ACC ~ James 1 v2 - 15

OVERVIEW:

James was writing to people who were suffering from temptations of various kinds, though there is no sign that a general persecution of Christians had as yet broken out. The Greek word peirasmos can be translated either as “trial” or as “temptation,” and the second of these possibilities dominated the Fathers’ interpretation of these verses. To them the cure for temptation was patient endurance, which was the fruit of a spiritual wisdom that could be obtained only from God. There was no problem with obtaining this, as long as believers asked God for wisdom in faith, without doubting that they would receive it. Doubt and riches appear as the greatest enemies of true faith because in their different ways, they both contributed to human pride and arrogance. Once those vices took control, it was impossible to wage war against temptation, because temptation was also the fruit of human lusts and therefore a close ally of pride. It was essential therefore to overcome this basic human weakness, since failure to do so would lead inevitably to spiritual death.

Prepare for many temptations (CHRYOSOSTOM, HILARY OF ARLES). They will be like a raging torrent that only a strong swimmer can negotiate (CYRIL OF JERUSALEM, AUGUSTINE). The joy of faith is proved through endurance (OECUMENIUS, SYMEON). No one can take away this joy (BEDE). We are tempted by adversities in order to learn the virtue of patience (BEDE) and faith (HILARY OF ARLES). We are not to be discouraged by these trials (ANDREAS). The purity of faith is made perfect by patient endurance of affliction (BEDE, ANDREAS, OECUMENIUS), which casts out fear (HILARY OF ARLES).

We pray that the faith that justifies may increase in those who already have it and also that it may be given to those who have not yet received it (AUGUSTINE). We must ask God for the spiritual wisdom to face temptations (BEDE, OECUMENIUS, THEOPHYLACT), a wisdom that only God can give (AUGUSTINE, HILARY OF ARLES, BEDE). One who does not ask in faith is not heard (HILARY OF ARLES, BEDE). The root of doubt is pride (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA), which easily turns into despair (OECUMENIUS). Ask without hesitation without being double-minded (BEDE, OECUMENIUS). Do not worry inordinately about your guilt, but count on God’s mercy (HERMAS). A double-minded person is one who prays to God yet fails to obtain anything because one’s conscience is still accusing all the time (BEDE). Such a person is unstable (ORIGEN), like waves on the sea (OECUMENIUS). Meanwhile every good thing comes to the humble (HILARY OF ARLES, OECUMENIUS, THEOPHYLACT).

Only those who endure adversity are re-warded (BEDE). What puffs up the rich is what brings them down (OECUMENIUS). Their wealth is vulnerable (HILARY OF ARLES, BEDE, OECUMENIUS). The heavier the endured sufferings of the righteous, the more courageous are their victories (SULPICIUS SEVERUS). A crown awaits them (CHRYSOSTOM, BEDE). James encourages the hope that the present situation will be put aright (DIDYMUS). Any testing that comes from God is for good, not for evil. Not so with the devil, who tempts in order to kill and who does not know us as God knows (CYRIL OF JERUSALEM, AUGUSTINE, BEDE, ANDREAS). God may abandon us at times to reveal our own stubborn willing (PETER CHRYSOLOGUS). To find a remedy our very nature must be healed (AUGUSTINE). Lust does not give birth unless it conceives, and it does not conceive unless it receives willing consent to commit evil (AUGUSTINE). Until we labor and give birth to our corrupt thoughts, we seem happy and joyful, but once the wicked child called sin is born we are in pain as we realize the shame to which we ourselves have given birth (CHRYSOSTOM). Lust coaxes and urges on, positively encouraging us to do something bad. If we ponder it willingly, then it will conceive and give birth (AUGUSTINE, HESYCHIUS). Suggestion, experiment and consent are the three stages of temptation (BEDE, HILARY).

1:2 | Finding Joy in Suffering

COUNT IT JOY. ORIGEN: If you count it all joy when you fall into various temptations, you give birth to joy, and you offer that joy in sacrifice to God. SERMONS ON GENESIS 8.10.

THE TORRENT OF THE TRIAL. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: “Falling into temptation” may mean being overwhelmed by temptation, for temptation is like a raging torrent which engulfs the traveler. In times of temptation some people manage to cross this torrent without being overwhelmed by the rising tide, because they are good swimmers who can avoid being swept away. But if others who lack their strength try to do it, they are overcome. MYSTAGOGICAL LECTURES 5.17.

