the apostle commands us to take the pure faith of Christ like a shield so that we extinguish and hold back the arrows of the malevolent devil. It is like the blows of darts fired from far away when an evil and deceitful idea falls into the heart through evil teachers, who encase the words of God in their lie. A simple person, listening when the words of God are spoken, is not permitted to be opposed to them. Instead, he believes them and takes them to heart, but he does not know where he will be lead by them when there is a lie wrapped up in them. He accepts what he hears in his heart harmlessly because it is God’s word, but he will be injured in his soul by that lie, packaged up with the sound of God’s word as with a fiery arrow. An arrow is not fired unless it is first mounted in a bow. Likewise, the devil also mounts God’s word on his lie and shoots people in the heart through hypocrites. For that reason, a mortal lie will remain in people and not the word of God. That is why he also says here to take the shield of faith when those fiery arrows fly in the sound of God’s words, about which the Lord God says, “Isn’t my word like fire…” (Jeremiah 23: 29) And elsewhere he also says, “And the tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature…” (James 3: 6) Those words will catch fire just as they are slung when they are believed to be of God. If they are volleyed via the truth, they will immediately demonstrate a work of truth; if they are volleyed via a lie, then they will bear wickedness in an act contradictory to God’s word.
Therefore, faith should discern everything like light, including God’s word, since it is not written in letters but breathed into a person by the Holy Spirit. That is why it ought to be like a shield, because it understands God’s words. It catches the devil’s cunning blows and hypocritical people who wrap their lie up in God’s word. But when there is not such clear faith in a person, he does not have a shield against the fiery blows of the cruel devil, who employs the sanctimonious like a longbow for carrying out his cruel wickedness. The devil also fires various delusions at people through promptings as with fiery arrows. How will one hold back those blows when there is not the shield of true faith and when a person is not skilled in faith because it is darkened and confused in him with some heresies? When the devil shoots with despair, he loads a person down with sin and makes his actions and life despicable to him. The devil weighs him down with hopelessness in his heart and, if there is not true faith like a shield, he will not be covered with it against those onslaughts. There must also be living and strong faith when violence and injustice come and the devil fires evil doubts, fear, pride, and impatience into the heart. If there is not lively and loving faith in God and those arrows sink into the heart and incite it with fury as with a flame, what do those arrows get hung up on without faith? They wound and kill the soul when there is not faith, because the devil consumes spiritual rest, love for neighbors, and a good conscience with that violent fury. Sometimes a great inferno of discord among people is lit with one shot.
The arrows also represent the evil promptings of detestable thinking and desires from the devil in people’s hearts. The devil strikes the heart with them through the form of a woman as quickly as it hears her voice or catches sight of her body, face, hands, or legs. He suddenly shoots a man with evil desire like this in whatever way she moves or dresses herself. But not every woman is like this or causes such a difficult wound to every man. I am not saying that it would be her own sin that such a quick blow would hit someone. Her nature conveys that by itself apart from her will and a woman’s nature is like the nature of fire with respect to the inflaming of a man. That is why it is written that a woman is a man’s unrighteousness. But if she does not want to be at fault, it is fitting for her to conduct herself carefully and demurely and not to have grounds for offence such as extravagant and whore-like make-up and clothing, as is the custom of flirts. She also should not expose other parts of the body since harm could come to someone because of that. She will not be at fault when she acts carefully in everything, even though someone will receive a blow because of her. Everyone should hear this: the devil shoots with fiery
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