James 1:13–27

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.

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.

No one, when tempted, should say that they are tempted by God. Hitherto he has spoken about the temptations which we endure externally by the permission of the Lord for the sake of being tested; now he begins to address those which we endure internally, instigated by the devil, or even persuaded by the fragility of our nature. Here he first destroys the error of those who believe that just as good thoughts are inspired by God in us, so also bad ones are thought to be generated in our mind by His instigation. Therefore, no one, when tempted, should say that they are tempted by God, namely with that temptation by which a wealthy person withers while traveling his paths. That is, no one who has committed robbery, theft, false testimony, murder, adultery, or other such things, should say that they had to commit these acts under the compulsion of God, and thus could by no means avoid the perpetration of these deeds.

For God is not a tempter of evils. It is understood as temptations. Indeed, He tempts no one. That is, with the temptation that deceives the merciful so that they sin. For there are two kinds of temptation. One which deceives, another which tests. According to that which deceives, God tempts no one. According to that which tests, God tempted Abraham. Of whom even the prophet asks: "Test me, O Lord, and try me" (Psalm 26).

Many schools of thought encourage us to shift the responsibility for our behaviour from our own shoulders to some inherent necessity in the nature of human life, and thus, indirectly, to the Creator. Popular forms of this view are the evolutionary doctrine that what we call badness is an unavoidable legacy from our animal ancestors, or the idealistic doctrine that it is merely a result of our being finite. Now Christianity, if I have understood the Pauline epistles, does admit that perfect obedience to the moral law, which we find written in our hearts and perceive to be necessary even on the biological level, is not in fact possible to men. This would raise a real difficulty about our responsibility if perfect obedience had any practical relation at all to the lives of most of us. Some degree of obedience which you and I have failed to attain in the last twenty-four hours is certainly possible. The ultimate problem must not be used as one more means of evasion. Most of us are less urgently concerned with the Pauline question than with William Law's simple statement: "if you will here stop and ask yourselves why you are not as pious as the primitive Christians were, your own heart will tell you, that it is neither through ignorance nor inability, but purely because you never thoroughly intended it."

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.

A brother asked Pambo, 'Why does the enemy prevent me doing good to my neighbour?' He said, 'Do not talk like that, or you will make God a liar. Say, "It is I myself do not want to be kind to others." For God came down to us and said, "I have given you the power of treading upon scorpions and snakes" (Luke 10:19), and so you are beyond the power of the enemy. Why then do you not tread down these evil spirits?'

Let no one who is tempted say he is tempted by God: for God is not a tempter of evils, and he tempts no man. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own conscience. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin: but sin, when it is conceived, brings forth death. "Let no one who is tempted say." If there are two kinds of temptations, why does James now reject the cause of all temptation from God? But consider that he does not say: He who was tempted, but he who is tempted. For he who, through his own fault and depravity, gives rise to temptations, so that he is a perpetual slave, says that he is not tempted by God, but by his own desire. He who has overcome the temptation that has come upon him, having established himself more securely, still becomes difficult to tempt, especially by those arising from himself. For having turned towards a wiser life, he has blocked the source of temptations, and now he lives free from temptations. But God cannot be tempted by evil: according to him who said (although he is external to us and unfamiliar to faith); Divine and blessed nature neither endures trouble nor inflicts it on others. For around mortal and earthly nature, in which variety and change are evident, all these things that preoccupy our nature occur. Indeed, lust and sin, and the death of the soul that follows from this, have been established as certain stages leading to human perdition. For lust, seizing a place to stay, having found a dwelling place, has wrought sin, which gives birth to death, unless, by removing it from the mind, we renew for ourselves the beginning of another life. Therefore, it sufficiently demonstrates divine nature, neither able to be tempted nor providing temptations to others; however, it says here that thoughts disturb and confuse the splendor of the soul. For those things that are from God greatly soothe the soul, illuminating it and revealing his ineffable beauty in many ways: therefore, he now adds.

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.

If trials are of two kinds, then why does the apostle now place every temptation outside the will of God? But note: he did not say "tempted" in the past tense, but "being tempted" in the present. Whoever through sin and an intemperate life devises temptations for himself and, as if in a constant storm, plunges into dangers — such a person, the apostle says, is tempted not "by God," but by his own desire. For whoever has overcome an assailing temptation and has become firmer does not easily yield to temptations, especially those arising from himself, because in freedom from temptations he constantly inclines toward a more philosophic life.

God cannot be tempted by evil, as it is said: "That which is divine and blessed neither does anything itself nor gives anything to do to others." All this is characteristic of mortal and earthly nature, in which change and mutability are observed — these primary properties of our nature. Desire and sin and the death of the soul born from it have become, as it were, steps in human perdition. For desire, having found a place of refuge, produced sin, which gave birth to death, and only by uprooting it through repentance do we lay the foundation of our other life.

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.

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.

But each one is tempted by his own desire, being drawn away and enticed, etc. Drawn away from the right path and enticed into evil. On this verse, Jerome, against Jovinian, says: "Just as in good works God is the perfecter, for it is not of the one willing, nor of the one running, but of God who shows mercy and helps, so that we may be able to reach the goal, so in evils and sins, our seeds are the incentives, but the perfection is of the devil. When he sees us building on the foundation of Christ with hay, wood, and stubble, he sets fire beneath it. Let us build with gold, silver, precious stones, and he will not dare to test it, although even in this there is no certain and secure possession: for a lion lies in wait in hiding places to kill the innocent. And the furnace tests the potter's vessels, but testing of tribulation tests just men."

Actual sin draws its origin from the free will of each person through suggestion, delight, consent, and action, according to that passage in James: Each one is tempted, being drawn away and enticed by his own concupiscence. If, however, suggestion and delight stop short of consent, it is a venial sin. But if consent and action follow in those things which are prohibited by divine law, the sin is a consummated mortal sin. Since sin denotes a withdrawal of the will from the First Principle, insofar as the will is made to be moved by Him, according to Him, and for His sake, every sin is a disorder of the mind or will, around which virtue and vice are naturally found. Actual sin, therefore, is an actual disorder of the will. Now this disorder is either so great that it destroys the order of justice—and in this way it is called mortal sin, because it is apt to take away life, by separating the soul from God, through whom the just soul is given life—or it is so slight that it does not destroy that order, but disturbs it in some respect, and then it is called venial sin, because from it we can quickly obtain pardon, since through it grace is not taken away, nor is divine enmity incurred.

I know we have won many a soul through pleasure. All the same, it is His invention, not ours. He made the pleasures: all our research so far has not enabled us to produce one. All we can do is to encourage the humans to take the pleasures which our Enemy has produced, at times, or in ways, or in degrees, which He has forbidden. Hence we always try to work away from the natural condition of any pleasure to that in which it is least natural, least redolent of its Maker, and least pleasurable. An ever increasing craving for an ever diminishing pleasure is the formula. It is more certain; and it's better style. To get the man's soul and give him nothing in return--that is what really gladdens our Father's heart. And the troughs are the time for beginning the process.

Gerontius of Petra said, 'Many people who are tempted by pleasures of the flesh do not sin with the body but lust with the mind; they keep their bodily virginity but lust in their heart. It is better then, beloved, to do what is written, "Let everyone keep a close guard upon his heart" (Prov. 4:23).'

A hermit used to say, 'A lustful thought is brittle like papyrus. When it is thrust at us, if we do not accept it but throw it away it breaks easily. If it allures us and we keep playing with it, it becomes as difficult to break as iron. We need discernment to know that those who consent lose hope of salvation and for those who do not consent, a crown is made ready.'

