Some thoughts as the Devil infiltrates the Church through intellectual pride

Every man is become foolish by his knowledge...

"Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seem to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written: I shall catch the wise in their own craftiness. And again: The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain." (1 Cor. 3, 18-20)

The Lord God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah saying, "Every man is become foolish by his knowledge: every founder is confounded by his idol, for what he hath cast is a lie, and there is no breath in them. They are vain works, and worthy to be laughed at, in the time of their visitation they shall perish" (Jer. 51: 17-18).

We have before us two kinds of wisdom, the "wisdom" of the world (which is devilish) and false and the true wisdom from above:

"Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good life let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This wisdom is not such as comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practise. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without uncertainty or insincerity. And the harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace" (James 3: 13-18).

We've seen enough of devilish "wisdom." The "wisdom" of homosexual priests who abuse children while feigning virtue; the devilish "wisdom" of "intellectuals" who speak and write increasingly asinine things, engaging in dissent from the Magisterial teaching of Christ's Church while proclaiming themselves to be "wise"; Catholics with a string of letters after their names but who resemble Jannes and Jambres*, always learning but never coming to a knowledge of the truth.

Interestingly, a Catholic mother from Phoenix, Arizona, was allegedly given this prophecy a number of years ago:

"When intellectual Christianity will have suffered long enough it will find its heart, and the whole world will see it: then will come the peace of Christ. This peace will come first to the United States."

In his classic work entitled the "Love of Eternal Wisdom," St. Louis Marie de Montfort proposes a definition of wisdom based on etymology. In Chapter 1 Montfort says that, "In the general sense of the term wisdom means a delectable knowledge [sapida sapientia] - a taste for God and His truth" (LEW 13). For Montfort, wisdom is directly related to knowledge. However, the wisdom spoken of by this great marian saint is defined very clearly by his use of the adjective "delectable." For Montfort, such knowledge is not the theoretical or abstract knowledge of the mathematician or the moral theologian who approaches moral questions with a cold legalism akin to that of the Pharisees.

Rather, for Montfort true wisdom is a knowledge that one can taste ("savoreuse"); a knowledge which stirs the soul and which awakens one, a knowledge which shuns falsehood and deception:

"True wisdom is a taste for truth without falsehood or deception. False wisdom is a taste for falsehood disguised as truth. This false wisdom is the wisdom or the prudence of the world, which the Holy Spirit divides into three classes: earthly, sensual, and diabolical [Jas. 3:15). True wisdom may be divided into natural and supernatural wisdom. Natural wisdom is the knowledge, in an outstanding degree, of natural things in their principles. Supernatural wisdom is knowledge of supernatural and divine things in their origin. This supernatural wisdom is divided into substantial or uncreated Wisdom and accidental or created wisdom. Accidental or created wisdom is the communication that uncreated Wisdom makes of himself to mankind. In other words, it is the gift of wisdom. Substantial or uncreated Wisdom is the Son of God, the second person of the most Blessed Trinity. In other words, it is Eternal Wisdom in eternity or Jesus Christ in time" (LEW 13).

Substantial or uncreated Wisdom is Eternal Wisdom in eternity or Jesus Christ in time. And the Catholic Church is Christ's Mystical Body in the world or "in time." Why then are there so many who reject the teaching of Wisdom (Jesus) in time? The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that, "In order to preserve the Church in the purity of the faith handed on by the apostles, Christ who is the Truth willed to confer on her a share in his own infallibility. By a 'supernatural sense of faith' the People of God, under the guidance of the Church's living Magisterium, 'unfailingly adheres to this faith.'" (CCC, 889). And again:

"The mission of the Magisterium is linked to the definitive nature of the covenant established by God with his people in Christ. It is this Magisterium's task to preserve God's people from deviations and defections and to guarantee them the objective possibility of professing the true faith without error.." (890).

