seduce them. Because of this in the second letter which he wrote to the Thessalonians he says this: 'We ask you, brothers, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering into him, that you be not quickly moved in your minds, nor fearful, either by a spirit, or a word, or a letter claiming to be sent by us, as though the day of the Lord were near. Let no one seduce you in any way.'2 Such a thing I see happening even to us. For a certain author of heresy, when in the presence of many there was a discussion between us, it being recorded, took the book from those who had written it, added what he wished, removed what he wished, and changed what seemed good to him, and then he carried it around as if it were by us, mocking and showing off those things which he had written. The brothers who are in Palestine being indignant at this sent to me at Athens a man who was to receive the authentic work, which I had neither reread nor corrected, but it was lying so neglected that he was scarcely able to find it. I sent it off, however, and I say with God as witness that when I met the man who had falsified the book and questioned him as to why he had done so, as if he were satisfying me, he replied: 'Because I wished to adorn the discussion and purify it.' See with what sort of purity he purified our discussion! Certainly with such a purification Marcion purified the Gospels or the Apostles, or his successor after him Apelles. For as they subverted the truth of the Scriptures, so this man took out what we had truly spoken and to incriminate us inserted what was false. But it is for heretical and impious men to dare to do such things, but they shall have God's judgement who give credit to such accusations against us. Origen, from a Letter to Certain Dear Friends at Alexandria, Translated by Rufinus of Aquileia 1 1 Cor 6. 10 2 2 Thes 2.1-3

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

An Enemy of Christmas Denounced

Plane nativitas a Gabriele adnuntiatur: quid illi cum angelo creatoris? et in virginis utero conceptus inducitur: quid illi cum propheta creatoris? odit moras, qui subito Christum de caelo deferebat. aufer hinc, inquit, molestos semper Caesaris census et diversoria angusta et sordidos pannos et dura praesepia: viderit angelica multitudo deum suum noctibus honorans: servent potius pecora pastores, et magi ne fatigentur de longinquo: dono illis aurum suum:  melior sit et Herodes ne Hieremias glorietur: sed nec circumcidatur infans, ne doleat, nec ad templum deferatur, ne parentes suos oneret sumptu oblationis, nec in manus tradatur Simeoni, ne senem moriturum exinde contristet: taceat et anus illa, ne fascinet puerum. his opinor consiliis tot originalia instrumenta Christi delere, Marcion, ausus es, ne caro eius probaretur. ex quo, oro te: exhibe auctoritatem: si propheta es praenuntia aliquid, si apostolus praedica publice, si apostolicus cum apostolis senti, si tantum Christianus es crede quod traditum est: si nihil istorum es, merito dixerim, morere. nam et mortuus es, qui non es Christianus, non credendo quod creditum Christianos facit. Tertullianus, De Carne Christi

Clearly the nativity is announced by Gabriel. But what is an angel of the Creator to this man? The conception in the virgin's womb is brought forth. But what is a prophet of the Creator to him? This fellow abhors delay, since suddenly he brings down Christ full grown from heaven. 'Away from here,' says he, 'with that troublesome census of Caesar, and the needy inn, and squalid swaddling cloths, and the rough stable.' He would rather see the angelic multitude which honored their Lord at night helping shepherds with their flocks, he would not let the Magi weary themselves with a long journey but would have their gold remain with them. Let Herod, too, improve, so that Jeremiah may not glory over him, let a babe not suffer circumcision and let him not be brought to the temple lest he burden his parents with the expense of the offering, nor let him be given into the hands Simeon, lest the old man be hurried to death by sadness, and let that old woman also hold her tongue lest she should bewitch the child. With these thoughts, I think you,O Marcion, would dare destroy the original records of Christ that His flesh might not be demonstrated. But, I beseech you, on what grounds is this done? Show me your authority. If you are a Prophet, pronounce something; if an Apostle, preach it in public; if a follower of the Apostles, think with the Apostles; if you are only a Christian, believe in that which has been handed down. If, however, you are none of these, then I would with reason say, die, but indeed you are dead who are no Christian, not believing in that which by being believed makes one Christian. Tertullian, On the Flesh of Christ