Bible Commentaries
Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible
2 Thessalonians 2
2 THESS. 2
The great feature of this chapter, of course, is Paul's great prophecy of "the man of sin" (2 Thessalonians 2:3-10), for a full discussion of which, see excursus at the end of the chapter. The prophecy is preceded by a warning that the Thessalonians should not expect the Second Advent immediately (2 Thessalonians 2:1-2), and followed by an expression of renewed thanksgiving and prayer upon their behalf (2 Thessalonians 2:13-17).
Now we beseech you, brethren, touching the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto him; (2 Thessalonians 2:1)
This outlines the chapter, which regards the Second Advent, an event which the Thessalonians had mistakenly assumed to be "just at hand," some of them actually having stopped work in anticipation of it!
The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ ... For comments on this title, see under 2 Thessalonians 1:2. "Coming" in this place refers to the final Advent and not to some manifestation of power and grace prior to the Advent.
Our gathering together unto him ... The great feature of the final day will be the uniting of believers with the Lord. The expression "gathering together" is found nowhere else in the New Testament except in Hebrews 10:25, where it signifies the gathering together of the Christians for worship.1
to the end that ye be not quickly shaken from your mind, nor yet be troubled, either by spirit, or by word, or by epistle as from us, as that the day of the Lord is just at hand;
This is Paul's denial that he ever taught that the judgment day was "at hand" in his lifetime. True, some of the Thessalonians had mistakenly understood it that way, but it was their fault by doing so, not Paul's; and in the same manner, the exegetes of our own times who are always prattling about Christ and the apostles being mistaken in their assumption that the Second Advent was soon to arrive have mistakenly read the New Testament, and it is their fault, not the fault of the New Testament. In fact, Satan may have had a strong hand in fostering the misunderstanding. Hendriksen said:
In view of 2 Thessalonians 3:17, the idea that someone had even sent a forged letter (a letter purporting to be from Paul) - though open to certain objections - cannot be lightly dismissed.2
Shaken from your mind ... This means "thrown off the course of sound reasoning and thinking."3
It is clear enough from this verse that Paul denied having anything whatever to do with creating the false notion in the heads of the some of the Thessalonians that they might expect the coming of the Lord at once!
let no man beguile you in any wise: for it will not be, except the falling away come first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition,
There is no hint here regarding the length of the time interval between the time Paul wrote and the actual coming of Christ in the Second Advent. In the light of intervening events, we now know that centuries and millenniums of time were to elapse before the final judgment; but as regards the actual date, we are no better off than were they. The event is still scheduled for a time yet future; and, as the mystery of lawlessness was working then, so it is now; but no man can know how long it will be before the Lord comes.
The man of sin ... See excursus on this at the end of the notes on this chapter. He is the same as the "lawless one" in 2 Thessalonians 2:8, with this distinction, that "the man of sin" refers to a progressive development of an anti-Christian influence, whereas "the lawless one" is thought by many to refer to some terminal and final embodiment of evil. The interpretation presented here is that the man of sin has indeed appeared. The man of sin sitteth in the temple; he exalts himself; he is a false apostle, the son of perdition; names of blasphemy are upon his head; and he is drunken with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus; but his course is not yet run. The final usurpation of the place of God himself has not yet taken place.
The son of perdition ... Judas is the only other person so designated in the New Testament. Just as he was the object of prior prophecy, so also is the apostle of apostasy.
he that opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called God or that is worshipped; so that he sitteth in the temple of God, setting himself forth as God.
This verse is understood as revealing the character of the final lawless one who shall be the culmination of that evil progression, or as marking the true spiritual import of those innovations and corruptions which have been exhibited by the "man of sin" (in a collective sense) as already historically revealed. A strong case may be made out for either view.
All that is called God ... A persecutor of the church exalts himself against God in the person of his followers; a perverter of the word of God exalts himself against God in his word.
Or that is worshipped ... This indicates the total atheism and unbounded egotism of the ultimate man of sin.
