Author: Msgr. Charles Pope

It is a phrase in the Scriptures that, while speaking of mystery, is itself a bit mysterious and debated among scholars, The “Mystery of Iniquity.” St. Paul mentions it in Second Thessalonians and ties it to an equally mysterious “Man of iniquity” who will appear before the Second Coming of Jesus. Many modern translators (accurately) render it “Mystery of Lawlessness” but it has less of a ring.

The Latin root of iniquity is  iniquitas, meaning “unjust,” or “harmful” is:  in (not) + aequus (equal). But the Greek μυστήριον τῆς ἀνομίας (mysterion tes anomias) is probably best rendered, “Mystery of lawlessness.”

Language issues aside, Paul almost seems to be writing in a kind of secret code. And thus, he writes:

Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. (2 Thess 2:1-8)

Although St. Paul tells the Thessalonians that they know what is hold back the lawless one, we moderns struggle to know. Some modern scholars say he refers to the Roman Government (which I doubt). Others say it is the power of Grace and the decision of of God to “restrain” the evil one and thereby limit his power a bit, for now. Of course if Satan is limited now, what horrifying things will be set loose when he is no longer restrained!  Can it get worse? Apparently!

But there it is, in the seventh verse, even before the Lawless one be set loose, there already exists the “mystery of iniquity” the mystery of lawlessness. And that phrase also rings down the centuries even unto us, provoking a pondering of its rich meaning.

Yet the danger is that we can focus too much on “the man of iniquity” who is not yet fully here, and fail to ponder the present reality which is already operative. As St. Paul says, For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Yes, the danger is that we focus on the future, which is murky, and ignore the present which is here and operative.

Hence I propose we ponder a bit the “mystery of iniquity” which is already here. I’d like to explore how it effects us personally and collectively. Yet even as I propose this, we cannot ignore the operative word “mystery” which suggests here that whatever we ponder of it must be done with humility and the realization that we are confronting a mystery, something revealed but much of which lies hid. I therefore do not propose to to “explain’ this phrase to you, but to ponder its mystery and confront its questions, so as to draw us to reverence and a deeper sense of our need for salvation.

Lets look at the mystery of iniquity from three vantage points, wherein we can ponder the mysterious reality of lawlessness that seems so operative among us individually and collectively.

1. The Strange Mystery of “Rational Man’s” Irrationality – Why do we, who are otherwise rational creatures, choose to do that which we know is wrong?  Why do we choose to do that which we know causes harm to ourselves and others; which endangers us, threatens and compromises our future, and further weakens us?  Why do we choose an evil, know that it is evil? This is mysterious.

Some argue that, on account of Original Sin,  our will have been weakened and thus we easily give way to temptation. While this offers some further insight into what we do, it does not ultimately solve the mystery. For at the end of the day, there is still the deeply mysterious truth that we still choose to do that which we know is wrong and harmful; and that we do this consistently as a human family.

Some argue, that we are actually choose what we perceive to be good. But here too, despite our darkened intellects and our tendency  to lie to ourselves, deep down we really know better; that choosing evil leads to harm in the long run,  and our conscience tells us, “This is wrong, it’s a lie, don’t do it.” But knowing this, we still do it.

Weak? Yes, but this not the full answer, deep down we know this and thus, we stare once again into the face of “the mystery of iniquity.”

2. The Even Stranger Mystery of the Angelic Rebellion –  The mysteries only deepen when we consider that the problem is not merely a human one, it is also an angelic one. The presence of demons revealed to us by Scripture and by our own experience, speaks to the reality of fallen angels.

Yes, among the angels to there was a great rebellion. Scripture more than hints at the fact that the third of Angels fell from heaven in a war of rebellion, before the creation of Man (cf Rev 12:4).

Thus, the attempt above to ascribe iniquity and lawlessness to human weakness is not, and cannot be a complete answer.

It is exceedingly hard and mysterious to ponder how Angels, with a nature and intellects far more glorious than ours, would knowingly reject what was good, true and beautiful. Yes, here too is the deep “Mystery of Iniquity” having nothing to do with the flesh, or sensuality, or human limits. It is raw intellectual and willful rebellion against the Good, by intellects and creatures far superior to us. The mystery only deepens.

3. The Awful Mystery of the Corruption of What is Best and Brightest –  The intellect, and free will, are arguably God’s greatest gifts. But why then do they come with such a high price both for God and for us? Surely God for saw that huge numbers of angels and human beings would reject him. It is a seemingly enormous price for free intellect and will.

