INBOX INSPIRATIONS
January 28, 2026
The Diabolical Divides
Dear Friends,
Our English word diabolical is derived from two Greek words: dia and ballo. Together, they literally meant to throw across. More figuratively, they meant to split apart, divide, put at odds, slander or falsely accuse. In ancient Greek, a person was called a diabolos who was a slanderer, accuser, or backbiter. The Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible used this word diabolos as meaning Satan.
Our English word diabolical means like the devil, wicked, or cruel. The sense of separation or division is very much at the core of our word diabolical. One who causes division or separation or puts people at odds with one another is diabolical. Such a person is like the devil.
Jesus’ life, his preaching and his practice are the opposite of diabolical. He brings together, unites, and reconciles. Let’s look at some examples.
v Jesus prays for unity. “I pray…that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us…” (John17:20-21).
v Jesus tells the parables of restoring to the fold the lost sheep, of finding the lost coin, and of forgiving the lost son – all stories of restoring unity and making things or persons one (Luke 15:1-32).
v In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus even calls us to love our enemies. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor but hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you…” (Matthew 5:43-45). Could there be a clearer teaching about seeing oneness with others and about praying or working to achieve it?
v Even Jesus’ healing of the ten lepers is an act of making them one. He restores them to the community and brings about social and religious unity (Luke 17:11-19).
v Finally, Jesus makes our care of the marginalized – the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, the imprisoned – he makes this a supreme moral norm (Matthew 25:31-46). He wants us to see our oneness with these persons and care for them as such.
Jesus is about bringing people together, making people one, restoring unity. That is also what we as his disciples are to do. We are to avoid and resist the diabolical where it exists.
Fr. Michael Schleupner
