Chapter 1

Theophylact of Ohrid, Exposition of the Catholic Epistle of James — Chapter One

¹ Why these epistles are called catholic. These Epistles are called catholic: one of James, two of Peter, three of John, and one of Jude — as it were, encyclical letters. For the company of those disciples of the Lord does not address these Epistles to a single nation or city in particular — as the divine Paul writes, for instance, to the Romans or to the Corinthians — but to the faithful universally, that is, to the Jews in the dispersion, as Peter also does, or indeed to all Christians who live under the same faith.

² The Argument of the Catholic Epistle of James. Since James himself writes this letter to those who had been scattered abroad from the twelve tribes and had come to believe in our Lord Jesus Christ; and since he writes the Epistle in a didactic manner, teaching about the difference among temptations — which kind is from God, and which kind is from men’s own heart; and that faith must be shown not by word alone but also by work, and that it is not the hearers of the law but the doers of the law who are justified. Concerning the rich he gives charge that the rich should not be preferred above the poor in the churches, but should rather even be rebuked as proud. And at the end, having consoled those who are wronged, and exhorted them to be longsuffering until the coming of the Judge; and having taught about patience, and shown from Job the usefulness of patience, he gives charge to call for the elders to those who are sick, and to be diligent to turn back those who have gone astray unto the truth — for the reward of this from the Lord is the forgiveness of sins. And thus he brings the Epistle to its completion.

³ An Exposition of the chapter-headings of the Catholic Epistle of James.
1. Concerning patience, and unfeigned faith, and humility toward one’s neighbors; wherein also concerning the burning that is among you, and the passions that arise from it, that God is not the cause of it — for whatever good we have is from Him. Concerning gentleness, and purity, and good deeds shared with others unto blessedness, and concerning understanding and a due measure in speech. Concerning love toward each one, without respect of persons, according to the law. That a man is justified not from faith alone, nor from works alone, nor from each of these taken separately, but from both together. That the rash and disordered tongue puts to death the one who possesses it, which tongue it is necessary to master unto the good repute and glory of God.
2. Concerning good conduct, free of contention toward one another, arising out of vainglory over human wisdom.
3. Concerning divine wisdom.
4. And that out of slothfulness and love of pleasure arise strife, and disorder, and enmity toward God.
5. Concerning repentance unto salvation.
6. Concerning not judging one’s neighbor.
7. That it is not in man, but in God, that the steps of a man are directed.
8. Concerning the greed of the rich and their luxury in the world, and concerning the righteous judgment of God.
9. Concerning longsuffering and the patient endurance of sufferings, and concerning the truth.
10. Particular exhortations befitting each person, joined with faith. And that one must minister to the salvation of one’s neighbor.

⁴ Chapter One. James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are in the dispersion: greeting. Of God, that is, the Father; and of the Lord, that is, Jesus — so that, if he is equally the servant of the Father and of the Son, then the Son too is of equal honor with the Father, both according to essence and according to honor. And above every worldly dignity the apostles of the Lord adorn themselves with being the servants of Christ.[1]

⁵ Count it all joy, my brethren, when you fall into various temptations. The temptations that are according to God, and the sorrow they bring, these he knows to be both praiseworthy and worthy of joy; for they are an unbreakable bond and a growth in love and compunction. Whence this too has been said: My child, if you come forward to serve the Lord, prepare your soul for temptations. And Christ said: In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. For it is not possible, apart from contests — whether worldly ones or those that are according to God — to be counted worthy of crowns. And in his modesty he calls them brethren, not children. Temptations are an occasion of all joy to the earnest, because through them the proof of them is made manifest. For the proof leads on to a perfect work. But someone will say: If such is the work of temptations, how is it that Christ in the prayer teaches us to ask God that we not be led into temptation? We say, then, that temptations are of two kinds: some that take their beginning from ourselves, and others that are brought upon us from God for the sake of training and of public proclamation. And those that take their beginning from ourselves are also of two kinds: those that come through unreasoning boldness, which we also call rashness — which the Lord enjoins us to guard against, since though the spirit is willing, in the midst of the contests the willingness is quenched and ends not in good for those who employed it; and those brought on through sin, as destruction came upon the Sodomites. These temptations are to be fled with all one’s might by those who would live without sin; whereas those that come from God — as to Job, as to Abraham — are not only not to be fled, but, if possible, to be drawn to oneself through patience and thanksgiving, as worthy of public proclamation and of crowns. And he said various temptations because the temptations, as we have said, are partly from God and partly from ourselves.

