TEMPTATIONS 39 



gustine's exhortation : "It is not good for us to 

 be without temptations, nor should we ask God 

 that we be not tempted, but rather that we be not 

 led into temptation." 12 



2. The Devil. — Sin originated with the devil. 

 He "sinneth from the beginning." 13 He is "the 

 prince," 14 "the god of this world," 15 a mur- 

 derer and a liar, 16 "the tempter" par excel- 

 lence, 11 who seduced our first parents, 18 and 

 tempted Job, 19 Ananias and Saphira, 20 Judas, 21 

 nay our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. 22 The 

 Apostles repeatedly warn the faithful against 

 this sinister foe, who is the more dangerous be- 

 cause, according to St. Paul, he transforms him- 

 self into an angel of light. 23 In view of the plain 

 scriptural teaching on the subject no Chris- 

 tian needs to be assured that belief in the 

 evil one is not a "remnant of medieval supersti- 

 tion," or that the devil is not merely a "symbol 

 of evil." 24 On the other hand, we must not lose 



"Qui vult coronam dare, tentationes 17 Matth. IV, 3. 



suggerit. Et si quando tentaberis, 18 John VIII, 44. 



cognosce, quia paratur corona. 19 Job I, 12. 



Tolle martyrum certamina, tulisti 20 Acts III, 5. 



coronas, tolle cruciatus, tulisti bea- 21 Luke XXII, 31; John XIII, 2. 



titudines." (P. L., XV, 1625). 222 Cor. XI, 3. 



12 Enarr. in Ps., 63, n. 1: "Non 23 1 Cor. VII, 5. Cfr. 2 Cor. 

 nobis expcdit esse sine tentationibus XI, 14; Eph. VI, 11-17; 1 Pet. V, 

 nee rogemus Deum, ut non tente- 8-9. 



mur, sed ut non inducamur in ten- 24 Cfr. M. Hagen, S.J., Der Teufel 



tationem." (P. L., XXXVI, 761). im Lichte der Glaubensquellen, 



13 1 John III, 8. Freiburg 1899.— Th. H. Simar, Die 



14 John XIV, 30. Theologie des hi. Paulus, 2nd ed., 



15 2 Cor. XI, 3; John XII, 31. pp. 67 sqq.; J. G. Raupert, Hell 



16 Gen. Ill, 1-6. and its Problems, pp. 82 sqq. 



