[2] The fact that faith would be scarce in the last times was foretold by the Lord when He described the close of the age, in Matt 24:4-end; Mark 13:3-end; Luke 21:7-end. Everything that is stated in these places implies that in those times charity and faith will be scarce, and that at length there will not be any at all. Something similar was foretold through John in the Book of Revelation, and also occurs many times in the Prophets, besides what appears in the historical sections of the Word.

[3] But by the faith that is going to perish in the last times nothing other than charity is meant. No other faith can possibly exist, except faith that is grounded in charity. The person who has no charity is incapable of possessing any faith at all, charity being the soil in which faith is implanted, its heart from which it derives its being and life. The ancients for this reason compared love and charity to the heart, and faith to the lungs, both of which lie inside the breast. That comparison is also a perfect simile; for to imagine a life of faith without charity is like imagining life from the lungs alone without the heart, which is an impossibility, as may become clear to anyone. The ancients therefore used to call all things that belonged to charity those of the heart, and all that belonged to faith devoid of charity those of the lips alone, that is, of the lungs passing by means of breath into speech. From this came the sayings of old about the need for goods and truths to go forth from the heart.