Abraham, who was a disciple of Agatho, once asked Poemen, 'Why do the demons attack me?' Poemen said to him, 'Is it the demons who attack you? It is not the demons who attack me. When we follow our self-will then our wills seem like demons and it is they who urge us to obey them. If you want to know the kind of people with whom the demons fight, it is Moses and those like him.'

A brother asked some of the monks whether evil thoughts defiled a man. When they were asked this question, some said, 'Yes,' but some said, 'No, for if that were so, we ordinary people could not be saved. If we think of vile actions but do not do them, it is this which brings salvation.' The questioner was discontented with the monks' diverse answers, and he went to an experienced hermit and asked him about it. He replied, 'Everyone is required to act according to his capacity.' Then the brother asked him, 'For the Lord's sake, explain this saying to me.' So he said, 'Look here, suppose there was a valuable jug and two monks came in, one of whom had a great capacity for a disciplined life, and the other a small capacity. Suppose that the mind of the more disciplined man is moved at the sight of the jug and he says inwardly, "I'd like to have that jug," but the idea leaves him at once, and he puts away any thought of it, then he would not be defiled. But if the less disciplined man covets the jug and is strongly moved by an impulse to take it, and yet after a struggle he does not take it, he would not be defiled either.'

A brother asked a hermit, 'What shall I do, for I am troubled by many temptations, and I do not know how to resist them?' He said, 'Do not fight against them all at once, but against one of them. All the temptations of monks have a single source. You must consider what kind of root of temptation you have, and fight against that and in this way all the other temptations will also be defeated.'

A brother asked Poemen about the words, 'Do not render evil for evil' (1 Thess. 5:15). He said to him, 'The passions work in four stages: first in the heart, then in the face, third in words, fourth in deeds – and it is in deeds that it is essential not to render evil for evil. If you purify your heart, passion will not show in your expression, but if it does, take care not to speak about it; if you do speak, cut the conversation short in case you render evil for evil.'

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.

Then desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin. And sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death. Temptation occurs in three ways: by suggestion, by delight, by consent. By the suggestion of the enemy, and by delight or also by the consent of our frailty. But if, while the enemy suggests, we do not want to delight or consent to sin, this very temptation leads us to victory, by which we may deserve to receive the crown of life. Yet if, by the suggestion of the enemy, we are gradually drawn away from right intention, and begin to be enticed by vice, we indeed offend by delighting, but have not yet incurred the fall of death. However, if from the delight of the offense conceived in the heart, the birth of a wrong action follows, then we, already guilty of death, are left by the victorious enemy. To prove this by examples, Joseph was tempted by the words of his mistress, but because he did not have lustful desire, he could only be tempted by suggestion, not by delight or consent; thus, he emerged victorious. David was tempted by the sight of another man's wife, and because he had not yet overcome the desire of the flesh, he was drawn and enticed by his own desire. And when he completed the conceived crime, he fell into the guilt of death, which he nonetheless escaped by repenting. Judas was tempted by avarice, and being greedy, he was drawn and enticed by his own desire, and fell into destruction by consenting. Job was tempted in many ways, but because he did not place his possessions or bodily health above divine love, he could be tempted by hostile suggestion, but never could he consent to or even delight in sin. Therefore, what is said, "Sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death," looks back conversely to this, which was said above about the one who endures temptation, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life. For just as the one who overcomes temptation merits the rewards of life, so indeed the one who is enticed by his desires and overcome by temptation, rightfully incurs the ruin of death.

Concupiscence, when it has conceived, brings forth sin; and sin, when it is consummated, begets death. If, however, suggestion and delight stop short of consent, it is a venial sin. But if consent and action follow in those things which are prohibited by divine law, the sin is a consummated mortal sin. But if it happens in a middle way, such that there is consent without action, either because one wills to proceed to action but cannot—then the will is reckoned as the deed, nor is one less culpable than if one were caught in the very act; or because one does not will to proceed to action, but wills to take inward pleasure in the delight—and then the woman eats, but not the man: and although the sin is not fully consummated, it is nevertheless to be counted among mortal sins, because when the woman eats, the whole man deserves to be condemned.

Because reason is not compelled to consent to these things, if after the sense of delight there is consent to the deed: then there is full consent, and thereby sin is consummated, because it has reached the man, that is, the supreme part of reason, upon which the fullness of consent depends. But because there is consent not only to the deed, but also to the delight, in which the inferior portion follows sensuality: therefore, if in sensual delight reason succumbs to sensuality, the woman obeys the serpent, and thereby there occurs a subversion of right order, and thus a subversion of justice; on account of which mortal sin is committed.

Christianity asserts that every individual human being is going to live for ever, and this must be either true or false. Now there are a good many things which would not be worth bothering about if I were going to live only seventy years, but which I had better bother about very seriously if I am going to live for ever. Perhaps my bad temper or my jealousy are gradually getting worse—so gradually that the increase in seventy years will not be very noticeable. But it might be absolute hell in a million years: in fact, if Christianity is true, Hell is the precisely correct technical term for what it would be.

The desires of sinners are the birth pangs of death.

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.

Since it has been proven concerning the Divine nature that God is neither Himself tempted nor tempts others, here by "temptations" he means thoughts that disturb the soul, for temptations from God do not disturb but strengthen the soul by illuminating it, which is why he says: "every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights" (Jas. 1:17), whereas everything that proceeds from us has imperfection.

"Do not be deceived" into thinking that temptations come from God.

Do not therefore err, my most beloved brethren, by assuming that the temptations of vices originate from God. Although we know that some, due to the demands of the merits of preceding crimes, have again fallen into other wickednesses by the permission of the just and rigorous judge. Hence is the saying of the Apostle: "And as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient, being filled with all unrighteousness" (Rom. I).

You know, my most beloved brothers. "It is well known," he says, "to you that you yourselves had the inclination to fall to the depths, but it happened that you were enlightened by the Lord, not by your own provision, but by heavenly grace anticipating you."

This refers to the deception of the heretics who think that because God rules the physical world in darkness and in light, in drought and in rain, in cold and in heat, so he also rules over human wills with the same determinateness—in good and in bad, in sadness and in joy, in death and in life. Because of this error, James goes on to add that it is "every good endowment and every perfect gift" which comes from the Father of lights.

Do not err, my brethren. Those that corrupt families shall not inherit the kingdom of God. If, then, those who do this as respects the flesh have suffered death, how much more shall this be the case with any one who corrupts by wicked doctrine the faith of God, for which Jesus Christ was crucified! Such an one becoming defiled [in this way], shall go away into everlasting fire, and so shall every one that hearkens unto him.

The lights are either the rational powers or else those who have been enlightened by the Holy Spirit.

If doing something ourselves means that it is not also a work of God, then casting mountains into the sea would not be a work of God, since Matthew [17:20] and Luke [17:6] both say that this can be done by the power of faith.

You should hope for this perseverance in obedience to the Father of lights, from whom descends every good and perfect gift, and ask for it every day in your prayers, and in so doing have confidence that you are not strangers to the predestination of God's people, for he allows you to do even this.

Man's merit is a free gift, and no one deserves to receive anything from the Father of lights, from whom every good gift comes down, except by receiving what he does not deserve.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights. After he has taught that the vices by which we are tempted do not come from God to us, but arise from ourselves, he shows on the contrary that whatever good we do, we receive this by the gift of God. Hence he calls Him the Father of lights, whom he knows to be the author of spiritual gifts. To which also agrees the saying of the Apostle Paul: "For what do you have that you did not receive?" (1 Cor. IV).

