because this proposition is laid down neither in a universal, nor a particular form (for it is not said, “Every blasphemy;” or some certain blasphemy of the Spirit; but only indefinitely, “blasphemy of the Spirit shall not be forgiven;” neither is it said, “Whosoever speaketh any word whatever,” or “whosoever speaketh some certain word,” but indefinitely, “whosoever speaketh a word”), there is no necessity that we should understand “every blasphemy and every word;” but necessary it plainly is that the Lord designed some kind of blasphemy, and some word to be understood; though He would not express it, that, if we should receive any right understanding of it by asking, and seeking, and knocking, we might not entertain a low esteem of it. 11. In order to seeing this more plainly, consider that which the same Lord also saith of the Jews, “If I had not come and spoken to them, they had not had sin.”2357 For this again was not said with any such meaning, as if He intended it to be understood that the Jews would have been without any sin at all, if He had not come and spoken to them. For indeed He found them full of and laden with sins. Wherefore He saith, “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden.”2358 Laden! with what, but with the burdens of sins and trans- gressions of the Law? “For the Law entered that sin might abound.”2359 Since then He saith Himself in another place, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance;”2360 how would “they not have had sin if He had not come”? if it be not that this proposition being expressed neither universally, nor particularly, but indefinitely, does not constrain us to understand it of all sin? But certainly unless we understand that there was some sin which they would not have had if Christ had not come and spoken unto them, we must say that the proposition was false, which God forbid. He doth not say then, “If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had had no sin;” lest the Truth should lie. Nor again did He say definitely, “If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had some certain sin;” lest our devout earnestness2361 should not be exercised. For in the full abundance of the Holy Scriptures we feed upon the plain parts, we are exercised by the obscure: by the one, 322 hunger is driven away, and daintiness2362 by the other. Seeing then that it is not said, “they had had no sin,” we need not be disturbed, though we acknowledge that the Jews would have been sinners, even if the Lord had not come. But yet because it is said, “If I had not come, they had not had sin;” it must needs be that they contracted, though not all, yet some sin which they had not before, from the coming of the Lord. And this verily is that sin, that 2357 John xv. 22. 2358 Matt. xi. 28. 2359 Rom. v. 20. 2360 Matt. ix. 13. 2361 Studium. 2362 Fastidium. 679 On the words of the Gospel, Matt. xii. 32, ‘Whosoever shall speak a word…