Why then do so many "learned" and "intellectual" Catholics reject [dissent from] the teaching authority of the Magisterium established by Jesus Himself (Who is Eternal Wisdom in time) and choose instead to embrace contrary teachings? Because, they have preferred a false "wisdom," a devilish "wisdom" which produces a harvest not of righteousness but of "disorder and every vile practise."

In other words, such people have chosen to follow another father. The father Jesus spoke of in John 8:44.

* 2 Timothy 3:8-9.

For the time will come when people stop listening to the truth...

"Erit enim tempus, cum sanam doctrinam non sustinebunt, sed ad sua desideria coacervabunt sibi magistros, prurientes auribus. Et a veritate quidem auditum avertent, ad fabulas autem convertentur." (2 Timothy 4: 3-4).

And that time is now. New Age philosophies are spreading throughout the Church. Homosexuality and lesbianism are celebrated. Even in a Catholic parish. Intoxicated with their own knowledge and learning, those who have succumbed to friendship with the world tell us that we must leave behind the "old complexes" and reject "backward thinking" so that we may evolve into more "civilized" beings who may then build an earthly paradise. These misguided souls are not interested in knowledge for the sake of truth, but for power and possession.

It was Dr. Dietrich von Hildebrand who warned that,"..a much worse consequence of the idol of learning is the killing of common sense, which is being undertaken on a widespread scale in grammar schools, high schools, and colleges. One forgets the great source of wisdom which lies in our immediate contact with being, and how pernicious it is to replace the resulting world view, with instruction which draws its nourishment from doubtful psychological and sociological theories, and false, flat philosophies. Every immediate, true experience in which the voice of being speaks to a person, is much more interesting than the questionable theories he has adopted concerning the world and life. Thus it is that a simple, unlettered man, when he speaks about the world and his life, is much wiser, much truer, and more genuine than all the half-educated people who simply repeat the stupid theories expounded by their professors. The statement of a simple person may be clumsily expressed; it may be incomplete, and even contain errors. But it will always have a kernel of truth, always the freshness of a genuine contact with reality, and be free from the arrogant presumption of establishing a valid theory in the sense of looking 'behind the scenes' of reality, and being able to 'explain' everything. The dangerous error of the cult of teaching and learning reaches its climax in the ambition to improve, modify, or even replace natural, immediate, organic contact with the world and life, by an artificial contact based on so-called 'scientific' theories." (The Devastated Vineyard, pp. 85-86).

We are commanded, "Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, sensual lust, enticement for the eyes, and a pretentious life, is not from the Father but is from the world. Yet the world and its enticement are passing away. But whoever does the will of God remains forever." (2 Timothy 2: 15-17).

Who will be able to resist the Antichrist when he reveals himself? - which could be at any time now. As I mentioned in a previous post, Romano Guardini has provided us with the answer:

"One day the Antichrist will come: a human being who introduces an order of things in which rebellion against God will attain its ultimate power. He will be filled with enlightenment and strength. The ultimate aim of all aims will be to prove that existence witout Christ is possible - nay rather, that Christ is the enemy of existence, which can be fully realized only when all Christian values have been destroyed. His arguments will be so impressive, supported by means of such tremendous power - violent and diplomatic, material and intellectual - that to reject them will result in almost insurmountable scandal, and everyone whose eyes are not opened by grace will be lost. Then it will be clear what the Christian essence really is: that which stems not from the world, but from the heart of God; victory of grace over the world; redemption of the world, for her true essence is not to be found in herself, but in God, from whom she has received it. When God becomes all in all, the world will finally burst into flower."

Those who believe in their own intellectual prowess will succumb to the lie. They will be seduced by the Antichrist. Already we see the spirit of Antichrist seducing so many as they scramble to find teachers who will tickle their ears and tell them what they want to hear. But their end is destruction.

Meditation: Proverbs 3: 5-8. As a child, I took this Scripture as my own motto.

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not;
In all your ways be mindful of him, and he will make straight your paths.
Be not wise in your own eyes, fear the LORD and turn away from evil;
This will mean health for your flesh and vigor for your bones."