With whom there is no variability or shadow of turning. Because in God's nature there is no changeability, nor does His light, as the light of this world, suffer any shadow of turning, it is clear that He sends us gifts of light alone, and does not also send us the darkness of errors.

The spices of this second ointment, on the contrary, are not produced on our earth at all, we seek to gain them for ourselves from afar. I mean that all that is good, everything that is perfect, is given us from above; it comes down from the Father of all light. For this ointment is made from the gifts of God bestowed on the human race. Happy the man who makes it his business to gather these carefully for himself and keep them in mind with due thanksgiving. When they shall have been pounded and refined in the heart's receptacle with the pestle of frequent meditation, all of them fused together in the fire of holy desire, and finally enriched with the oil of gladness, you will have an ointment more excellent than the former, and far more precious.

Concerning grace, therefore, insofar as it is a gift divinely given, the following must be held: that it is a gift which is immediately given and infused by God. For indeed, with it and in it the Holy Spirit is given, who is the uncreated gift, the best and perfect gift, which descends from the Father of lights through the incarnate Word.

The origin of Scripture is not through human investigation, but through divine revelation, which flows from the Father of lights, from whom all paternity in heaven and on earth is named. And so that we may arrive at the fruit and goal of Scripture by a right progress, we must begin from the beginning, that is, that with pure faith we approach the Father of lights, bending the knees of our heart, so that He Himself through His Son in the Holy Spirit may give us true knowledge of Jesus Christ and with that knowledge love of Him.

If we consider the origin of grace, I ask what is the original principle of grace. It is certain that grace is the best gift and the perfect gift, descending from above from the Father of lights. I set forth the universal affirmative major premise thus: "Every best gift and every perfect gift is from above, descending from the Father of lights, with whom there is no change nor shadow of alteration:" but grace is the best gift and the perfect gift: therefore it descends from above from the Father of lights.

As to the origin of grace I said that grace is nothing other than "an excellent gift and a perfect endowment, descending from the Father of lights" through the Word incarnate, through the Word crucified, and through the Word inspired. And that Word leads us back to the highest principle. And from this the following description of grace is given: that grace is the best endowment and the perfect gift, descending from the Father of lights, healing from evil, strengthening in good, and consummating in glory.

Wisdom is light: light, I say, "descending from above from the Father of lights, from whom is every best gift and every perfect gift." This light descends to illuminate our cognitive power, to gladden our affective power, and to strengthen our operative power. It descends from the most high God into the intellect, from the intellect into the affection, and even to the lowest, namely operation.

Concerning wisdom, four points are to be noted: its origin, its dwelling, its door, and its beauty. As to the origin, it was said that wisdom was a light "coming down from the Father of Lights" within the soul, and that by radiating through it, made it in the form of God, and the house of God. This descending light makes the intellective power beautiful, the affective power delightful, and the operative power strong.

He is called the Father of the age to come, for He Himself is the Principle of those influences by which we will live in the future. As James writes: "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights." And later: "Of His own will He has begotten us by the word of truth, that we might be, as it were, the first-fruits of His creatures." We are now the beginning of creatures, but then we shall be creatures in full.

It is good to have the sign of Zabulon, which is "a dwelling of fortitude," which implies the first stability. "Because Thou, O Lord, art my hope." Hence, "the name of the Lord is a strong tower; the just man runs to it and is safe." He alone is at peace who fixes himself upon that "with which there is no change, no shadow of alteration." Hence, "in Thee, O Lord, have I hoped, let me never be confounded."

Every best gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, James in the first chapter of his Epistle. In this word is touched the origin of every illumination, and together with this is intimated the generous emanation of manifold light from that fontal light. Although, however, every illumination of knowledge is internal, we can nevertheless reasonably distinguish, so that we may say that there is a light that is exterior, namely the light of mechanical art; a light that is inferior, namely the light of sensitive knowledge; a light that is interior, namely the light of philosophical knowledge; a light that is superior, namely the light of grace and Sacred Scripture. The first light illuminates with respect to artificial form, the second with respect to natural form, the third with respect to intellectual truth, the fourth and last with respect to salvific truth.

In the beginning I call upon the first principle, from whom all illuminations descend as from the Father of lights, from whom is every good gift and every perfect gift, namely the eternal Father, through his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, that by the intercession of the most holy Virgin Mary, mother of the same God and our Lord Jesus Christ, and of blessed Francis, our leader and father, he may give the enlightened eyes of our mind to direct our feet in the way of that peace which surpasses all understanding; which peace our Lord Jesus Christ proclaimed and gave.

I do believe that God is the Father of lights—natural lights as well as spiritual lights (James i. 17). That is, God is not interested only in Christian writers as such. He is concerned with all kinds of writing. In the same way a sacred calling is not limited to ecclesiastical functions. The man who is weeding a field of turnips is also serving God.

Yet you were not—or so it seemed to me—telling me that "Nature", or "the beauties of Nature", manifest the glory. No such abstraction as "Nature" comes into it. I was learning the far more secret doctrine that _pleasures_ are shafts of the glory as it strikes our sensibility. As it impinges on our will or our understanding, we give it different names—goodness or truth or the like. But its flash upon our senses and mood is pleasure.

But aren't there bad, unlawful pleasures? Certainly there are. But in calling them "bad pleasures" I take it we are using a kind of shorthand. We mean "pleasures snatched by unlawful acts." It is the stealing of the apple that is bad, not the sweetness. The sweetness is still a beam from the glory. That does not palliate the stealing. It makes it worse. There is sacrilege in the theft. We have abused a holy thing.

...Gratitude exclaims, very properly: "How good of God to give me this." Adoration says: "What must be the quality of that Being whose far-off and momentary coruscations are like this!" One's mind runs back up the sunbeam to the sun.

To be bad, he must exist and have intelligence and will. But existence, intelligence and will are in themselves good. Therefore he must be getting them from the Good Power: even to be bad he must borrow or steal from his opponent.

You cannot expect God to look at Dick's placid temper and friendly disposition exactly as we do. They result from natural causes which God Himself creates. Being merely temperamental, they will all disappear if Dick's digestion alters. The niceness, in fact, is God's gift to Dick, not Dick's gift to God. In the same way, God has allowed natural causes, working in a world spoiled by centuries of sin, to produce in Miss Bates the narrow mind and jangled nerves which account for most of her nastiness. He intends, in His own good time, to set that part of her right. But that is not, for God, the critical part of the business.

James calls God the Father of intelligent lights, that is to say, the illuminator of all rational beings, from whom, as the giver of these things, the divine gifts come to human beings. These gifts, James says, are the very best, complete and without defect, undoubtedly perfect. But as there are some people who argue from this that only the good things in life come from God, and not things which are regarded as bad or harmful, we have to recall such passages as "he brought evil on them," "Evil came down from God onto the gates of Jerusalem" and so on. From these and other similar examples it is clear that bad things as well as good may come about through God's judgment.

For changeableness itself is a shadow, which if it altered the light by any changes, would as it were obscure it. But because in God changeableness entereth not, "no shadow of changing" intercepts His Light.

