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== | == Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament <ref name="term_56575" /> == | ||
<p> | <p> (2 Thessalonians 2:3; Revised Version margin <b> ‘man of lawlessness,’ </b> substituting the better reading ἀνομίας for ἁμαρτίας of Textus Receptus) </p> <p> [[Apart]] from such apparent references to the subject as 2 Corinthians 6:15, Colossians 2:15, St. Paul’s doctrine of the [[Antichrist]] is found in the passage 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12, in which he associates ‘the coming of our Lord [[Jesus]] Christ’ with a previous ‘falling away’ or apostasy (ἀποστασία) and the revelation of ‘the man of lawlessness,’ whom he also designates ‘the son of perdition’ (2 Thessalonians 2:3), ‘the opponent’ (ἀντικείμενος) of [[God]] (2 Thessalonians 2:4), ‘the lawless one’ (ὁ ἄνομος, 2 Thessalonians 2:3), whose future revelation in his own time, however, is anticipated even now by a working of ‘the mystery of lawlessness’ (2 Thessalonians 2:7). The revelation of the man of lawlessness, he further says, is delayed by a restraining power which he refers to in 2 Thessalonians 2:6 as an impersonal influence (τὸ κατέχον) and in 2 Thessalonians 2:7 as an actual person (ὁ κατέχων). From the days of the early [[Fathers]] the interpretations of this passage have been exceedingly various. A good summary of the history of previous opinion is given by H. Alford ( <i> Gr. Test. </i> 5, iii. [1871], Proleg., p. 55 ff.), but modern scholars are agreed in holding that the [[Apostle]] was speaking of an apocalypse of evil which was only a crowning manifestation of contemporary influences hostile to God and His [[Kingdom]] (2 Thessalonians 2:7), and of a restraining power within the knowledge of the Thessalonians themselves (2 Thessalonians 2:6). They are also generally agreed in the view that the two magnitudes which underlay the Apostle’s cryptic language in regard to the man of lawlessness and the restrainer are to be found in [[Judaism]] and the [[Roman]] [[Empire]] as represented by its ruler. But at this point opinion divides into two exactly contradictory theories, each of which is able to point to some favouring considerations in the language used by the Apostle. </p> <p> (1) According to one theory the man of lawlessness is <i> Roman [[Imperialism]] </i> with the [[Emperor]] at its head, while the restraining power is <i> Judaism </i> (for a clear and able exposition of this view see B. B. Warfield in <i> Expositor </i> , 3rd ser. iv. [1886] 40 ff.). The deification of the Emperors, and especially Caligula’s attempt to set up his statue in the [[Temple]] of [[Jerusalem]] (cf. E. Schürer, <i> HJP </i> [Note: JP History of the [[Jewish]] People (Eng. tr. of GJV).]I. ii. [1890] 98 ff.), certainly afford a very direct explanation of the language of v. 4 as to the blasphemous pretensions of the man of lawlessness. Moreover, the early history of [[Christianity]] suggests that it was part of the [[Divine]] plan that the new religion should be developed for a time under the protecting shadow of Judaism as a <i> religio licita </i> . The failure of the Roman authorities at first to distinguish the [[Church]] from the [[Synagogue]] (cf. Acts 18:14-16) did shelter the former in its days of weakness from the persecuting rage of pagan Imperialism that burst upon it as soon as its separateness and its absolute claims were clearly recognized. But the objection to this theory is that it attributes to St. Paul, whose authorship of 2 Thess. may now be assumed with some confidence, an attitude to Judaism and to [[Rome]] respectively which finds no counterpart either in the [[Thessalonian]] [[Epistles]] or in any other of his writings. It was from Judaism, not from the Empire, that the opposition and persecution he had to encounter as the Apostle of Christianity invariably came (1 Thessalonians 2:14-16; cf. Acts, <i> passim </i> ). The philosophic historian may see in Judaism the protective sheath of the opening bud of Christianity; but it was not so that St. [[Paul]] regarded it. On the contrary, the language in which he describes its treatment of [[Christ]] and the gospel, and his