Texts in Conversation
James says God cannot be tempted by evil and tempts no one. The Stoic philosopher Hierocles similarly teaches that the gods are never the cause of any evil, highlighting a similarity in Hellenistic Jewish, Christian, and Greek philosophy.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
James 1:13
New Testament
12 Happy is the one who endures testing because when he has proven to be genuine, he will receive the crown of life that God promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires.
Hierocles On the Gods
How One Should Behave toward the Gods
Classical
For as pestilence and drought, and besides these excessive rain, earthquakes, and every thing of this kind, are for the most part produced through certain other more physical causes, yet sometimes are effected by the gods, when the times are such that the iniquity of the multitude, publicly, and in common, requires to be punished; after the same manner, also, the gods sometimes afflict an individual with corporeal and external detriments, in order to punish him, and convert others to what is right. But to be persuaded that the gods are never the cause of any evil, contributes greatly, as it appears to me, to proper conduct towards the gods. For evils proceed from vice alone, but the gods are of themselves the causes of good, and of whatever is advantageous; while, in the meantime, we do not admit their beneficence, but surround ourselves with voluntary evils. Hence, on this occasion, it appears to me that it is well said by the poet: ———that mortals blame the gods,
Date: c. 120 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Search:
Notes and References
... The impression that James participates in a Greek, and particularly Platonic, discourse is reinforced by his depiction of the tension between God’s simplicity and the double-minded nature of human beings, in which he elaborates on God’s nature. God, who is fully remote from evil, is not the source of human temptation (James 1:13); rather, God is the source of what is good and perfect (James 1:17a). This simple goodness does not show any variation (James 1:17b): No one, when tempted, should say, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one. But one is tempted by one’s own desire. … It is exactly this view that we find expressed in Plato’s Republic: ‘Then there is no motive for God to deceive. None. So from every point of view the divine and the divinity are free from falsehood. By all means. Then God is altogether simple and true in deed and word.’ James thus shares with Plato the specific view that God is not the source of evil, seduction, and deception, but in his simplicity is thoroughly good and unchangeable ...
van Kooten, George
"The 'Two Inclinations' and the Double-Minded Human Condition in the Letter of James" in Patmore, Hector M., et al. (eds.) The Evil Inclination in Early Judaism and Christianity
(pp. 155-156) Cambridge University Press, 2021
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.