God never changes or transforms himself into other forms, lest by changing he should somehow appear to be mortal. For the modification implied in change from one thing to another involves a share in death of some sort. Therefore there is never any addition of parts or of glory in him, lest anything should seem to have been wanting to the perfect one in the first place. Nor can there be any diminution in him, for that would imply some degree of mortality in him.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no change or shadow due to change. In His destined will, He has begotten us by the Word of Truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of His creatures. "is from above, from the Father of lights." Since those things that come from us do not have perfection, but rather much imperfection, nor do they illuminate the soul, think what perfection they will have who acquire it after a joyful journey through life, and with much effort hardly cleanse the ugliness contracted from birth, and then reach divine splendor. "With whom there is no change." For He Himself cries out through the prophet: "I am and I do not change." (Mal. 3:6) But what James says: "shadow due to change," that is, not even doubt or any shadow of doubt. "In His destined will." He said destined will, silencing those who foolishly assert that the world was produced by chance. For since James said above: with whom there is no change, and from this he shows that God is unchanging, he adds: "In His destined will, He has begotten us." For if we are born, it is clear that we are also changed. For how could that which proceeds from non-being to being through change be unchangeable? Then, because James said: He has begotten us, lest anyone suspect that He has begotten the Son in the same way as us, and that He was born as a Son together with us, he adds: "By the Word of Truth." For all things, according to blessed John, were made through the Son. (John 1:3) Therefore, if progress has happened to us through the Word of Truth, who have our being from the Word, we are not begotten together with him from whom we were made. "we should be a kind of first fruits." That is, the first and most honored. But κτίσματα means the visible creature itself.

The soul gradually ascends to the heavens after the resurrection. It does not reach the highest point immediately but goes through many stages during which it is progressively enlightened by the light of Wisdom, until it arrives at the Father of lights himself.

Hear what God says: "I am, I am and I do not change." He remains always firm and unchanging in his being, and those who have been formed by the gospel and who have been transformed by his commands through the gift and transformation which comes from above, are called to persevere in these precepts as much as their strength permits and not to be swept away by the times in which we live. Therefore Paul also warned people, saying: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may prove what the good and acceptable and perfect will of God is."

Suppose we had told you that we had freely received grace from the Father of lights, from whom comes every good and perfect gift, but that we do not care for you to receive it also. If so, we would then have deserved to become an object of abhorrence on the part of God and of yourselves. But instead we present to you the truth from Holy Scripture and from experience and show you the royal way.

By the Father of lights understand God, and by lights either the angelic powers or people illumined by the Holy Spirit.

With the God of lights there is no variation, for He Himself proclaims through the prophet: "For I am the Lord, I do not change" (Mal. 3:6), and the expression "shadow of turning" means that in God one cannot even conceive of any change.

The birth here applies in the first instance to the Son and then by extension to the creatures. For to him belong truth and consubstantiality with God, whereas to the creatures belong honor and inheritance. The fact that the same name is used does not mean that the same honor is given, nor should things which are said by extension be taken to mean that they apply in the first instance as well. By "first fruits" James means that we are the first and most highly honored. For by "creatures" he means the visible creation, of which humanity is the most highly honored part.

Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth. And the Lord in the Gospel: "You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you" (John XV). And in the prophet Hosea: "I will love them freely" (Hosea XIV). Therefore, what he had said, that every good and every perfect gift comes from God, he confirms by adding consequently, that not by our merits, but by the benefit of His will, through the water of regeneration, He has transformed us from children of darkness into children of light.

That we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. Lest we imagine that by saying, "He begot us," we become what He is, this demonstrates that a certain preeminence is granted to us in creation by this adoption. Indeed, some have translated the verses as follows: "Of His own will He begot us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures." That is, that we should be better than the other creatures we see. For the law commanded to consecrate the firstfruits of crops or animals to the Lord, and the firstfruits of gold and silver were to be offered for the work of the tabernacle, which means the best of the metals. And of the ancient people of God, the prophet Jeremiah said: "Israel is holy to the Lord, the firstfruits of His harvest" (Jer. II).

It is said in the Epistle of James: "Of his own will he begot us by the Word of truth, that we might be a certain firstfruits of his creatures." Through the Word incarnate there descends to us an abundance of graces.

He is called the Father of the age to come, for He Himself is the Principle of those influences by which we will live in the future. As James writes: "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights." And later: "Of His own will He has begotten us by the word of truth, that we might be, as it were, the first-fruits of His creatures." We are now the beginning of creatures, but then we shall be creatures in full.

Just as the heavenly powers rule over the angelic creatures, so we human beings rule over the lower creation.

He said "of His own will" because there are people who, by the instigation of the devil, reason that the world came together as if by chance. Above he said: "with whom there is no variation," and thereby showed that the Divinity is unchangeable; now he adds: "of His own will He brought us forth." If we came into being, then it is evident that we are not unchangeable, for is it possible that what came from non-being into being through change should be unchangeable?

And lest anyone, on account of the word "brought forth," should think that God begot the Son in the same way as us, the apostle added: "by the word of truth," for according to the words of John the Theologian: "all things were made through Him" (John 1:3), that is, through the Word of truth; therefore, if we came into being through the Word, we are not of the same nature as Him from Whom we derive our being. The words "a kind of firstfruits" signify preeminence and the highest dignity, and by "creatures" he means the visible creation.

Truth is more safely heard than preached. For when it is heard, lowliness is preserved, but when it is preached some bit of boastfulness may steal in almost unawares, and this brings corruption.

But let every man be quick to listen, but slow to speak. Hence, he instructs the listener with moral precepts. And rightly first admonishes one to adapt an ear as quickly as possible to the teacher, but slowly to open the mouth to teach, for it is foolish for anyone to desire to preach to others what he himself has not learned. Therefore, whoever loves wisdom should first, as he previously admonished, ask for it from God. Then, as a humble listener, let him seek a teacher of truth. And in conducting himself, let him most cautiously restrain his tongue not only from idle talk but also from proclaiming the very truth he has recently learned. Hence, Solomon, writing about the distance of times, says: "A time to keep silence, and a time to speak" (Eccles. 3). Thus, the Pythagoreans, equipped with the teaching of natural science, command their listeners to be silent for five years and only then permit them to preach. For it is safer for truth to be heard than to be preached. Because when it is heard, humility is preserved; but when it is preached, it is scarcely that some amount of boasting does not creep upon any of the men. Hence, Jeremiah, describing the life of a well-instructed youth, counts the modesty of silence among the foremost studies of virtues. "It is good for a man," he says, "that he bear the yoke in his youth. Let him sit alone and be silent" (Lamentations 3).

And slow to anger. Because the maturity of wisdom is only perceived with a tranquil mind. For it is written, anger rests in the bosom of fools (Eccles. VII). However, it does not so much alter the speed of anger, as to approve its slowness, but rather admonishes this, that even in the hour of perturbation and quarrels, let us beware lest anger creeps upon us; or if it has crept upon us, let us restrain its impulse within the confines of the mouth, and after the hour of crisis has passed, let us more freely purify it from our heart over time. Or certainly, he commanded us to be slow to anger, so that we do not turn the serenity of our countenance into austerity for any reasons, but only for certain reasons. For example, if we see that those near us, especially those entrusted to us, cannot be corrected otherwise, let us then exhibit the severity of the word or even of stricter judgment, while maintaining as much as human nature allows, the serene state of our mind. For (as I believe) Phinehas, Samuel, Elijah, and Peter were slow to anger, and yet they punished the sinners, whether by sword or by word. But Moses, though he was a very meek man, went out from Pharaoh whom he saw as incorrigible, very angry, and threatened him with punishment, which he also carried out in deed.