⁶ Knowing that the proving of your faith works patience. Since the temptations are of two kinds, as we have noted, patience profits in either case: in the case of those from God, because here we obtain public proclamation, as did Abraham, as did Job; and in the case of those from ourselves, because, enduring them with thanksgiving, we bring this as a kind of counterweight for our sins. For he who acknowledges his own faults has laid in himself a beginning of salvation, and has conformed himself to the character of a righteous man, if indeed: A righteous man is his own accuser in the first plea.

⁷ But let patience have a perfect work. Observe that he did not speak of patience in a declarative way, that it has a perfect work, but in an imperative way, Let it have. For he is not announcing a virtue already laid down beforehand, but one now being worked out, which he lays down as law that it ought to come to be. That you may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing. The cause of the perfect work he says is wisdom. Since he knows that the proving of faith and of the patience that is in temptations is no achievement of ordinary men, but of those who are wise according to God, for this reason he spurs on to the asking of wisdom those who long to accomplish this very thing.

⁸ But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all simply and does not reproach; and it shall be given him. Spiritual wisdom, he means, not human wisdom. For he names it as the cause for us of the perfect work also. And this is the wisdom that is from above, by which, being empowered, we shall be able to do the good entire.

⁹ But let him ask in faith, doubting nothing. For if he believes, let him ask; but if he does not believe, let him not even ask, for he will receive nothing of what he asks. And the doubter is the one who asks with contempt. By common confession he is insolent, the one who doubts. For if you have not believed that He will bring your request to fulfillment, do not approach at all, lest you be found an accuser of Him who is able to do all things, having become double-souled against your own will. Therefore one must shun this so shameful a disease. For the doubter is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed about.

¹⁰ For let not that man think that he shall receive anything from the Lord. The doubter is the one who sets himself apart from a sure thing, and hesitates whether it shall be, or not. For this man will not even receive, since he becomes of two minds concerning the thing hoped for.

¹¹ A double-souled man, unstable in all his ways. Double-souled — that is, confounded, ill-furnished, unprofitable, self-opinionated, a hypocrite. By ways he means the movements of the soul, upon which hopes are suspended, whether good or not; just as David also said: You have foreseen my ways. In another sense: he calls a double-souled man the one who is unsteadied, who is firmly grounded neither toward the things to come nor securely toward the things present, but is carried about hither and thither, now clinging to the things to come, now to the things present. And such a man he likens both to a wave of the sea, which has no fixedness, and to the flower of the grass, which has no permanence, but withers when the sun has risen — wherefore he did not compare him to the grass, which is more lasting, but to the flower, displaying his short duration. And why is he called double-souled? Because he is directed with confidence neither toward the present life nor toward the life to come. For in Scripture the soul is called the life, as in this: All that a man has he will give for his soul. Put away from yourself double-mindedness, and do not at all be of two minds about asking from God, saying within yourself, How can I ask from the Lord and receive, having sinned so greatly against Him? Do not reckon thus, but confess out of your whole heart, and turn back to the Lord, and ask of Him without wavering; and you shall know His tender compassion, that He will by no means forsake you, but will fulfill the request of your soul. For God does not remember evil, and He has compassion upon His own works.[2]

¹² Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation. Since he knows humility to be the storehouse of all good things, and that without it none of the earnest things is accomplished, for this reason he adds, Let the lowly glory in his exaltation. For since he likens the doubter to a wave of the sea, which is lifted up, swollen by the winds, but is laid to rest sooner than it is raised; the doubter suffers likewise, who out of pride props his own requests upon none of the things that are needful. For this reason he adds, Let the lowly brother glory, saying something like this: He who wishes to ask for anything, let him first ask the things that are needful, in which he will not miss the things sought; and these are the kingdom of heaven and righteousness. Then let him persevere in asking for such things; let him not, having prayed for a little while, straightway withdraw (for this belongs to the boastful), but let him await the receiving, persevering in lowliness of soul.

¹³ But let the rich man glory in his lowliness, because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. For the sun rose with its burning heat, and withered the grass, and its flower fell. He likens riches to the flower of the grass, wishing to display its ephemeral nature.

¹⁴ And the comeliness of its appearance perished. He used face loosely; for this is said of man alone, but not of the other living creatures.

¹⁵ So also shall the rich man wither in his goings. By goings he means the courses of the present life.

¹⁶ Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been proved he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love Him. Since the temptations are of two kinds, as we have noted, patience profits in either case. Then, having called to mind the Lord’s prayer — which, beseeching that we not fall into temptation, commends to us the better course — he takes up the argument again by means of what lies before him, making clear which is the temptation from God and which is the self-chosen one from ourselves. Yet it is well that the Lord and God, looking to the weaker part of human nature, should propose that the onset of temptations be prayed against, the disciples being as yet too imperfectly disposed. But since by the knowledge that came through His resurrection, and by His being taken up into the heavens, our weak nature has been strengthened, his brother according to the flesh urges that the temptations be no longer dreaded.

