Augustine of Hippo — Commentary on Scripture

Because we are human, we live a most dangerous life amid the snares of temptation.

LETTERS 250

Just because faith may be given to us before we ask for it, it does not follow that it is not a gift of God. God may well give it to us before we ask him for it, just as he also gives peace and love. This is why we pray both that faith may be increased in those who already have it and also that it may be given to those who have not yet received it.

ON THE GIFT OF PERSEVERANCE 44

James 1:5

What blessing will that man not possess who has asked for and received this wisdom from the Lord? This will give you an understanding of what grace is, for if this wisdom were from ourselves it would not be from above and we would not have to ask for it from the God who created us.

ON GRACE AND FREE WILL 24

James 1:5

This is the faith by which the righteous person lives. This is the faith which believes in the one who justifies the ungodly. This is the faith by which glorying is cut out [Rom 1:17].… This is the faith which gains the bountiful outpouring of the Spirit.

ON THE SPIRIT AND THE LETTER 56

James 1:7

Purely human merits are evil, and God does not crown them. Any good merit is a gift of God.

ON GRACE AND FREE WILL 6

James 1:13

By temptation in this context, James meant the bad sort by which we are deceived and subjected to the devil. There is another kind of temptation [mentioned in Deuteronomy 13:3] which is really a kind of testing that comes from God.

SERMONS 57.9

James 1:14

Against this fault medicinal aid is sought from him who can heal all illnesses of this sort, not by separating an alien nature from us but by healing our own nature.

On Continence 7

James 1:14

The one giving birth is lust, the thing born is sin. Lust does not give birth unless it conceives, and it does not conceive unless it entices and receives willing consent to commit evil. Therefore our battle against lust consists in keeping it from conceiving and giving birth to sin.

AGAINST JULIAN 6.15.47

James 1:15

Each one of us is tempted by our own lust, so let us fight and resist and not give in nor allow ourselves to be lured by it, nor allow it to conceive anything to which it might then give birth. It is like this—lust coaxes and coddles you, it excites and urges you on, positively encouraging you to do something wrong. Do not give in and it will not conceive. If you ponder it willingly and with pleasure, then it will conceive and give birth, and you will die.

SERMONS 77A.3

James 1:17

If doing something ourselves means that it is not also a work of God, then casting mountains into the sea would not be a work of God, since Matthew [17:20] and Luke [17:6] both say that this can be done by the power of faith.

ON THE SPIRIT AND THE LETTER 63

James 1:17

Man’s merit is a free gift, and no one deserves to receive anything from the Father of lights, from whom every good gift comes down, except by receiving what he does not deserve.

LETTERS 186

James 1:17

You should hope for this perseverance in obedience to the Father of lights, from whom descends every good and perfect gift, and ask for it every day in your prayers, and in so doing have confidence that you are not strangers to the predestination of God’s people, for he allows you to do even this.

ON THE GIFT OF PERSEVERANCE 22.62

James 1:19

Truth is more safely heard than preached. For when it is heard, lowliness is preserved, but when it is preached some bit of boastfulness may steal in almost unawares, and this brings corruption.

TRACTATES 57.2, 3

James 1:22

James did not say “of the words” but “of the Word,” in spite of the fact that there are so many words from the Holy Scriptures which are venerated in the church.

SERMONS 71.22

James 1:22

Neither I nor any other preacher can see into your hearts … but God is looking, for nothing can be hidden from him.… Do not deceive yourselves by coming eagerly to hear the Word and then failing to do it. If it is a good thing to hear, it is a much better thing to do. If you do not hear, you cannot do, and therefore you will build nothing. But if you hear and do not do, then what you are building will be a ruin.

SERMONS 179.7-8

James 1:25

The law of liberty is one of love, not fear. Paul too was no longer terrified by the law of God as a slave would be but was delighted with it, even though he saw another law in his members which was at war against the law of his mind.

ON NATURE AND GRACE 57 (67)

James 2:2

Far from me is the notion that in your tabernacle, Lord, the rich should be more highly regarded than the poor, or the noble than the less well-born. You have chosen the weak things of this world to put the strong to shame, and you have chosen things which are dishonorable, despised and of no account, in order to bring to nothing the things which are.

Confessions 8.4.9

James 2:4

Who could bear to see a rich man chosen to occupy a seat of honor in the church when a more learned and holier man is passed over because he is poor? Is it not a sin to judge by appearances that a rich man is a better man?

LETTERS 167.18

James 2:5

It is by choosing the poor that God makes them rich in faith, just as he makes them heirs of the kingdom. It is rightly said that he chose this faith in them, since it was in order to bring it about that he chose them.

ON THE PREDESTINATION OF THE SAINTS 17 (34)

James 2:10

Is it possible that the person who has discriminated between rich and poor is guilty of murder, adultery and sacrilege? That does indeed seem to be the conclusion which James is drawing. Such a man is guilty of every crime, because by offending in one point he has become guilty of them all.

LETTERS 167.3