PREPARE FOR TEMPTATION. CHRYSOSTOM: Suffering is a real bond, an encouragement to greater love, and the basis of spiritual perfection and godliness. Listen to the one who says: “If you want to serve the Lord, prepare your soul for temptation.” And again Christ said: “In the world you will have tribulation, but take courage.” And again: “straight and narrow is the way.” Everywhere you see suffering being praised, everywhere it is accepted as necessary for us. For in the world there is no one who wins a trophy without suffering, who has not strengthened himself with labors and dieting and exercise and vigils and many other things like that. How much more is that true in this battle! CATENA.

A DANGEROUS LIFE. AUGUSTINE: Because we are human, we live a most dangerous life amid the snares of temptation. LETTERS 250.

THROUGH MANY TEMPTATIONS. HILARY OF ARLES: Just as the world has to pass through winter before the spring comes and the flowers bloom, so a man must go through many temptations before he can inherit the prize of eternal life. For as Paul said: “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” Temptations come in three ways, by persuasion, by attraction and by consent. Satan persuades, the flesh is attracted, and the mind consents. INTRODUCTORY TRACTATE ON THE LETTER OF JAMES.

ADVERSITIES WILLINGLY BORNE. BEDE: Nobody will take the disciples’ joy from them because, although they suffered persecution and torture on behalf of Christ’s name, yet they willingly bore all adversities because they were enkindled by hope in his resurrection and by their vision of him. Moreover, they thought it perfect joy when they encountered different kinds of temptations. HOMILY ON THE GOSPELS 2.13.

HOW FAITH IS PROVED. OECUMENIUS: For those who have been tried and tested, trials and afflictions are the source of the greatest joy, for that is how their faith is proved. COMMENTARY ON JAMES.

DESPISE PAIN. SYMEON THE NEW THEOLOGIAN: The Word of God … causes us to despise all life’s painful experiences and to count as joy every trial that assails us. DISCOURSES 3.8.

1:3 | Patience Is the Reward of Suffering

UNWANTED TRIALS. ANDREAS: When our Lord and God taught his disciples that they must pray to be delivered from temptation, he meant the kind of temptation which we readily and willingly fall into and which does not contain any kind of trial. But James is talking about the kind of trials which are unwanted and teaches that those who struggle for the truth should not be discouraged by them. CATENA.

TEMPTATIONS ENDURED. HILARY OF ARLES: Temptations can be endured by spiritual knowledge and faith in the Trinity. INTRODUCTORY TRACTATE ON THE LETTER OF JAMES.

LEARNING PATIENCE. BEDE: James says that we are tempted by our adversaries in order to learn the virtue of patience, and thereby to be able to show and to prove that in our hearts we have a firm belief in a future retribution. In interpreting this verse we must bear in mind what the apostle Paul said about the same thing: “Knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character.” CONCERNING THE EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES.

1:4 | Patience Leads to Perfection

TRIALS PRODUCE PATIENCE. ANDREAS: Why do trials produce patience? It is because patience brings those who experience it to perfection. CATENA.

CASTING OUT FEAR. HILARY OF ARLES: Perfection is the love of God, which is that very same “perfect love which casts out fear,” that is, the fear of being tempted. Perfection is also patience, which is the guardian of the soul as Scripture says: “By your patience you will gain your souls.” INTRODUCTORY TRACTATE ON THE LETTER OF JAMES.

BUILDING CHARACTER. BEDE: Patience builds character, so that someone who possesses it cannot be overcome but is shown to be perfect. For this reason believers are tested in order to improve their patience, so that by it their faith may be seen to be perfect. CONCERNING THE EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES.

PATIENT ENDURANCE. OECUMENIUS: Why do trials produce patience? It is because trials demonstrate the purity of faith, which is made perfect by the patient endurance of affliction. COMMENTARY ON JAMES.

1:5 | Wisdom Is God’s Gift

THE FAITH THAT JUSTIFIES. AUGUSTINE: This is the faith by which the righteous person lives. This is the faith which believes in the one who justifies the ungodly. This is the faith by which glorying is cut out [Rom 1:17]. … This is the faith which gains the bountiful outpouring of the Spirit. ON THE SPIRIT AND THE LETTER 56.

NOT FROM OURSELVES. AUGUSTINE: What blessing will that man not possess who has asked for and received this wisdom from the Lord? This will give you an understanding of what grace is, for if this wisdom were from ourselves it would not be from above and we would not have to ask for it from the God who created us. ON GRACE AND FREE WILL 24.

FAITH A GIFT. AUGUSTINE: Just because faith may be given to us before we ask for it, it does not follow that it is not a gift of God. God may well give it to us before we ask him for it, just as he also gives peace and love. This is why we pray both that faith may be increased in those who already have it and also that it may be given to those who have not yet received it. ON THE GIFT OF PERSEVERANCE 44.

