Chapter 2

Chapter Two

¹ Now we beseech you, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together unto Him, that you be not soon shaken from your mind. When the resurrection will be, he does not say; but that it is not now, this he teaches. For there were certain deceivers who said that the time of the consummation and of the coming of the Lord had already come. And it is no small consolation to say that the faithful will be gathered together unto Him, to be with Him—as in the former letter; for at the very moment of rising, the worthy will be caught up to the Lord. What, then, is “we beseech”? It means, “We exhort you,” so that you be not shaken and turned aside from the mind which up to now you have held standing aright.

² Neither be troubled, nor by a spirit. That is, by a prophecy. For some, feigning prophecy, were deceiving the people, as though the Lord were already present.

³ Nor by word. That is, by teaching given in the living voice.

⁴ Nor by letter as from us. For they were even forging letters, as though sent by Paul, to confirm what they were saying.

⁵ As that the day of the Lord has come. Be not troubled, he says, as though the day of the Lord were already present—that is, the coming of Christ.

⁶ Let no one deceive you by any means. Neither as a prophet, nor as a teacher, nor as one who writes such things.

⁷ For that day shall not come except the apostasy come first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. The coming of the Lord will not take place, he says, unless the apostasy come—that is, the Antichrist. For he called him “apostasy,” since he is this very thing in person, as one who is to make many fall away, even the elect, if it were possible. And he calls this same one “the man of sin,” since he will himself commit every sin and will trip up others into sinning. And “son of perdition,” since he too will perish. But who is this? Is it Satan? By no means; rather, a certain man who clothes himself with all his energy.

⁸ Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or an object of worship. For he will not lead men into idolatry; rather, he will abolish all the gods, and their objects of worship—that is, the idols—and will proclaim himself alone to be God.

⁹ So that he sits in the temple of God as God. Not in the temple at Jerusalem only, but in the Churches generally, and in every divine temple.[1]

¹⁰ Showing himself, that he is God. He did not say “saying,” but “attempting to show.” For he will display great works and signs to deceive all.

¹¹ Do you not remember that, when I was still with you, I told you these things? From this too it is plain that he was handing down great mysteries even unwritten. And observe that it is necessary to say the same things continually, and to pour them over and over in the same words. For behold, they heard the Apostle say these things in his presence, and yet they needed strengthening again. I say nothing strange, he says, but only what I have always been saying. And he speaks more reproachfully, saying, “Do you not remember? Have you so quickly forgotten?”

¹² And now you know what restrains, that he may be revealed in his own time. “What restrains” is what hinders and impedes. And what is this? Some say the grace of the Spirit; others, the Roman empire—with whom the blessed John also agrees. For unless this is dissolved, the Antichrist will not gain entrance to do what he wishes. For this reason Paul also spoke obscurely; for he did not wish to incur needless enmity and senseless dangers. For if he had said that the empire of the Romans would shortly be dissolved, they would at once have buried him as a public menace, and the other faithful with him, as rejoicing at the dissolution of so great an empire. That he is not speaking of the grace of the Holy Spirit is clear. For first, he would not have spoken obscurely, but openly, that the grace of the Spirit—that is, the gifts—now restrains him. Then, if he were to come when the gifts had failed, he ought to have appeared already; for these failed long ago. And note that he did not say “it will be soon,” but “that he may be revealed,” he says, “in his own time.” For again he left the time uncertain.

¹³ For the mystery of iniquity already works. He speaks thus of Nero, who was a type of the Antichrist. For he too was impure, and sought to be called God. And he says well, “the mystery.” For Nero does not advance openly against every God, as that one will, nor shamelessly. What he means is this: before the time of the Antichrist arrives, there was found another not far short of him. What wonder, then, if the Antichrist is already at work? And he spoke obscurely about Nero, not out of servility, but to teach us as well not to take on needless enmities when there is nothing pressing.

¹⁴ Only there is one who restrains now, until he be taken out of the way, and then shall the lawless one be revealed. That is, when the Roman empire is taken out of the way, then that one will come. For as long as the fear of this empire remains, no one will quickly submit to him; but when it is dissolved, he will set upon the state of anarchy, and will attempt to seize the rule both of men and of God. For just as the kingdoms before this one were dissolved—as that of the Medes by the Babylonians, that of the Babylonians by the Persians, that of the Persians by the Macedonians, that of the Macedonians by the Romans—so this one too by the Antichrist. And Daniel sets these things before us with great clarity. But some understood “what restrains” to be idolatry. For when, they say, the deceit that restrains shall cease, and idolatry, then the Antichrist will appear, as the Lord somewhere says: The Gospel shall be preached for a testimony to them, and then shall the end come.[2] Others named “what restrains” the decree of God. For when, they say, the decree of God which now restrains the coming of the Antichrist is fulfilled, and the time appointed for him arrives, then he will be revealed. And it has been said that some held the restrainer to be the Holy Spirit. For when, on account of men’s wickedness, this is taken out of the way and withdraws, then the lawless one will have room to be revealed. And the mystery of iniquity, he says, has already taken its beginning. For Simon and Nicolaus the heresiarchs were working the deeds of the Antichrist, and all those after them—Marcion, and Montanus (who even called himself the Paraclete), and Manes, and the rest. But do you receive the interpretation of the holy John as the truer one.