Sitteth in the temple of God ... There can be no way that this is a reference to the Jewish temple. Paul, who wrote the Corinthians that "Ye are the temple of God," would never have made that den of thieves and robbers in Jerusalem the "temple of God" historically. First, it means the church of Jesus Christ; but in context it means the apostate church of Jesus Christ, a deduction that is mandatory from the fact of the apostasy being Paul's subject in this paragraph. Therefore, whenever and wherever the "man of sin" appears it will be in the church apostate!
Sitteth ... This is a most peculiar verb to be used in such a context; and this writer, who has seen the Pope borne into the Basilica of St. Peter, hoisted above the people and elevated above the high altar upon the shoulders of those who carry him (literally "sitting") into the sanctuary cannot escape the deep. impression that a prophecy of that very spectacle is imbedded in this remarkable verb. Who else, ever, in the history of humanity, always entered the church house "sitting," and even taking the Lord's Supper "sitting"? Luther was outraged by this, and said, "Let the Pope stand up to take the Lord's Supper, like any other stinking sinner."
Setting himself forth as God ... The papacy fulfills this in the blasphemous titles of the supreme pontiff, but there may be a more drastic fulfillment of it in the revelation of the terminal "man of sin."
Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
This verse is made the excuse by some not to undertake the interpretation of this prophecy at all. They say the Thessalonians had information about it which we do not have, and that, therefore, we should consider it a closed prophecy. Paul, however, is not the only New Testament writer who discoursed on this subject. See excursus at end of chapter. Furthermore, Paul here gives a summary of what he had already taught them. We have all of the information that is necessary.
And now ye know that which restraineth, to the end that he may be revealed in his own season.
That which restraineth ... This is viewed generally, by nearly all schools of interpreters, as being the Roman government. This is supported by the context in that it would explain why Paul spoke so guardedly of its being taken out of the way." However, the prophecy reaches far beyond the fall of the ancient empire; and the best view of this is, in all probability, that of Hendriksen:
Of all the theories advanced so far, the one which seems to have most in its favor is that in which the restrainer is "the power of well-ordered human rule," or as Ellicott's Commentary has it, "the principle of legality as opposed to that of lawlessness."4
The principle of law and order, as enforced by human authority, is "that which restraineth" until he be taken out of the way. This means that Satan will continually use every device, pursue every opportunity, and employ every diabolical instrument in his efforts to break down law and order in society.
Hence, for the time being, the worst Satan can do is to promote the spirit of lawlessness. But this does not satisfy him. It is as if he and his man of sin bide their time. At the divinely decreed moment (the appropriate time) when, as a punishment for man's willingness to cooperate with this spirit, the "someone" and "something" that now holds back is removed, Satan will begin to carry out his plans.5
For the mystery of lawlessness doth already work: only there is one that restraineth now, until he be taken out of the way.
In the Greek, the restraining power is spoken of, both as "he" and as "it," as when a man might speak of the law as "it," and of the enforcer of it as "he." Of course the Roman government was the principal authority of the age in which Paul wrote; and, as long as there was a strong central government in Rome, the spiritual empire of the papists was unable fully to develop. It was with the breakdown of law and order, in the coming of the vandals and hordes of barbarians, that the man of sin saw his opportunity and took it. There ensued the Holy Roman Empire, controlled absolutely by Romanists.
And then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of his mouth, and bring to naught by the manifestation of his coming;
Most students of this passage are dogmatically certain that "the lawless one" of this verse is an eschatological person, an individual, answering to the Biblical definition of "antichrist"; and, while there seems to be some indication of this, this understanding for it requires understanding the following clauses to contain a double prophecy. The man of sin will be eroded and worn out; the final "lawless one" shall be vanquished instantly in the final Advent.
Slay with the breath of his mouth ... "Here is an expression found nowhere else in the New Testament."6 The reference would appear to be to the word of the Lord. When the New Testament was stripped out of the dead languages in which it had been concealed, in the times of Wycliffe, Tyndale, Luther, and others, there was a sense in which the man of sin received a mortal wound. There is also a possible rendition of "slay" as "consume," as in Adam Clarke's quotation, below, indicating that the power and glory of the man of sin will not perish instantly, but gradually, being continually eroded, wasted away, and "consumed" by the breath of the Lord's mouth, by his word. Clarke said:
"Whom the Lord shall consume ..." He shall blast him so that he shall wither and die away; and this shall be done by the spirit of his mouth, - the words of eternal life, the true doctrine of the gospel of Jesus; this shall be the instrument used to destroy this man of sin: therefore it is evident that his death will not be a sudden one, but a gradual one; because it is by the preaching of the truth that he is to be exposed, overthrown, and finally destroyed.7
Bring to naught by the manifestation of his coming ... It seems to this expositor that these clauses are parallel; but if the emphasis, as so many insist, is upon the Second Advent, then the fate of antichrist is foretold in it, that same antichrist whom we have identified as the final, terminal and ultimate "man of sin," being an individual who shall be destroyed at the Second Coming of Christ.