ONLY GOD GIVES WISDOM. HILARY OF ARLES: Why does James tell them to seek wisdom? It is so that they might have God’s assurance. Only God should be asked for wisdom, not philosophers or astrologers. God gives wisdom like a fountain which never runs out of water, and he fills everyone whom he enters, but the wisdom of philosophers and other human agents is not given in abundance, and it is soon spewed out. INTRODUCTORY TRACTATE ON THE LETTER OF JAMES.

WISDOM TO FACE TEMPTATION. BEDE: Saving wisdom can come only from God and cannot be found by human free will, without the help of divine grace, as the Pelagians insist. Here, however, James is speaking particularly about that wisdom which we need when we meet temptations. He says that if there are some among us who do not understand why it is that we need to be tested in this way, then we should ask God to explain to us that a father must punish his children in order to make them ready for the inheritance of eternal life. CONCERNING THE EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES.

ASK GOD FOR WISDOM. OECUMENIUS: James calls wisdom the cause of perfection. He knows that faith is tried and tested in affliction. There is no need to ask God for perfect people. What we need are wise people. This is why he encourages those who want to be on top of their afflictions to ask God for wisdom. COMMENTARY ON JAMES.

SPIRITUAL WISDOM. THEOPHYLACT: James is referring here to spiritual wisdom, not the human kind. Spiritual wisdom is the cause of all perfect action. This is the heavenly wisdom, and when we have been strengthened by it we can do anything perfectly. COMMENTARY ON JAMES.

1:6 | Have Faith and Do Not Doubt

THE DOUBTER. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The doubter is really full of pride. For if you have not believed that God will hear your request, you have not acted in such a way as to avoid being condemned already by the one who tests everything. The doubter has become double-minded even without wanting to be. It is therefore necessary to condemn a plague as dreadful as this. CATENA.

WISDOM GROUNDED IN FAITH. HILARY OF ARLES: James shows that the basis of human wisdom is faith. Here he may be contending against Simon Magus, who asked the apostles to give him the Holy Spirit but did not ask in faith. INTRODUCTORY TRACTATE ON THE LETTER OF JAMES.

WORTHINESS TO BE HEARD. BEDE: The believer must present himself to God, by his exemplary life, in such a way as to appear to be worthy of being heard by him. For whoever knows that he has not kept the Lord’s commandments will quite rightly have no hope of being heard by him. As Scripture says: “If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.” CONCERNING THE EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES.

PRIDE TURNS TO DESPAIR. OECUMENIUS: If a person is confident, let him ask. But if he doubts he should not ask, because he will not receive what he is not sure about. Such a person soon retreats from the faith which he does have and then backslides. This happens to him because of his pride, because he quickly despairs of ever getting something which he asks for if it does not turn up immediately. In any case, it is no bad thing if someone who thinks too highly of himself has his prayer requests turned down. COMMENTARY ON JAMES.

1:7 | The Doubter Does Not Receive God’s Gifts

GIFTS UNMERITED. AUGUSTINE: Purely human merits are evil, and God does not crown them. Any good merit is a gift of God. ON GRACE AND FREE WILL 6.

WINDBLOWN BY DOUBT. BEDE: The person who, because of his biting conscience, doubts that he will receive any of the heavenly gifts will easily abandon his faith when he is tempted and be carried away into various sins as easily as if he were blown about by the wind. CONCERNING THE EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES.

ASK WITHOUT HESITATION. OECUMENIUS: This refers to the person who asks in a spirit of haughtiness and contempt. Take away all double-mindedness, and above all, when you ask God for something, do not hesitate, saying to yourself: “How can I ask God for something, seeing that I have sinned so greatly against him?” COMMENTARY ON JAMES.

1:8 | The Double-Minded Person

COUNTING ON GOD’S MERCY. HERMAS: Put away doubting and do not hesitate to ask of the Lord. Do not say to yourself: “How can I ask of the Lord and receive from him, seeing that I have sinned so much against him?” Do not reason with yourself like this, but turn to the Lord with all your heart and ask of him without doubting, and you will know the multitude of his tender mercies, that he will never leave you but fulfill the request of your soul. SHEPHERD 2.9.

THE UNSTABLE. ORIGEN: We who do not follow our Lord with complete and perfect faith but yet have withdrawn from foreign gods dwell in a no-man’s land. We are cut down by the foreign gods as deserters, but because we are unstable and unreliable, we are not defended by our Lord. SERMONS ON EXODUS 8.4.

PRAYING WITH AN ACCUSING CONSCIENCE. BEDE: A double-minded man is one who on the one hand prays to God and on the other hand fails to obtain anything from him because inside his conscience is accusing him all the time. A man is double-minded when he wants to have fun in this world but also reign with God in heaven. Likewise, a man is double-minded when he seeks the approval of others for his good deeds rather than spiritual rewards from God. CONCERNING THE EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES.

