Teaching Christianity (continued)
Did God not speak with Moses face to face? And yet, being extremely prudent and not in the least proud, he accepted advice on how to direct and govern such a great people from his father-in-law, that is to say from a man who was a foreigner.[10] Moses knew, of course, that from whatever soul good advice had issued, it was to be attributed not to that person, but to the one who is truth itself,[11] the unchanging, unchangeable God.
8. Finally, those who can boast of understanding whatever is obscure in the scriptures by a gift from God, without being furnished with any rules, are right indeed to believe, and it is in fact true, that this ability of theirs does not derive from themselves, but has been granted them by God. This shows that they are seeking God's glory and not their own. But since they themselves read the Bible, and understand it without any other human being explaining it to them, why are they so eager to explain it to others, instead of referring them back to God, so that they too may come to understand it through his teaching them inwardly, and not through the teaching of other men? But of course, they are afraid they might hear from the Lord, Wicked servant, you should have given my money to the bankers (Mt 25:26.27).
So these people too make known to others what they understand, either by lecturing or by writing; and if I, in the same way, publish things not only for them to understand but also for them to put into practice when understood, they certainly have no right to blame me for this. None of us, though, should claim our understanding of anything as our very own, except possibly of falsehood. Because everything that is true comes from the one who said, I am the truth (Jn 14:6). What do we have, after all, that we have not received? But if we have received it, why should we boast as though we had not? [12]
9. The person who reads some writing out loud to other listeners obviously knows what he is pronouncing, while the