even he, whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
Hubbard's summary of the meaning here is:
His coming reveals itself in all power (to work miracles) and signs (significant, meaningful miracles) and wonders (amazing their observers). In the Greek, "lying" seems to apply to all three.8
The import of this passage is to the effect that Satan himself will lend his great power to the final man of sin, whom we have supposed to be "antichrist," and that he will endow this totally wicked and hateful person to exercise even supernatural power in the achievement of his hellish ambitions. Surely this must be the time spoken of in Revelation, when Satan shall be loosed a little season upon the earth. Then will be the times when the "very elect, if possible" shall be deceived, the time when Satan will finally have his way with the earth and its populations - but not for long. As the final rebellion of humanity comes to its awful climax, Satan will be free to accomplish the total destruction of man, the same having been his purpose from the very beginning. But it will only be "for a little season." The Son of man will suddenly appear the second time apart from sin, to redeem the righteous and to appoint the wicked their portion with the hypocrites.
and with all deceit of unrighteousness for them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
Populations who will not accept God's morality, but who love evil, will be quite easily deceived by Satan; God himself will even send hardening and blindness to those who have preferred evil, in order to hasten their destruction. The judicial hardening that God inflicts upon those who love wickedness is an extensive New Testament subject. For further discussion of it, see in my Commentary on Romans, pp. 45-51,392-395.
And for this cause God sendeth them a working of error, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Here again is in view the principle of God's hardening those who love wickedness. See under preceding verse. People who have pleasure in doing wrong will be blinded and hardened. Thoroughly deceived, they shall then have no difficulty in believing a lie, not the truth. "Satan's lie consists in getting men to believe him instead of God."9
The way of salvation is clear enough in this verse and the preceding 2 Thessalonians 2:10. Those who believe the truth and obey it shall be saved; those who do not believe the truth, but have pleasure in unrighteousness, shall be finally and irrevocably condemned. For further discussion of the "man of sin," see excursus at the end of this chapter.
But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, for that God chose you from the beginning unto salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
All three members of the godhead are mentioned in this great verse; and it is the answer to the terrible things Paul had just foretold. Whatever evil may engulf the world, the Thessalonians must not be troubled. They are "beloved of the Lord," "chosen of God unto sanctification," and the subject of the apostle's most devout thanksgiving.
Paul had just spoken of a time (at the end) when most people would reject the truth and turn aside to fables; but, as Hendriksen put it, "The true believer must never be afraid of belonging to the minority. It is the remnant that shall be saved. All others shall be condemned."10
God chose you from the beginning ... God chose all men to be saved, in the sense that every man ever born on earth was destined to be a child of God; but the freedom of the human will nullifies that eternal decree in many. In the New Testament, as here, God's choosing implies also the believer's having accepted.
whereunto he called you through our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
As we have noted again and again, in the New Testament, God's call, as used here, means "God's call accepted." It is the choice that men make which determines destiny. All men are called, but only those who hear, accept and obey are the truly "called."
So then, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye were taught, whether by word, or by epistle of ours.
Traditions" here does not refer in any manner to human traditions, but to the authentic teachings of the apostles as handed down orally, before the New Testament was available. Paul's use of yours" in this verse is not epistolary, but has reference to the apostles of Christ.
Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.
