42 SIN 



who came and "sowed cockle among the wheat 

 while men were asleep." 30 



While it must be admitted that the devil, 

 "the prince of this world," has a share in every 

 sin, it would be wrong to assume that all tempta- 

 tions come from him. Sacred Scripture points 

 to concupiscence as the principal source of sin. 

 "Every man is tempted by his own concupis- 

 cence." 31 The fact that sin is often inspired by 

 the devil, does not, of course, render it less 

 culpable. Not to speak of concupiscence, which 

 exercises a powerful influence over every human 

 heart, man himself is but too often the tempter 

 and seducer of his fellowmen. 32 



3. The World. — "This present wicked 

 world," 33 which is full of sin and impiety, 34 and 

 hates God and His servants, 35 is another prolific 

 source of sin. The term world, as used in the 

 Scriptures, denotes either the physical universe 

 or the human race. In the former sense, i. e., 



tos ad irascendum vel ad concupi- pravis consiliis opprimant reluctan- 



scendum vel ad aliquod huiusmodi. tern." (Expos. Evang. sec. Luc., 



Manifcstum est enim, quod corpore IV, n. 39; Migne, P. L., XV, 1624). 

 aliqualiter disposito est homo magis 81 Jas. I, 14 sq. ; cfr. Rom. VII, 



pronus ad concupiscentiam et tram 20; Gal. V, 17. 



et huiusmodi passiones, quibus in- 82 Cfr. the Catechism of the Coun- 



surgentibus homo disponitur ad con- cil of Trent, P. IV, c. 15, qu. 10. 

 sensum. Sic ergo patet, quod diabo- 33 Gal. I, 4. 



lus interius instigat ad peccatum per- 34 John VII, 7; XIV, 17. 



suadendo et disponendo, non autem 30 John XV, 18 sq.; XVI, 20, 33; 



periiciendo peccatum." XVII, 9, 14, 25. — Cfr. Simar, Die 



SO Matth. XIII, 25. — On the temp- Theologie des hi. Paulus, 2nd ed., 



tation of Job St. Ambrose remarks: pp. 72 sqq. ; Tillmann, Die Wie- 



"Adhibetur mulier, primae fraudis derkunft Christi, Freiburg 1909, pp. 



illecebra; . . . amici adhibentur, qui 25 sqq. 



