OVERVIEW: Nothing can destroy a fellowship more quickly than verbal abuse and gossip. The tongue is the most powerful weapon that we have, both for good and for evil. It is a matter for wonder that such a small part of the body can do such great things. It can preach the Word of God, win nations for Christ and glorify the name of our Creator. But it can also destroy character, divide churches and kill the soul. Human beings have learned to tame horses and ships, but their own tongues are another matter. Yet the tongue only reflects what is going on in the heart and soul of the person who is speaking, and it is this fact that is the real danger. For if a person claims to be a believer but then says things that contradict that claim, the truth is that he or she is not a Christian. No one is perfect, and we must be ready to make allowances for the failings of others rather than criticize them. Moreover, teachers will be judged by a higher standard, and therefore they must take special care not to fall into the trap of verbal abuse.
Christ chose only twelve teachers, and some of them did not come through (HILARY OF ARLES). The deeds of teachers must correspond with their words (CHRYSOSTOM, OECUMENIUS). Some are too eager to teach, so as to lead to false teaching (ISHO‘DAD, BEDE). James singles out the tongue as a special instrument for either great good or great evil (DIDYMUS, JEROME, BEDE). No one is free from sins of the tongue (AUGUSTINE, OECUMENIUS). Yet the saints seek to allay God’s judgment on their speech (SEVERUS, CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA) and pray for the healing of their speech (PACHOMIUS). We may be imperfect, but we can still seek to avoid deception, cursing, pride, boasting, quarreling, lying and perjury (BEDE). Sins of the tongue are many (BASIL). So put brakes on the mouth (AUGUSTINE, BEDE). The tongue is like a fire (HILARY OF ARLES) that can destroy a whole forest of good works just by saying evil things (BEDE). The tongue can infect like gangrene (PACHOMIUS, OECUMENIUS). The metaphor of the horse with bit in mouth (CHRYSOSTOM) is complemented by that of the ruddered ship (ANDREAS, OECUMENIUS): the great ship of life is blown by strong winds of passion yet directed by a small rudder—the intention of the heart (BEDE). Taming the tongue is harder than taming a wild beast (AUGUSTINE, ANDREAS). Like a sword, the tongue is capable of wounding (CHRYSOSTOM, HESYCHIUS). It is not made for cursing (ANDREAS). If mixed, the bitter water overcomes the sweet water (BEDE). Yet the bad tongue can be converted, as in the case of Paul (ANDREAS).
CHRIST CHOSE ONLY TWELVE. HILARY OF ARLES: The apostle here prohibits a large number of teachers, for even our Lord Jesus Christ chose only a few for this role. He had only twelve disciples, and not all of them went on to become teachers of the gospel. INTRODUCTORY TRACTATE ON THE LETTER OF JAMES.1
A WARNING AGAINST FALSE TEACHING. ISHO‘DAD OF MERV: James is not trying to limit the number of teachers but rather to warn them against the dangers of false doctrines. COMMENTARIES.2
LET WORDS AND DEEDS CORRESPOND. CHRYSOSTOM: Teaching without setting an example is not only worthless but also brings great punishment and judgment on the one who leads his life with such heedlessness, throwing out the pride of those who do not want to practice what they preach. So reject the teaching of those who teach without setting an example and pass judgment on them. Yet if there is no contradiction between what he says and what he does, and he is able to control his entire body, then do not condemn him. For if he teaches such things and surrounds the right words of his faith with outstanding deeds corresponding to it, it is clear that he is fully in charge of his body and has no love for the things of the world. CATENA.3
MORE SEVERE JUDGMENT. OECUMENIUS: If a person does not practice what he preaches, he will be judged more severely, since his teaching has borne no fruit. For such a person is condemned along with the one who has sinned with his tongue. COMMENTARY ON JAMES.4
THE UNDERLYING TEXT. BEDE: James indicates that judgment which was pronounced long ago [in Psalm 50:16-17]. ON THE TABERNACLE AND ITS VESSELS 3.1.95.5
