CHAP. X. ----Of things in the Divine Scripture which seem to come near to being a stumbling-block and rock of offence. From the 39th Homily on Jeremiah: "The Lord could not bear because of the evil of your doings"

1. If at anytime in reading the Scripture you stumble at something which is a fair stone of stumbling, and rock of offence,213 blame yourself; for you must not despair of finding in this stone of stumbling and rock of offence thoughts to justify the saying, "He that believeth shall not be ashamed." 214 First believe, and thou shalt find beneath what is deemed a stumbling-stone much gain in godliness. For if we really received a commandment to speak no idle word, because we shall give account of it in the day of judgment;215 and if we must with all our might endeavour to make every word proceeding out of our mouths a working word both in ourselves who speak and in those who hear, must we not conclude that every word spoken through the Prophets was fit for work? and it is no wonder if every word spoken by the Prophets had a work adapted to it. Nay, I suppose that every letter, no matter how strange, which is written in the oracles of God, does its work. And there is not one jot or tittle 216 written in the Scripture, which, when men know how to extract the virtue does not work its own work.

2. As every herb has its own virtue whether for the healing of the body, or some other purpose, and it is not given to everybody to know the use of every herb, but certain persons have acquired the knowledge by the systematic study of botany, so that they may understand when a particular herb is to be used, and to what part it is to be applied, and how it is to be prepared, if it is to do the patient good; just so it is in things spiritual; the saint is a sort of spiritual herbalist, who culls from the sacred Scriptures every jot and every common letter, discovers the value of what is written and its use, and finds that there is nothing in the Scriptures superfluous. If you would like another illustration, every member of our body has been designed by God to do some work. But it is not for everybody to know the power and use of all the members, even the meanest, but those physicians who are expert anatomists can tell for what use every part, even the least, was intended by Providence. Just so, you may regard the Scriptures as a collection of herbs, or as one perfect body of reason; but if you are neither a scriptural botanist, nor can dissect the words of the Prophets, you must not suppose that anything written is superfluous, but blame yourself and not the sacred Scriptures when you fail to find the point of what is written. All this by way of general preface, though it may be applied to the whole of Scripture; so that they who will give heed to their reading may beware of passing over a single letter without examination and inquiry.  

