3. The son of perdition will
sit in the temple of God, presenting himself as being God. The existence of
a temple is an integral part of this prophetic warning, and the tangible
existence of this building is a requisite for the literal fulfillment of the
prophecy.
Paul visited Thessalonica during
his second missionary journey (see Acts 17:1-4), then journeyed to Athens and
on to Corinth. While in Corinth he wrote both his epistles to the Thessalonian
saints. Bible scholars place the date of these epistles about 50 or 51 A.D. A
temple existed at the time in Jerusalem. This temple known as the temple of
Herod, stood until 70 A.D., when it was destroyed by Roman legions under the
command of Titus. No temple was then found on the earth until such sacred
temples were again constructed in the last days, beginning with the Kirtland
temple in the mid-1830s.
Since the son of perdition must
sit in a temple to fulfill the prophecy, he would have to do so in a time when
a temple exists upon the earth. This helps to determine the time of fulfillment
of the prophecy. If it was fulfilled in ancient times, the fulfillment would
have had to take place in the two decades between the time of Paul’s epistle
and the fall of the temple, from 50 to 70 A.D. would be an extremely early
dating—an untenable dating—for the time the “great apostasy” to have occurred.
If fulfilment wasn’t accomplished
before 70 A.D., then it must be in the last days era commencing with the
Kirtland temple in 1836. Certainly no fulfillment is known from that date to
the present, so it must be concluded that fulfillment is yet future.
The son of perdition will actually
represent himself as being the Christ, exalting himself above all that is
worshipped. He will occupy a place in God’s temple (in the New Jerusalem?) and
shew himself that he is God, deceiving the unrighteous who lack the spirit of
discernment (see D&C 50:1-34; 45:56-57) through lying wonders, and causing
their downfall (2 Thess. 2:9-12).
4. Christ will destroy the son
of perdition with the brightness of his coming. Again, an element of the
prophecy aids in its interpretation. Did Christ come in ancient times and
destroy an apostate representing himself to be God, or is that event still
further? The answer is obvious—history records no event that would fulfill the
prophetic warning. The event is yet future.
Here, then, is a prophecy of
extreme importance to Latter-day Saints. It warns of a false Christ who will
have profound influence upon the course of the Church in a future era, and will
be able to deceive an unrighteous faction, leading them away into strong
delusion and damnation. He must be a Church member to be able to be a son of
perdition, and one who enjoys ready access to a temple in the last days. The
ultimate message to future Church members was aptly stated by Paul: “Let no man
deceive you by any means . . .” (2 Thess. 2:3) (Duane S. Crowther, Inspired
Prophetic Warnings [Bountiful, Utah: Horizon Publishers, 1987], 139-40)
If there are those who would
persist in the assertion that this prophecy was fulfilled long ago as part of
the “great apostasy,” they should be prepared to explain:
A. Who was the son of perdition?
B. In what temple did he manifest
himself as God?
C. When and how Christ destroyed
him by the brightness of his coming?
D. What historical records lend
credence to such an interpretation? (Ibid., 140 n. 1)
