Biblical Scholar On Luke 18:8 And The Loss Of Faith Before The Second Coming

Joseph Knabenbauer, S.J. (1896), Commentarius in quatuor S. Evangelia: Evangelium secundum Lucam, p. 498:

“The elect will of course greatly desire the Day of the Lord, and that desire will especially increase, and to its full extent, in those final and supreme tribulations which will assail them before the Day of the Lord (cf. Mt 24:22; Mk 13:20,24; Lk 21:36). But will there be many, will there be substantially more who will await and long for the coming of Christ with that same faith and desire? Some answer has already been given in Lk 17:26-28, where men are described as entirely wrapped up in worldly affairs. You have another answer here: ‘But when the Son of Man comes, do you think he will he find any faith on earth?’ St. Cyril has already warned us that this rhetorical question indicates that they [i.e. people with faith] will be extremely few. Just as Christ found few believers among His own people at His first coming – ‘it is necessary that He be rejected by this generation’ (Lk 17:25) – so will He find something similar in His second. For as Christ says, ‘False prophets will arise and present such signs and wonders that even the elect (if such is possible) will be led into error’ (Mt 24:24). This is the very apostasy and seduction that the Apostle writes about in 2 Th. 2:3 seq. (cf. 2 Pet 3:3). You can see that on this question the Apostles taught the same as Christ had foretold... From this description of the last times, as from other words and parables of Christ, it may also be concluded that in no way is the opinion of certain Chiliasts to be commended, namely that in the last times the Church will have some kind of immense splendor and triumph, and that almost everyone will possess an exceptional and blessed holiness...”