James 1:8Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Say with him, David: “How long, O Lord, will You forget me forever? How long will You turn Your face away from me?” (Ps 12:2).

Say it not with the tongue, but first with the heart. Offer also the other supplications of David.

When you have expressed everything, hope in the mercy of God. Hope, and do not doubt.

“But let him ask in faith, with no doubting,” says the Apostle, “for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. Let not that man think that he will receive anything from the Lord. A man of double mind is unstable in all his ways” (Jas 1:6-8).

Therefore hope in His mercy, not doubting at all, and you will surely receive what you ask. Having received it, do not be ungrateful or thankless toward your Benefactor.

Rather, set up a memorial of His benefaction and raise a hymn of thanksgiving to the Lord.

The double-minded man is confused, disordered, imperfect, divided in his thoughts, a hypocrite. By “ways” the Apostle means the movements of the soul by which hopes rise, whether good or bad.

David also said, “You have foreseen my ways” (Ps 138:3).

Again, by a double-minded man the Apostle means one who is unsettled. He does not strive firmly either toward the future or toward the present, but is carried here and there.

At one time he clings to the future, at another to the present. The Apostle likens such a man to a wave of the sea, which has no constancy.

He also likens him to the flower of grass. The flower does not remain long, but withers when the sun rises.

Therefore he compared him not with grass, which lasts longer, but with its flower, in order to show his brevity.

Unbelief gave birth to double-mindedness. Double-mindedness brought false doctrine after itself, and error follows false doctrine. Therefore let the one who has fallen into error cry out to the Chief Shepherd and Savior of our souls, that He may turn him back and bring him into the fold of His sheep.

By a double-minded man the Apostle means one who is unstable and inconstant. He has not definitively chosen either the present life or the life to come, but rushes from one to the other, preferring now the present and now the future. The Apostle compares such a man to a wave of the sea, in which nothing is firm or constant. He also compares him to the flower of the grass, which does not remain unchanged but vanishes when the sun rises.

He says, “in all his ways,” that is, both in misfortunes and in prosperity. A man is double-minded when he bends his knees in prayer to the Lord and pronounces the words of prayer, but, convicted in his heart by conscience, doubts whether he can obtain what he asks.

He is double-minded who wishes to rejoice with the world here, and there to reign with God. He is also double-minded who, while doing good works, seeks outward approval rather than reward for what is done in secret.

Therefore a certain wise man well said: “Woe to the sinner who walks upon the earth by two ways” (cf. Sir 2:12).

For a sinner walks upon the earth by two ways when he displays what is God’s in deed, but in his thoughts seeks what is worldly.

All such people are unstable in all their ways. They are so easily frightened by the misfortunes of this age, and caught in the net of prosperity, that they depart from the way of truth.

A double-minded man is confused, disorderly, useless, of two opinions, and a hypocrite. By “ways” the brother of God means the movements of the soul in which the hopes of the double-minded man are contained.

To the extent that they are good, they are also bad. David likewise said to God, “You have foreseen all my ways” (Ps 138:3), that is, “You, O Lord, foresee all the movements of my soul.”

It may also be expressed another way. He calls the unsteady man double-minded, because he is not firm in the least, either in present things or in future things.

He is carried this way and that. At times he holds to and, as it were, embraces what belongs to the present life. At times he holds to what belongs to the future life.

Let us pay careful attention to what follows. Is it not our double-mindedness that strengthens our enemies in their struggle against us? Is it not the cause of our frequent defeats?

Do we not ourselves make firm the power and influence of our enemies over us, fulfilling their will by fulfilling our fleshly desires, impulses, and attachments?

Do we not anger God by this and drive Him away from ourselves? Does not love of the world act within us, leaving us the outward appearance of servants of God while taking away the true dignity of God’s servants?

Does it not make us, in essence, enemies of God (Jas 4:4-5)? “A double-minded man is unstable in all the ways” of his virtues.

“A man of double mind,” properly, double-souled, “is unstable,” and so forth. This remark of the Apostle expresses the same thing that was expressed above in the comparison with the wave of the sea (v. 6).

The Apostle calls a man who doubts or wavers in faith during prayer double-minded. Such a man has, as it were, two souls.

One is directed toward one thing, the other toward another. He wants one thing and also another, opposite thing. He both hopes for it and fears it.

Thus he is unstable in all his ways. That is, in all his actions he sometimes wishes to please God, and sometimes pleases the world. In general, he is inconstant in his moral activity.

By these words the Apostle teaches that the virtue of perfect Christian patience is so lofty that weak human powers cannot attain it without special spiritual wisdom given by the Lord God. Therefore he commands us to turn to the Lord in prayer, that He may not deprive us of this wisdom. Yet according to the Apostle, prayer itself must be without wavering thoughts or doubt. It must be mingled with firm faith and hope in God's help, for "a double-minded man," as the Apostle says, "is unstable in all his ways."

Petitions to God must proceed from a heart assured of the fulfillment of its request, as the Lord Himself also commanded (see Mt 7:7-8).

Doubt generally hinders the attainment of the desired goal. It is especially out of place in prayer, because a soul filled with doubts becomes like a wave of the sea, now lifted by the wind, now lowered.

“The wave of the sea,” says blessed Theophylact, “is lifted by a breath of wind and falls sooner than it rises. The doubter experiences the same when, through arrogance, he does not establish his petitions on anything unchanging.”

In order to clarify the essence of the Christian moral law, the Apostle James in the first chapter of his Epistle exhorts us to endure patiently the trials sent by God.

Trials temper our faith and perfect us morally. If in the struggle with temptations a man feels his weakness, he must not despond or become fainthearted.

He must ask God for wisdom to overcome temptations, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, without any doubt, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.

Let such a man not think that he will receive anything from the Lord. A man of double mind is unstable in all his ways (vv. 5-7).

One filled with truly Christian wisdom joyfully endures all trials and reversals of fortune, whether he is rich or poor.

A man who implores God to grant him wisdom and other blessings while wavering between faith and doubt only offends the Lord by this.

Therefore his prayer, whatever it concerns, will not be fulfilled: “Let him not think that he will receive anything from God.”

“He is unstable in his ways.” Whatever task he undertakes, he cannot go toward his goal with a firm step. He cannot calmly and hopefully continue the work he has begun, because he is double-minded, with a divided soul.

It is as though there are two souls in him. One strains toward God through faith, while the other withdraws from Him through doubt. Within him there is a constant struggle between faith and doubt.