He's already here!? The Second Thessalonians Prophecy
So I busted this paper out at the last minute and got it in a few hours late, but I got it in. Hopefully I still manage to pass the course.
Anyway, if you want to read it, here it is. I don’t think it’s too bad.
If you want to better understand a highly interesting passage of scripture a little better, I reccomend you read it. I guarantee you will not regret it if that’s why you approached it.
So…. yeah. I’m just going to copy and paste. Boom.
Nicholas Bylotas
8/15/2022
THY-532 The Life and Writings of Paul
Dr. Marc Pugliese
He’s already here!?: The Second Thessalonians Prophecy
The Man of Apostasy, the Lawless One, the Antichrist—all names for a single human being who has coursed through the consciousness of humanity ever since his coming was first prophesied in Second Thessalonians. Theologians, scholars, and laypeople alike have made countless claims over the years as to who this inimical man is, but the mystery is yet unsolved, and the pot is only getting larger as more and more bets are placed. The first twelve verses of the second chapter of Second Thessalonians contain the prophecy from which this excitement has arisen, and this exegesis will examine them so to ascertain their original meaning as the author intended.
One of the reasons why 2 Thessalonians 2:1-11 is such a mystery to us today, is because it refers to insider information which the church of Thessalonica received from Paul the Apostle’s direct instruction when he spent time with them. This is evident from v. 5, “do you not recall that while I was with you I told you these things?”. The verse serves to complete the information of the preceding verses which anticipate the arrival of the “man doomed to perdition” as a necessary event that must happen before the day of the Lord (2 Thess 2:3). Unfortunately, we don’t know what it was that Paul said in the instance that is being referred to, making it particularly difficult to arrive at a precise conclusion of what is meant. What is more obscure is v. 6, “and now you know what is restraining,” which implies an eschatological conclusion that the Thessalonian community arrived at, but as far as we know was never recorded and is now lost.
Before we peer into the mystery of the new evil characters and forces of darkness at work in the final days, we will begin where chapter two begins, which is both the start of the body of the epistle, and the address of the occasion for writing (Esler). There is some debate as to what the specific details of the occasion is which are interpreted differently depending on whether it is authentic Pauline or not (Ibid). These differences refer to which particular group or message and at what time had provoked the false teaching that needed to be addressed, which was the belief that the day of the Lord had already come (Ibid). The author, whom I will make no claims as to whether he was Paul or not, urges the congregation not to be “shaken” or “alarmed” by a teaching coming from an alleged Christian who announces that the day of the Lord has already come (2 Thess 2:1-2). Whether it was a notion that emerged from millenarian excitement in the Thessalonian church, or was something a Gnostic brought to them, the author is clear that such a teaching is false (Ibid).
The proof the author provides to justify his rectification against false doctrine is a reminder of a prerequisite event he calls “the apostasy” which has yet to occur. He then goes into further detail of what this previous instruction he is referring to means. His method is to employs a storytelling approach that introduces characters, plot, conflict, and resolution; a classic method of communicating spiritual truth in any culture or community (Gaventa 110). The story approach serves both as a conveyance of information, but also to generate emotional investment which is charged by a sense of danger which is relieved by the encouragement for hope (Ibid 116). The characters include the Lawless One, Jesus, Satan, the Restrainer, and the two anthropomorphized concepts of rebellion and the mystery of lawlessness (Ibid 110).
Up first is the Restrainer doing the restraining (2 Thess 2:6-7). This has been interpreted both as a positive character that holds back the mystery of lawlessness and the lawless one, and as a negative one which oppresses the church and restrains her (Elias 288). The reason there are different interpretations is because of how one may translate the ancient Greek phrase to katechon and ho katechon (Elias 281). The phrase is what refers to the Restrainer, whom for those who assert is a positive force is given an object noun to identify it as a person i.e. “And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his time” (2 Thess 2:6, Ibid 282). Although admittedly I know very little about the ancient Greek language and cannot read it myself, my very brief studies of ancient languages in general have taught me that it is not unusual to need to supply such words to complete a translation. For those who interpret the restrainer as an antagonist, to katechon and ho katechon are translated as the words oppression and oppressor, based on the various translation of the root word katecho throughout scripture (Ibid 282)
So which is it? If the Restrainer is a helpful character, some propose it is God himself, the Holy Spirit, or even the Roman Empire enforcing its laws (Beverly 114). Those who claim it is an antagonist also point to the Roman Empire but emphasize its oppressive traits that work against the Christian church (Elias 283). Seeing that I am unable to read ancient Greek myself, I’m inclined to agree with what is written in the Catholic Study Bible before me as I write this, which supplies an object and implies a positive role to the force/person. However, more than that, it seems to logically flow that if the removal of this agent results in the release of the supernaturally evil Lawless One, then it is probably a force of good, which could be an angel, the Holy Spirit, or God himself.
