TEMPTATION. - It generally means a test, by words or deeds, to discover the virtues or defects of a thing or a person. Considered in itself, it is divided by moralists according to the virtues to which it is opposed. According to the end and intention of the one who exercises it, it is distinguished into temptation of trial and temptation of seduction.
I. TEMPTATION OF GOD
This occurs when man wishes to put God to the test, and it consists in a word or deed by which, without sufficient reason, one tests whether God exists, or whether He possesses and exercises a perfection. It originates from a lack of faith, from doubt, or from presumption. Being an irreverence toward God, it is a sin of defect against the virtue of religion (v.), although by reason of its motive it is also opposed to the virtue of faith (v.), of prudence, and of charity toward oneself and others. It is explicit if one expressly tests the existence of God or one of His attributes, as in asking Him for a miracle in confirmation of His power. It is implicit when one performs an action or neglects something, hoping for an extraordinary divine intervention. Such were the judgments of God (tardale) and the medieval duels. The explicit form is always a mortal sin. It becomes venial only through the imperfection of the act. The implicit form is a mortal sin, but admits of slightness of matter. Ignorance and inadvertence make this sin less grave.
II. THE TEMPTATION OF MAN
It is a solicitation to evil that can be grave or light, with regard to its object and intensity; internal or external, according to its cause. If it comes from outside, the temptation, in order to be effective, must act upon the imagination and the sensory appetite of the subject.
God, the supreme good, cannot solicit us to evil: "when one is tempted, let him not say: it is God who tempts me, for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one" (James 1:13), but, in his infinite wisdom, he permits it, giving Grace to overcome it (I Cor. 10:13). True causes, which often act together, making the temptation more effective, are: the devil, the world, concupiscence. Not all temptations come directly from the devil, yet he is often their author and Holy Scripture calls him the tempter par excellence (I Thess. 3:5; Mt. 4:3). Diabolical temptations are mostly worked out within man. The devil has a limited power, according to divine permission, nor can he determine the free will to sin. He acts upon the intellect and the will through the sensory faculties, arousing in the senses, and especially in the imagination, representations that excite the passions. He disturbs the soul with feelings of rebellion against God, of despair, of hatred, of vengeance, etc., and makes use of the evil incitements of the world and of fallen nature.
Although all things are good, they can nevertheless be a cause of sin, insofar as they allure man's passions, who, deflecting from the right order, desires such goods against the moral law. The term world, however, as a true cause of temptation, designates in Holy Scripture (Io. 15:18-19; 16:8, 33; 17:9-16, etc.) men who live far from God and, by their perverse examples, doctrines and counsels, drive others to evil.
Of temptations the chief cause, through which the others have their efficacy, is concupiscence, called the incentive of sin, because it has its origin from sin and inclines to it (Conc. trid., sess. V, can. 5). It consists in the imbalance between the lower and the higher part, insofar as the sensory appetite tends toward the forbidden object, anticipating or opposing the judgment of reason. Therefore, because of the close union between the sensory and spiritual faculties, the will is delayed in the attainment of good and is driven to evil. The will, a spiritual power, is only indirectly moved by the passions of the sensory appetite. If indeed one power is intensely applied to its act, the others are weakened or impeded. Therefore, as the movements of the sensory appetite intensify, those of the will are weakened or impeded. Moreover, the right judgment of reason is hindered by the disordered activity of the imagination, which vividly represents to itself the attractions of the object, which allures the senses. Through such seductive representations, the intellect is led to consider the good aspect of the forbidden object and, withdrawing from the consideration of the law, approves it and presents it to the will, which consents and determines itself to desire it.
Moral principles. - It is not a sin to feel temptation, but to consent to it. In the development of temptation three phases must be distinguished: the suggestion, the delight and the consent, although often this is difficult because of the intimate psychological process. Only in consent is there sin, which consists in the free act of the will of adherence to evil. Now the suggestion and the delight can be independent of the will. The suggestion indeed is the simple presentation of evil, made by the imagination and the intellect to the will; the delectation and the sensory commotion, which naturally follow from it, are not deliberate, since the sensory appetite necessarily tends toward its object and, having possessed it, takes delight in it. If the will does not disapprove, but takes pleasure, the voluntary adherence begins, which is consummated with consent, and there is internal sin, of thought, mortal or venial, according to the matter. To thought is added desire, from which one passes to execution, the sin of deed.
The more vehement the involuntary passion, the more responsibility diminishes. If it reaches such intensity as to take away the use of reason, it destroys the voluntary act. The will, yielding to temptation, is weakened and afterward falls more easily, because, with the repetition of evil acts, the habits called vices are acquired.
Every man, however perfect, has temptations, according to circumstances, temperament, character, education, environment and the divine designs. Although troublesome and grave, temptations can be useful to the soul, as a means of mortification, of purification and of spiritual progress, procuring the exercise of the virtues and the acquisition of merits.
Before temptation arises, man must watch in order to avoid its occasions and pray with trust and humility (Mt. 26:41; Pt. 5:8). It is not lawful rashly, without just cause, to provoke or expose oneself to temptation, which is a danger of sin. If a man, although able to avoid it, performs an action that he foresees will be a source of temptation for him, he is guilty in cause, according to his foresight. During temptation it is not lawful to remain passive. Although the involuntary suggestion and the consequent natural delight are not sin, they are nevertheless dangerous, because the will finds itself being solicited to evil. Therefore, in order not to expose oneself to the danger of consenting, one must, from the very beginning, promptly repel the temptation. One must resist with contrary acts, but if these strengthen the temptation, indirect resistance is sufficient, that is, the use of the means most suited to overcoming it.