1 John 2:16

Proof of the preceding statement by shewing the fundamental opposition in detail.

all that is in the world Neuter singular: in 1 John 2:15 we had the neuter plural. The materialcontents of the universe cannot be meant. To say that these did not originate from God would be to contradict the Apostle himself (John 1:3; John 1:10) and to affirm those Gnostic doctrines against which he is contending. The Gnostics, believing everything material to be radically evil, maintained that the universe was created, not by God, but by the evil one, or at least by an inferior deity. By -all that is in the world" is meant the spirit which animates it, its tendencies and tone. These, which are utterly opposed to God, did not originate in Him, but in the free and rebellious wills of His creatures, seduced by -the ruler of this world".

the lust of the flesh This does not mean the lust forthe flesh, any more than -the lust of the eyes" means the lust forthe eyes. In both cases the genitive is not objective but subjective, as is generally the case with genitives after -lust" (ἐπιθυμία) in N. T. Comp. Romans 1:24; Galatians 5:16; Ephesians 2:3. The meaning is the lusts which have their seats in the flesh and in the eyes respectively.

"Tell me where is fancy bred.

It is engendered in the eyes."

Merchant of Venice, III. ii.

The former, therefore, will mean the desire for unlawful pleasures of sense; for enjoyments which are sinful either in themselves or as being excessive.

Note that S. John does not say -the lust of the body." -The body" in N.T. is perhaps never used to denote the innately corrupt portion of man's nature: for that the common term is -the flesh." -The body" is that neutral portion which may become either good or bad. It may be sanctified as the abode and instrument of the Spirit, or degraded under the tyranny of the flesh.

the lust of the eyes The desire of seeing unlawful sights for the sake of the sinful pleasure to be derived from the sight; idle and prurient curiosity. Familiar as S. John's readers must have been with the foul and cruel exhibitions of the circus and amphitheatre, this statement would at once meet with their assent. Tertullian, though he does not quote this passage in his treatise De Spectaculis, is full of its spirit: "The source from which all circus games are taken pollutes them … What is tainted taints us" (VII., VIII.). Similarly S. Augustine on this passage; "This it is that works in spectacles, in theatres, in sacraments of the devil, in magical arts, in witchcraft; none other than curiosity." See also ConfessionsVI. vii., viii., X. xxxv. 55.

the pride of life Or, as R. V., the vainglory of life. Latin writers vary much in their renderings: superbia vitae; ambilio saeculi; jactantia hujus vitae; jactantia vitae humanae. The word (ἀλαζονεία) occurs elsewhere only James 4:16, and there in the plural; where A. V. has -boastings" and R. V. -vauntings." The cognate adjective (ἀλάζων) occurs Romans 1:30 and 2 Timothy 3:2, where A. V. has -boasters" and R. V. -boastful". Pretentious ostentation, as of a wandering mountebank, is the radical signification of the word. In classical Greek the pretentiousness is the predominant notion; in Hellenistic Greek, the ostentation. Compare the account of this vice in Aristotle (Nic. Eth.IV. vii.) with Wis 5:8, 2Ma 9:8; 2Ma 15:6. Ostentatious pride in the things which one possesses is the signification of the term here; -life" meaning -means of life, goods, possessions". The word for -life" (βίος) is altogether different from that used in 1 John 1:1-2 and elsewhere in the Epistle (ζωή). This word (βίος) occurs again 1 John 3:17, and elsewhere in N.T. only 8 times, chiefly in S. Luke. The other word occurs 13 times in this Epistle, and elsewhere in N. T. over 100 times. This is what we might expect. The word used here means (1) period of human life, as 1 Timothy 2:2; 2 Timothy 2:4; (2) means of life, as here, 1 John 3:17; Mark 12:44; Luke 8:14; Luke 8:43; Luke 15:12; Luke 15:30; Luke 21:4 (in 1 Peter 4:3 the word is not genuine). With the duration of mortal life and the means of prolonging it the Gospel has comparatively little to do. It is concerned rather with that spiritual life which is not measured by time (1 John 1:2), and which is independent of material wealth and food. For this the other word (ζωή) is invariably used. By -the vainglory of life" then is meant ostentatious pride in the possession of worldly resources.

These three evil elements or tendencies -in the world" are co-ordinate: no one of them includes the other two. The first two are wrongful desires of what is not possessed; the third is a wrongful behaviour with regard to what is possessed. The first two may be the vices of a solitary; the third requires society. We can have sinful desires when we are alone, but we cannot be ostentatious without company. See Appendix A.

is not of the Father Does not derive its origin from (ἐκ) Him, and therefore has no natural likeness to Him or connexion with Him. S. John says -the Father" rather than -God" to emphasize the idea of parentage. Its origin is from the world and its ruler, the devil. Comp. -Ye are of (ἐκ) your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will to do" (John 8:44). The phrase -to be of" is highly characteristic of S. John.

