Monday, September 27, 2021

Survey of the Interpretation of the Key Figures/Themes in 2 Thessalonians 2

The following, taken from Jonathan Burke, The Words of the Prophets, pp. 12-15, is a survey of the various interpretations of the key themes in 2 Thess 2 (the "man of Sin," the nature of the falling away, the identity of the Temple of God and who/what restrains) from the 2nd century until the 13th:

 

2 Thessalonians 2 – The Falling Away and the Man of Sin

 

 

The earliest expositions on this passage are totally clear.  Although unable to predict the papacy as such, commentators from the 2nd to the 5th century understood only too well that a great Christian apostasy would arise, coming to power after the fall of the Roman empire, that it would be led by an apostate Christian who would seek to make himself the head of

all the churches, and that the system he led would persecute the true believers. 

 

Date (AD)

Name

Man Of Sin

Falling Away

Temple Of God

That Which Restrains

 

180

Irenaeus

Apostate Christian

Christian apostasy

Jewish Temple

Roman Empire

185

Tertullian

Apostate Christian

Christian apostasy

Christian Church

Roman Empire

200

Hippolytus

Apostate Christian

Christian apostasy

Jewish Temple

Roman Empire

300

Victorinus

Apostate Christian

Christian apostasy

Christian Church

Roman Empire

306-373

Ephraem

Apostate Christian

Christian apostasy

Christian Church

Roman Empire

315-386

Cyril

Apostate Christian

Christian apostasy

Jewish Temple

Roman Empire

389

Chrysotom

Apostate Christian

Christian apostasy

Christian Church

Roman Empire

340-397

Ambrose

Apostate Christian

Christian apostasy

Christian Church

Roman Empire

340-420

Jerome

Professedly a Jew

Christian apostasy

Christian Church

Roman Empire

354-430

Augustine

Apostate Christian

Christian apostasy

Christian Church

Roman Empire

393-457

Theodoretus

Apostate Christian

Christian apostasy

Christian Church

Roman Empire

500’s

Primasius

Apostate Christian

Christian apostasy

Christian Church

Roman Empire

520

Andreas

Apostate Christian

Christian apostasy

Christian Church

Roman Empire

604

Gregory I

Apostate Christian

Christian apostasy

Christian Church

Not available

606-10:  The Bishop Of Rome Declared Universal Pontiff – Head Of All Christian Churches

c. 950

Adso

Apostate Christian

Christian apostasy

Undecided

Roman Empire

1070

Theophylact

Apostate Christian

Christian apostasy

Christian Church

Roman Empire

991

Arnulf

Papacy

Christian apostasy

Christian Church

Roman Empire

1033-1109

Anselm

Apostate Christian

Christian apostasy

Jewish Temple

Roman Empire

1240

Eberhard II

Papacy

Christian apostasy

Christian Church

Roman Empire





Little did some of these expositors realise that it was to be their own Church which would fulfil this dreadful prophecy.


It is noteworthy that all of the expositors in the following table are Roman Catholics – and that the earliest application of this prophecy to the papacy is to be found in 991 AD, by a Roman Catholic Archbishop.

To the table below could be added at least another 58 expositors writing after 1800, all the way up to the late 20th century.  This understanding of the passage was almost universal.

 

 

 

185:  Irenaeus:

 

‘…let them await, in the first place, the division of the kingdom into ten; then, in the next place, when these kings are reigning, and beginning to set their affairs in order, and advance their kingdom, to acknowledge that he who shall come claiming the kingdom for himself…‘

Irenaeus, 'Against Heresies' Book III, Chapter 30, Sections 2-3,
185 AD
 

 

 

 

‘And again, in the Second to the Thessalonians, speaking of Antichrist, he says, "And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus Christ shall slay with the Spirit of His mouth…”’

 

              

Irenaeus, 'Against Heresies' Book III, chapter 7, section 2, 185 AD

 

 

 

190:  Tertullian:

 

’”For that day shall not come, unless indeed there first come a falling away," he means indeed of this present empire, "and that man of sin be revealed," that is to say, Antichrist, "the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or religion; so that he sitteth in the temple of God, affirming that he is God…”

[…]

Only let him hold fast who now rules, until he is out of the way, who can only be the Roman State, whose breaking apart and dispersal among ten kings will produce the Antichrist, and then will the evil one be revealed…’

              

Tertullian, ‘On the Resurrection of the Flesh’, chapter 34, 190 AD

 

 

200:  Hippolytus:

 

‘…the other little horn that grows up among them meant the Antichrist in their midst; the stone that smites the earth and brings judgment upon the world was Christ.’


Hippolytus, ‘Treatise on Christ and Antichrist’, paragraph 28, 200 AD
 

 

 

315-386:  Cyril:

 

’Moreover, the Antichrist was prophesied to come when the times of the Roman empire have been completed

 

But this aforesaid Antichrist is to come when the times of the Roman empire shall have been fulfilled, and the end of the world is now drawing near. 

 

              

There shall rise up together ten kings of the Romans, reigning in different parts perhaps, but all about the same time; and after these an eleventh, the Antichrist, who by his magical craft shall seize upon the Roman power...’


              

Cyril, ‘Catechetical Lecture 15’, paragraphs 9,12, 315-386 AD

 

 

 

389:  Chrysotom:

 

‘One may first naturally inquire what is that which withholdeth, and after that would know why Paul expresses this so obscurely…  ‘he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.’

