James 1:20 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

For the wrath of man worketh not, &c.— Multitudes of Christians, so called, seem either to have disbelieved this, or to have forgottenit; for how often have they attempted to bring others over, to what they have apprehended to be the truth of doctrine, or the right manner of worship, by using them ill, if they were not convinced, or did not readily comply?—whereas the wrath of one man can never enlighten the mind of another; it is reason and argument that must convince men's judgments, and bring them over to our sentiments. If we have power, our wrath may make them atheists and hypocrites, and force them to profess what they do not believe, and so produce sin and unrighteousness, instead of that righteousness which God requires. For religion is under Divine grace a matter of pure choice, and is not, cannot be acceptable to God, unless the heart and the tongue go together. Besides, the usual progress of wrath and ungovernable zeal ought to deter all conscientious persons from the beginnings of it; for he that will be angry at another because he differs from him, will be in great danger of speaking against him, and blasting his character; and, as one step commonly leads on to another, when he cannot overcome by arguments, the next thing will be to crush his adversary's opinion by force, if he either have power to do it himself, or can prevail upon the magistrate or the multitude to aid and assist him. All the persecutions in the Christian church have arisen in this manner; for, when lesser evils were insufficient for the conviction of obstinate heretics, it was necessary, upon the same principles, to have recourse to persecution. The reader will find abundant proof hereof by referring to almost any Century of Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History.