Men are not angered by mere misfortune but by misfortune conceived as injury. And the sense of injury depends on the feeling that a legitimate claim has been denied. The more claims on life, therefore, that your patient can be induced to make, the more often he will feel injured and, as a result, ill-tempered. Now you will have noticed that nothing throws him into a passion so easily as to find a tract of time which he reckoned on having at his own disposal unexpectedly taken from him. It is the unexpected visitor (when he looked forward to a quiet evening), or the friend's talkative wife (turning up when he looked forward to a tete-a-tete with the friend), that throw him out of gear. Now he is not yet so uncharitable or slothful that these small demands on his courtesy are in themselves too much for it. They anger him because he regards his time as his own and feels that it is being stolen. You must therefore zealously guard in his mind the curious assumption, "My time is my own". Let him have the feeling that he starts each day as the lawful possessor of twenty-four hours. Let him feel as a grievous tax that portion of this property which he has to make over to his employers, and as a generous donation that further portion which he allows to religious duties. But what he must never be permitted to doubt is that the total from which these deductions have been made was, in some mysterious sense, his own personal birthright.

Some brothers from Scetis wanted to visit Antony, and set out in a ship to go there. On board they met an old man who also wanted to go to Antony, but he did not belong to their party. During the voyage they talked about the sayings of the fathers, and the Scriptures, and then the manual work that they did, but the old man said nothing at all. When they came to the landing-place, they realized that the old man also was going to see Antony. When they arrived, Antony said to them, 'You found good company on your journey in this old man.' He said to the old man, 'You found good companions in these brothers.' The old man said, 'Yes, they are good, but their house has no door. Anyone who wants to goes into the stable and steals the donkey.' He said this because they had said the first thing that came into their heads.

They said of Agatho that for three years he kept a stone in his mouth in order to teach himself silence.

Arsenius always used to say this, 'Why, words, did I let you get out? I have often been sorry that I have spoken, never that I have been silent.'

Macarius said also, 'If you are stirred to anger when you want to reprove someone, you are gratifying your own passions. Do not lose yourself in order to save another.'

[Hyperichius] also said, 'The monk who cannot control his tongue when he is angry, will not control his passions at other times.'

Therefore, my beloved brothers, let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. What James says is not referred to mere hearing, but to vigorous action in work and to the one who, after hearing, proceeds to perform what he has heard. For he knows that he who listens with interest to what is said will also show himself prepared for their performance: just as, on the other hand, he who is affected by slowness in procrastinating in something, will be completely separated from all effort at work by being distracted. Therefore, in the doctrine of divine things, he prescribes speed, but in those things which have a dangerous administration, slowness. But those are speaking and being angry. For both thoughtless speech and uncontrolled anger never know how to end in good. Because of which a certain divine man once said [Xenocrates]: He often regretted having spoken, but never having remained silent. Again, that blessed David says: "Be angry and do not sin," (Ps. 4:5) that is, lest by being easily angry, you also incite the fury which anger suggests. These things are also similar to what is said here. Indeed, slowness in speaking and slow in becoming angry, preserved by hesitation in these matters, lead to what is decent and right: and either completely dissolve the impulse around these things through deliberate consideration, or teach a suitable way to respond to the occurrences that arise in their course, especially regarding anger; which, if it is induced irrationally, deprives divine justice. And therefore, James adds this reason: For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. For if righteousness is a habit in the soul which divides each according to his dignity, but anger, as he says, destroys even the wise, how could this very thing which so darkens the mind with passionate affection as to destroy even the wise, constitute that which divides each according to his dignity? "Slow to anger." He wants slowness to be exercised in us in two ways, for example in speaking and in becoming angry. For he knows that hesitation produces abstinence from committing an action.

One must be swift to hear, not mere hearing, but active hearing that stirs one to put what is heard into practice, for it is well known that whoever listens diligently and attentively will also be ready to fulfill what is heard, while whoever, on the contrary, is slow to apply himself to something and puts it off may afterward abandon the undertaking altogether. Therefore, concerning the study of Divine matters the apostle enjoins swiftness, but concerning those things whose performance is fraught with danger, slowness. Such are words and wrath. For talkativeness in anger does not end well. Therefore a certain God-inspired man often repented of having spoken, but never repented of having kept silent. So too the blessed David commands: "Be angry, and do not sin" (Ps. 4:5), that is, do not be quick to anger and do not fall from anger into fury. The present commandment concerning words and wrath is similar to this, especially concerning wrath, which, when allowed to reach unreason, deprives one of the righteousness of God.

For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. The meaning is clear, because whoever rashly subjects himself to the sin of anger, even if he appears just to men, is not yet perfectly just in the divine judgment. But it can be understood more profoundly, because it is said of the Lord: "But you, Lord of hosts, judge with tranquility" (Wisdom XII). Any human judge who judges a delinquent with a disturbed mind, even if he judges justly, cannot imitate the justice of divine judgment, into which disturbance does not enter.

Wrath and pardon are both, as applied to God, analogies; but they belong together to the same circle of analogy—the circle of life, and love, and deeply personal relationships. All the liberalising and "civilising" analogies only lead us astray. Turn God's wrath into mere enlightened disapproval, and you also turn His love into mere humanitarianism. The "consuming fire" and the "perfect beauty" both vanish. We have, instead, a judicious headmistress or a conscientious magistrate. It comes of being high-minded.

I know that "the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God." That is not because wrath is wrath but because man is (fallen) man.

For whereas the agitated mind works up to harshness the decision of its reasoning faculty, all that rage suggests, it accounts to be right.

Righteousness is a property of the soul that renders to each his due, and: "wrath destroys even the prudent" (Prov. 15:1). How then can it, darkening the mind in its passionate excess, constitute the virtue that judiciously renders to each his due? Note also that the apostle did not simply speak of one who "does not produce the righteousness of God," but of one who exerts himself in what is destructive to himself. That this is his thought is evident from the expression: "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly" (Ps. 1:1), for the addition of the definite article shows that the word "man" means one who has an inclination toward one thing or another, toward good or toward evil. One should also note that the apostle did not simply say "does," but with a prefix, in the sense of "accomplishes fully." This means that wrath is not entirely alien to righteousness, for in wrath one can discern some benefit, since in it, as in every movement of the soul, in the absence of what is praiseworthy, one can find not only what is bad but also something useful.

This refers to the sin which corrupts a man, which dwells in us as the cause of evil. But outside us there is another kind of evil which creeps up on us unawares and is the work of demons who are opposed to us.

For this reason, putting away all filthiness and abundance of malice, in meekness you have received the implanted word. First, he orders both the body and the mind to be cleansed from vices, so that they may be worthy to receive the word of salvation. For he who does not first turn away from evil cannot do good. Indeed, he designates all impurity of both flesh and soul. But malice properly refers to the depravity of the inner man. "Receive," he says, "the implanted word," that is, the word which we impose on your hearts by preaching, you must receive by learning. Or certainly, it should be understood this way: the word which was implanted in you on the day of redemption, when God voluntarily begot you, now receive it more perfectly, even fulfilling it with works, which you already hold in ministry.

Which can save your souls. Even if you suffer temptations in body, or are consumed by death from the unfaithful.

Filthiness and wickedness arise out of anger.