A. The Three Evil Tendencies in the World

The three forms of evil -in the world" mentioned in 1 John 2:16 have been taken as a summary of sin, if not in all its aspects, at least in its chief aspects. -The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the vainglory of life" have seemed from very early times to form a synopsis of the various modes of temptation and sin. And certainly they cover so wide a field that we cannot well suppose that they are mere examples of evil more or less fortuitously mentioned. They appear to have been carefully chosen on account of their typical nature and wide comprehensiveness.

There is, however, a wide difference between the views stated at the beginning and end of the preceding paragraph. It is one thing to say that we have here a very comprehensive statement of three typical forms of evil; quite another to say that the statement is a summary of all the various kinds of temptation and sin.

To begin with, we must bear in mind what seems to be S. John's purpose in this statement. He is not giving us an account of the different ways in which Christians are tempted, or (what is much the same) the different sins into which they may fall. Rather, he is stating the principal forms of evil which are exhibited -in the world," i.e. in those who are notChristians. He is insisting upon the evil origin of these desires and tendencies, and of the world in which they exist, in order that his readers may know that the world and its ways have no claim on their affections. All that is of God, and especially each child of God, has a claim on the love of every believer. All that is not of God has no such claim.

It is difficult to maintain, without making some of the three heads unnaturally elastic, that all kinds of sin, or even all of the principal kinds of sin, are included in the list. Under which of the three heads are we to place unbelief, heresy, blasphemy, or persistent impenitence? Injustice in many of its forms, and especially in the most extreme form of all murder, cannot without some violence be brought within the sweep of these three classes of evil.

Two positions, therefore, may be insisted upon with regard to this classification.

1. It applies to forms of evil which prevail in the non-Christian world rather than to forms of temptation which beset Christians.

2. It is very comprehensive, but it is not exhaustive.

It seems well, however, to quote a powerful statement of what may be said on the other side. The italics are ours, to mark where there seems to be over-statement. "I think these distinctions, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, prove themselves to be very accurate and very complete distinctions in practice, though an ordinary philosopher may perhaps adopt some other classification of those tendencies which connect us with the world and give it a dominion over us. To the lust of the flesh may be referred the crimes and miseries which have been produced bygluttony, drunkenness, and the irregular intercourse of the sexes; an appalling catalogue, certainly, which no mortal eye could dare to gaze upon. To the lust of the eye may be referred all worship of visible things, with the divisions, persecutions, hatreds, superstitions, which this worship has produced in different countries and ages. To the pride or boasting of life, where you are not to understand by life, for the Greek words are entirely different, either natural or spiritual life, such as the Apostle spoke of in the first chapter of the Epistle, but all that belongs to the outside of existence, houses, lands, whatever exalts a man above his fellow, to this head we must refer the oppressor's wrongs, and that contumely which Hamlet reckons among the things which are harder to bear even than the -slings and arrows of outrageous fortune." In these three divisions I suspect all the mischiefs which have befallen our race may be reckoned, and each of us is taught by the Apostle, and may know by experience that the seeds of the evils so enumerated are in himself" (Maurice).

Do we not feel in reading this that S. John's words have been somewhat strained in order to make them cover the whole ground? One sin produces so many others in its train, and these again so many more, that there will not be much difficulty in making the classification exhaustive, if under each head we are to include all the crimes and miseries, divisions and hatreds, which that particular form of evil has produced.

Some of the parallelsand contrastswhich have from early times been made to the Apostle's classification are striking, even when somewhat fanciful. Others are both fanciful and unreal.

The three forms of evil noticed by S. John in this passage are only partially parallel to those which are commonly represented under the three heads of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Strictly speaking those particular forms of spiritual evil which would come under the head of the devil, as distinct from the world and the flesh, are not included in the Apostle's enumeration at all. -The vainglory of life" would come under the head of the world; -the lust of the flesh" of course under that of -the flesh;" while -the lust of the eyes" would belong partly to the one and partly to the other.

There is more reality in the parallel drawn between S. John's classification and the three elements in the temptation by which Eve was overcome by the evil one, and again the three temptations in which Christ overcame the evil one. -When the woman saw that the tree was good for food (the lust of the flesh), and that it was pleasant to the eyes (the lust of the eyes), and a tree to be desired to make one wise (the vainglory of life), she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat" (Genesis 3:6). Similarly, the temptations (1) to work a miracle in order to satisfy the cravings of the flesh, (2) to submit to Satan in order to win possession of all that the eye could see, (3) to tempt God in order to win the glory of a miraculous preservation (Luke 4:1-12).

Again, there is point in the contrast drawn between these three forms of evil -in the world" and the three great virtues which have been the peculiar creation of the Gospel (Liddon Bampton LecturesVIII. iii. B), purity, charity, and humility, with the three corresponding -counsels of perfection," chastity, poverty, and obedience.

But in all these cases, whether of parallel or contrast, it will probably be felt that the correspondence is not perfect throughout, and that the comparison, though striking, is not quite satisfying, because not quite exact.

It is surely both fanciful and misleading to see in this trinity of evil any contrast to the three Divine Persons in the Godhead. Is there any sense in which we can say with truth that a lust, whether of the flesh or of the eyes, is more opposed to the attributes of the Father than to the attributes of the Son? Forced analogies in any sphere are productive of fallacies; in the sphere of religious truth they may easily become profane.