As so frequently in Paul's writings, there is here an eloquent inadvertent testimonial witnessing the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. Gloag noted that:
These verbs (comfort your hearts and establish them) are in the singular number, but their nominative is our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father, thus implying the unity between these divine Persons.11
Note: Relying so heavily in the interpretations advocated in this chapter upon ancient and traditional opinion, the writer is aware of the sense of shock that will come to some who read this; but, as Gloag, writing in Pulpit Commentary (perhaps the best and most thorough to be published in this century), expressed it:
Upon an impartial view, one cannot avoid the impression that the points of resemblance between the prophecy and Romanism are numerous, varied and striking. Our forefathers had no doubt as to the application of this prophecy, and perhaps they were nearer the truth than we in modern times who hesitate.12
This writer is reluctant to apply Paul's terrible warning to Romanism, but in conscience cannot do otherwise. The correspondence between the picture drawn and the historical apostate church is too clear and certain to be mistaken.
AN EXCURSUS ON "THE MAN OF SIN"
In 2 Thessalonians 2:3-10, Paul prophesied the great apostasy from the Christian religion and the ultimate revelation of "the man of sin" who would be destroyed by the Second Advent of Christ. However, this prophecy of a vast and extensive defection from true Christianity does not stand alone in the New Testament, wherein definite mention of it is made in the following passages:
Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. By their fruits ye shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but the corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by thy name, and by thy name cast out demons, and by thy name do many mighty works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity (Matthew 7:15-23).
I know that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in among you not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Wherefore watch ye, remembering that by the space of three years I ceased not to admonish every one night and day with tears (Acts 20:29-31).
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness, your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity and the purity that is toward Christ (2 Corinthians 11:3).
But the Spirit saith expressly, that in later times some shall fall away from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, through the hypocrisy of men, that speak lies, branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by them that believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it be received with thanksgiving: for it is sanctified through the word of God and prayer (1 Timothy 4:1-5).
But know this that in the last days grievous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, haughty, railers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, implacable, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, no lovers of good, traitors, headstrong, puffed up, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding a form of godliness, but having denied the power thereof: from these also turn away. For of these are they that creep into houses, and take captive silly women laden with sins, led away by divers lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. And even as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also withstand the truth; men corrupted in mind, reprobate concerning the faith (2 Timothy 3:1-8).
For the time will come when they will not endure the sound doctrine; but having itching ears, will heap to themselves teachers after their own lusts; and will turn away their ears from the truth and shall turn aside unto fables. But be thou sober in all things, suffer hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill thy ministry (2 Timothy 4:3-5).
But there arose false prophets also among the people, as among you also there shall be false teachers, who shall privily bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master that bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their lascivious doings; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And in covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose sentence now from of old lingereth not, and their destruction slumbereth not (2 Peter 2:1-3).
This is now, beloved, the second epistle that I write unto you; and in both of them I stir up your sincere mind by putting you in remembrance; that ye should remember the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and the commandment of the Lord and Saviour through your apostles: knowing this first, that in the last days mockers shall come with mockery, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for, from the day the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. For this they willfully forget, that there were heavens from of old, and an earth compacted out of water and amidst water, by the word of God; by which means the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: but the heavens that now are, and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men (2 Peter 3:1-7).
And he carried me away in the spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stone and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations, even the unclean things of her fornication, and having upon her forehead a name written, MYSTERY; BABYLON THE GREAT; THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus (Revelation 17:3-6).
After these things I saw another angel coming down out of heaven, having great authority; and the earth was lightened with glow. And he cried with a mighty voice, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and is become a habitation of demons, and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird. For by the wine of the wrath of her fornication all the nations are fallen; and the kings of the earth committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth waxed rich by the power of her wantonness.
And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come forth, my people, out of her, that ye have no fellowship with her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues: for her sins have reached even unto heaven and God hath remembered her iniquities (Revelation 18:1-5).
For there shall arise false christs and false prophets, and shall show signs and wonders, that they may lead astray, if possible, the elect: behold, I have told you all things beforehand (Mark 13:22,23).
