Reliquary of Pope Sylvester I
Permanent Ecclesiastical Art Exhibition in Zadar, Croatia
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
From: 1 John 2:18-21
Not Listening to Heretics
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[1] Children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come; therefore we know that it is the last hour. [19] They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out, that it might be plain that they all are not of us. [20] But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all know. [21] I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and know that no lie is of the truth.
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Commentary:
18-27. This passage covers one of the main themes in St John's letters—the fidelity of Christians being tested by the heretics. The style, replete with contrasts and parallelisms, makes what he has to say very lively.
First he describes the circumstances these Christians find themselves in: the presence of heretics leads one to think that the antichrist predicted by our Lord (cf. Mt 24:5-24 and par.) has come already and the "last hour" (v. 18) has begun. He goes on to unmask those who are cast in the role of antichrist, and contrasts them with true believers: I) they are not of us (v. 19), whereas you know the truth (vv. 20-21); 2) the heretics are imposters who deny the basic truth that Jesus is the Christ (vv. 22-23), whereas you "abide" in the Father and in the Son (vv. 24-25); 3) they arrogantly present themselves as teachers, but the anointing "abides" in you and you have no need of spurious teachers (vv. 26-27).
The repetition of the word "abide" stresses the need to keep the teaching of the Church intact. The faithful have a right to practise their faith in peace, and it is part of the mission of pastors to strengthen them in the faith, as St John is doing here. When introducing his "Creed of the People of God", Pope Paul VI said: "It is true that the Church always has a duty to try to obtain a deeper understanding of the unfathomable mysteries of God (which are so rich in their saving effects) and to present them in ways even more suited to the successive generations. However, in fulfilling this inescapable duty of study and research, it must do everything it can to ensure that Christian teaching is not damaged. For if that happened, many devout souls would become confused and perplexed--which unfortunately is what is happening at present" ("Homily", 30 June 1968).
18. "The last hour": this expression was probably familiar to the early Christians, who had a lively desire to see the second coming of Christ. As many passages in the New Testament indicate, the fullness of time already began with the Incarnation and the Redemption brought about by Christ (cf. Gal 4:4; Eph 1:10; Heb 9:26). From that point onwards, until the end of the world, we are in the last times, the last earthly stage of salvation history: hence the urgency Christians should feel about their own holiness and the spread of the Gospel. "To prevent anyone dragging his feet," St Augustine urges, "listen: 'children, it is the last hour', go on, run, grow; it is the last hour. It may be an extended one, but it is the last hour" ("In Epist. Ioann. ad Parthos", 3, 3). This eschatological sense of the last times, which the prophets announced long before (cf., Is 2:2; Jer 23:20; 49:26), is also to be found in the Fourth Gospel (cf. e.g., Jn 2:4; 5:28; 17:1).
"The antichrist": one of the signs of "the last hour" foretold by our Lord and the Apostles is the feverish activity of false prophets (cf. Mt 24: 11-24; Acts 20:29-30; 2 Thess 2:2ff; 2 Tim 4:Iff; 2 Pet 3:3). Although this term is only to be found in the letters of St John (1 Jn 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 Jn 7), the "antichrist's" features are similar to those of the "man of lawlessness", "the enemy" St Paul speaks about (cf. 2 Thess 2:1-12) and the "beasts" of the Apocalypse (cf., e.g., Rev 11:7; 13: 1 ff); the distinguishing mark they all share is their brutal opposition to Christ, his teaching and his followers. It is difficult to say whether the antichrist is an individual or a group. In St John's letters, the latter seems to be the case: it is a reference to all those who oppose Christ (the "many antichrists") who have been active since the start of Christianity and will continue to be so until the end of time.
19. "They were not of us": St John unmasks the antichrists; they could not have led the faithful astray had they not come from the community; but they were only pretending to be Christians--wolves in sheep's clothing (cf. Mt 7:15), "false brethren" (Gal 2:4)--and that is how they are able to sow confusion. Our Lord himself warned that both wheat and cockle would grow side by side in the Kingdom of God (cf. Mt 13:24-30); the sad fact that this is happening should not cause Christians to doubt the holiness of the Church. As St Augustine explains: "Many who are not of us receive, along with us, the sacraments; they receive Baptism with us, they receive with us what they know the faithful receive--the blessing, the Eucharist and the other holy sacraments; they receive communion from the same altar as we do, but they are not of us. Temptation reveals this to be so; when temptation overtakes them, they flee as if borne away by the wind, because they are not wheat. When winnowing begins on the threshing floor of the Lord on the day of judgment, they will all fly away; remember that" ("In Epist. Ioann. Ad Parthos",lII, 5).
20. "Anointed by the Holy One": it is difficult to say exactly what this means (cf. also v. 27); St John says that this anointing has the effect of countering the work of the antichrist. He may be referring to the sacrament of Baptism or that of Confirmation, or both, where anointing with chrism is part of the sacramental rite. In any case he is referring to the action of the Father and of the Son through the Holy Spirit on the soul of the Christian who has received these sacraments: this explains why the anointing "instructs" Christians "to know everything" (v. 27; RSV alternate reading).
"The Holy One": St John uses this expression to describe God the Father (cf., e.g., Rev 6:10; Jn 17:11), God the Son (cf. Jn 6:69; Rev 3:7), or simply God, without specifying which Person. The last-mentioned use was very, common among Jews of the time, to refer to the one true God.
"You all know": not only about the anointing but about Christian teaching in general. Some important manuscripts, which the Sistine-Clementine Vulgate follows, read: "You know all" (cf. RSV alternate reading). Both readings are complementary, for the Apostle is stressing that Christians do not need to listen to teachings other than those of the Church: they are being guided by the Holy Spirit, who gives them sureness of faith. The Second Vatican Council quotes this text when teaching about the "supernatural appreciation of the faith ["sensus fidei"] of all the faithful": "The whole body of the faithful, who have an anointing that comes from the Holy One (cf. 1 Jn 2:20 and 27), cannot err in matters of belief. This characteristic is shown in the supernatural appreciation of the faith of the whole people, when, 'from the bishops to the last of the faithful' they manifest a universal consent in matters of faith and morals" ("Lumen Gentium", 12).