¹⁷ Let no one who is tempted say, I am tempted from God. If the temptations are of two kinds, then he casts every temptation out of being caused by God. But observe that he did not say the one who has been tempted, but the one being tempted. For the man who procures temptations for himself through fault and intemperance, and who, as it were, tumbles amid circumstances in a continual surge, this man he says is tempted not from God but from his own desire. For he who has conquered the temptation brought upon him, having established himself more securely, becomes thereafter hard to consume by temptations, especially those moved from himself. For, having inclined toward a more philosophic life, he continues thenceforth at ease from temptations.

¹⁸ For God is untempted by evils, and He Himself tempts no one. God is untempted by evils, according to him who said: The divine and blessed is neither itself troubled with affairs nor causes trouble to others. For all these things belong to the mortal and earthbound nature, about which alteration is seen and decay, the things that take their beginning in our nature. But desire, and sin, and the death that through desire takes root in the soul, are certain steps of man’s ruin. For desire, having found room for reception, wrought sin, which brought forth death — unless, having uprooted it through repentance, we lay for ourselves a beginning of a second life.

¹⁹ But each one is tempted by his own desire, being drawn away and enticed. Then desire, having conceived, gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is brought to completion, brings forth death. Since he has shown that the divine nature is neither itself tempted nor furnishes this to others, he here calls temptations the thoughts that disturb the soul; for those that come from God do not confound but, being settled, make the soul radiant. For this reason he says what follows.

²⁰ Every good gift and every perfect present is from above, from the Father of lights; inasmuch as the things brought on by ourselves have imperfection.

²¹ Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect present is from above, coming down from the Father of lights. By the Father of lights understand God, or [the Father] of the angelic powers, which have been illumined through the Holy Spirit.

²² With whom there is no variableness, nor shadow of turning. There is not, he says, with the Father of lights any variableness; for He Himself cries out through the prophet: I am, and I am not changed. And shadow of turning means that there is not even the suggestion of any surmise of change.[3]

²³ Of His own will He brought us forth by the Word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. He said of His own will because of those mad ones who say that the world came into being of its own accord. For since above he said with whom there is no variableness, and showed thereby that the Divine is unchangeable, he adds, of His own will He brought us forth. For if we have come into being, it is clear that we are also changeable. For how could that be unchangeable which came forth from non-being, through alteration, into being? Then, since he said He brought forth, lest anyone suppose that He begot the Son also in the same manner as us, he adds, by the Word of truth. For all things, according to John the Theologian, came into being through Him; that is, through the Word of truth. So that, if our coming forth is through the Word, we are not of the same kind as He from whom we have our being. And a kind of firstfruits means first and most honored. And by creature he means the visible nature.

²⁴ Therefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. The swift he does not confine to bare hearing, but to an active hearing, one that hastens, after hearing, to the handling of the things heard. For he knew the one who lends his ear with eagerness, and who would render himself ready also for the working of these things; just as, on the contrary, the one who disposes himself toward something with slowness by delay, and who is at times wholly hindered from the undertaking. Therefore in the teaching of divine things he enjoins swiftness; but in the things that have a perilous handling, slowness. And these are speaking and being angry. For speech under anger does not end in good. Wherefore a certain man wise in divine things said: He who spoke repented often; but he who kept silence, never. And the blessed David: Be angry, and sin not; that is, do not, being angry, straightway bring in also the madness that comes from anger. In harmony with these is also the present passage, both as concerns speaking itself and as concerns being angry; but especially concerning anger, which, being brought forth unreasoningly, deprives one of the righteousness of God. Wherefore he also says: Anger does not work the righteousness of God.

²⁵ For the wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God. Righteousness is a state in the soul that renders to each according to his desert; but anger destroys even the prudent. How could this anger, darkening the mind through its excessive passion, establish that righteousness which renders to each, by judgment, what is according to his desert? But observe that he did not speak simply of the one who does not work the righteousness of God, but of the one who plays the man over things ruinous to himself. For this reason he also brought forth the saying without the addition of the article; and that this is his intent, the following shows: Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly. For the application of the subjunctive article shows that he wishes man to signify those who have an inclination both ways, toward good things and toward evil. And it must be noted that he did not say works in the simple form, but with the addition of the preposition, works out. That is to say, one is not wholly deprived of what is fitting. For it is possible to discern in anger a certain usefulness, inasmuch as in no other movement of the soul either is that which is in some way to be cast off bereft of the praiseworthy, but it is possible to find something serviceable as well.