It is against the above background of other New Testament teachings on this subject that Paul's words in this passage can best be understood; and, as Dummelow said, "It will be convenient to treat this difficult passage (2 Thessalonians 2:3-10) as a whole."13 Paul's words are:
Let no man beguile you in any wise: for it will not be, except the falling away come first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, he that opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he sitteth in the temple of God, setting himself forth as God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know that which restraineth, to the end that he may be revealed in his own season. For the mystery of lawlessness doth already work: only there is one that restraineth now until he be taken out of the way. And then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of his mouth, and bring to naught by the manifestation of his coming; even he, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceit of unrighteousness for them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
Gloag classified the interpretations of this passage thus: (1) There is in reality no prediction, or prophecy, in this passage, all such things as predictive prophecy being denied by this class. (2) "The second class of interpreters are those who, recognizing a prediction, regard it as already fulfilled."14 (3) "The third class of exponents are those who regard the prophecy as being fulfilled, or as in the course of fulfillment; that is, as already partially fulfilled, but awaiting its complete accomplishment."15 (4) "The fourth class of interpreters consider the fulfillment as future, and that we are not to look to any past occurrences as answering all the requirements."16 There are whole libraries of the works of many scholars affirming each of these methods of interpretation; but, rather than trouble the reader with what would appear to be an almost endless examination of such writings, we shall devote the available space to advocating what is believed to be the true understanding of the passage, as classified under (3), above.
As will be noted below, the papal hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church exhibits a striking number of the qualities that are to mark the great historical apostasy of Christianity; and yet in fairness it must be admitted that no pope has ever fulfilled in its entirety Paul's description of the man of sin; but the historical Roman church is so certainly prophesied in the New Testament literature on this subject, that it is not amiss to look precisely there for the ultimate fulfillment of the total prophecy at some time yet future. There is also, it must be admitted, a certain sense in which the entire papal succession may be understood as meeting Paul's specifications perfectly. We pray that unbiased readers will not consider this a harsh judgment. Much of the dissent from the view that the papal hierarchy is the composite man of sin stems from the incorrect identification of the man of sin as "antichrist" (John 4:3), whose distinguishing mark of identity is his denial "that Christ is of God," a denial that, so far as is known, never pertained to any pope. Nevertheless, that man of sin who at last will be manifested as antichrist, although not having appeared upon the historical scene as yet, may yet do so in the future. The basic understanding of Paul's warning in this passage as a prophecy of the apostate medieval church is neither an uncharitable judgment nor an indulgence in fantasy.
HISTORICAL INTERPRETATIONS
The preface to the King James Bible has this: "Your Majesty ... which has given such a blow unto that Man of Sin as will not be healed," meaning the Pope.
Alexander Campbell met Roman Catholic Bishop John B. Purcell in debate in the Sycamore Street Meeting House, Cincinnati, Ohio, on January 13-21,1837, Campbell affirming and Purcell denying proposition 3, thus:
The Roman Church is the "Babylon" of John, the "man of sin" of Paul, and the Empire of the "Youngest Horn" of Daniel's sea monster.18 He said:
Whoever arrogates to himself the title of "universal priest" is a forerunner of antichrist. This statement is made in an epistle in which he denounced the claims of the contemporary "patriarch" of the East.19
Martin Luther did not hesitate to identify the papacy and its entire hierarchy as "the man of sin, the antichrist, and the beast out of the sea."20
The Westminster Confession speaks very dogmatically thus:
There is no other head of the church but the Lord Jesus Christ, nor can the Pope of Rome, in any sense, be the head thereof; but is that Antichrist, that man of sin the son of perdition, that exalteth himself in the Church against Christ, and all that is called God. - Article XXV. :
Thus the identification of the papacy and its religious apparatus with Paul's words in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-10 was the prevailing view for more than a thousand years, a view supported by the writings and interpretations of many of the most brilliant men who ever lived on earth; and, on that account, there is no way for this writer to accept the sneers and snickers with which this interpretation is greeted by many modern commentators, as being an effective refutation of the arguments upholding it.
WHAT ARE THE ARGUMENTS?
The resemblance is striking and obvious. An apostasy is predicted, and in Romanism there is most positively a very wicked and extensive departure from the teachings of Christ. The doctrines of purgatory, transubstantiation, the sacrifice of the Mass, the withholding of the cup from the laity, along with the pretensions of infallibility, successorship to the apostles, and claims of sole custodianship of the word of God - all these and countless other characteristics have effectively separated Romanism from the gospel of the New Testament.
