The Ancient Witnesses

Chapter 6: The Fullness of Time • 191

“Say to this stone?” he pointed to an imaginary stone on the floor. “Or say to that stone?” he pointed to another spot. “Say to which stone?” he paused. “Of course our Lord was tempted so that once he conquers we too might conquer,” Origen continued. “Yet, if we are to learn from Christ’s testing, we need to understand the nature of his temptation. When a son asks a father for bread, he does not give him a stone does he?” “That’s from Matthew 7,” whispered Joseph, “Which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?” “But the Adversary,” said Origen, “fickle and deceptive as he is, offers stone in place of bread. What a cruel temptation! Our heavenly Father supplies all our needs, but the Adversary offers stone in place of bread! If you are the Son of God, say to this stone that it should become bread. Is this all that the devil wanted, that a stone might become bread? No, but that men should eat the stone pointed out by the devil instead of bread.” 43 “And what about you?” asked Origen, looking directly at us, “for I think that even to the present day the devil points out a stone and urges each of us, just tell this stone to become bread! Marcion spoke and the devil’s stone became his bread, Valentinius spoke, and another stone was turned into bread for him. Basilides also had bread of this sort, and so did the rest of the heretics. We

43 Quotation adapted from Joseph T. Lienhard, Origen Homilies on Luke , Homily 29:3 in The Fathers of the Church, vol. 94, 120; and Patrologia Graeca 13, 1875).