²⁶ Therefore, putting away all filthiness and superfluity of malice, in meekness of heart receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. To filthiness he adds also superfluity of malice, wishing to display this: that even if one has often fallen into some filthiness, he should swiftly withdraw from it, and not, by persisting in it through habit, work the evil more firmly; for it is natural that the things done by us more continually and more abundantly settle the deed into a nature, that is, procure for it the fixed state of a nature. And he said in meekness because of the teaching word, which makes its reception not in tumult and disturbance. And he calls implanted word that according to which we have become rational, able to discern the better and the worse.

²⁷ But become doers of the law, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man considering the face of his birth in a mirror. To consider the face of his birth is to have come to know himself through the law. Therefore he added of birth to face. For through the law we learn what sort of beings we have become, and we consider what sort the spiritual law renders us through the washing of regeneration. Then, not abiding in such a contemplation through action, we forget also the gift. For he who gives himself over to wicked deeds does not even remember that he has been benefited by God. For if he remembered that he had been born from above, and justified, and reckoned among the sons of God, he would not give himself over to works that nullify the grace. And from this familiar mirror he carries the argument over to the spiritual mirror, taking away nothing of the things that mark off what is said as an example. As though he were to say thus: If anyone is a hearer of the law and not a doer, he is like a man considering his own face in a mirror. For as that man considered himself and went away, and straightway forgot what sort he was, so also this man — who, through the law of Moses, considered for what he had come into being, namely, for the glory of God and to become according to the image of God his Maker — after considering, wrought none of the things considered, but was in the same case as the one considering his own face. Though it was needful to use it thus, he did not so use it. And not in vain does the apostle do this, gathering up the hearer and straining him toward not hearing these things carelessly. For not those hearers are blessed, but those who join action to the hearing. Since the Pharisees also became hearers, but, since they were not doers, they were no longer blessed. Deceiving yourselves — that is, beguiling, despising their own salvation.

²⁸ For he considered himself, and went away, and straightway forgot what sort he was. To the hearing he joined the forgetting, since the hearing of the law alone does not suffice for the soul’s salvation, unless doing also follow upon it for the confirmation of the hearing.

²⁹ But he who looked into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and continued therein, this man, being not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his doing. He said looked into, and not entered in; for the spiritual law, having everywhere what is desirable and magnificent, knows how to draw a man even from a brief encounter. And having said perfect law, he added of liberty, making the liberty its distinguishing mark. For the law that is according to Christ, having set free from the bondage that concerns the flesh, establishes in liberty the one who comes to it, and through its liberality has made him attentive, and has freed him from the forgetfulness that ruins all good things.

³⁰ If anyone among you seems to be religious, not bridling his tongue, but deceiving his heart, this man’s religion is vain. Religious, among the Jews, is the one who has faith in works in a way that seems unpublicized; and since the Jews thought highly of themselves over their observances, and supposed that in these consisted the whole of godliness toward God, and, busying themselves with these alone, reckoned that they procured blessedness for themselves; while toward others they were rather disposed to reproach, as is clear from the Pharisee in the Gospels, and from the insolent things he presumed concerning the publican — the apostle, restraining this conceit, says what lies before us. For having made mention of a doer of works, and blessed him, he straightway corrects also the evil that grows up in the doing among the many, and says: Do not suppose, you who boast over your doing of the law, that you have blessedness according to the doing alone. For this is not acceptable to God; but that man is acceptable who indeed does, but not out of conceit is carried reproachfully against those who do not do. And deceiving his heart means, as it were, strangling, and not, out of conceit as a doer of the law, deceiving his own conscience. For this is what heart means here, as also in the phrase a heart contrite and humbled.

³¹ Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction. Religion seems to have something more than faith. For the name promises a knowledge of certain hidden things, and a firmness of the things contemplated according to faith. For this reason the Apostle also used this expression, saying religious, as though he were to say: You suppose yourself a knower of the secret things in the law and an exact keeper of them. How is it, then, that you who do not know how to bridle your tongue accuse your neighbor, and, living haughtily, pity none of those in want — though the law neither admits the slanderer, but commands us to pity even our enemies? If, therefore, you wish to be religious, do not display the religious man in the reading of the law, but in the doing. And this is to pity one’s neighbors. For pity toward one’s neighbor is a making of oneself like to God. For, He says, become merciful, as also your heavenly Father. But let your pity also be without respect of persons; since God too does not make His own benefits to be portioned out, but makes His sun to rise upon rich and poor, and sends rain upon the righteous and the unrighteous.

³² To keep oneself unspotted from the world. World is here to be understood as the common and rabble crowd, which is corrupted according to the desires of its deceit.