"The mystery of iniquity"

[Samson01]

Your thought’s?

 

[anthony022071]

Sin untimately derives from Adam and Eve’s temptation by Satan and their mistrust in God and obedience to his commandments. Their desire for a self-empowering kind of knowledge led him away from innocence into self-consciousness and “knowingness”. By mistrusting and disobeying God,Adam and Eve fell out of the perfect state of grace of God and so did the natural world. Since they lost the perfect state of grace,their minds and bodies became corrupted. They became fascinated and curious about their own bodies and possessive of natural things. They became lustful and resentful and wanted domination. They passed this lack of grace and the inclination to evil onto their children by way of the flesh. Since we are of their flesh,we inherited their fallen nature and the weaknessesses of their flesh.

 

[Samson01]

Sin untimately derives from Adam’s rejection of trust in God and obedience to his commandments. Adam’s desire for a self-empowering kind of knowledge
led him away from innocence into “knowingness”. By mistrusting and disobeying God,Adam fell out of the perfect grace of God.

Hmm, interesting. This thirst for knowledge, opposite of being “childlike” as commanded, leads to a fall or the fall? Now that we have that down, what of, how this mystery is working today as St. Paul describes in Thes? Thank you for your (name removed by moderator)ut.

 

[Samson01]

Some clergy think of this mystery in the area of their vocation. How it has divided the Church…Many facets in this to look at.

 

[anthony022071]

I added to my first post. The mystery of iniquity (or lawlessness) that Paul speaks of is false teachers or persecutors of the Church. He says that the lawless one,who is Satan, is being restrained (probably by Archangel Michael) for the present but that he will be revealed. The mystery of iniquity is deceiving and attacking the Church nowadays in the form of relativism of morality and truth,religious pluralism,New Age paganism,Eastern philosophy and religion,celebrity heretics and intellectuals,the news media,socialism,naturalistic theories of the origins of the universe and life,and the “culture of death”.

 

[Samson01]

I added to my first post. The mystery of iniquity (or lawlessness) that Paul speaks of is false teachers or persecutors of the Church. He says that the lawless one,who is Satan, is being restrained (probably by Archangel Michael) for the present but that he will be revealed.

This was touch on by a local priest. Thanks for your (name removed by moderator)ut. It’s seems right on.
Would you say that this mystery is a type of “anti- holy spirit”?

 

[Samson01]

Thinking how it works, not just works.

 

[Lancer]

Your thought’s?

How about the** CCC’**s “thoughts”…versus mine?

675 Before Christ’s second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers**. The persecution** that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth will unveil the "mystery of iniquity" in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of** the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh. ** 576 (Cf. 2 Thess 2:4-12; 1 Thess 5:2-3; 2 Jn 7; 1 Jn 2:18,22.

I wish that I could come up with something better…but this is scary enough…and we can see (in my opinion)…some aspects of it unfolding in our own lifetimes…right in front of our eyes.

If I ever needed a reason not to be a “cafeteria Catholic”…this definition of the Mystery of Iniquity…is reason enough. Just think of how many of our good (and I do mean good) brothers and sisters in the Catholic Church (including ordained clergy and consecrated religious…and especially Catholic politicians, lawmakers and judges)…who buy into some/many of these deceptions:, e.g., “pro-choice/abortion deception"…the “contraception deception”…the “gay marriage deception”…the "dictatorship of relativism”…and the beat goes on…and on… and on (unfortunately)! And…how about all of our non-Catholic (Protestant) brothers and sisters who in larger percentages buy into many of these deceptions (my perception…e.g., no fight in the "public square"against abortion, contraception is okay, divorce is okay, gay marriage is okay, etc.).

