Why therefore did Christ reply to him in these words: “No one is good”? Because he considered Jesus a mere man and one of the crowd, and a Jewish teacher. For this reason he spoke as a man to him. For often he answers the hidden thoughts of the questioner, as when he says, “We worship what we know” [Jhn 4:22.] and “If I bear witness of myself, my testimony is not true.” [Jhn 5:31.] Therefore when he says, “No one is good,” he does not say this to show that he is not good; far from it. For he does not say, “Why do you call me good? I am not good” but “No one is good,” that is, no human being. When he says this, he does not mean to exclude men from goodness but to make a comparison with the goodness of God. Therefore he adds, “Except God alone.”—St John Ch ...