Man of Lawlessness

Biblical Text

The figure appears in 2 Thessalonians 2. A claim had spread in the Thessalonian church that the day of the Lord had already come. Paul urged the believers not to be shaken by it, writing that the day would not come until the falling away came first and the "man of lawlessness" (KJV "that man of sin"), "the son of perdition," was revealed (2 Thessalonians 2:3–4).

The text describes this figure as follows:

• He opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God.
• He sits in the temple of God, presenting himself as God.
• He has not yet been revealed because something or someone is "restraining" him (vv. 6–7; KJV "what withholdeth," "he who now letteth").
• "The mystery of iniquity" is already at work (v. 7).
• He performs lying signs and wonders according to the working of Satan (v. 9).
• When the Lord Jesus comes, He will consume him "with the spirit of his mouth" and destroy him (v. 8).

Background and Terminology

The Greek word anomia, translated "lawlessness," denotes a state of being without law, that is, a condition of opposition to God's law. Some manuscripts read "man of sin" (hamartia), and the King James Version's "man of sin" follows these manuscripts. The expression "son of perdition" is also used in John 17:12 to refer to Judas Iscariot.

Significance in the Whole of Scripture

The image of a figure exalting himself in the temple resembles descriptions in the book of Daniel. Daniel speaks of a king who will "magnify himself above every god" (Daniel 11:36) and of the abomination that makes desolate (Daniel 9:27). Many scholars hold that these passages in Daniel reflect the desecration of the temple in Jerusalem by the Seleucid king Antiochus IV in the second century BC. Jesus also referred to "the abomination of desolation" in His teaching on the end times (Matthew 24:15).

The word "antichrist" does not occur in 2 Thessalonians; it appears only in 1 John and 2 John. Reading these passages together as referring to the same figure is a matter of interpretive judgment.

Interpretations and Points of Debate

Identity

Early church fathers such as Irenaeus regarded the man of lawlessness as an individual Antichrist who would come at the end of the age. Augustine is reported to have admitted that he did not know what the "restraining" thing was.

During the Reformation, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and others identified this figure with the Roman papacy. The original text of the Westminster Confession of Faith (25.6) likewise called the pope "that man of sin, and son of perdition." Some Presbyterian churches later removed this language in their revised versions of the Confession. The Catholic Church rejects this interpretation.

Modern interpretations fall broadly into three categories:

• Preterism: holds that the prophecy was fulfilled in the first century, in a Roman emperor or in connection with the Jewish War.
• Futurism: holds that it refers to a single individual who will appear just before the Second Coming.
• Idealism: holds that it refers to a principle of rebellion that recurs in every age.

The Restrainer

Views also differ on the identity of the "restrainer." A long-standing view dating back to Tertullian identifies it with the Roman Empire or with civil government. Other views identify it with the preaching of the gospel, or with the Holy Spirit or the church. The identification with the Holy Spirit or the church spread together with the pretribulation rapture teaching of dispensationalism. Interpreters in the tradition of covenant theology, by contrast, generally reject this connection.

What the Text Does Not Say

The following ideas do not appear directly in the text; they are interpretations derived from combining it with other passages or from inference:

• That the man of lawlessness is the same being as the beast of Revelation 13:1–10
• Any connection with 666 or with particular technologies
• That "the temple of God" is a Jerusalem temple to be rebuilt in the future

In the Korean Church

This passage is cited mainly in sermons and Bible studies on the Second Coming and eschatology. Because Paul's original purpose was to calm anxiety and guard against deception concerning the end, the passage is also cited as grounds for warning against date-setting eschatology.

Shincheonji reportedly teaches a sequence of "betrayal, destruction, and salvation" based on the falling away and the man of lawlessness in this chapter. Various denominations have criticized this teaching as an arbitrary allegorical reading of the text.