TEMPTATIONS 43 



as the aggregate of material things, "the world" 

 deceives and lures man away from His Creator. 

 Taken in the latter sense, i. e., as humanity, espe- 

 cially in the state of original sin and estranged 

 from the true Church, "the world" is full of 

 direct and indirect temptations — seduction, de- 

 nial of truth, scandal, heresies and perverted 

 ideals, a corrupt civilization, a mendacious press, 

 debased arts, etc. This sad state of affairs ac- 

 counts for St. John's warning: "Love not the 

 world, nor the things which are in the world; 

 if any man love the world, the charity of the 

 Father is not in him." 36 



4. Concupiscence. — Concupiscence is the in- 

 ordinate leaning of human nature towards evil. 

 It results from the fall of our first parents 37 and 

 is the most prolific source of temptations. St. 

 James says : "Every man is tempted by his own 

 concupiscence, being drawn away and allured. 

 Then when concupiscence hath conceived, it 

 bringeth forth sin. But sin, when it is com- 

 pleted, begetteth death." 38 Concupiscence man- 

 ifests itself through the eyes and the flesh, and 



38 1 John II, 15; cfr. Matth. Omnia ista bona sunt, sed malum 



XVIII, 7; Rom. XII, 2; Col. Ill, 2. mundum mail homines faciunt." 



—St. Augustine, Serm., 80 (a/. 23 (Migne, P. L., XXXVIII, 498). 



de Divers.), n. 8: "Malus est mun- 37 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, God the Au- 



dus, ecce malus est et sic amatur, thor of Nature and the Supernat- 



quasi bonum esset. Quid est autem ural, pp. 203, 217. 



malus mundusf Non enim malum 38 Jas. I, 14-15; cfr. Jas. IV, 1; 



est caelum et terra et aquae et quae Gen. II, 6; IV, 7. — Supra, Vol. I, 



sunt in eis, pisces, volatilia, arbor es. pp. 116 sqq. 