For I myself, when I discovered the wicked disguise which the evil spirits had thrown around the divine doctrines of the Christians, to turn aside others from joining them, laughed both at those who framed these falsehoods, and at the disguise itself, and at popular opinion; and I confess that I both boast and with all my strength strive to be found a Christian; not because the teachings of Plato are different from those of Christ, but because they are not in all respects similar, as neither are those of the others, Stoics, and poets, and historians. For each man spoke well in proportion to the share he had of the spermatic word, seeing what was related to it. But they who contradict themselves on the more important points appear not to have possessed the heavenly wisdom, and the knowledge which cannot be spoken against. Whatever things were rightly said among all men, are the property of us Christians. For next to God, we worship and love the Word who is from the unbegotten and ineffable God, since also He became man for our sakes, that becoming a partaker of our sufferings, He might also bring us healing. For all the writers were able to see realities darkly through the sowing of the implanted word that was in them. For the seed and imitation impacted according to capacity is one thing, and quite another is the thing itself, of which there is the participation and imitation according to the grace which is from Him.

Therefore, putting away all filthiness and excess of wickedness, receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. James also adds to impurity the excess of nastiness, wishing to demonstrate this: Although someone frequently falls into some impurity, he should quickly depart from it, and not by remaining and lingering in it, through habit do they make the evil stronger and more difficult to cleanse: since those things are born which continually and abundantly find their way into us, to reduce to nature that which is done, or to acquire the habit of nature itself. "with meekness." For discipline is conveyed through meekness and not through uproar and disturbance. "implanted word." It is called implanted word that which better distinguishes the good from the bad: by which we are also said to be natural.

Having said "filthiness," the apostle adds: "overflow of wickedness," wishing to urge that even if anyone falls frequently into filthiness, he should quickly desist from it, lest by remaining in it he allow evil to intensify through habit, for what we do frequently and in abundance usually becomes, as it were, nature, acquiring the property of nature. "With meekness," the apostle said, having in mind the teaching "word," which is not received amid noise and agitation; and by "implanted" he means that word by which we came into the world as rational beings capable of distinguishing good from evil.

In other words, be mindful of your own salvation!

James did not say "of the words" but "of the Word," in spite of the fact that there are so many words from the Holy Scriptures which are venerated in the church.

Neither I nor any other preacher can see into your hearts … but God is looking, for nothing can be hidden from him.… Do not deceive yourselves by coming eagerly to hear the Word and then failing to do it. If it is a good thing to hear, it is a much better thing to do. If you do not hear, you cannot do, and therefore you will build nothing. But if you hear and do not do, then what you are building will be a ruin.

Be however doers of the word, and not hearers only, etc. Thus also Paul about the observers of the law. "Not the hearers," he says, "of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified" (Rom. II). And in the Apocalypse John, having said: "Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy of this book," immediately added: "And keep those things which are written therein" (Apoc. I).

The second benefit of keeping the commandments of God is the understanding of the sacred Scriptures. Gregory says that "by hearing God's precepts the disciples were not illuminated, but by doing them they were illuminated"; because not the hearers of the law only, but the doers shall be justified. On account of this James says in his canonical epistle: "Be doers of the word of God and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves: because if anyone is a hearer of the word of God only and not a doer, he shall be compared to a man considering the countenance of his birth in a mirror." If a man sees his own face ten times in a mirror, he still will not know it well; but if he sees the face of another man outside of a mirror, he knows it well: and this is because of the strong impression of the species upon the organ of sight along a straight line, but in a mirror there is no true intuition. Similarly, when a man hears the word of God, it seems to him that he understands it well, but it immediately departs; but when he puts it to experience by working well, then he understands it.

The great thing is to prevent his doing anything. As long as he does not convert it into action, it does not matter how much he thinks about this new repentance. Let the little brute wallow in it. Let him, if he has any bent that way, write a book about it; that is often an excellent way of sterilising the seeds which the Enemy plants in a human soul. Let him do anything but act. No amount of piety in his imagination and affections will harm us if we can keep it out of his will. As one of the humans has said, active habits are strengthened by repetition but passive ones are weakened. The more often he feels without acting, the less he will be able ever to act, and, in the long run, the less he will be able to feel,

Another brother spoke with the same Theodore, and he began to talk about matters of which he had no experience. Theodore said to him, 'You've not yet found a ship to sail in, nor put your luggage aboard, nor put out to sea, and you're already acting as if you were in the city which you mean to reach. If you make some attempt to do the things you are discussing, then you can talk about them with understanding.'

Three brothers once came to a hermit in Scetis. One of them said to him, 'Abba, I have memorized the Old and New Testaments.' But the hermit answered, 'And you have filled the air with words.' The second said to him, 'I have written out the Old and New Testaments with my own hand.' But the hermit said, 'And you have filled the window-ledge with manuscripts.' The third said, 'The grass is growing up my chimney.' But the hermit answered, 'And you have driven away hospitality.'

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Since James knows that some who listen to the word with diligence often extinguish their fervor even at the very time they are listening, therefore, he now adds this, commanding it in effect: Do not show diligence only in hearing, but much more in doing.

We are therefore bound by the word of our Teacher not to be constant listeners only to the Word of God but also constant doers. For the man who, though listening not, doeth, is better than the man who is constant in listening and empty of works.

"Deceiving yourselves" means deluding yourselves, counting your own salvation as nothing.

If someone is a hearer of the word only and does not confirm it by his deeds, he will lose the word as well, for it will slip through his fingers and disappear.

The second benefit of keeping the commandments of God is the understanding of the sacred Scriptures. Gregory says that "by hearing God's precepts the disciples were not illuminated, but by doing them they were illuminated"; because not the hearers of the law only, but the doers shall be justified. On account of this James says in his canonical epistle: "Be doers of the word of God and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves: because if anyone is a hearer of the word of God only and not a doer, he shall be compared to a man considering the countenance of his birth in a mirror." If a man sees his own face ten times in a mirror, he still will not know it well; but if he sees the face of another man outside of a mirror, he knows it well: and this is because of the strong impression of the species upon the organ of sight along a straight line, but in a mirror there is no true intuition. Similarly, when a man hears the word of God, it seems to him that he understands it well, but it immediately departs; but when he puts it to experience by working well, then he understands it.

There are two kinds of mirrors—large and small. In a small mirror you see small things—this is the Old Testament, which leads no one to perfection. But in a big mirror you see great things—this is the New Testament, because in it the fullness of perfection is seen.

For if a man be a hearer of the word, and not a doer: he shall be compared to a man beholding his natural face in a mirror. For he saw himself, and went his way, and immediately forgot what manner of a man he was. "deceiving yourselves." That is, seducing. Furthermore, James says that the natural face is to know oneself through the law. Therefore, with "face," he added "natural." For by saying through the law what kind of things we have become, we consider that such things are made by the spiritual law to perfect us through the washing of regeneration. May we not, by remaining in such consideration through action, forget the grace and gift of God. For he who exposes himself to wicked actions does not even remember that he has been favored by God. For if he had remembered that he had been adopted as a son of God and justified and sanctified, which are spiritual gifts, he would never have given himself over to works that repel grace. "in a mirror." From this common mirror James speaks figuratively for an intellectual mirror, without going into detail: for example, he might say in this way: If anyone hears the discourse and does not express it in actions, he is like a man looking at the face of his action in a mirror. For just as he considered himself and went away, immediately forgetting what he was like: so also this one who, through the law of Moses, considered for what purpose he had been made, namely that he had been made for the glory of God and in the image of the Creator God, after he had considered, expressed none of those things that had been considered in actions, but was inclined to go back to the same way he as before. It is not therefore a matter of how it should be used. But James, the disciple of the Lord, does not do this vainly or rashly, but speaks everything briefly, as if he were a disciple of the abbreviated word, and at the same time gathering and restraining the listener, lest he should listen to these things idly.

