Before the Day of the Lord

St. Paul admonishes his flock not to be easily moved from their senses with terror, “as if the day of the Lord were at hand” (2 Thes. 2). That day will not come, he informs them, “unless there come a revolt first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.” How are

Lusting Against the Flesh

Lust is an ugly thing. The “works of the flesh,” which “lusts against the spirit,” include such miserable misbehaviors as “fornication, uncleanness, immodesty, luxury, idolatry, witchcraft, enmities, contentions, emulations, quarrels, dissensions, sects, envies, murders, drunkenness, reveling,” and others of a like nature (Gal. 5:17-21). All of which, we might note, have been exceptionally popular from

The Jealousy of God

Seeking to put to rest certain heretical claims concerning the law of Moses, St. Paul draws a sharp distinction between that law and the promise of the Gospel. The ordinances of the old covenant were given “by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not of one: but God is one”

Unmasking the Man of Sin

The man of sin [shall] be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes, and is lifted up above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he sits in the temple of God showing himself as if he were God. 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 St. Paul prefaces this announcement of the Antichrist with

Possessing All Things

But in all things let us exhibit ourselves as the ministers of God: As having nothing, and possessing all things. 1 Corinthians 6:4, 10 There is nothing which is not the possession of the wise person, except what is contrary to virtue. The whole world is his possession, since he uses it all as his

Knowing in Part

If I should have prophecy and should know all mysteries, and all knowledge, and if I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:2 Years ago, my littlest daughter approached me with a big question: What is a Protestant? The question sent me

Heaping Hot Coals

Though others do us evil, St. Paul teaches, we are not to render evil in return. “Providing good things, not only in the sight of God, but also in the sight of all men,” we are to “have peace with all men,” “if it be possible,” and as much as peace is in our power

Receiving the Spirit of Sons

Despite his Jesuit education, which often serves him so well, Tocqueville appears to miss the memo on magnanimity, that virtue by which we humbly accept the greatness to which God and nature call us. Responding to “moralists” who “complain constantly that the favorite vice of our period is pride,” Tocqueville asks us to look deeper.