Whether test means examination or exercise, most modern people are not at all attracted to the notion of being tested by God. Neither am I, and neither, apparently, was the author of the Letter of James. The letter says, “When you have been tempted, never say ‘God sent the temptation.’” The whole idea of testing brings back the concept of a fearful, self-protective, and now even ignorant God who must put us to the test to find out whether we are faithful.20 But let us look a little more deeply. If we are truly meant to have a free capacity to choose for or against God, if that is really the
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