denunciation of the wrath of God upon it (1 Thessalonians 2:15 f.), suggest that the ‘mystery of iniquity’ already at work (2 Thessalonians 2:7) was nothing else than the secret ferment of its own anti-Christian spirit. And Rome with its Emperor could hardly be the man of lawlessness to St. Paul, not only because it had not yet begun to persecute the Church, but because he sincerely respected its authority as a power ordained of God (Romans 13:1-7), and did not hesitate to appeal to [[Caesar]] himself against his Jewish enemies (Acts 25:10 f.). </p> <p> (2) The other and more probable theory, accordingly, takes the man of lawlessness to be <i> anti-Christian Judaism </i> coming to a head in the person of a pseudo-Messiah, and the restraining power to be <i> the Roman Empire </i> personified in the Caesar himself. It is sometimes objected that under this theory an insuperable difficulty is presented by 2 Thessalonians 2:4, as it would be contrary to the rôle of a Jewish [[Messiah]] to sit in the Temple of God and set himself forth as God. But this is to overlook the fact that we have to do here with an apocalyptic picture coloured with the language of an OT apocalypse (cf. Daniel 11:36) and influenced by the Antichrist tradition which had been developing in Judaism ever since the days of [[Antiochus]] [[Epiphanes]] (see articleAntichrist, 1). To St. Paul as a Rabbinical scholar the portentous figure of the Jewish Antichrist, Satanic, blasphemous, and God-defying, must have been very familiar. His familiarity with it may be traced not only in the language of Daniel 11:4, but in the references to the Beliar-Satan conception which are present in the passage. In Daniel 11:9 the coming of the man of lawlessness is said to be ‘according to the working of Satan.’ And E. Nestle has pointed out ( <i> Expository Times </i> xvi. [1904-05] 472) that on the evidence of the Septuagintand [[Aquila]] ἡ ἀποστασία (Daniel 11:3) is a rendering of Heb. בְּלִיַעַל, ὁ ἄνθρωπος τῆς ἀνομίας (Daniel 11:3) of אִישׁ בְּלִיַעַל (‘man of Belial’), and ὁ ἀντικείμενος (Daniel 11:4) of שָׂטָן. The Jewish conception of the Antichrist, not as a mere political figure but as an eschatological monstrosity in the shape of a diabolic opponent of God, St. Paul boldly transfers from the sphere of paganism in which Jewish apocalyptic had placed it, and sets down in the sphere of Judaism itself. Out of Judaism he pictured the Antichrist as coming, though there are features in his representation which imply that the sway of the man of lawlessness would extend far beyond the confines of Judaism-that he would cause an apostasy in the Church (Daniel 11:3), that he would break down the restraining power of the Empire (Daniel 11:7), that he would draw after him a deluded and perishing world (Daniel 11:10-12). In the persistent malevolence of his own race against Christ and the gospel, the Apostle saw the mystery of iniquity working; but he conceived of that malevolence as culminating at length in the appearance of an Antichrist endowed with Satanic and superhuman qualities, who would deceive men by ‘power and signs and lying wonders’ (v. 9ff.; cf. Mark 13:21-23), and whose hostility to the truth of God which brings salvation would reach its climax in the blasphemous claim to be himself Divine. Then Christ would return to a world now ripe for judgment, slaying the lawless one with the breath of His mouth, and bringing him to nought by the manifestation of His coming (v. 8). </p> <p> Literature.-Besides the references given in the article, and the Literature appended to articleAntichrist, see A. Sabatier, <i> The Apostle Paul </i> , Eng. translation, 1891, p. 117 ff.; B. Weiss, <i> Biblical [[Theology]] of the NT </i> , Eng. translation, i. [1882] 305 ff.; J. Moffatt, <i> The [[Historical]] NT </i> , 1901, p. 142 ff., <i> Introd. to Literature of the New [[Testament]] (Moffatt). </i> , 1911, p. 76 ff. </p> <p> J. C. Lambert. </p> | ||
== | == Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible <ref name="term_52540" /> == | ||
