Article II: On the Devil Tempting

St. Thomas, I-II, q. 80; De Malo q. 3, a. 3, 4, 5.

481. The devil is not the cause of sin except indirectly: a) by way of one persuading, not indeed by directly moving the intellect, which he does not intend to illuminate, because the more it were illuminated the more it would be drawn back from the deception which the devil desires; but by instigating interiorly, or by operating in the senses and imagination, by which he wishes to darken the intellect, and by moving the sensitive appetite; b) sometimes by outwardly proposing to the senses an object as sweet, pleasant, etc., or even by appearing visibly (I Thess. III, 5; I Pet. V, 8).

482. Are all sins from the temptation of the devil? - All sins, although they come indirectly from the devil (I John III, 8), insofar as he is the cause of original sin (from which we are prone to sin), nevertheless not all come directly from his instigation, but either from the solicitations of the world, that is, of sinners, or from the corrupted nature of man itself, or from the will alone.

483. Temptation is commonly called a solicitation or incitement to sin. This word originally and in a broad sense means the same as examination or trial: "for to tempt is to take an experiment concerning something" (I, q. 114, a. 2), for the end that something may be known, and this is the temptation of trial, which can also be attributed to God, who by afflictions and extraordinary commands proves the faithful and explores their virtue and constancy (Deut. XIII, 3), not that he himself may know what they are, but that man may show it (I Tim. VI, 9). But in the present matter the word is taken in the stricter sense and the question is only of the temptation of seduction, which is an incitement to sin whether internal or external: this is not from God (James I, 13), although he permits temptation (I Cor. X, 13), but it comes from our corrupted nature, also from the world, and especially from the demon. And it can be grave or light according as it vehemently incites the will or not; but its force depends on the nature of the thing, on the vividness of the representation, and on the intensity of the appetite.

But since from its nature it is only a solicitation to evil, according to itself it is not sin itself, but it can be a cause of sin when the consent of the will is added; hence the following principles can be established concerning it.

484. Principle I. To feel temptation is not sin, but to consent is: not sensation or pleasure, but consent and complacency. To feel, that is, to have an intellectual consciousness of the solicitation, indeed to be moved by delight in evil and thus to experience and feel (even in the lower faculties) that it is agreeable and pleasant: this is not yet sin; but voluntarily to adhere to the evil to which it solicits is sin: for only a free act from the consent of the will is morally evil. This is altogether certain from the common doctrine, which otherwise is found proved from the Council of Trent itself, sess. 5, can. 5, and from the condemnation of prop. 50 of Baius.

In order that this may be applied more easily in practice, it is useful in the process of temptation to distinguish three stages. Namely, there is:

a) suggestion, or the mere representation, or mere idea of evil: the simple proposal of evil through the imagination and intellect, and this, however depraved and long-lasting, is not sin, because in it the will has no part;

b) indeliberate delight, arising from suggestion in the sensitive or even rational appetite, by which the temptation pleases: for frequently and connaturally from suggestion, especially if it is vivid, intense, or long continued, delight arises, indeed a pleasant organic impression and sensible commotion, by which one is affected toward a pleasing object: this also, until deliberation of reason intervenes, is no sin, because such a motion is not deliberate nor free;

c) free consent of the will: after reason perceives the depraved suggestion as well as the delight in the appetite arising from it, and its malice, if the will immediately rejects both, there is no sin: for this is not in the intellect alone, or in the sensitive appetite, or in the spontaneous inclination of the rational appetite, but in the free will which adheres to evil; but if this will freely consents to the delight, or has complacency for itself in it, or admits it, approves it, or retains it because it pleases or adheres to it, then sin will be present.

485. Principle II. Rashly and without just cause to provoke temptation or to expose oneself to it is illicit, more or less according to the gravity of the danger.

For temptation imports some danger of sinning, more or less grave. But to expose oneself to the danger of sinning without sufficient reason is not licit (n. 177). Therefore it is also illicit to expose oneself to temptation without just cause; and this ought to be proportioned to the gravity of the temptation, that is, to the incitement and danger of sinning, considered not only absolutely and in itself, but also relatively to different individuals. And indeed:

a) It is gravely illicit without sufficient reason freely to expose oneself to a grave temptation of graver sin, namely, one which imports proximate danger of sinning gravely.

b) It is licit from a just grave cause to expose oneself to grave temptation with proximate danger of sinning gravely, provided due cautions are employed to remove the danger and at the same time there is a founded hope of overcoming the temptation.

c) It is lightly illicit without a just light cause to expose oneself to a light temptation of sinning gravely or to a grave temptation of sinning lightly.

486. Remark. - For avoiding and conquering temptations, opportune remedies are to be employed:

A. Before temptation: 1. vigilance for forestalling many and graver temptations (I Pet. V, 8; Mark XIII, 37), for which it is necessary a) to flee occasions, b) to avoid idleness and useless wanderings of the mind, from which dangerous phantasms often arise, c) also positively to turn the faculties of the soul and the passions toward good, useful, and religious things;

2. prayer (Matt. XXVI, 41; VI, 13; Luke XI, 4), for which are required a) humility (James IV, 6), b) confidence (Phil. IV, 13), and c) fervor;

3. to these can usefully be added the practice of meditation, for example, on the passion of Christ, the last things, and the presence of God, by which we are moved to praying more fervently and to fleeing sin and its occasions.

B. In temptation one must resist: 1. immediately and from the beginning, when the enemy is still weak and victory easier;

2. strenuously and strongly: for if we waver hesitatingly, or resist only softly, the enemy becomes bolder and attacks more bitterly;

3. perseveringly, until it has been fully conquered.

Thus a) by praying, b) by laboring strenuously, c) by not disputing with the enemy, d) by turning the mind to the opposite virtue, e) and by turning it away from vice.

C. After temptation has ended or been overcome, it is expedient: 1. humbly to give thanks to God, to whom alone victory is to be attributed; nor ever to fall in spirit, but confidently to flee to the mercy of God;

2. not to examine oneself further concerning consent given or denied, lest a new temptation be provoked;

3. to open graver temptations to a prudent and pious spiritual director, and to seek counsel.