Matthew 24:12 (WEB)
Because iniquity will be multiplied, the love of many will grow cold.
Catechism · 1
“Before Christ's second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers.” — Catechism footnote: Cf. Lk 18:8; Mt 24:12.
Fathers and councils · 60
Catena Aurea on Mark
- BedeCatena Aurea on Mark
“…the cold of the night was a figure of what the wicked assembly was doing within; for because of the abounding of iniquity the love of many waxes cold. [Matt 24:12] Peter, who for a time was benumbed by this cold, wished as it were to be warmed by the coals of the servants of Caiaphas, because He sought in the…” — the author cites it
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Cyril of Jerusalem
“But the sign concerns not only rulers, but the people also; for He says, And because iniquity shall abound, the love of the many shall wax cold.” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 12.
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Origen
- Origen, De Principiis II.8Book II
“For the Lord also says, that, “because iniquity has abounded, the love of many will grow cold.”” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 12.
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Hippolytus of Rome
“(Then) iniquity shall abound, as the Lord also says: “Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 12.
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Cyprian of Carthage
“And He shall send His angels with a great trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from the heights of heaven, even into the farthest bounds thereof.”” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 4–31.
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Augustine of Hippo
“Again, of the false prophets, who are understood to be heretics, He says, “Because of their iniquity the love of many shall wax cold.”” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 12.
Read the whole comment“The tribulations of my heart have been multiplied by the abounding of iniquity and the waxing cold of love.” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 12.
Read the whole comment“They of whom it is said, “Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 12.
Read the whole comment“In this fluctuation, in the midst of these dangers and these difficulties, because, that in consequence of the abundance of offences “the love of many is waxing cold,” although the law of the Lord inspires delight, in this fluctuation then, (I say), “then spake I with my tongue.”” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 12.
Read the whole comment“Even he, my tempter, the devil; while offences are everywhere on the increase, because of the abundance of which “the love of many is waxing cold.”” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 12.
Read the whole comment“And in the end our Lord Himself said there should be an abounding of iniquity: “And since iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold; but he that shall have persevered unto the end, the same shall be saved.”” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 12.
Read the whole comment“For Himself saith, “Because iniquity hath abounded, the love of many shall wax cold.”” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 12.
Read the whole comment“What wilt Thou? wilt faint? wilt Thou not persevere even unto the end? wilt Thou not hearken, “He that shall have persevered even unto the end, the same shall be saved,” though for that iniquity aboundeth, the love of many shall wax cold?” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 12.
Read the whole comment“And, “Because iniquity hath abounded, the love of man shall wax cold.”” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 12.
Read the whole comment“The Gospel saith this, that in the last times many evils, many stumbling-blocks, many tribulations, much iniquity, shall abound; but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 3–13.
Read the whole comment“Howsoever, he saith, iniquity shall abound, love shall not grow cold in me.” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 12.
Read the whole comment““Because iniquity hath abounded, the love of many waxeth cold.”” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 12.
Read the whole comment““And because iniquity hath abounded,” saith the Truth, “the love of many waxeth cold:” because men come in whom we cannot discern, because men go out whom we cannot retain.” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 12.
Read the whole commentChapter LXXVII.—Of the Harmony Subsisting Between the Three Evangelists in Their Narratives of the Discourse Which He Delivered on the Mount of Olives, When the Disciples Asked When the Consummation Should Happen.…
Read the whole comment“Dost thou not tremble, lest thou be accounted among the many, whose “love waxeth cold, because that iniquity abounds?”” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 12
Read the whole comment“And the contrary to this fervour is what the Lord said, “The love of many shall wax cold.”” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 12.
Read the whole comment“For “when iniquity aboundeth, the love of many waxeth cold;” the tares and the chaff multiply.” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 12.
Read the whole comment“Because among them are the wise virgins; and certainly when the Lord said, “Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold;” He went on to say, “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 12, 13.
Read the whole comment“They fear to sin, because they hear that “because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 12.
Read the whole comment“And with the same reference the Lord says, “Woe to the world because of offenses!” and again, “Because iniquity abounded, the love of many shall wax cold.”” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 12.
