Does God tempt us?!

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I was reading my bible today and came across James 1:13, yet Christians often speak of God testing them and or their faith (there are many stories of this in the bible itself)… but james 1:13 says God does not tempt anyone!?
 
Future_Prodigy said:
I was reading my bible today and came across James 1:13, yet Christians often speak of God testing them and or their faith (there are many stories of this in the bible itself)… but james 1:13 says God does not tempt anyone!?
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I see a difference between testing and tempting. God may test the strength of our faith (but does not tempt us to sin) but Satan is the one who tempts us into sin and damnation.

**
CCC 2847 The Holy Spirit makes us discern between trials, which are necessary for the growth of the inner man, and temptation, which leads to sin and death. We must also discern between being tempted and consenting to temptation. Finally, discernment unmasks the lie of temptation, whose object appears to be good, a “delight to the eyes” and desirable,when in reality its fruit is death.**

God does not want to impose the good, but wants free beings. . . . There is a certain usefulness to temptation. No one but God knows what our soul has received from him, not even we ourselves. But temptation reveals it in order to teach us to know ourselves, and in this way we discover our evil inclinations and are obliged to give thanks for the goods that temptation has revealed to us.

CCC 2848 “Lead us not into temptation” implies a decision of the heart: “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. . . . No one can serve two masters.” “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” In this assent to the Holy Spirit the Father gives us strength. “No testing has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, so that you may be able to endure it.”

CCC 2849 Such a battle and such a victory become possible only through prayer. It is by his prayer that Jesus vanquishes the tempter, both at the outset of his public mission and in the ultimate struggle of his agony. In this petition to our heavenly Father, Christ unites us to his battle and his agony. He urges us to vigilance of the heart in communion with his own. Vigilance is “custody of the heart,” and Jesus prayed for us to the Father: “Keep them in your name.” The Holy Spirit constantly seeks to awaken us to keep watch. Finally, this petition takes on all its dramatic meaning in relation to the last temptation of our earthly battle; it asks for final perseverance. “Lo, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is he who is awake.”
 
I think this ties into Future Prodigy’s question:

A couple of months ago I read something written by who I remember I recognized as an orthodox Catholic writer (whatever that means nowadays). Sadly, I forget where I read this and who the writer was.

Anyway, he wrote that God is the author of evil as well as good. Yes, author – not just bringing good out of evil, and not just testing. The person who wrote this quoted several passages in the OT where a person prays that God will not send evil upon him – yes, not deliver from evil or preserve from death, but not send evil upon him. This has troubled me ever since and I really wish I knew where I could find that so I could study it some more.

But this connects with other traditional teachings – that God brings about EVERYTHING in our lives. Typically, people quote how God knows how many sparrows in the sky and how many hairs are on your head, etc. But that is merely knowledge. I am speaking of the many traditional Catholic writers and theologians have written that there are no coincidences in live, that God is behind EVERYTHING that happens, etc. This would support the idea that God is author of all the bad that happens in our lives as well as the good (although, we are responsible for the bad choices we make due to our free will). Of course, we can say that many of the bad things later turn out to be good things insofar as they changed us, changed the direction of our lives for the better, etc. We can say that some bad things were sent as punishment or to bring us low and destroy our pride, thereby giving us humility and the ability to finally turn toward God, etc.
But still, wow, God as the author of evil . . . . I am at a loss here.
 
thepenitent, now so am i haha Does anyone have a answer for that?
 
thistle said:
I see a difference between testing and tempting. God may test the strength of our faith (but does not tempt us to sin) but Satan is the one who tempts us into sin and damnation.