TOSSED LIKE WAVES. OECUMENIUS: A double-minded person is someone who is unstable and unreliable. Such a person has no clear vision of the future and no sure grasp of the present but rather drifts about here and there, grasping at whatever he can. He may be compared with the waves of the sea which are tossed to and fro, or to a flower of the field which is here today and gone tomorrow. COMMENTARY ON JAMES.

1:9 | The Lowly Exalted

PRIDE IN HUMILITY. HILARY OF ARLES: This verse applies to Hebrew slaves who were great and proud and high in their own eyes but in their slavery had become the lowest of the low. It is as if he were saying that life was harder for the rich people with whom they were living than it was for them as their servants. The boasting referred to here is not vain glory but joy in times of temptation. INTRODUCTORY TRACTATE ON THE LETTER OF JAMES.

ENDURING ADVERSITY. BEDE: Everyone who humbly endures adversity for the Lord’s sake will receive from him the highest rewards of his kingdom. CONCERNING THE EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES.

HUMBLING OURSELVES. OECUMENIUS: Every good thing comes to us if we humble ourselves before God. COMMENTARY ON JAMES.

HUMILITY THE KEY. THEOPHYLACT: Humility is the distributor of all good things, and apart from it there is nothing which is good. COMMENTARY ON JAMES.

1:10 | The Humbling of the Proud

RICHES SNATCHED AWAY. HILARY OF ARLES: Scripture says that “whoever exalts himself will be humbled.” Wealth is a rich man’s flower, but the elements of the universe are out to snatch it away from him. James says very little about the humble man, but it is enough, for he will receive his glory from God. But the rich are condemned at great length, so that no one will be tempted to follow their example. INTRODUCTORY TRACTATE ON THE LETTER OF JAMES.

WEALTH COMES TO AN END. BEDE: James says this ironically, because the rich man will see the wealth in which he gloried, and with which he used to despise the poor in this world, come to an end. He will be humiliated by his eternal condemnation, like the rich man who despised Lazarus. CONCERNING THE EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES.

WHAT PUFFS UP BRINGS DOWN. OECUMENIUS: James calls the rich man both proud and humble at the same time, because what puffs him up also brings him down. COMMENTARY ON JAMES.

1:11 | Fading Glory

THE HAPPINESS OF THE UNGODLY VANISHES. BEDE: The flower of the field is pretty and its smell is pleasant for a while, but it soon loses the attraction of its beauty and charm. The present happiness of the ungodly is exactly the same—it lasts for a day or two and then vanishes into nothing. The rising sun stands for the sentence of the strict Judge, which puts a quick end to the transient glory of the reprobate. Of course it is also true that the righteous person flourishes, though not in the same way. The unrighteous flourish for a time, like grass, but the righteous flourish forever, like great trees, as Scripture says: “The righteous flourish like the palm tree.” CONCERNING THE EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES.

FADING AWAY. OECUMENIUS: The rich man is said to fade away even while he goes about his business, because anyone engaged in business knows that it can always take an unexpected turn for the worse. COMMENTARY ON JAMES.

1:12 | The Crown of Life

DEFYING TRIALS. SULPICIUS SEVERUS: Disasters are the common lot of the saints, who must suffer them. It is by enduring them and overcoming them that the virtue of the righteous has always been noticeable. With invincible strength they have defied all trials—the heavier the sufferings they endured, the more courageous were their victories. LETTER TO EUSEBIUS.

ABLE TO HANDLE ANYTHING. DIDYMUS THE BLIND: James does all he can to encourage people to bear their trials with joy, as a burden which is bearable, and says that perfect patience consists in bearing things for their own sake, not for the hope of some better reward elsewhere. He nevertheless tries to persuade his hearers to rely on the promise that their present state will be put right. The person who has fought the hard battles will be perfectly able to handle anything. Someone who comes through his troubles in this way will be duly prepared to recieve his reward, which is the crown of life prepared by God for those who love him. COMMENTARY ON JAMES.

THE CROWN AWAITS. CHRYSOSTOM: We see no garments or cloaks, but we see crowns more valuable than any gold, than any contest prizes or rewards, and ten thousand blessings stored up for those who live upright and virtuous lives on earth. ON THE INCOMPREHENSIBLE NATURE OF GOD. 6.7.