[1] Περὶ τῶν ἐν τῇ θείᾳ γραφῇ δοκούντων ἔχειν τι λίθου προσκόμματος, ἢ πέτρας σκανδάλου. ἐν τῇ λθʹ ὁμιλίᾳ τῶν εἰς τὸν Ἱερεμίαν, εἰς τό: Οὐκ ἠδύνατο κύριος φέρειν ἀπὸ προσώπου πονηρίας ὑμῶν. Ἐάν ποτε ἀναγινώσκων τὴν γραφὴν προσκόψῃς νοήματι ὄντι καλῷ λίθῳ προσκόμματος καὶ πέτρᾳ σκανδάλου, αἰτιῶ σαυτόν: μὴ ἀπελπίσῃς γὰρ τὸν λίθον τοῦτον τοῦ προσκόμματος καὶ τὴν πέτραν τοῦ σκανδάλου ἔχειν νοήματα, ὥστ' ἂν γενέσθαι τὸ εἰρημένον: Καὶ ὁ πιστεύων οὐ καταισχυνθήσεται. πίστευσον πρῶτον, καὶ εὑρήσεις ὑπὸ τὸ νομιζόμενον σκάνδαλον πολλὴν ὠφέλειαν ἁγίαν. εἰ γὰρ ἡμεῖς ἐντολὴν ἐλάβομεν μὴ λέγειν ῥῆμα ἀργὸν, ὡς δώσοντες περὶ αὐτοῦ λόγον ἐν ἡμέρᾳ κρίσεως, καὶ ὅση δύναμις φιλοτιμούμεθα πᾶν ῥῆμα τὸ ἐξιὸν ἐκ τοῦ στόματος ἡμῶν ποιεῖν ἐργάζεσθαι καὶ ἐν ἡμῖν τοῖς λέγουσι καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀκούουσι: τί χρὴ νοεῖν περὶ τῶν προφητῶν, ἢ ὅτι πᾶν ῥῆμα λαληθὲν διὰ τοῦ στόματος αὐτῶν ἐργατικὸν ἦν; καὶ οὐ θαυμαστὸν εἰ πᾶν τὸ ῥῆμα τὸ λαλούμενον ὑπὸ τῶν προφητῶν εἰργάζετο ἔργον τὸ πρέπον ῥήματι. ἀλλὰ γὰρ οἶμαι ὅτι καὶ πᾶν θαυμάσιον γράμμα τὸ γεγραμμένον ἐν τοῖς λογίοις τοῦ θεοῦ ἐργάζεται. καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἰῶτα ἓν ἢ μία κεραία γεγραμμένη ἐν τῇ γραφῇ ἥτις τοῖς ἐπισταμένοις χρῆσθαι τῇ δυνάμει τῶν γραμμάτων οὐκ ἐργάζεται τὸ ἑαυτῆς ἔργον.
[2] Ὥσπερ δὲ ἐπὶ τῶν βοτανῶν ἑκάστη μὲν ἔχει δύναμιν εἴτε εἰς τὴν ὑγίειαν τῶν σωμάτων εἴτε εἰς ὅτι δήποτε, οὐ πάντων δέ ἐστιν ἐπίστασθαι εἰς ὃ ἑκάστη τῶν βοτανῶν ἐστὶ χρήσιμος, ἀλλ' εἴ τινες ἐπιστήμην εἰλήφασιν, οὗτοι οἱ περὶ τὰς βοτάνας διατρίβοντες ἵνα εἴδωσι καὶ πότε παραλαμβανομένη καὶ ποῦ τῶν σωμάτων ἐπιτιθεμένη καὶ τίνα τρόπον σκευαζομένη ὀνίνησι τὸν χρώμενον: οὕτως οἱονεὶ βοτανικός τις πνευματικός ἐστιν ὁ ἅγιος, ἀναλεγόμενος ἀπὸ τῶν ἱερῶν γραμμάτων ἕκαστον ἰῶτα καὶ ἕκαστον τὸ τυχὸν στοιχεῖον, καὶ εὑρίσκων τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ γράμματος, καὶ εἰς ὅτι ἐστὶ χρήσιμον, καὶ ὅτι οὐδὲν παρέλκει τῶν γεγραμμένων. εἰ δὲ βούλει καὶ δευτέρου ἀκοῦσαι εἰς τοῦτο παραδείγματος, ἕκαστον μέλος τοῦ σώματος ἡμῶν ἐπί τινι ἔργῳ ὑπὸ τοῦ τεχνίτου θεοῦ γεγένηται: ἀλλ' οὐ πάντων ἐστὶν εἰδέναι τίς ἡ ἑκάστου τῶν μελῶν μέχρι τῶν τυχόντων δύναμις καὶ χρεία. οἱ γὰρ περὶ τὰς ἀνατομὰς πραγματευσάμενοι τῶν ἰατρῶν δύνανται λέγειν ἕκαστον καὶ τὸ ἐλάχιστον μόριον εἰς τί χρήσιμον ὑπὸ τῆς προνοίας γεγένηται. νόει μοι τοίνυν καὶ τὰς γραφὰς τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον πάσας βοτάνας, ἢ ἓν τέλειον λόγου σῶμα: εἰ δὲ σὺ μήτε βοτανικὸς εἶ τῶν γραφῶν μήτε ἀνατομεὺς εἶ τῶν προφητικῶν λόγων, μὴ νόμιζε παρέλκειν τι τῶν γεγραμμένων, ἀλλὰ σαυτὸν μᾶλλον ἢ τὰ ἱερὰ γράμματα αἰτιῶ, ὅτε μὴ εὑρίσκεις τὸν λόγον τῶν γεγραμμένων. τοῦτό μοι τὸ προοίμιον εἴρηται καθολικῶς χρήσιμον εἶναι δυνάμενον εἰς ὅλην τὴν γραφήν, ἵνα προτραπῶσιν οἱ θέλοντες προσέχειν τῇ ἀναγνώσει μηδὲν παραπέμπεσθαι ἀνεξέταστον καὶ ἀνεξερεύνητον γράμμα.