38 SIN 



if God seduced His creatures to sin. "Let no 

 man, when he is tempted, say that he is tempted 

 by God, for God is not a tempter of evils, and he 

 tempteth no man." 8 "When He 'tempts' a man," 

 says Dr. Pohle, "He simply 'tries his faith,' as 

 in the case of Adam and Abraham ; which is quite 

 compatible with His infinite holiness." 9 God 

 tries man's faith, not merely in a passive manner, 

 by allowing him to be tempted, but sometimes 

 actively, by sending him trials and worries 

 which may become a source of temptation and 

 thereby a means of probing his character. But 

 St. Paul tells us that God never allows man to be 

 tempted beyond his strength. 10 And St. James 

 assures us: "Blessed is the man that endureth 

 temptation; for when he hath been proved, he 

 shall receive the crown of life which God hath 

 promised to them that love him." " Hence Au- 



8jas. I, 13: '0 6e6s airetpaffrds lari a poire Ulium nee impleri hoc 



iffriv KaKwv, ireipd^ei 8k avrbs munus volebat, qui ovem pro Alio 



ovdiva. immolandam obtulit, sed tentabat 



» Pohle-Preuss, God the Author affectum patris, si Dei praeccpta 



of Nature and the Supernatural, praeferret Mo nee patemae pietatis 



2nd ed., St. Louis 1916, p. 345. contemplatione vim devotionis in- 



10 1 Cor. X, 13. fiecteret." (Mignc, P. L., XIV, 



11 Jas. I, 12.— St. Ambrose, De 445)-— Idem, ibid., n. 76: "Affec- 

 Abraham, 1. 1, c. 8, n. 66: "Aliter turn tuum inquisivi, non factum ex- 

 Dcus tentat, aliter diabolus. Dia- egi. Tentavi mentem tuam, si etiam 

 bolus tentat, ut subruat, Deus ten- Alio dilcctissimo non parceres prop- 

 tat, ut coronet. Dcnique probatos ter me. Non aufero, quod donavi 

 sibi tentat. Unde et David dicit: ipse nee hcredem invideo, quern 

 Proba me, Deus, et tenta me (Ps. largitus sum non habenti." (P. L., 

 138, 23). Et sanctum Abraham pro- XIV, 448).— Epist., 51, n. 1 1 : "Ho- 

 bat-it ante et sic tcntavit, ne si ante mo es et tibi venit tentatio, vince 

 tentaret quam probasset, gravaret. earn." (P. L., XVI, 1162). Expos. 

 . . . Non enim volebat Deus immo- Evang. sec. Luc, 1. 4, n. 41: 



