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On Jealousy and Envy

4.

From this source, even at the very beginnings of the world, the devil was the first who both perished (himself) and destroyed (others). He who ¹ was sustained in angelic majesty, he who was accepted and beloved of God, when he beheld man made in the image of God, broke forth into jealousy with malevolent envy--not hurling down another by the instinct of his jealousy before he himself was first hurled down by jealousy, captive before he takes captive, ruined before he ruins others. While, at the instigation of jealousy, he robs man of the grace of immortality conferred, he himself has lost that which he had previously been. How great an evil is that, beloved brethren, whereby an angel fell, whereby that lofty and illustrious grandeur could be defrauded and overthrown, whereby he who deceived was himself deceived! Thenceforth envy rages on the earth, in that he who is about to perish by jealousy obeys the author of his ruin, imitating the devil in his jealousy; as it is written, "But through envy of the devil death entered into the world." ² Therefore they who are on his side imitate him. ³

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De la jalusie et de l'envie

I.

Dès l’origine du monde, l’envie perdit le démon et le porta à perdre l’homme. Il avait longtemps brillé parmi les choeurs angéliques, il avait longtemps joui de l’amitié de Dieu; mais, un jour, l’envie le précipita du faîte de sa gloire. Lorsqu’il vit l’homme créé à l’image de Dieu, sa jalousie s’enflamma de nouveau. Ainsi, déchu lui-même, il entraîna l’homme dans sa déchéance; captif, il lui fit partager sa captivité et l’enveloppa dans sa ruine. Quel mal, mes frères bien-aimés, que celui qui a causé la chute d’un ange; qui a porté le désordre dans la nature la plus noble sortie des mains du Créateur; qui a égaré le séducteur du genre humain! L’envie se perpétue dans le monde par la malice de ces hommes qui veulent imiter la conduite du démon et marcher sur ses traces; mais ils seront punis les premiers, car, dit l’Écriture: La mort est entrée dans ce monde par l’envie du démon (Sap., II).