"The natural face" means the knowledge of oneself through the law. This is why to the word "face" the apostle added the word "natural," for through the law we learn what we were when we came into the world, and we understand into what state the spiritual law transforms us through the washing of regeneration. Then, not abiding in such contemplation through action, we forget the spiritual gift received, for whoever gives himself over to evil deeds does not remember how he has been blessed by God, for if he remembered that he was born from above, justified, and numbered among the sons of God, he would not give himself over to deeds that reject the grace bestowed. From an ordinary mirror the apostle transitions to a spiritual mirror, without drawing out the lesson from the briefly presented example. He ought to have said this: "Whoever hears the law and does not fulfill it is like a man looking at his face in a mirror. Just as this man looked at himself, went away, and immediately forgot what he looked like, so also the other, having discerned from the Mosaic law the purpose for which he was created — namely, for the glory of God and for a life in the image of the God who created him — fulfilled nothing of what he saw, but acted exactly like the one who looked in the mirror: he should have made use of what he saw, but like that man, he did not make use of it." And the apostle does not act without purpose in this (he leaves something unsaid): he focuses the listener and strains him to hear this not casually, for it is not such listeners who are blessed, but those who join action to hearing. The Pharisees too were hearers, but since they were not doers, they are not blessed.

We learn what God has made us like, having given us new birth by the washing of regeneration. But if we do not remember what we have seen and apply it in our deeds, then we shall lose the grace which has been given to us. But the one who remembers that he has been born again from on high, that he has been justified, and sanctified and counted among the children of God, will not give himself over to works which reject that grace.

To hearing the apostle added doing, because for the salvation of the soul the hearing of the law alone is not sufficient, but hearing must be confirmed by fulfillment.

The law of liberty is one of love, not fear. Paul too was no longer terrified by the law of God as a slave would be but was delighted with it, even though he saw another law in his members which was at war against the law of his mind.

But he who has looked into the perfect law of liberty and has continued in it. By the perfect law of liberty, he means the grace of the Gospel. For the law brought nothing to perfection (Hebr. VII). And elsewhere: "For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption of sons" (Rom. VIII). And again: "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty" (II Cor. III). And the Lord Himself: "If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed" (John VIII).

Not being a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. Not by the futile hearing of the word, but by the execution of the work is happiness prepared. Thus also the Lord speaking to the disciples: "If you know these things," He says, "blessed are you if you do them" (John XIII).

A fixed creed is absolutely indispensable to freedom. For while men are and should be various, there must be some communication between them if they are to get any pleasure out of their variety. And an intellectual formula is the only thing that can create a communication that does not depend on mere blood, class, or capricious sympathy. If we all start with the agreement that the sun and moon exist, we can talk about our different visions of them. The strong-eyed man can boast that he sees the sun as a perfect circle. The shortsighted man may say (or if he is an impressionist, boast) that he sees the moon as a silver blur. The colour-blind man may rejoice in the fairy-trick which enables him to live under a green sun and a blue moon. But if once it be held that there is nothing but a silver blur in one man's eye or a bright circle (like a monocle) in the other man's, then neither is free, for each is shut up in the cell of a separate universe.

But, indeed, an even worse fate, practically considered, follows from the denial of the original intellectual formula. Not only does the individual become narrow, but he spreads narrowness across the world like a cloud; he causes narrowness to increase and multiply like a weed. For what happens is this: that all the shortsighted people come together and build a city called Myopia, where they take short-sightedness for granted and paint short-sighted pictures and pursue very short-sighted policies. Meanwhile all the men who can stare at the sun get together on Salisbury Plain and do nothing but stare at the sun; and all the men who see a blue moon band themselves together and assert the blue moon, not once in a blue moon, but incessantly. So that instead of a small and varied group, you have enormous monotonous groups. Instead of the liberty of dogma, you have the tyranny of taste.

A charter is the expression of an idea still true and then almost universal: that authority is necessary for nothing so much as for the granting of liberties. Like everything mediæval, it ramified back to a root in religion; and was a sort of small copy of the Christian idea of man's creation. Man was free, not because there was no God, but because it needed a God to set him free. By authority he was free. By authority the craftsmen of the guilds were free. Many other great philosophers took and take the other view: the Lucretian pagans, the Moslem fatalists, the modern monists and determinists, all roughly confine themselves to saying that God gave man a law. The mediæval Christian insisted that God gave man a charter. Modern feeling may not sympathise with its list of liberties, which included the liberty to be damned; but that has nothing to do with the fact that it was a gift of liberties and not of laws. This was mirrored, however dimly, in the whole system. There was a great deal of gross inequality; and in other aspects absolute equality was taken for granted. But the point is that equality and inequality were ranks--or rights. There were not only things one was forbidden to do; but things one was forbidden to forbid. A man was not only definitely responsible, but definitely irresponsible. The holidays of his soul were immovable feasts. All a charter really meant lingers alive in that poetic phrase that calls the wind a "chartered" libertine.

Lie awake at night and hear the wind blowing; hear it knock at every man's door and shout down every man's chimney. Feel how it takes liberties with everything, having taken primary liberty for itself; feel that the wind is always a vagabond and sometimes almost a housebreaker. But remember that in the days when free men had charters, they held that the wind itself was wild by authority; and was only free because it had a father.

But he that has looked in the law of perfect liberty, and has remained in it, not made a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work: this man shall be blessed in his deed. "But he that has looked in." Consider what it says: Who has looked in, and not, Who entered. The spiritual law indeed has something magnificent and desirable everywhere, from which it also knows how to attract and render perfect, even from those in wrongful pursuit of it: and since it has perfection and lacks defect in all things, it leaves no one who has attained it in doubt regarding anything that is connected to it; and it persuades those who have even merely looked upon it to remain in it. "in the law of perfect." Because the Jews were exalted because of the observances of the law, and thought that by these they showed themselves the highest devotion towards God; and applying themselves to these alone, they claimed perfection for themselves, but towards other men, being moved by a proud and reproachful spirit, they erred. As is evident from the Pharisee, of whom it is written in the Gospel (Luke 18:10), and from those who were scornful against the Publican: repressing this fear, blessed James speaks of the things that are proposed. For indeed, by mentioning his works, which express speech through actions, where he proclaimed him blessed, he immediately corrects the evil that arises from many actions, and says: Do not think that you derive blessedness from the works of the law, as if mere action could render one acceptable before God: not at all; but he is blessed who both acts and is not affected by a scornful or inhumane spirit towards others of his kind. "of liberty." Where he had said the perfect Law, he added: of liberty, making liberty his official sign. For the law of Christ, freeing from the servitude of all fleshly things, such as the Sabbaths, circumcision, and ceremonies regarding other purifications, established a liberty and rest for those approaching it: and because of the freedom and sweetness that proceeds from this freedom, it also makes one attentive and liberates from oblivion, which corrupts all good things. For indeed, nothing persuades one to adhere to something as much as that which seems to offer rest from business and freedom. Moreover, he has also demonstrated this to be blessed. "a forgetful hearer." James linked forgetfulness to hearing, because hearing requires action, but no action follows forgetfulness: as if hearing were unessential, which has the ability of action.

The apostle said "who looks into," and not "who enters into," for the spiritual law, possessing everywhere preeminence and grandeur, knows how to attract even with the briefest reading of it.

To the words "the perfect law" he added "of liberty" to point out its distinguishing characteristic — freedom, for the law of Christ, having freed us from fleshly bondage, establishes the one who comes to Him in liberty, makes him more attentive through this freedom, and frees him from the forgetfulness that is harmful to everything good.

This rule is the bottom line of true religion.

