Inheriting The Earth

Οἱ δὲ πραεῖς κληρονομήσουσι γῆν. Οἱ ἀπὸ Οὐαλεντίνου καὶ τινων ἑτέρων, οἰόμενοι τὸν Σωτῆρα λέγειν τὰ μὴ εἰρημένα ἐν τοῖς παλαιοῖς Γράμμασιν, ἐντεῦθεν ἐλεγχέσθωσαν, ἀκούοντες, ὅτι Μακάριοι πραεῖς, ὅτι αὐτοὶ κληρονομήσουσι τὴν γῆν. Εἴρητο μὲν καὶ πρότερον διὰ Δαβιδ ὑπὸ τοῦ αὐτοῦ Πνεύματος. Οἰκονομικώτερον δὲ λίαν ὁ Δαβὶδ ἀντιπαρεξάγει ταῖς τῶν παρανόμων κολάσεσι τὰ τῶν ἁγίων γέρα. Ἀκονᾷ δὲ διὰ τούτων αὐτοὺς εἰς ἔφεσιν εὐανδρίας πνευματικῆς, δι' ἧς ἂν γένοιτο κατορθοῦν πάντα τρόπον ἀρετῆς. Ταύτῃ τοί φησιν· Οἱ δὲ πραεῖς κληρονομήσουσι γῆν, τὴν ἄνω δηλαδή. Εἰ γὰρ ἐστιν ἐν οὐρανοῖς κατὰ Παῦλον Ἰερουσαλὴμ καὶ Σιὼν ὄρος ἀκόλουθον καὶ γῆν νοεῖν, ἥν κληρονομήσουσιν οἱ νενικηκότες πάθος ὀλέθριον, τὴν ὀργὴν, ἥτις καὶ φρονίμους ἀπόλλυσι. Κατ' ἀρετὴν γὰρ ἐνεργεῖν ἐμποδίζονται. Κατὰ διάμετρον δέ εἰσιν ἀλλήλοις πραότης καὶ ὀργή. Ὅπου γὰρ ὀργὴ, οὐδαμῶς πραότης· καὶ ὅπου πραότης, οὐδαμῶς ἐκεῖ ὀργή. Ὠριγένης, Ἐκλογαί Εἰς Ψαλμους, Ψαλμος ΛϚ' Source: Migne PG 17.125c-128a

And the meek shall inherit the earth... 1 The Valentinians and certain others, who think that the Saviour spoke of nothing which is to found in the Old Testament, are here refuted, hearing that 'blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.' 2 For David said this before in the Holy Spirit. Very acutely David contrasts the torments of the wicked and the rewards of the saints. He points exactly by the latter that the former should desire a noble spirit, by which every way of virtue may be set right. Because of this he says that 'The meek shall inherit the earth.' Clearly that which is above. For if, as Paul says, Jerusalem and Mount Sion are in heaven, 3 it follows that the earth we should think on is there, which they inherit who have conquered every destructive passion, certainly anger which ruins even the prudent, who acting against virtue hinder themselves. Meekness and anger are utterly opposed to one another. For where there is anger, there can be no meekness, and where there is meekness, there is no anger at all. Origen, Excerpta On the Psalms, from Psalm 36 1 Ps 36.11 2 Mt 5.5 3 Galat 4.25-26

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

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

The Serpent Within

Tales quidem secundem eos sententiae sunt, a quibus, velut Lernaea hydra, multiplex capitibus fera de Valentini schola generata est. Quidam enim ipsam Sophiam serpentem factam dicunt: quapropter et contrariam exstitisse factori Adae, et agnitionem homnibus immisisse, et propter hoc dictum serpentem omnium sapientiorem. Sed et propter positionem intestinorum nostrorum, per quae esca infertur, eo quod talem figuram habent, ostendentem absconsam generatricem serpentis figurae substantiam in nobis. Sanctus Irenaeus Lugdunensis, Adversus Haereses, Liber I, Caput XXX Source: Migne PG 7.704a

Such are the opinions of these heretics, by whom, like the Lernaean hydra, a beast of many heads has been born from the school of Valentinus. For some of them assert that Wisdom herself became the serpent, on which account she was hostile to the creator of Adam, and implanted knowledge in men, and so the serpent was called wiser than all the rest. 1 And on account of position of our intestines, through which the food passes, by the fact they have such a shape, since this is in the shape of a serpent, it exhibits our hidden mother. Saint Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies, Book 1, Chapter 30 1 Gen 3.1