Read the whole comment“For as we must own that, “when iniquity abounds, the love of many waxes cold,” and that those who have not been written in the book of life shall in large numbers yield to the severe and unprecedented persecutions and stratagems of the…” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 12.
Read the whole comment“For, notwithstanding iniquity abounds, and the love of many waxes cold, and the waves do swell, the darkness grows and the wind rages, yet the ship is moving forward; “for he that perseveres to the end, the same shall be saved.”” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 12.
Read the whole comment“As if He had said, Thou art at leisure, and the door is closed against me: thou art caring for the leisure of the few, and through abounding iniquity the love of many is waxing cold.” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 12.
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John Chrysostom
“For “when,” it saith, “iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” ( Matt. xxiv. 12.)” — the author cites it
Read the whole comment“Wherefore He also said, “When iniquity abounds, the love of the many shall wax cold.”” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 12. [“Shall be multiplied” is a more exact rendering of the verb in the first clause. Comp. R.V.—R.]
Read the whole comment“And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold; but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 9–13. [In verse 9, “all men” is substituted for “all the nations” (τν θνν omitted); in verse 11“many false Christs and” occurs (taken from verse…
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Basil the Great
“But now this blessing, great, marvellous, and worthy as it is of being most strenuously sought by all that love the Lord, is in peril of being reduced to the bare name, because iniquity abounds, and the love of most men has waxed cold.” — editor's note: cf. Matt. xxiv. 12.
Read the whole comment“Than this what can be more precious to me in the present state of affairs, when, because iniquity abounds, the love of many has waxed cold?” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 12.
Read the whole comment“It has long been expected that, in accordance with the prediction of our Lord, because of iniquity abounding, the love of the majority would wax cold.” — editor's note: cf. Matt. xxiv. 12.
Read the whole comment“The cause is not far to seek, for iniquity is multiplied and the love of many has grown cold.” — editor's note: cf. Matt. xxiv. 12.
Read the whole comment“What more is to be said but that our love has grown cold, whereby alone our Lord has told us that His disciples are distinguished?” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 12.
Read the whole comment“The love of many has waxed cold; brotherly concord is destroyed, the very name of unity is ignored, brotherly admonitions are heard no more, nowhere is there Christian pity, nowhere falls the tear of sympathy.” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 12.
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Jerome
“And when our Lord in the gospel declares that in the end of the world—when the shepherd shall grow foolish, according to the prophecy of Zechariah—“the love of many shall wax cold,” He means that wisdom shall decay.” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 12.
Read the whole comment“The love of many waxed cold.” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 12.
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Tertullian
“But as the conquering power of things evil is on the increase—which is the characteristic of the last times—things good are now not allowed either to be born, so corrupted are the seminal principles; or to be trained, so deserted are studies; nor to be enforced, so disarmed are the laws.” — editor's note: Comp. 2 Tim. iii. 1–5; Matt. xxiv. 12.
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Gregory of Nazianzus
“…hearing the Word of the Lord, which it is most miserable to suffer, and a most laborious matter to cure at the present time, because iniquity hath abounded, and scarce anywhere do I find its genuine healers.” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 12.
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Catena Aurea on Matthew
- Rabanus MaurusCatena Aurea on Matthew
For what desert so many evils are to be brought upon Jerusalem, and the whole Jewish province the Lord shews, when He adds, “Then shall they deliver you up, &c.”
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
Or otherwise; The disciples when they heard these things which were spoken of Jerusalem might suppose that they should be beyond reach of harm, as though what they now heard was the sufferings of others, while they…
Read the whole comment - OrigenCatena Aurea on Matthew
But how should the people of Christ be hated by the nations who dwelt in the uttermost parts of the earth? But one may perhaps say, that in this place all is put hyperbolically for many. But this that He says, “Then…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
Having named two sources of opposition, that from seducers, and that from enemies, He adds a third, that from false brethren; “And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one…
Read the whole comment - Remigius of AuxerreCatena Aurea on Matthew
As the capture of Jerusalem approached, many rose up, calling themselves Christians, and deceived many , such Paul calls “false brethren,” John “Antichrists.”
