tice; for he elicits the
divine teaching quite as much from the history as from the direct
precepts of the Old Testament. But, if the language of the New Testament
writers leaves any loophole for doubt, this is not the case with their
contemporary Philo. In one place he speaks of the words in Deut. x. 9,
'The Lord God is his inheritance,' as an 'oracle' ([Greek: logion]); in
another he quotes as an 'oracle' ([Greek: logion]) the _narrative_ in
Gen. iv. 15, 'The Lord God set a mark upon Cain, lest anyone finding him
should kill him' [174:1]. From this and other passages it is clear that
with Philo an 'oracle' is a synonyme for a 'scripture.' Similarly
Clement of Rome writes, 'Ye know well the sacred Scriptures, and have
studied the oracles of God,' [174:2] and immediately he recalls to their
mind the account in Deut. ix. 12 sq, Exod. xxxii. 7 sq, of which the
point is not any divine precept or prediction, but _the example of
Moses_. A few years later Polycarp speaks in condemnation of those who
'pervert the oracles of the Lord.' [174:3] How much he included under
this expression, we cannot say, but it must be observed that he does not
write [Greek: ta kuriaka logia] 'the Dominical oracles,' or [Greek: ta
logia] 'the oracles' simply--the two expressions which occur in
Papias--but [Greek: ta logia tou Kuriou], 'the oracles of the Lord,'
which form of words would more directly suggest the Lord as the speaker.
Again Irenaeus, denouncing the interpretations of the Scriptures current
among the Gnostics, uses the very expression of Papias, [Greek: ta
kuriaka logia] [174:4]; and though he does not define his exact meaning,
yet as the 'oracles of God' are mentioned immediately afterwards, and as
the first instance of such false interpretation which he gives is not a
saying, but an incident in the Gospels--the healing of the ruler's
daughter--we may infer that he had no idea of restricting the term to
sayings of Christ. Again when we turn to Clement of Alexandria, we find
that the Scriptures in one passage are called 'the oracles of truth,'
while in another among the good deeds attributed to Ezra is the
'discovery and restoration of the inspired oracles' [174:5]. Similarly
Origen speaks of the teachings of the Scripture as 'the oracles,' 'the
oracles of God' [175:1]. In the context of the latter of the two
passages to which I refer, he has clearly stated that he is
contemplating the histories, the law, and the prophets alike. So too