OVEREAGERNESS TO TEACH. BEDE: In the days of the apostles there were many who were eager to go out preaching the Word of God but who lacked proper instruction. One of them was Apollos, who preached Christ perfectly well but who for some reason knew only the baptism of John. But because he was a wise person, it was not long before a teacher appeared and led him into greater truth, which he readily accepted and thus became even better at his preaching task. There were others who were much less skilled who went to Antioch from Judea and told people there that they had to be circumcised according to the law of Moses if they wanted to be saved, a message which gave orthodox preachers no little trouble. It is this second kind of teacher that James wants to remove from office, so that they will not be a hindrance to those who are trying to preach the gospel in the right way. For just as someone who serves well obtains a good report, so someone who tries to usurp the right to teach when he is not prepared to do so deserves greater punishment than the one he would have received if he had kept his wickedness to himself. CONCERNING THE EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES.6
OUR IMPERFECTION. AUGUSTINE: Who then would ever dare to call himself perfect? SERMONS 23.7
ALLAYING GOD’S JUDGMENT. SEVERUS OF ANTIOCH: If one of Christ’s own disciples can talk like this,8 we must make it our business to press toward the opposite direction, so as to allay the God and judge of all things for those times when in the weakness of our humanity we have fallen into wrongdoing, failing to pay heed to our salvation. CATENA.9
AVOID FOOLISH TALK. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The effective proof of a sound mind and perfect thought is to have nothing faulty on our tongue and to keep our mouths closed when necessary. For it is better to be guided by worthy speech, which is able to know and to express the fullness of all praise. For the most useful talent is to be able to speak wisdom when talking about how to live well. Foolish talk should be foreign to the saints. CATENA.10
PRAY FOR HEALING. PACHOMIUS: We all fall very often, but let us pray to the merciful God, and if we watch over ourselves in the future, he will heal us. COMMUNION 1.68.11
PERFECT SILENCE. HILARY OF ARLES: Perfection consists of righteousness, and silence is the way to achieve it. This is why James connects perfection with keeping one’s mouth shut. INTRODUCTORY TRACTATE ON THE LETTER OF JAMES.12
CONTROL THE TONGUE. BEDE: James reminds us here that even good people are not perfect and that we all need to be led by the grace of the Holy Spirit, for there is no one13 who can go through life without ever sinning at all. Nevertheless, there are different kinds of sins, and James singles out one area of our lives where perfection is attainable, namely, control of the tongue. We may be imperfect, but we can still learn to avoid deception, abuse, cursing, pride, boasting, envy, quarreling, lying, perjury and so on. CONCERNING THE EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES.14
SINS OF THE TONGUE. OECUMENIUS: James shows from the faults of the tongue that there is nobody who goes through life without sinning. From this he proves that nobody is perfect. COMMENTARY ON JAMES.15
SO GOD TAMES HUMANITY. AUGUSTINE: Note that the comparison is taken from the beasts which we are able to tame. The horse does not tame itself, nor does a man do so. A man is needed in order to tame a horse, and in the same way, God is needed in order to tame a man. COMMENTARY ON THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT 55.2.16
PUTTING BRAKES ON THE MOUTH. BEDE: In other words, says James, how much more appropriate is it to put a brake in our own mouths so that we say only what agrees with the teachings of our Creator, and by controlling our tongues guide our doings in the right way also? CONCERNING THE EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES.17
GREAT SHIPS, STRONG WINDS, SMALL RUDDER. BEDE: These great ships stand for the minds of people in this life, whether they are good or bad. The strong winds which threaten them are the desires of these minds, by which they are naturally forced to act and which bring them either to a good or to a bad end. The rudder which directs them is the intention of the heart by which the elect cross the waves of this life and finally reach the harbor of their heavenly home. CONCERNING THE EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES.18