Read the whole comment - Hilary of PoitiersCatena Aurea on Matthew
Such Was Nicolaus, one of the seven deacons, who led astray many by his pretences. And Simon Magus who, armed with diabolic works and words, perverted many by false miracles.
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
And He adds, what is still more cruel, that such false Prophets shall have no alleviation in charity; “Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”
Read the whole comment - Remigius of AuxerreCatena Aurea on Matthew
That is, true love towards God and our neighbour, in proportion as each surrenders himself to iniquity, in that proportion will the flame of charity in his heart be extinguished.
Read the whole comment - JeromeCatena Aurea on Matthew
Observe, He says, “the love of many,” not ‘of all,’ for in the Apostles, and those like them, love would continue, as Paul speaks, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” [Rom 8:35]
Read the whole comment - Remigius of AuxerreCatena Aurea on Matthew
“Whoso shall endure unto the end,” i.e. to the end of his life; for whoso to the end of his life shall persevere in the confession of the name of Christ, and in love, he shall be saved.
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
Then that they should not say, How then shall we live among so many evils? He promises not only that they should live, but that they should teach every where. “And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all…
Read the whole comment - Remigius of AuxerreCatena Aurea on Matthew
For the Lord knew that the hearts of the disciples would be made sad by the destruction of Jerusalem, and overthrow of their nation, and He therefore comforts them with a promise that more of the Gentiles should…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
That before the taking of Jerusalem the Gospel was preached every where, hear what Paul says, “Their sound is gone out into all the earth;” [Rom 10:18] and see himself travelling from Jerusalem into Spain. And if one…
Read the whole comment - Remigius of AuxerreCatena Aurea on Matthew
But the whole passage might be referred to the end of the world. For then “shall many be offended,” and depart from the faith, when they see the numbers and wealth of the wicked, and the miracles of Antichrist, and…
Read the whole comment - JeromeCatena Aurea on Matthew
And the sign of the Lord’s second coming is, that the Gospel shall be preached in all the world, so that all may be without excuse.
Read the whole comment - OrigenCatena Aurea on Matthew
And that, “Ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake,” might be then applied thus; That indeed at this time all nations are conspired together against the Christians, but that when the things foretold by Christ…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Matthew
But that this preaching “the Gospel of the kingdom in all the world” was accomplished by the Apostles, we have not any certain evidence, to prove. There are numberless barbarous nations in Africa, among whom the…
Read the whole comment - OrigenCatena Aurea on Matthew
When every nation shall have heard the preaching of the Gospel, then shall come the end of the world. For at this time there are many nations, not of barbarians only, but of our own, who have not yet heard the word…
Read the whole comment - OrigenCatena Aurea on Matthew
Morally; He who shall see that glorious second coming of the word of God into his soul, must needs suffer in proportion to the measure of his proficiency assaults of opposing influences, and Christ in him must be…
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Cross-references · 28
Cited together in Bede on Mark 14:53–59 (3) (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Bede on Mark 14:53–59 (3) (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Bede on Mark 14:53–59 (3) (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Bede on Mark 14:53–59 (3) (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Bede on Mark 14:53–59 (3) (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Bede on Mark 14:53–59 (3) (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Bede on Mark 14:53–59 (3) (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Letters Letter 258.
Cited together in Letters Letter 191.
Cited together in On the Holy Spirit Chapter 29.
Cited together in On the Holy Spirit Chapter 29.
Cited together in On the Holy Spirit Chapter 29.
Cited together in On the Holy Spirit Chapter 29.
Cited together in John Chrysostom on Matthew 24:9–14 (2) (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in John Chrysostom on Matthew 24:9–14 (2) (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Letters Letter 191.
Cited together in On the Holy Spirit Chapter 29.
Cited together in Letters Letter 172.
Cited together in The City of God XX.8.
Cited together in The City of God XX.8.
Cited together in The City of God XX.8.
Cited together in The City of God XIX.8 and 1 other place.
Cited together in On the Holy Spirit Chapter 29.
Cited together in On the Holy Spirit Chapter 29.
Cited together in On the Holy Spirit Chapter 29.
Cited together in On the Holy Spirit Chapter 29.
Cited together in The City of God XIX.8.
Cited together in Of Holy Virginity Chapter 40.