Hearing from the Savior about the end of the world, they wished to know the time itself. Thus they would not be deceived, and they would be able to teach others. Indeed, having learned this, they corrected the Thessalonians, who were ready to fall into error. Therefore, when someone acquires perfect knowledge concerning such things, he will have a correct and sound understanding of the faith. But if someone misinterprets such a thing as referring to another, he will quickly fall into heresy. Thus Hymenaeus and Alexander erred concerning the time (1 Tim 1:20), saying that the resurrection had already taken place (2 Tim 2:18). The Galatians also erred when, after the proper time, they came to love circumcision. That is, instead of faith that the Church lives between the time of Christ's resurrection and the general resurrection, such heretics as Hymenaeus and Alexander thought the whole work of salvation had already been completed in the past. The Galatians, who continued to observe Jewish rites, acted as though Christ's resurrection either had not occurred or had no essential meaning for salvation. Moreover, it is useful for men not to know when the end is, or when the day of each person's end will be. If they knew, they might become negligent of the present time while waiting for days near the end. They might have the pretext that only then would they attend to themselves. Therefore Paul was silent also about each person's mortal end. Otherwise, under the pretext of knowledge, men might become puffed up and spend much of their time neglecting themselves. Thus the Word has hidden both things from us: the end of all and the limit of each person. For each person's end is joined to the common end, and by each person's end the common end draws near. Since the end is unknown and always expected, we are called to make progress each day, forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward (Phil 3:13).
THEOSIS