| Paul
reminded the Thessalonians that he had told them earlier about both the man
of sin and the one who was restraining the appearance of the man of sin (2
Thess. 2:5,6). The man of sin was to be revealed only when the “one
restraining” was taken out of the way. Divergent views are taken by
different expositors concerning the “restrainer”.146
The fundamentalists identify the restrainer as God holding the man of
lawlessness.147 But God
Himself is not the restrainer, for the restrainer is to be taken out of the
way.148 Some
commentators hold that the restrainer is any institution of authority or
government maintaining law and order.149
The view that the restrainer represents pagan Rome holding back the
appearance of the antichrist or the man of sin was held by Tertullian: “What
is this but the Roman state, whose removal when it has been divided among
ten kings will bring on antichrist”. Chrysostrom’s view was nearly
identical.150
It is commonly acknowledged by many
Bible expositors that Rome, the fourth beast of Daniel 7, consists of two
phases: pagan and papal Rome. The view that pagan Rome restrained the
appearance of papal Rome until pagan Rome was taken out of the way will be
examined in the following exposition.
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TRANSLATION OF 2 THESSALONIANS 2:3-9 |