GUIDING THE TONGUE. ANDREAS: James says that if we can contain the spirits of a horse by putting a bit into his mouth and control the direction of a ship with a small rudder, how much more ought we to be able to guide the tongue by right words toward doing good. CATENA.19
THE ANALOGIES WORK TOGETHER. OECUMENIUS: This confirms what has been said about the tongue and adds something more to it, for the person who can domesticate an animal in so simple a manner will also master that which is more difficult to control. It is probable that James chose this example because somebody asked him why it was so difficult to contain something as small as the tongue. The text also implies that we should go on from merely controlling our tongues and find a higher use for them. For just as a domesticated horse is then used for better purposes, as is a ship under control, so our tongues ought to be used for saying the right thing at the right time. COMMENTARY ON JAMES.20
THE TONGUE AND THE BODY. DIDYMUS THE BLIND: In attacking what they say, James singles out the tongue, which is the instrument of speech. But since their thoughts are present in the body as a whole, it ought to be understood that his remarks apply to the entire body. COMMENTARY ON JAMES.21
THE TONGUE KNOWS GREAT GOOD AND GREAT EVIL. JEROME: The sword kills the body, but the tongue kills the soul. The tongue knows no moderation—either it is a great good or it is a great evil. It is a great good when it acknowledges that Christ is God, and a great evil when it denies that. Let no one deceive himself into thinking that he has never sinned, for if I have sinned, it is with my tongue. What more monstrous sin is there than blasphemy against God? The devil did not fall because he committed theft, murder or adultery; he fell because of his tongue. He said: “I will scale the heavens; above the stars I will set up my throne, I will be like the most high.”22 SERMONS 41.23
THE MISERY OF THE TONGUE. JEROME: The more the tongue has sinned, the more it is miserable. SERMONS 86.24
THE VARIABLE CAPACITY OF THE TONGUE. BEDE: The tongue can indeed boast of great things if it is properly controlled. But if the tongue is evil it will only be able to boast of evil things, which are not great at all. CONCERNING THE EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES.25
SINS OF THE TONGUE ARE MANY. BASIL THE GREAT: If you love life, fulfill the commandment of life. “The one who loves me,” said Jesus, “keeps my commandments,”26 and the first commandment is this: “Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking guile.”27 For the sin which is caused by the tongue is very active and many-sided, being active in wrath, lust, hypocrisy, judgment and deception. Do we need to recall the many names which are given to sins of the tongue? For from it come slanders, coarse jokes, idiocies, irrelevant accusations, bitterness, swearing, false witness—the tongue is the creator of all these evil things and more. CATENA.28
GUARDING THE TONGUE. CHRYSOSTOM: Therefore, guard the tip of the tongue, for it is like a majestic stallion. For if you put a bit in its mouth and teach it to walk in order, it adapts to this and is satisfied. But if you let it run wild, it becomes the vehicle of the devil and his angels. CATENA.29
THE TONGUE ABLAZE. BEDE: The tongue is a fire which can destroy a whole forest of good works just by saying things which are evil. This fire is the exact opposite of that saving fire which is also like a tongue and which consumes all the dross and chaff of our vices, revealing the secrets of the heart. The saints are inflamed by it, they burn with love because of it, and by their preaching they set others ablaze like tongues of fire. CONCERNING THE EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES.30
LEADING INTO RASHNESS. ANDREAS: James did not say that the course of our life ignites the tongue but that the tongue ignites the course of our life. For it causes us to make wrong decisions and leads us into rashness. By it, our life is thrown off course and subjected to many kinds of wickedness. CATENA.31
GANGRENE TO THE SOUL. PACHOMIUS: The bragging tongue fouls the whole body and is gangrene to the soul. COMMUNION 3.38.32