Some will answer, that God also saw the magnificent love and beauty that would be ushered in by those who accepted him and the glorious vision of his truth. And yes, perhaps God, who is Love, saw love as so magnificent, that even its rejection buy some cannot overrule its glory in those who accept it. Seeking beloved children rather than robots or merely instinctual animals was so precious to God that he risked loosing some, even many, to gain some.

Some others speculate that, at least in this fallen world, contrast is necessary to highlight glory of truth. For what is light if there is no darkness to contrast it? What is justice if there is no injustice to contrast it? What is the glory of our “yes” if there is not a “no” that can also be uttered?

But still, even these reasonable speculations, cannot fully address the mystery of why so many men and angels reject what is good, true, and beautiful; why so many prefer to reign in hell than serve in heaven; why so many obstinately refuse to trust in God, and obey even simple commands we know are ultimately good for us. The glory of our freedom and our intellect are abused. Our greatest strengths are also the locus of our greatest struggle. Liberty becomes license and lasciviousness  and intellect becomes insubordination and intransigence. Corruptio optime pessima!

4. The Deepest Part of Mystery – The final Refusal to Repent. Many today like to blame God for Hell, and particularly scoff at the notion that Hell is eternal. But as the Catechism teaches, the eternity of Hell is not due to defect in Divine Mercy (# 393). Rather Hell is eternal because the decision of the damned is irrevocable.

Mysteriously their stubbornness and hardness had reached a point of no return. How does a soul end up in this state? It is mysterious, but surely it grows little by little. Sin is added upon sin, and the hardness of heart grows. The demands of God’s justice come increasingly to seem obnoxious, and the hardened soul starts to sneer at God’s law as intolerant, backwards, simplistic and so forth. Of course God’s law is none of these things, but as the darkness grows in a heart the light seems obnoxious and hateful. Soon enough concepts such as forgiveness, love of enemies, generosity, and chastity seem wildly “unrealistic,” even ludicrous.

When does a soul reach the point of no return; is it death, or sometime before? It is hard to say. But here we reach the deepest part of the mystery of iniquity, the permanently unrepentant heart. It is very dark and very, very mysterious.

5. We are back to the “mystery of iniquity.” Our little tour of “explanations” has yielded only crumbs. We are back to confronting our mysterious rebelliousness, our stubbornness, and hardness of heart; back to our almost knee-jerk tendency to bristle when we are told what to do, even if we know it to be good for us and others. Even the smallest rule, or forbiddence makes it seemingly all the more desirable, and there lurks that strange rebellious voice that says:  “I will not be told what to do! I will do what I want to do, and I will decide whether it is right or wrong.”

Yes, at the end of the day, we are left looking squarely at a mystery, a deep, almost unfathomable mystery of iniquity, our very own iniquity, our lawlessness, our irrational refusal to be under any law or restraint.

Perhaps like all mysteries, it is not meant to be solved, is meant to be accepted and to cause us to turn to God who alone understands. Indeed, if we are honest, the mystery of iniquity that is so profound, is also terrifying and should send us running to God as fast as we can exclaiming: “Lord save me from myself, from my own obtuse and hardened heart,  from the deep mystery of rebelliousness, iniquity and lawlessness in me! I cannot understand it, let alone save myself from it! Only you Lord and save me from my greatest threat, my greatest enemy, my very self.

Yes, the great mystery of iniquity. St. Paul says only this, the mystery of iniquity is already at work. But he does not say why or even how. He only says God can restrain it.

Yes, only God can restrain and explain:

More tortuous than anything is the human heart, beyond remedy; who can understand it? I, alone, the LORD, explore the mind and test the heart (Jer 17:9-10).

Here is a song from my youth that celebrates rebellion, iniquity, and lawlessness. The refrain admits “Fooling no one, but ourselves.” But we (collectively) do it anyway. Foolish and mysterious!

In Sunday’s Mass (Feast of the Presentation) there was an excerpt from the Letter to the Hebrews which describes our most basic and primal fear. The Hebrews text both names it and describes it as being the very source of our bondage: The Fear of Death

But I am not convinced that many of us understand the phrase as richly as possible, for “death” here is as much an allegory as referring to the actual and singular event of our passage from this world. In order to unlock the secret of the text I want to suggest to you an interpretation of the text that will allow its powerful diagnosis to have a wider and deeper effect.

Consider then this text from Hebrews:

Since the children have flesh and blood, [Jesus] too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. (Heb 2:14-15)

Now this passage is clear enough that the first origin of our bondage to sin is the devil. But it also teaches that the devil’s hold on us is the “fear of death.” This is what he exploits to keep us in bondage.