The "man of sin" is represented as exalting himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, being singularly fulfilled in the titles which the pope has arrogated to himself, such as "Lord God the Pope," "Lord of Lords," and also in the claim of being the "universal priest" and the assertion of his right to dispose of the kingdoms of the earth. The man of sin is said to seat himself in the temple of God, and that he setteth himself forth as God. The principal cathedral of the historical church is the seat of the papacy; and the pope is literally seated therein, always appearing upon the papal chair supported upon the shoulders of his retainers. Nor does this imply that the Basilica of St. Peter is in any sense the "true" temple of God, being, on the other hand, that which appears to many millions as such a temple. Just as the kingship of Israel was an apostasy from the theocracy and as the temple of Solomon and Herod was an apostasy from the tabernacle; just so, the temples of the historical church are an apostasy from the church which is the only true temple God ever had. The pope shows himself as God through claiming divine attributes such as infallibility and holiness, by presuming to forgive sins. "Only God can forgive sins."
The man of sin was called by the apostle Paul "the son of perdition," which is the word used of the false apostle (Judas), but nowhere else in the Bible. Does not the pope claim to be an apostle of Christ, indeed, the successor to the apostle Peter? But is he so? Is he not therefore a false apostle?
The mystery of lawlessness was already at work in Paul's day; and Paul specifically stated to the Ephesian elders that from among them would men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples unto themselves. The pope himself is merely an elder gone wrong.
With all power and signs and lying wonders ... has never been fulfilled as continually and extensively by anything on earth except the signs, wonders, and miracles of Catholicism. The wonders done by sacred images moving, speaking and bleeding, the prodigies effected by sacred relics, supernatural visitations of the Virgin, the miraculous cures at countless shrines, etc., etc. - all of these and many more fulfill the prophecy perfectly.
When one goes beyond the confinements of the passage under consideration, the evidence is multiplied and compounded. For example:
"Forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats." What other religious system ever imposed anything as unscriptural and unreasonable as "fish on Friday" and "no marriages in Lent"?
Having a golden cup in her hand ... The greatest golden cup known throughout history is the chalice, which is not in the hands of the people but in those of the hierarchical system.
Full of the unclean things of her fornication ... In fornication, that which belongs to the bride is taken from her and given to another who is not the bridegroom. The cup of holy communion which belongs to the bride of Christ has been taken away from her and given to another who is not the head.
Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all (Daniel 11:37). What institution, or system, or authority ever rejected the "desire of women," to the extent of making celibacy the nearly invariable rule for all who would participate in it? The obvious answer is known to all men.
He shall wear out the saints of the Most High ... (Daniel 7:25). Roman Catholicism has been the most vigorous persecutor of Christians since the days of the pagan empire. As Durant put it, "The Inquisition almost fatally disgraced the church."21 The so-called "Holy Crusades," the religious wars, intrigues and subversions by which the man of sin built and maintained his empire have splashed with blood the pages of the last thousand years of history. There are no less than two religious wars in progress at the moment this is written.
OBJECTIONS TO THE ARGUMENTS
1. It is affirmed that "the man of sin" is an individual, not a succession of individuals or any such thing as a system. Many respected commentators stress this; but, in the book of Daniel, a single figure of "the kingdom of iron" was made to represent all the kings of the Roman Empire, during which time the "everlasting kingdom" would be established. No less an authority than Lightfoot stated that "In all figurative passages it is arbitrary to assume that a person is meant when we find a personification."22 He went on to declare that "The man of sin here need not be an individual man; it may be a body of men, or a power, or a spiritual influence."23 Alexander Campbell took the same position with regard to this, and there can certainly be no intellectual objections to this view of it.
2. It is declared that, in spite of many resemblances, the idea of the papacy does not and never did fulfill the prophecy in 2 Thessalonians 2:4. Bishop Purcell, in the debate with Campbell, made this his principal reply, refuting the notion that the pope is antichrist. Alford, for example, viewed the behavior of the popes as a "most abject adoration and submission to God."24 As regards the profession of popes, this is true; but have their lives honored such professions? Gloag, on the other hand, pointed out the conviction that "The arrogance of the pope, his assertion that he is the vicar of Christ, and his claim of infallibility are a distinct fulfillment of this prediction."25 Furthermore, the difficulty of meeting this objection is completely solved when the "antichrist" of John is understood as the final and terminal embodiment of the "man of sin." This was the way Campbell understood it; and Bishop Purcell's argument begged the question by not taking this into account. Campbell did not affirm that popery was "the antichrist," but that it was the man of sin and Babylon. Viewing "the man of sin" as an institution and system and the "antichrist" as its final fruition clears the matter up completely.