We have arrived now at the Lawless One, whom as I mentioned above embodies evil to a supernatural degree (2 Thess 2:9-10). The eschatological nature of this figure suggests that he can only be properly identified at the moment of his destruction on the day of the Lord (Gieschen 276). It is as if saying his true name is the magic that breaks the spell and sends him back into the pit, like Rumpelstiltskin. Jesus of course is prophesied to do this with the breath of his mouth (2 Thess 2:8). Who is this great approaching enemy that the ancient author of Second Thessalonians foresaw? Some interpret the Lawless One as not only predicted in Second Thessalonians, but as the same figure described in Daniel (Beeke 11). The verse in reference is v.4: “who opposes and exalts himself above every so called god and object of worship…”.
This language that describes a man or king exalting himself in such a way is found in several places throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, those being Daniel 11:36, Ezekial 28:2, and Isaiah 14:13 (Gaventa 112). The repeated use of this concept as a person becoming the total enmity of God’s people indicates that it is less important what prophecy refers to who, than it is that the language describes a particular human behavior which demonstrates the epitome of faithlessness and sin. Examples of this happening are identified with Antiochus Epiphanes from Daniel’s passage, an unnamed king of Tyre from Ezekiel’s book, and an unnamed king of Babylon in Isaiah (Gaventa 112).
The Lawless One is special in this regard, however. Not only does he do that, but he does so with Satanic power that summons signs and wonders that deceive the people (2 Thess 2:9). The details of how the Lawless One enters the scene are uncertain, but some propose that it means he is going to impress himself into the consciousness of the people as God, not by claiming to be that, but by performing Satanic signs that deceive people into believing it true (Beeke 12). According to the author of this epistle, it’s the people who do not accept the truth of the gospel and are thus under the power of death who become this man’s victims (2 Thess 2:10).
The last verse to examine in this exegesis answers a very important question that many people have: why does this happen? According to the author, God allows the Lawless One to have his way for a time because it is how he is going to differentiate the condemned from the saved (2 Thess 2:11). This underscores the importance of adhering to the doctrine they hold to be true, and not allowing themselves to be deceived by anything that may come. Although it appears that the Lawless One is going to totally dominate the world, the passage promises the hope of Jesus’ return which will destroy him, thus the author reassures his readers of the promise that has been made to them.
To sum everything up, I’ll restate the original author’s meaning in a way that holds as true to his intent as possible but doesn’t say it as a direct translation: “Don’t worry, you haven’t missed your salvation because it hasn’t happened yet. You’ll know it’s about to come because Satan’s man will take over the world first and be very convincing while he does. That’s when Jesus will come, and the few who kept their faith will be saved. So don’t ever give up, no matter how much you may want to.”
This is going to come off as perhaps a bit unusual and definitely heretical, but when I read this passage, I see Jesus as this supernaturally evil man. These are my reasons: he’s a man, he’s sitting on the throne of God, and he’s propagating idolatrous human sacrifice to himself. Obviously, the Christian community may find this idea utterly inappropriate and anathema. Hear me out though, perhaps it is exactly the present version of Jesus that developed over two thousand years of a very bloody and contentious history that is precisely who was foreseen as the Lawless One in the first century. I find it very likely that what is taught about Jesus today is nothing like what the initial Christians believed, let alone what the real Jesus intended when he walked the earth.
Sources:
Barton, John, and John Muddiman. The Oxford Bible Commentary. Oxford University Press, 2001. Open WorldCat, http://site.ebrary.com/id/10269141.
Beeke, Joel R., and Paul M. Smalley. “The Man of Sin: 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12.” Puritan Reformed Journal, vol. 10, no. 1, Jan. 2018, pp. 5–30. EBSCOhost, https://search-ebscohost-com.saintleo.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rfh&AN=ATLAi5IE190318000396&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
Elias, Jacob W., and Inc NetLibrary. 1 and 2 Thessalonians. Herald Press, 1995.
Gaventa, Beverly Roberts. First and Second Thessalonians. Westminster John Knox Press, 2012.
Gieschen, Charles A. “Antichrist in the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions: The Relevance of Reformation Exegesis of 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 for the Church Today.” Concordia Theological Quarterly, vol. 81, no. 3–4, July 2017, pp. 263–79. EBSCOhost, https://search-ebscohost-com.saintleo.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rfh&AN=ATLAiC9Y180604000036&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
Senior, Donald, et al., editors. The Catholic Study Bible: The New American Bible Revised Edition. Third edition, Oxford University Press, 2016.