THE REWARD OF VIRTUE. BEDE: If anyone is so zealous for continence or good works that he neglects to seek the rewards of eternal recompense in return for them, that person may indeed appear to have a fine linen miter on his head, but he does not have little crowns, for although he certainly displays the image of virtue before other human beings, he does not acquire the reward of virtue with the Lord. ON THE TABERNACLE AND ITS VESSELS 3.8.118.

FAITHFUL UNTIL DEATH. BEDE: This verse is reminiscent of Revelation [2:10]: “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” CONCERNING THE EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES.

1:13 | God Does Not Tempt Anybody

GOD DOES NOT DIRECTLY TEMPT. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: If ever we find ourselves afflicted by illness, grief or trouble, let us not blame God, for God cannot be tempted by evil and does not tempt anyone. Each of us is scourged with the ropes of our own sins. SERMON ON THE PARALYTIC 17.

DECEPTIONS FROM THE DEVIL. AUGUSTINE: By temptation in this context, James meant the bad sort by which we are deceived and subjected to the devil. There is another kind of temptation [mentioned in Deuteronomy 13:3] which is really a kind of testing that comes from God. SERMONS 57.9.

EVIL NOT FROM GOD. BEDE: At this point James moves on from those external temptations which God sends to us for the testing of our faith to those internal ones which assault our souls and which are inspired by the devil. He wants to dispel the notion that the God who puts good thoughts into our minds also fills them with evil intentions. No one who has such wicked thoughts in his mind should ever try to claim that they come from God. CONCERNING THE EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES.

GOD TESTS FOR THE GOOD. ANDREAS: Any testing which comes from God is for good, not for evil. … It is quite otherwise with the devil. He tempts in order to kill those whom he has tempted. Furthermore, the devil does not know what is inside us, but God knows and has given everyone his task to accomplish, according to his sovereign will. CATENA.

ABANDONMENT TO OUR OWN STUBBORNNESS. PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: God is said to tempt when he abandons those who stubbornly fall into the snares of temptation. That is how Adam succumbed to the wiles of the tempter when he abandoned the commands of the Creator. SERMONS 70.

1:14 | Tempted by One’s Own Desires

HEALING OUR NATURE. AUGUSTINE: Against this fault medicinal aid is sought from him who can heal all illnesses of this sort, not by separating an alien nature from us but by healing our own nature. ON CONTINENCE 7.

WILLING CONSENT TO EVIL. AUGUSTINE: The one giving birth is lust, the thing born is sin. Lust does not give birth unless it conceives, and it does not conceive unless it entices and receives willing consent to commit evil. Therefore our battle against lust consists in keeping it from conceiving and giving birth to sin. AGAINST JULIAN 6.15.47.

1:15 | Desire Gives Birth to Sin

SIN IS BORN IN PAIN. CHRYSOSTOM: If we sin when we are drunk with pleasure, we do not notice it. But when it gives birth and reaches its goal, then all the pleasure is extinguished and the bitter core of our mind comes to the surface. This stands in contrast to women in labor. For before they give birth, such women have great pain and suffering, but afterwards the pain goes away, leaving their bodies along with the child. But here it is quite different. For until we labor and give birth to our corrupt thoughts, we are happy and joyful. But once the wicked child called sin is born we are in pain as we realize the shame to which we have given birth, and then we are pierced through more deeply than any woman in labor. Therefore I beg you right from the start not to welcome any corrupt thought, for if we do so the seeds will grow inside us, and if we get to that stage, the sin inside us will come out in deeds and strike us dead by condemning us, in spite of all our confessions and tears. For there is nothing more destructive than sin. CATENA.

LUST REQUIRES CONSENT. AUGUSTINE: Each one of us is tempted by our own lust, so let us fight and resist and not give in nor allow ourselves to be lured by it, nor allow it to conceive anything to which it might then give birth. It is like this—lust coaxes and coddles you, it excites and urges you on, positively encouraging you to do something wrong. Do not give in and it will not conceive. If you ponder it willingly and with pleasure, then it will conceive and give birth, and you will die. SERMONS 77A.3.

THREE STAGES OF TEMPTATION. BEDE: There are three stages in temptation. The first is suggestion, the second is experiment, and the third is consent. If we resist the devil’s suggestions, then we have victory over temptation and deserve to inherit the crown of life. But if we let the enemy’s suggestions gradually take control of us, then we find that we are taken away from the right path and start to indulge in sin. However, if we go no further than initial experiments, we may have offended God, but we have not yet fallen into mortal sin. However, if we continue down the path of depravity and start to embrace evildoing by giving our full consent to it, then we are deserving of death, and the enemy has triumphed over us. CONCERNING THE EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES.

THE BIRTH PANGS OF DEATH. HESYCHIUS: The desires of sinners are the birth pangs of death. CATENA.