2 Thessalonians 2:3-10 | <p> <strong> MAN OF SIN </strong> (or ‘ <strong> lawlessness </strong> ’). [[Probably]] the equivalent in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-10 of <strong> [[Antichrist]] </strong> (wh. see). According to the [[Pauline]] view, the [[Parousia]] would be preceded by an apostasy of believers and the appearance of the ‘man of lawlessness,’ ‘who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called [[God]] or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God’ ( 2 Thessalonians 2:3 f.). The appearance of this evil one and his oppression of the believers were prevented by some force or person. In course of time, however, this restraint was to be removed. The wicked one would exercise his power until the [[Christ]] should come to destroy him ( 2 Thessalonians 2:6-8 ). </p> <p> The precise references of this statement are beyond final discovery. It is, however, commonly believed that the reference is to some historical person, possibly the god-emperor of Rome. Such a reference is, however, very difficult if 2 Thess. was written by St. Paul, for at the time of its composition the [[Roman]] [[State]] had not become a persecutor. The ‘one who restrains’ is also difficult to identify if the ‘man of lawlessness’ be the Roman emperor. For that reason it may be best to refer the ‘man of lawlessness’ to the [[Jewish]] people or their expected Messiah, and ‘he that restraineth’ to the Roman power. This interpretation is supported by the fact that in his letters to the Thessalonians, St. [[Paul]] regards the [[Jews]] as persecutors, while throughout Acts the Roman State is presented as a protector of the Christians. This identification, however, does not satisfactorily explain the reference to ‘sitting in the temple.’ It is, therefore, probably better not to attempt a precise historical interpretation of either the ‘man of lawlessness’ or ‘him that restraineth,’ but to regard the former as a reference to the expected Antichrist, and the latter to some unidentified personal influence that led to the postponement of his appearance. </p> <p> Shailer Mathews. </p> | ||
== Holman Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_42263" /> == | == Holman Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_42263" /> == | ||
2 Thessalonians 2:3[[Antichrist]] | 2 Thessalonians 2:3[[Antichrist]] | ||
== | == Easton's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_32734" /> == | ||
2 Thessalonians 2:3-10 | |||
== | == American Tract Society Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_16630" /> == | ||
<p> | <p> See [[Antichrist]] . </p> | ||
== Morrish Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_67735" /> == | == Morrish Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_67735" /> == | ||
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<references> | <references> | ||
<ref name=" | <ref name="term_56575"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/hastings-dictionary-of-the-new-testament/man+of+sin Man Of Sin from Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament]</ref> | ||
<ref name=" | <ref name="term_52540"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/hastings-dictionary-of-the-bible/man+of+sin Man Of Sin from Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible]</ref> | ||
<ref name="term_42263"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/holman-bible-dictionary/man+of+sin Man Of Sin from Holman Bible Dictionary]</ref> | <ref name="term_42263"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/holman-bible-dictionary/man+of+sin Man Of Sin from Holman Bible Dictionary]</ref> | ||
<ref name=" | <ref name="term_32734"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/easton-s-bible-dictionary/man+of+sin Man Of Sin from Easton's Bible Dictionary]</ref> | ||
<ref name=" | <ref name="term_16630"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/american-tract-society-bible-dictionary/man+of+sin Man Of Sin from American Tract Society Bible Dictionary]</ref> | ||
<ref name="term_67735"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/morrish-bible-dictionary/man+of+sin Man Of Sin from Morrish Bible Dictionary]</ref> | <ref name="term_67735"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/morrish-bible-dictionary/man+of+sin Man Of Sin from Morrish Bible Dictionary]</ref> | ||