INIQUITY BURNS. HILARY OF ARLES: Iniquity stains us in the same way as wood is scorched by fire, and hell burns as if it were a fire. INTRODUCTORY TRACTATE ON THE LETTER OF JAMES.33
A WORLD OF EVIL. OECUMENIUS: The tongue is described as a “world” of evil, because the word world implies a large quantity. The phrase should thus be interpreted as “a great evil.” COMMENTARY ON JAMES.34
TAMING THE WILD TONGUE. BEDE: We read in Pliny of how a householder managed to tame an immense asp, so that the snake emerged each day from its hole and brought the day’s food to the man’s table. We also read in Ammianus Marcellinus of a domesticated tigress which was sent to the emperor Anastasius from India. James emphasizes that that kind of thing is child’s play compared with the art of taming the tongue, because the tongue is much wilder and more ferocious than any animal. CONCERNING THE EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES.35
CONTROLLING THE TONGUE. ANDREAS: James says that it is unnatural that we should be able to domesticate all the creatures but not be able to control our own tongues. CATENA.36
CAPABLE OF WOUNDING. CHRYSOSTOM: The tongue is a piercing sword. But let us not wound others with it; rather let us cut off our own gangrene. CATENA.37
TAMING THE TONGUE HARDER THAN TAMING THE BEAST. AUGUSTINE: I do not believe that this passage can bear the interpretation which Pelagius wants to put on it. He says that this is stated as a reproach, as if one were to say: “Is no one therefore able to control his tongue?” As if it were easier to tame the tongue than to tame wild beasts. But I do not believe that this is the meaning. If James had wanted to say that, he would have done so, but instead he was determined to show what a great evil a man’s tongue can be, so great that it cannot be tamed by anyone, even though that is not true of wild beasts. He said this not in order that we should tolerate this evil but in order that we should ask for divine grace to tame our tongue. ON NATURE AND GRACE 15 (16).38
THE SHARPNESS OF THE SWORD. HESYCHIUS: Just as a sword, if it is sharpened, is more easily able to kill, so the tongue, which has great difficulty in keeping itself quiet and cannot easily be controlled, becomes more insolent if it learns from bad people how to deceive, how to slander and how to incriminate. CATENA.39
THE TONGUE NOT FOR CURSING. ANDREAS: Nothing bitter should come out of a mouth which has uttered the praise of so great a mystery, nor should the tongue say anything which is unworthy of a holy mouth. Let us keep it pure and not use it to curse. For if those who rail against God will not inherit the kingdom, how much more will this be true of those who curse? CATENA.40
SWEET SPRING WATER. HILARY OF ARLES: The spring is the heart of man, the flowing stream of water is his speech, and the opening through which it pours is his mouth. The sweet water is sound doctrine, while the bitter water is just the opposite. INTRODUCTORY TRACTATE ON THE LETTER OF JAMES.41
IF MIXED, THE BITTER OVERCOMES THE SWEET WATER. BEDE: Not only is it impossible for sweet and bitter water to come out of one and the same fountain, but it is also true that if the two get mixed, it is the bitter which will affect the sweet, not the other way round. Put blessing and cursing together, and cursing will win out every time. Bad habits corrupt good manners, and wicked talk has the same effect. CONCERNING THE EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES.42
MIXING HUMAN AND DIVINE THINGS. ANDREAS: For being power-hungry and filled with the wisdom of the world, they preached with the force and zeal of orthodox teachers, gathering a crowd with no trouble at all and deceiving them, mixing human things with the divine, so that the hearers might be dazzled by the newness of what was being said. That is how heresy arose. But James forbids that kind of teaching and whatever comes from a wisdom which is not divine but diabolical. He said all this in order to praise good teaching, the wisdom which comes from humility in words and in useful deeds. CATENA.43
THE HEART AND THE TONGUE. BEDE: It is clear from this that a heart which is not right with God cannot bring forth the words or the works of righteousness. On the contrary, if the heart is wicked, everything it says and does will be wicked also. CONCERNING THE EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES.44