2 Timothy 3:1

2 Timothy 3:1. In the last days. The words imply, as do many other passages in the New Testament, the belief that the end of the world's history was not far off, that the then state of the world presented signs of its approach. So we have ‘it is the last time' in 1 John 2:18, and St. Paul's words implying that the end might come in the lifetime of the generation then living (1 Thessalonians 4:15; 1 Corinthians 15:51). History has baffled that expectation, but the permanent truth remains that, as elsewhere, ‘prophecy hath springing and germinant accomplishments.' So here, phenomena of evil, like those described by St. Paul, bring on one of those days of the Lord that are preludes of the final judgment.

Perilous. Better, ‘ grievous.' The idea is that of distress rather than danger.