Even our brothers and sisters who are not Christians should pause in serious concern…and even the Western Nations (like the USA)…who plead “secularism” and “relativism”…will not be let off the “judgment hook”! Again here is what the CCC says:

1958 The** natural law is immutable and permanent throughout the variations of history;10 it subsists under the flux of ideas and customs and supports their progress. The rules that express it remain substantially valid. Even when it is rejected in its very principles, it cannot be destroyed or removed from the heart of man. It always rises again in the life of individuals and societies: **Theft is surely punished by your law, O Lord, and by the law that is written in the human heart, the law that iniquity itself does not efface.
10. **Cf. Gaudium Spes 10 [Vatican II]
11. St. Augustine, Conf. 2,4,9L 32,678.11

Re: abortion…look at these two verses of Psalm 94…and think about Roe vs Wade Supreme Court decision…

Psalm 94 (NAB)

20** Can unjust judges be your allies**, those who create burdens in the name of law,

21 Those who conspire against the just and condemn the innocent to death?

King James Version:

20Shall the** throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee**, which frameth mischief by a law? 21They** gather themselves together** **against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood. **

The really scary thing about this*** Mystery of Iniquity*** to me, is that…if it were not for the Church’s requirement…to not only give the*** assent of faith to dogma/doctrine/infallible teachings…but also most importantly***** to give religious assentto the Pope’s and The Magisterium’s (and all the bishops in communion with the Pope)* ordinary teachings on all matters of faith and morals…I would not have a clue on most all of the religious deceptionsthat we face today*…(some of which I listed above). Again…here is what the** CCC** says:

892 Divine assistance is also given to the successors of the apostles, teaching in communion with the successor of Peter, and, in a particular way, to the bishop of Rome, pastor of the whole Church, when**, without arriving at an infallible definition and without pronouncing in a “definitive manner,**” they propose in the exercise of the ordinary Magisterium a teaching that leads to better understanding of Revelation in matters of faith and morals. To this ordinary teaching the faithful “are to adhere to it with religious assent” 442 which, though distinct from the assent of faith, is nonetheless an extension of it.
442 Cf. CIC, cann. 229; 774; 776; 780; 823 § 1.

For your consideration…
Pax Christi

 

[Samson01]

Ahh, this is valuble information, Lancer, extremely valuble. How is this mystery working to one end though? We know how the Holy Spirit guides the faithful, but what of the ways of communictions of iniquity? Must it be stopped at the thought? Do bad intentions fuel others temptations, fears, or doubts… even if this is unkown by the person cooperating in iniquity? How many times has a bad mood set someone else off to do evil?

 

[anthony022071]

Ahh, this is valuble information, Lancer, extremely valuble. How is this mystery working to one end though? We know how the Holy Spirit guides the faithful, but what of the ways of communictions of iniquity? Must it be stopped at the thought? Do bad intentions fuel others temptations, fears, or doubts… even if this is unkown by the person cooperating in iniquity? How many times has a bad mood set someone else off to do evil?

Here you’re referring to the personal inclination to sin. The mystery of iniquity that Paul was referring to is sin in its general manifestations,that is,as social and cultural forces. In my last post I said: The mystery of iniquity is deceiving and attacking the Church nowadays in the form of relativism of morality and truth,religious pluralism,New Age paganism,Eastern philosophy and religion,celebrity heretics and intellectuals,the news media,socialism,naturalistic theories of the origins of the universe and life,and the “culture of death”.

Bad intentions do fuel other people’s temptations,fears and doubts. We experience that in our everyday life. For example,when a young man leaves his home after listening to angry,aggressive music in order to put himself in a fighting mood for the day,his bad vibes are sensed by the people he passes by,and it irritates them and makes them defensive and hostile as well. It can lead to fights at the bars on weekends.
Vibes are contagious. Our inclination towards evil has to do with irritability. We are irritated in various ways to commit sins.

 

[anthony022071]

Would you say that this mystery is a type of “anti- holy spirit”?

It is,because it seeks to lead people into error,whereas the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth and keeps the Church from teaching error.

 

[Samson01]

It is,because it seeks to lead people into error,whereas the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth and keeps the Church from teaching error.

Yes, I agree. Whereas the enemy conterfeits the Holy Trinity to be like Him, the enemy is no match, but still formible against us in this mystery. This fallen nature of ours in this mystery is apparent, but not so the workings of it, how it communicates in its own counterfeit way. Many don’t see this disease spread on contact. To contemplate the True Holy Trinity, the counterfeit becomes more noticable in it’s warfare against man and God.