Anger causes tongues to become unbridled and speech unguarded. Physical violence, acts of contempt, reviling, accusations, blows and other bad effects too numerous to recount are born of anger and indignation.

But if anyone thinks that he is religious, not restraining his tongue, but deceiving his heart, this person's religion is worthless. He had previously advised not only to hear the word of God but also to do it. Now he adds that even if someone seems to exercise the Lord's commands, which he has learned, in deeds, if he does not also restrain his tongue from slanders, lies, blasphemies, foolish talk, even from much speaking itself, and other things by which he usually sins, he boasts in vain about the righteousness of his works. Just as Paul, approving the sentence of a Gentile poet, says: 'Bad company ruins good morals' (I Cor. XV).

In the third place, a saint's life must be religious, closed as a vineyard wall. And so, it is good that a man restrain his taste, his tongue and his other senses: for "if anyone thinks himself to be religious, not restraining his tongue but deceiving his own heart, that man's religion is vain." Our life must not be given to discourse, but to tears.

And if any man think himself to be religious not controlling his tongue, but seducing his heart: this man's religion is useless. Religion pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their affliction: and to keep himself pure from the world. Religion (Θρησκεία) seems to have something more than faith (πίστεως). For the name itself promises knowledge of certain hidden things and the firmness of those things that are perceived by faith. Therefore, the blessed James also used this expression, saying: Religion, as if he had said: You think you know and precisely observe the secrets that are in the law. How can this happen when you do not know how to restrain your tongue, slandering your neighbor: and living proudly, you do not show mercy to any needy person: when the law neither receives the slanderer (Ps. 100:5) nor commands you to have mercy on your enemies, and even commands that you should be a help to the enemy occupied in lifting up what has fallen under the burden? (Ex. 23:5) If, therefore, you wish to be religious, do not show yourself to be religious from knowledge of the law, but from action, and that by showing mercy to your neighbor: for mercy towards your neighbor is a certain likeness to God. For he says: "Be merciful, just as your heavenly Father is merciful." (Luke 6:36) But mercy should not be with respect to persons: for neither does God distribute His benefits (Matt. 5:45) to this one or that one, but involves all with benefit, rich and poor, evil and good, without distinction. However, this is restraint, and not out of arrogance as if it were expressing a law through actions, deceiving one's own conscience: for this signifies the heart, as it is written: "A broken and humbled heart God will not despise." (Ps. 50:19) "Religion pure." Perhaps someone will say: If James is the teacher of the covenant which Christ established, how is it that he does not now repeal the things of the law, but rather exalts them, welcoming those who are engaged in its observance, and not rebuking or resisting them from the observance of the law? To that which we say, that in the manner of introducing, James rather now discusses with them, and lowers himself to their weakness, lest by immediately overturning the law from the beginning, he causes them to retreat, becoming weary of the novelty of the doctrines and leaning towards disbelief. However, addressing the matter more conveniently and yielding to the law, regarding those things in which he did not bring harm to the new covenant with the legalistic fallacies (for what harms the faith that is in Christ, such as the observance of sabbaths or fasting or abstaining from certain foods), and making them more attentive to his discourse, he gradually encourages them to indeed depart from the observances of the law, as if they were laborious and yet useless, and as if they were calling to servitude, not to the freedom that is in Christ. Therefore, having wisely used brief exchanges and alternations, when he found that they were no longer seriously bearing what was being said, he then presents those things that were suitable for Christians. "to keep himself pure from the world." By "world" here we must understand the popular and common crowd, which is corrupted by the desires of its own error.

According to the understanding of the Jews, the religious person is one who shows faithfulness in deeds, because such a person seems not to belong to the crowd. The Jews, fulfilling the observances prescribed by the law, thought highly of themselves, concentrated all piety toward God in these observances, and occupying themselves only with this, dreamed of acquiring blessedness through it, while treating others with great condemnation, as is evident from the Gospel parable of the boastful Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:10–14).

Restraining them from such an opinion, the apostle gives the present instruction. Having mentioned the doer of the work and called him blessed, he immediately corrects the evil that arises in many during the doing. He speaks as if to say: "You who boast of fulfilling the law, do not think to obtain blessedness for the fulfillment alone!" — for this is not pleasing to God, but pleasing to Him is the one who fulfills and at the same time is far from self-conceit and does not regard non-doers with condemnation.

"Deceives his own heart" — he stifles, as it were, and through self-conceit, as a keeper of the law, beguiles his own conscience, for "heart" here means the same as in the words: "a contrite and humble heart" (Ps. 51:19).

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this. Beautifully did he add "before God and the Father," because there are those who seem religious to men, while they are considered profane by God. Therefore, Solomon also says: 'There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death' (Prov. XIV).

To visit orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. Because he said that the doer of the work will be blessed in his act, now he says which deeds are most pleasing to God, namely mercy and innocence. For in that he commanded to visit orphans and widows in their distress, he suggests all that we must do mercifully towards our neighbors. How much this matters will be revealed at the time of judgment, where the Judge will say: 'As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me' (Matt. XXV). Furthermore, in that he commanded us to keep ourselves unspotted from this world, he shows all those things in which it is fitting to keep ourselves chaste. Among these are also those things which he had previously advised to observe, that we should be slow to speak and slow to anger.

Mr. Rudyard Kipling has asked in a celebrated epigram what they can know of England who know England only. It is a far deeper and sharper question to ask, "What can they know of England who know only the world?" for the world does not include England any more than it includes the Church. The moment we care for anything deeply, the world—that is, all the other miscellaneous interests—becomes our enemy. Christians showed it when they talked of keeping one's self "unspotted from the world;" but lovers talk of it just as much when they talk of the "world well lost." Astronomically speaking, I understand that England is situated on the world; similarly, I suppose that the Church was a part of the world, and even the lovers inhabitants of that orb. But they all felt a certain truth—the truth that the moment you love anything the world becomes your foe.

James calls God the Father because as far as he is concerned there is no other god who made the world (as the Marcionites and other heretics claim). What he says about widows has to be understood in the light of the fact that there were many who tried to rob them of their possessions, as it says in the Gospel.

We can become more like God if we are merciful and compassionate. If we do not do these things, we have nothing at all to our credit. God does not say that if we fast we shall be like him. Rather he wants us to be merciful, as he himself is. "I desire mercy," he says, "and not sacrifice."

Instead of lands, therefore, buy afflicted souls, according as each one is able, and visit widows and orphans, and do not overlook them; and spend your wealth and all your preparations, which ye received from the Lord, upon such lands and houses. For to this end did the Master make you rich, that you might perform these services unto Him.

Religion seems to imply something more than faith. The word promises knowledge of hidden things, firmness in what is contemplated by faith. For this reason the apostle used such a word in speaking of the religious person. He speaks as if to say: "You consider yourself a knower of the mysteries of the law and a precise keeper of it. How so? You think this, you who cannot bridle your tongue, who condemn your neighbor, who live arrogantly, and who show compassion to none of the poor! Meanwhile the law does not approve even of one who speaks evil, but commands that compassion be shown even to enemies. Therefore, if you wish to be religious, display your religion not in the reading of the law, but in the fulfilling of it, which consists especially in showing compassion to one's neighbor. For compassion toward one's neighbor is a kind of likening to God. 'Be merciful,' it is said, 'just as your Father also is merciful' (Luke 6:36). Only your mercy must be free from partiality, because God also bestows His benefits not upon certain persons exclusively, but: 'makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust'" (Matt. 5:45).

By "the world" here one should understand the common and base folk who corrupt themselves in their seductive desires.