onsdag 13 december 2023

Did the Devil Retain His Power? No


"He bore His wrath for me" — Did He? · Did the Devil Retain His Power? No · What is Jesuit Spirituality?

1 John 5:19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world is seated in wickedness.

[19] "The whole world is seated in wickedness": That is, a great part of the world. It may also signify, is under the wicked one, meaning the devil, who is elsewhere called the prince of this world, that is, of all the wicked. John 12. 31.


19 οἴδαμεν ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐσμεν καὶ ὁ κόσμος ὅλος ἐν τῷ πονηρῷ κεῖται.

John 12:31 in Haydock comment:

John 12:31 Now is the judgment of the world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.

Ver. 31. Now is the judgment of the world: Their condemnation, says St. Chrysostom, for not believing. --- The prince of this world, that is, the devil, shall be cast out from that great tyranny, which he had over mankind, before Christ's incarnation. (Witham) --- By these words Christ informs the Gentiles that wished to see him, that soon he would punish the incredulous Jews, and cast off their synagogue, for their malice and insatiable hatred against him; and that the prince of this world, that is, the worship of idols, should be destroyed, and all called to the true faith. (Calmet)


I would say, "the whole world is seated in wickedness" is the correct translation, and that meaning "the world" outside Catholicism.

Published estimates for the 1st century ("AD 1") suggest uncertainty of the order of 50% (estimates range between 150 and 330 million).


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estimates_of_historical_world_population

According to his calculation, it was around 180 that global Christian numbers first surpassed the symbolically weighty figure of 100,000.


https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/evangelical-history/how-many-christians-were-there-in-200-a-d/

So, with the Christians being less than one percent, as in Sweden today Catholics are a bit more than one percent, the remaining close to 99 % can be considered "the whole."/HGL

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