¹⁵ Whom the Lord Jesus shall consume with the Spirit of His mouth, and shall abolish with the brightness of His coming. The consolation is near: for the Lord will consume him. For just as fire, even before its approach, from afar makes the little creatures grow numb and consumes them, so Christ also, by His command alone—that is, by His breath, full of the Holy Spirit—will make him vanish, and by His coming alone will abolish him, that is, render him wholly idle. For by merely appearing He will dissolve the deception.

¹⁶ Whose coming is according to the working of Satan. Who this is, he teaches us: that he is a man who has Satan within himself, working through him.

¹⁷ With all power and signs and lying wonders. That is, he will display all power, yet nothing true, but everything for deception. For “lying wonders” means false ones, or those that lead into falsehood those who attend to them. Paul foretells these things so that the men of that time may not be deceived.

¹⁸ And with all deceit of unrighteousness in those who are perishing. For he will be fearsome on every side, from his authority, from his cruelty, doing everything to deceive and wrong men, ruining their salvation. And lest anyone be perplexed, saying, “Why then did God permit him to come, since men are to be so greatly harmed?”—he says, “Fear not; for he prevails among those who are perishing, who, even had that one not come, were going to remain disobedient.”

¹⁹ Because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. He calls Christ “the love of the truth”; for He was both, and for both He came—both loving men, and that He might show forth the truth. And he hints that the deceiver will prevail especially among the Jews; for these did not receive Christ, nor believe in Him. For this Christ also says to them: I came in My Father’s name, and you received Me not; if another come in his own name, him you will receive.[3]

²⁰ And for this cause God shall send them a working of error, that they should believe the lie. “Shall send” stands for “shall permit him to come.” And observe that first those men thrust away the truth, and then God forsook them, and the lie prevailed over them. By “a working of error” he means the works of the Antichrist, which he does to deceive; or else he so named this very one, as energized by Satan to deceive the many.

²¹ That they all might be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in unrighteousness. He did not say “that they might be punished” (for even had the Antichrist not come, the disobedient were going to be punished), but “that they might be condemned,” he says, so as to leave them without excuse. For what could they say—that “we did not believe in Christ because the disciples preached Him to be God, whereas we heard that there is one God, from whom are all things”? How then did you believe the Antichrist who makes himself God? For Christ referred all things to the Father, but this one does the contrary. But they will say, “We saw signs.” Yet in the case of Christ also many and great signs took place. And besides, Christ was proclaimed Savior by the prophets; but this one, son of lawlessness and perdition. For these reasons they will be condemned: that, having forsaken the truth, they took pleasure—that is, were well pleased and gladly attached themselves to unrighteousness, that is, to the destroyer, who has gathered together all unrighteousness against human souls, who is unrighteousness in person.

²² But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved of the Lord. Since he had said certain fearful things, capable of shaking an undisciplined mind, he now smooths their hearts, teaching that “Let these things be fearful to others, to those who are perishing, against whom they also prevail; but we are bound to give thanks to God for you, because you were chosen, because you were beloved of God.” And if we give thanks on your behalf, much more ought you to do this for yourselves.

²³ Because God has from the beginning chosen you unto salvation, in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. For this we give thanks: that God chose you and foreordained you unto salvation, having foreknown you, that is, as worthy. How? “In sanctification of the Spirit”—that is, He saved you by sanctifying you through the Spirit. Then, lest anyone say, “What then? Did we contribute nothing?”—he adds, “And belief of the truth”; that is, He sanctified us who first brought belief of the truth, that is, of true things. For we did not believe in certain falsehoods, but in the truth itself. And, otherwise, he mentioned faith a second time because even after sanctification we need much of it, lest we be shaken loose.

²⁴ To which He called you by our Gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Lest, on hearing of faith, they be lifted up as having contributed it themselves, he does not say even this simply, but “this too,” he says, “is of God.” For to this He called you, he says. To what? To being saved through sanctification and faith. So that even though you believed, the grace belongs to Him who called. For unless He had called through our word, how would you have heard? And Christ regards this as no small glory—your salvation. For it is the glory of the good that many be saved. Who, then, will not love such a Master? Who will not desire His glory, which is his own salvation?

²⁵ Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or by our letter. From this too it is plain that they handed down many things even unwritten, by word—that is, by the living voice—and not only by letters. And both these and those are alike worthy of belief. So that we also regard the tradition of the Church as worthy of belief. It is tradition: seek nothing more. And he shows here that there were many who were being shaken loose.

²⁶ Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God, even our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good work and word. After the exhortation, prayer. For this is truly to help; as if he said, “I have spoken, but the whole is of God.” And where are those who lessen the Son, because in baptism He is named after the Father? For behold, here it is the contrary: for he named the Son first. “Having given,” he says, “everlasting consolation.” And what is this? “The hope,” he says, “of the things to come.” For this is what holds up our hearts when they collapse amid trials—the hope of the good things to come. And God gave this not to those who had labored, but by grace. He says this to restrain their pride. And observe how, in the manner of a prayer, he rouses their mind, setting down the pledges and tokens of God’s care. For if He gave consolation to those who labor at nothing, much more will He give it to those who labor for the faith—so that you may be of good hope.[4] “Comfort your hearts,” he says, “and establish you in every good work and word”—that is, through every good work and word. For this is a Christian’s consolation, to do something useful and pleasing to God. Or else, “establish you both in right doctrines and in good deeds,” so as not to be carried away or to collapse at what befalls. This is consolation. For he who is established, whatever he may suffer, bears it nobly and is not turned aside: through keeping his doctrine right, being firmly assured concerning the things to come; and through having a good life, rejoicing that he suffers not as an evildoer, but as a minister of God.