Moral Character and Temptation

doi:10.1017/CBO9781139047395.009

6 - Moral Character and Temptation

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 December 2012

Sylvia Walsh

Edited by

Paul Moser and

Michael McFall

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Paul Moser: Affiliation:
Loyola University, Chicago
Michael McFall: Affiliation:
Bowling Green State University, Ohio

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Summary

The notion of a specifically Christian moral character receives its normative definition andparadigmatic existential expression in Jesus Christ, who is viewed in the New Testament not only asthe redeemer of fallen humanity through his death and atonement but also as the prototype or perfectmodel of human moral character. Nowhere is the latter character more evident than in the temptationnarratives recorded in the synoptic gospels (Mark 1:12–13; Matt. 4:1–11; Luke4:1–13) and attested by other New Testament writings. According to Mark, the oldest of thesynoptic gospels, immediately after Christ's baptism the Spirit descended on him, a heavenly voicedeclared him to be God's Beloved Son, and he was driven by the Spirit into the wilderness, where hewas “tempted” by Satan for a period of forty days. The Greek verb for being tempted(peirasein) in these narratives has two meanings, to test and to seduce or entice,both of which are operative in the synoptic accounts. Although English translations of the NewTestament use the term temptation to indicate the enticement of Jesus by Satan orthe devil, the temptation of Christ is clearly understood by the New Testament writers as signifyinga testing of his perfect obedience and faithfulness to God, in line with a long tradition of testingin the Hebrew Bible. As in the cases of Abraham in the land of Canaan (Gen. 22:1) and the Israelitesin the wilderness (Exod. 15:25; 16:4; Deut. 8:2–5), the initiator of Christ's testing in thetemptation narratives is God, who puts him to the test through the agency of the figure of Satan.Although Satan is generally viewed in the New Testament as the adversary of God who entices humansto do evil, in this instance he indirectly plays the role of the accuser or heavenly prosecutor,whose primary function, as in the prologue of the Old Testament book of Job (1:1–2:13), is totest the faith and steadfastness of the righteous. Although Mark's account is very brief, merelyindicating that Jesus was tempted by Satan, Matthew and Luke identify three specific tests in whichthe Son of God was tempted to use his divine power for worldly gain, authority, and glory.

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Type: Chapter
Information: The Wisdom of the Christian Faith , pp. 121 - 137

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139047395.009 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2012

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