James 3:15 - Exposition

" This wisdom [of which you boast] is not a wisdom which cometh down from above." Vulgate, non est enim ista sctpientia desursum descendens. But is earthly, sensual, devilish. Dr. Farrar well says that this wisdom is "earthly because it avariciously cares for the goods of earth ( Philippians 3:19 ); animal , because it is under the sway of animal lusts ( 1 Corinthians 2:14 ); demon-like , because full of pride, egotism, malignity, and ambition, which are the works of the devil ( 1 Timothy 4:1 )." Sensual ( ψυχική ), Vulgate, animalis ; R.V. margin, natural or animal. The position of the word is remarkable, occurring between ἐπίγειος and δαιμονιώδης . it is never found in the LXX ., nor (apparently) in the apostolic Fathers. In the New Testament it occurs six times—three times of the "natural" body, which is contrasted with the σῶμα πνευματικόν ( 1 Corinthians 15:44 (twice), 46); and three times with a moral emphasis resting upon it, "and in every instance a most depreciatory" (see 1 Corinthians 2:14 ), "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God," and Jud 1 Corinthians 1:19 , ψυχικοὶ , πνεῦμα μὴ ἔχοντες . The ψυχή in general in the New Testament is that which is common to man with the brute creation, including the passions, appetites, etc.; and therefore, by the use of this word ψυχικός to describe the wisdom which cometh not from above, but is "earthly, sensual [or, 'animal'], devilish," we are reminded of the contrast between the spirit of man which goeth upward and the spirit of a beast which goeth downward ( Ecclesiastes 3:21 ). The "animal" man, then, is one who is ruled entirely by the ψυχή in the lower sense of the word; and by the depreciatory sense given to the adjective we are strongly reminded that "nature" is nothing without the aid of grace. See further Archbishop Trench's 'Synonyms of the N. T.,' § 71., and for the later history of the word (it was applied by the Montanists to the orthodox), Suicer's 'Thesaurus,' vol. it. p. 1589.