Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume VIII/Pseudo-Clementine Literature/The Clementine Homilies/Homily III/Chapter 50

by Anonymous

Chapter L.—His Teaching Concerning the Scriptures.

Then Peter:  “As to the mixture of truth with falsehood,^[1] I remember that on one occasion He, finding fault with the Sadducees, said, ‘Wherefore ye do err, not knowing the true things of the Scriptures; and on this account ye are ignorant of the power of God.’^[2]  But if He cast up to them that they knew not the true things of the Scriptures, it is manifest that there are false things in them.  And also, inasmuch as He said, ‘Be ye prudent money-changers,’^[3] it is because there are genuine and spurious words.  And whereas He said, ‘Wherefore do ye not perceive that which is reasonable in the Scriptures?’  He makes the understanding of him stronger who voluntarily judges soundly.

Footnotes

1. [Comp. Homily II. 40.  The attitude of Peter, as here represented, disparaging the Old Testament, appearing to exalt the author of Christ’s teachings, and yet ignoring the claims of His Person and Work, seeks its justification in rationalistic interpretation.  The attitude is not an uncommon one at present.—R.]
2. Matt. xxii. 29.  [Misquoted and misapplied here, as in Homily II. 51.—R.]
3. This is frequently quoted as a saying of Christ.  It is probably from one of the apocryphal Gospels.  [Comp. Homily II. 51.—R.]