The Sun That Must Not Go Down on Our Anger

God clearly mentions this sun through the prophet when he says, “But to those who fear my name the sun of righteousness will rise, with healing in his wings.” And this sun again is said to “go down” at midday on sinners and false prophets and those who are angry, when the prophet says, “Their sun has gone down at noon.” And certainly, in the figurative sense, the mind, that is, the reason, which is rightly called the sun because it watches over all the thoughts and judgments of the heart, should not be put out by the sin of anger. Otherwise, when it “goes down,” the shadows of disturbance, together with the devil who causes them, will fill all the feelings of our hearts, and, overwhelmed by the shadows of wrath as in a murky night, we will not know what we ought to do. [a]

It is in this sense, as it was handed down to us by the teaching of the elders, that we have brought forward this passage of the apostle. For it was necessary, even at the cost of a somewhat long discussion, to show how they felt about anger. They do not allow it to make its way into our heart even for a moment, and they keep with the utmost care that saying of the gospel: “Whoever is angry with his brother is in danger of the judgment.” But if it were lawful to be angry until sunset, our fury could have its fill and our vengeful anger could give full play to harmful agitation before that sun began to sink toward its setting.