On Jealousy and Envy

Contents

1. 1Jealousy and envy seem small sins and so are not feared, but the devil uses them to ruin souls; Christians must keep watch, as Peter warns.
2. 2The devil probes every weakness, tempting through the senses, greed, and ambition, and, when deceit fails, threatening with persecution.
3. 3Among the devil's hidden weapons, jealousy is especially dangerous to Christians; to guard against it we must understand its origin.
4. 4Jealousy began with the devil, who envied man made in God's image and so fell himself; through his envy death entered the world.
5. 5Jealousy led Cain to kill Abel, Esau to hate Jacob, Joseph's brothers to sell him, Saul to persecute David, and many Jews to reject Christ.
6. 6Jealousy is the root of many sins, feeding avarice, ambition, pride, and anger, and it breaks the church's unity, producing heresies and schisms against bishops.
7. 7Envy is a moth and rust of the soul that tortures the envious man from within and, unlike other sins, never comes to an end.
8. 8Envy shows itself in the face and breaks out in violence, as the Psalms and Paul describe.
9. 9Unlike a visible wound, envy is hidden and incurable, and the envious man cannot escape the enemy he carries inside himself.
10. 10Christ cut off rivalry by teaching that the least is greatest, and Paul tells those enlightened by Christ to cast off jealousy as a work of darkness.
11. 11Envy returns a Christian to the devil and makes him like Cain, a murderer walking in darkness, whereas following Christ means imitating what he taught and did.
12. 12Christ calls his people sheep and lambs and commands them to love one another; a jealous man who bears Christ's name without following his way betrays it.
13. 13Paul teaches that without love even martyrdom profits nothing, that love is not jealous, and that jealousy and strife show a person to be still carnal.
14. 14Those who died and rose with Christ in baptism must put to death the works of the flesh and bear the heavenly likeness of Christ.
15. 15The new birth must show itself in a life that reflects God the Father, loving even enemies, so that Christ may welcome us into the kingdom.
16. 16Scripture reading, prayer, and good works arm the mind, and peace too has its crowns: victories over lust, anger, greed, pride, and envy.
17. 17The envious man must tear out envy, let the cross sweeten his bitterness as the wood sweetened the waters of Marah, and love those he once envied.
18. 18Cyprian closes by urging the reader to think of paradise, the kingdom, and God's watching eye, and to please God now by peace and concord.