**
CCC 2847 The Holy Spirit makes us discern between trials, which are necessary for the growth of the inner man, and temptation, which leads to sin and death. We must also discern between being tempted and consenting to temptation. Finally, discernment unmasks the lie of temptation, whose object appears to be good, a “delight to the eyes” and desirable,when in reality its fruit is death.**

God does not want to impose the good, but wants free beings. . . . There is a certain usefulness to temptation. No one but God knows what our soul has received from him, not even we ourselves. But temptation reveals it in order to teach us to know ourselves, and in this way we discover our evil inclinations and are obliged to give thanks for the goods that temptation has revealed to us.

CCC 2848 “Lead us not into temptation” implies a decision of the heart: “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. . . . No one can serve two masters.” “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” In this assent to the Holy Spirit the Father gives us strength. “No testing has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, so that you may be able to endure it.”

CCC 2849 Such a battle and such a victory become possible only through prayer. It is by his prayer that Jesus vanquishes the tempter, both at the outset of his public mission and in the ultimate struggle of his agony. In this petition to our heavenly Father, Christ unites us to his battle and his agony. He urges us to vigilance of the heart in communion with his own. Vigilance is “custody of the heart,” and Jesus prayed for us to the Father: “Keep them in your name.” The Holy Spirit constantly seeks to awaken us to keep watch. Finally, this petition takes on all its dramatic meaning in relation to the last temptation of our earthly battle; it asks for final perseverance. “Lo, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is he who is awake.”
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Thanks for the quotes. They’re the answers to the OP.
 
yes i meant to say thank you for that original post as it did answer my question, somewhat i still have another quesiton off of waht you said but i want to think about ti first. DOes anyone have a answer to thepenitents question
 
James 1:13 (New International Reader’s Version)
When you are tempted, you shouldn’t say, “God is tempting me.” God can’t be tempted by evil. And he doesn’t tempt anyone.

The text says God does not tempt us with evil. It does not say that he can not test our character.

here is a good article on the difference
answers.org/theology/is_god_tempted.html
 
what you just quoted and said contradicts itself. the passage itself says God can not be tempted by evil. and that he does not tempt us!

THis testing of character thing is like the argument for contraception that ive heard. Well the bible doesnt explicitly say this so i can do it. Which is a ludacris argument.
 
I read that link two 2 x and i still dont understand what you are trying to tell me.

“James warns us not to blame our own fall into sin on God. God does not persuade us to sin, we willingly fall to the lure of our own sinful nature (Romans 3:23), the sinfulness in the world (Titus 2:12), and/or the false promises of Satan (Genesis 3:1-5).”

This is not what the authorial intention of the writer was! Aww, here i go again with Historical Criticism… maybe I’ve been in school to long and have ahd this shoved down my throat. I can see how you are drawing your conclusions but that is not in direct relation with the passage itself, you have to draw from al lsorts of other passages to get what you are trying to prove.
 
Isaiah 45:7
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Think through this verse then you should understand.

It is very easy.
 
God does not tempt us. One explanation is that God allows satan to tempt us.
 
I’ve thought through it and maybe its easy for you… not on this end. I can’t see how Gos is the creator of evil… thats actually the first time ive ever heard that… we always study the augustinian method of evil and that definately does not reflect his views
 
God didn’t create evil, he created beings with free will which include the angels and humans.
 
Isaiah 45:7
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

God plainly says he “create evil”
 
Yeah, I’ve never heard that either… only from daniel marsh.
 
In a way DM’s quote is correct. In the Douay-Rheims translation, Isaiah 45:7 is written exacty as DM quoted.

However, the commentary on the website drbo.org** states "7 "Create evil"… The evils of afflictions and punishments, but not the evil of sin. "
 
Stonez said:
In a way DM’s quote is correct. In the Douay-Rheims translation, Isaiah 45:7 is written exacty as DM quoted.

However, the commentary on the website drbo.org** states "7 "Create evil"… The evils of afflictions and punishments, but not the evil of sin. "
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That has been my interpretation as well. God does not tell you or program you to do evil; but He made evil in the sense of judgement, afflictions and punishments for not obeying God’s law. Don’t know if that will help or not.
 
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