Lecture 8 — Precepts towards neighbors

^4:25^ Wherefore, putting away lying, speak the truth, every man with his neighbor. For we are members one of another. [n. 248]

^4:26^ Be angry: and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down upon your anger. [n. 249]

^4:27^ Do not give place to the devil. [n. 252]

247. Having set down above the general admonition to put on a newness of life, now the Apostle lays out the particular precepts.

Concerning this he does two things:

first, he restrains them from committing interior sins which corrupt the spirit;

second, he prohibits exterior sins which corrupt the flesh, at but fornication (Eph 5:3).

The first has two divisions:

first, he forbids sins which consist in one’s personal disorder;

second, he forbids sins which consist in the disorder of others, at let no evil speech (Eph 4:29).

The first section again is divided into three parts since he forbids:

first, sin corrupting man’s rational powers;

second, sin disordering his irascible emotions, at be angry: and do not sin;

third, sin pertaining to the concupiscible emotions, at **he that stole **(Eph 4:28).

248. Regarding the first of these he does three things. First, he forbids one of them; then he urges its opposite; third, he gives his reason.

Hence, he first prohibits what is characteristic of the old man, thereby expounding what he said above: **put on the new man **(Eph 4:24). To accomplish this he first bans lying because through this sin of the tongue the truth of reason is corrupted. Wherefore to put on the new man you should be putting away lying, for you O Lord will destroy all that speak a lie (Ps 5:7) maliciously.

Then he urges them on to newness of life. Speak the truth, every man with his neighbor (Zech 8:16).

And why? For we are members one of another. For members are to love and mutually assist one another in truth. We, being many, are one body in Christ; and every one members one of another (Rom 12:5).

249. Next, at be angry: and do not sin, he forbids sins destructive of the order in the irascible emotions.

Concerning this he makes three points:

first, he gives a warning;

second, he explains what he means, at do not let the sun go down;

third, he gives the reason for his concern, at give no place.

250. He gives his warning when he says be angry: and do not sin. This is susceptible of two interpretations; for there are two types of anger, a good one and an evil one. Anger is evil when, contrary to justice, it strives inordinately for revenge. It is good when it seeks a just vindication, namely, when the person is vexed at the time, with whom, and to the degree that, he should be. The above warning is applicable to both.

If it concerns evil anger, the sense is that he does not command it but permits it. As though he said: should it happen that anger wells up within you—which is human—do not sin. You must not be led on to act upon it. Let no temptation take hold on you, but such as is human (1 Cor 10:13). For, without doubt, whoever is angered against his brother in any other way shall be in danger of the judgment (Matt 5:22). Joseph counseled his brothers against such anger: be not angry on the way (Gen 45:24).

If it is interpreted concerning righteous anger it is not simply permitted, like the first, but imperative. Be angry against your sins, for man desires a twofold vindication. One regarding himself when he sins, so that penance becomes a certain type of vindication which man inflicts and receives in himself. Such a wrath is good, and with respect to it the imperative is used: be angry against your sins, and do not sin any more, nor commit those types of sin by which you would again have to be angered.

Now, some are doubtless of the opinion that a man can be mad at himself for his own sins safely, but that this does not hold true concerning his neighbors and their sins. This is false; a man can be mad at himself for his own sins, and at his fellow man because of his sins. Therefore, zealously be angry at other people’s offenses. Phinees has turned away my wrath from the children of Israel because he was moved with my zeal against them (Num 25:11). And Elias said: with zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God of Hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant (1 Kgs 19:10). By following the dictates of reason, rather than acting before them, you **do not sin. Let every man be swift to hear, but slow to speak, and slow to anger (Jas 1:19).

251. In do not let the sun go down upon your anger he explains what he had said, and the explanation can be interpreted according to the three above expositions. If it concerns evil anger, then he would be saying: do not persist in anger, but cast it off before sunset; for although the first impulses of temper are excusable, due to human frailty, it is illicit to dwell on them.

In reference to good anger, as it is directed against one’s personal sins, the sun is Christ. Unto you that fear my name the sun of justice shall arise (Mal 4:2). Do not let the sun go down upon your anger, that is, on your sins, on account of which you must be angered again and punish yourselves.

When the sins of others are in question the sun refers to reason. Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the time of affliction come, and the years draw nigh of which you shall say: they please me not; before the sun . . . is darkened (Eccl 12:1). Do not let the sun go down upon your anger, that is, the dictates of reason must not be clouded over. Anger indeed kills the foolish (Job 5:2).

252. The reason for the warning is indicated in do not give place to the devil. The devil gains entrance to us either through sin or consent to it. The devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray him (John 13:2), after which it says: after the morsel, Satan entered into him (John 13:27).

Passions of this kind easily induce one’s consent, especially when they have biased the judgment of reason. Anger particularly does this since it involves the rapid raising of blood, the speed of whose movement precedes any rational judgment. When we are excited like this, the devil wins a foothold within us; thus he says do not give place to the devil. You ought not to persist, he seems to say, in your ill temper, for you will only invite the demon who is himself continually angered. God is my deliverer from my infuriated enemies (Ps 18:48). The devil enters into man with rage and fury: the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath (Rev 12:12). He cannot accomplish this, at least not in the soul of a just man. But this justice is forfeited through anger: for the anger of man does not work the justice of God (Jas 1:20). If you do not want to give Satan a place, at least not in your soul, do not let the sun go down upon your anger. Remove anger from your heart (Eccl 11:10).