That is, when the Roman empire is taken out of the way, then he shall come; and naturally, for as long as the fear of this empire lasts, no one will readily exalt himself; but when that is dissolved, he will attack the anarchy, and endeavor to seize upon the government both of men and of God.’


              

John Chrysotom, ‘Homilies on Second Thessalonians II 6-9, 389 AD

 

340-20:  Jerome:

 

’But what am I doing? Whilst I talk about the cargo, the vessel itself founders. He that letteth is taken out of the way, and yet we do not realize that Antichrist is near.

Yes, Antichrist is near whom the Lord Jesus Christ 'shall consume with the spirit of his mouth
'.’

Jerome, ‘Letter to Ageruchia’, paragraphs 16, 17,
340-420 AD

 

 

‘My mind is refreshed, and for the present forgets the woeful calamities that this last age labours with, groaning and travailing in pain, till he who hinders, be taken out of the way, and the feet of the iron statue be broken to pieces by reason of the brittleness of the clayey toes.’

Jerome, ‘Commentary on Ezekiel’, book 8, preface, 320 - 420 AD

 

Let us therefore affirm, agreeably to the concurrent judgment of all ecclesiastical writers, that in the consummation of the world, when the Roman Empire is to be destroyed, there shall arise ten kings, who shall share the Roman world among themselves, and that an eleventh king (the little horn in Dan. vii.) shall arise, who shall subdue three of those ten kings…’

Jerome, ‘Commentary on Daniel’, chapter 7 section 20, 320 - 420 AD

 

              

‘”that which restrains” - is the Roman empire.  For unless it shall have been destroyed and taken out of the midst - according to the Prophet Daniel, Anti-Christ will not come before that.’

Jerome, ‘Commentary on Jeremiah’, chapter 5 section 25, 320 - 420 AD

 

 

393-457:  Thedoretus:

 

‘What the Apostle calls the Temple of God are the churches in which this impious wretch will occupy the first rank, the first place, striving to get himself accepted as God.’

 

Theodoretus, note on 2 Thessalonians 2, chapter 2, 393-457

 

604:  Gregory I (Bishop of Rome):


The king of pride is near, and (awful to be said!) there is an army of priests in course of preparation for him, inasmuch as they who had been appointed to be leaders in humility enlist themselves under the neck of pride.‘

What then, dearest brother, wilt thou say in that terrible scrutiny of the coming judgment, if thou covetest to be called in the world not only father, but even general father?‘

For to assent to that atrocious title is nothing else than to lose the faith.'


Gregory I, Epistle XVIII, to John, Bishop of Constantinople, 540-604


‘Is it not the case that, when Antichrist comes and calls himself God, it will be very frivolous, and yet exceedingly pernicious?

If we regard the quantity of the language used, there are but a few syllables; but if the weight of the wrong, there is universal disaster.

Now I confidently say that whosoever calls himself, or desires to be called, Universal Priest, is in his elation the precursor of Antichrist, because he proudly puts himself above all others.’

Gregory I, Epistle XXXIII, to Mauricius Augustus, 540-604

‘But in this pride of his [John, the Bishop of Constantinople] what else is denoted than that the times of Antichrist are already near at hand?

Gregory I, Epistle XXI, to Constantina Augusta, 540-604

 

 

 

991:  Arnulf:

 

‘Yet how would it fare with us, if it should happen that the man the most deficient in all these virtues, one so abject as not to be worthy of the lowest place among the priesthood, should be chosen to fill the highest place of all?

What would you say of such a one, when you behold him sitting upon the throne glittering in purple and gold?

Must he not be the “Antichrist, sitting in the temple of God, and showing himself as God?
’’

Verily such a one lacketh both wisdom and charity; he standeth in the temple as an image, as an idol, from which as from dead marble you would seek counsel.’

Arnulf, Bishop of Orleans, speech at the Council of Rheims, 991

 

 

 



 

1240:  Eberhard II:

 

‘With the greatest effort, Jesus also admonished that we avoid false Christs, false prophets who, clothed in sheep skin with the name of Christian and a Pontifical title, desire to rule and deceive us.

It is fitting they be recognized by their thorny works, especially avarice, debauchery, strife, hatred, envy, wars, the desire to have dominion, and blind ambition.


Can there be a more obvious meaning to these words which our heavenly Emperor prophesies?  He can only be pointing to the Pharisees and Scribes of Babylon who, under the title of Supreme Pontiff, we discern, unless we are blind, a most savage wolf whose skin feels as the skin of a Shepherd.’

Eberhard II, Archbishop of Salzburg, speech at Council of Ratisbon, 1240

 

One hundred and seventy years earlier, Hildebrand [Pope from 1073-1086] first laid the foundations of the rule of Antichrist, under the peaceful appearance of religion, but, in reality, was the first to inaugurate this nefarious war which has been faithfully continued by his successors…


He who is the servant of servants desires to be Lord of Lords, as if he were God; he despises holy assemblies and the councils of the brethren, nay, rather of his own Lords…’

Eberhard II, Archbishop of Salzburg, speech at Council of Ratisbon, 1240

 

….He speaks great things as if he were God and is ever scheming and plotting in his heart how to strengthen his rule.

To this end he changes laws, he enacts his own, he corrupts, he plunders, he defrauds, he kills; that morally depraved man whom they are accustomed to call the Antichrist, upon whose forehead is written the name of contempt, I am God, I cannot err; he sits in the temple of God and his domain is far and wide.’

Eberhard II, Archbishop of Salzburg, speech at Council of Ratisbon, 1240