3. But it is precisely here that many interpreters have gone astray. Supposing that 2 Thessalonians 2:8 prophesies the summary and final end of the man of sin as soon as he appears, the commentators declare that, as the papacy has flourished for centuries and has not yet been destroyed, no reference to the papacy is included in the prophesy. However, the Scriptures do not assert that the Second Advent of Christ will follow immediately upon the arrival of the man of sin. The conditions that led to the development of the man of sin were already working in Paul's day. The interval between the arrival of the man of sin and the Second Advent is nowhere mentioned in the New Testament. Gloag's comment on this is:
It may be that there is a development of the Antichrist, and that his final destruction by the coming of the Lord will not occur until his full development. The spiritual power of the papacy may be unfolding itself; the mystery of lawlessness may still be working, as was lately seen in the introduction of the two new dogmas into the Romish Church, these being the immaculate conception of the Virgin, and the personal infallibility of the popes (both of which doctrines have been introduced during the current century).26
From all of the above considerations, this writer refuses to be ashamed of the historical interpretation of Paul's "man of sin" as a warning against the papacy and the errors that may yet be unfolded from it. This opinion is certainly not in keeping with the liberal spirit of the current age, during which it has become popular to denounce interpretations advocated by the wisest minds of a thousand years; but when we reflect upon the abominable persecutions of the Inquisition and remember that the principal architect of that diabolical apparatus is still revered as a saint in the Roman church, and when the monstrous wickedness of the popes and priests prior to the Reformation is considered; and when are recalled the atrocities committed in the name of religion, the general corruption of the whole system; and when it is taken into account that only the restraining influences of Protestantism prevent a repetition of such things, we may suddenly see that there is every reason to suspect that the ancient interpretations were founded upon the truth and are therefore neither unjust nor uncharitable.
THE CHARACTER OF THE ANTICHRIST
The view here is that antichrist in his fullness has not yet appeared; although, as the apostle John said, "there are many antichrists." If, as so many believe, there is to be a final and terminal antichrist who will be destroyed by the Second Advent of Christ, it is obvious that he has not yet appeared upon the earth. Such men as Stalin, Hitler, Mohammed, Napoleon and many others who have been thought to be the objects of this prophecy, none of them were ever in "the temple of God," in the sense of being enthroned in it. The one certainty regarding the antichrist is that he shall appear as the head, the usurper and the unscrupulous dictator over the apostate church itself.
What will antichrist be like? The usual opinions are that he shall be an individual of gigantic mental power, unbelievable audacity and the most extreme wickedness. During the apostasy of Israel, Antiochus Epiphanes was such a person; later, after the final rejection of Christ by the hierarchy of Israel, the total profanation of the Jewish temple by a band of ruthless brigands led to the final overthrow of Judaism. It may well be that in both those events one may behold typical foreshadowings of the final corruption and rebellion of historical Christianity, events which this writer believes to be future. The bold and devilish deeds of some of the lesser "antichrists" who have appeared in our own times are precursors of what may come later on a vaster scale than ever.
This excursus will be closed by the following quotation from Gloag:
The revolt against all rule and authority, the spread of Nihilism, the increase of infidelity and agnosticism, the unblushing proclamation of atheism and the support given to it in the scientific and political world, the deification of materialism, are all the precursors of Antichrist. It may only require a dissolution of order and a corruption of morals greater and more universal than that which occurred in the French Revolution, to usher in the coming of the (final) Man of Sin, who, amid the confusion, will seize the scepter of dominion. We may figure him as an individual, a man of more commanding abilities and far greater wickedness than the first Napoleon; one who will subdue the world, and in the height of his impiety and ambition proclaim his atheism, and that man himself is God!27
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