When I explore this teaching with people I find that it is difficult for many to understand it at first. For many, especially the young, death is rather theoretical. This is especially so today when medicine has so successfully pushed back the boundary of sudden death. Every now and then something may shake us out of our complacency about death (perhaps a brush with death) but as a general rule the fear of death is not something that seems to dominate the thoughts of many. So what is meant by the “fear of death” and how does it hold us in bondage?

Well, what if we were to replace the word “death” with “diminishment”? To be sure, this is an adaption of the text. The Greek text (φόβῳ θανάτου – phobo thanatou) is translated as “fear of death.” And yet, understanding death here also as “diminishment” can help us to see what this text is getting at in a wider sense. It doesn’t take long to realize that each diminishment we experience is a kind of “little death.” Diminishments make us feel smaller, less powerful, less glorious.

What are some examples of diminishments we might experience? At one level, a diminishment is anything that makes us feel less adequate than others. Maybe we think others are smarter, or more popular. Perhaps we do not feel handsome enough, pretty enough, we’re too tall, too short, too fat, wrong color hair. Maybe we hate that others are richer, more powerful, better spoken, better looking. Maybe we are older and wish we were younger and stronger, thinner and more energetic again. Maybe we are younger and wish were older, wiser, richer and more settled. Maybe we feel diminished because we think others have a better marriage, nicer home, better kids, or live in a better neighborhood. Maybe we compare ourselves to a brother or sister who did better financially or socially than we did.

Perhaps you can see how the fear of diminishment (the fear that we don’t compare well to others) sets up a thousand sins. It plugs right into envy and jealousy. Pride comes along for the ride too since we seek to compensate our fear of inadequacy by finding people whom we feel superior to. We thus indulge our pride or we seek to build up our ego in unhealthy ways. Perhaps we run to the cosmetic surgeon or torture ourselves with unhealthy diets. Perhaps we ignore our own gifts and try to be someone we really are not. Perhaps we spend money we really don’t have trying to impress people so we feel less adequate.

And think of the countless sins we commit trying to be popular and fit in. Young people, and older ones too, give in to peer pressure and do sometimes terrible things. Young people will join gangs, use drugs, skip school, have sex before marriage, pierce and tattoo their bodies, use foul language, gossip etc. Adults too have many of these things on their list. All these things in a quest to be popular and to fit in. And fitting in is about not feeling diminished. And diminishment is about the fear of death because every experience of diminishment is like a mini death.

Advertisers too know how to exploit the fear of death (diminishment) in effectively marketing their product. I remember studying this in the Business School at George Mason University. What advertisers do is to exploit our fear of diminishment. The logic goes something like this: you are not pretty enough, happy enough, adequate enough, comfortable enough, you don’t look young enough, you have some chronic illness (depression, asthma, E. D. diabetes), etc. So use our product and you will be adequate again, you won’t be so pathetic, incomplete and basically diminished. If you drink this beer you’ll be happy, have good times and friends will surround you. If you use this toothpaste or soap or cosmetics, beautiful people will be around you and sex will be more available to you. If you drive this car people will turn their heads and so impressed with you. Message: you are not adequate now, you do not measure up, you are not perfect (you are diminished) but our product will get you there! You will be younger, happier, healthier and more alive.

Perhaps you can see how all these advertising appeals plug into greed, pride, materialism, worldliness, and the lie that these things will actually solve our problem. They will not. In fact appeals like this actually feed our fear of diminishment and death even more because they feed the notion that we have to measure up to all these false or unrealistic standards.

It is my hope that you can see how very deep this drive is and how it enslaves us in countless ways.

This demon (fear of death, fear of diminishment) has to be named. Once named and brought to the light we must learn its moves and begin to rebuke it in the name of a Jesus. As we start to recognize and name the thought patterns that emerge from this most primal of fears we can gradually, by God’s grace, replace this distorted and “stinking thinking” with proper, sober and humble thinking. A thinking rooted in God’s love for us and the availability of his grace and mercy.

The text from Hebrews above is very clear to say that this deep and highly negative drive is an essential way in which Satan keeps us in bondage. The same text says that Jesus Christ died to save us and free us from this bondage. Allow the Lord to give you a penetrating and sober vision of this deep drive, this deep fear of diminishment and death. Allow the light of God’s grace and word to both expose and heal this deepest of wounds.

This Video pokes fun at the fad-centered culture that is always trying to make us feel inadequate: