The Man of Sin Revealed

Bishop Newton has examined the whole prophecy with his usual skill and judgment.  The sum of what he says, as abridged by Dr. Dodd, I think it right to subjoin.  The principal part of modern commentators follow his steps.  He applies the whole to the Romish Church: the apostasy, its defection from the pure doctrines of Christianity; and the man of sin, &c. the general succession of the popes of Rome.  But we must hear him for himself, as he takes up the subject in the order of the verses.

Verses 3, 4.  For that day shall not come, except, &c.-"The day of Christ shall not come except there come the apostasy first." The apostasy here described is plainly not of a civil but of a religious nature; not a revolt from the government, but a defection from the true religion and worship.  In the original, it is the apostasy, with an article to give it an emphasis; the article being added signifies, "that famous and before-mentioned prophecy."  So likewise is the man of sin with the like article, and the like emphasis.  If, then, the notion of the man of sin be derived from any ancient prophet, it must be derived from Da 7:25; 11:36.  Any man may be satisfied that St. Paul alluded to Daniel's description, because he has not only borrowed the same ideas, but has even adopted some of the phrases and expressions. The man of sin may signify either a single man, or a succession of men; a succession of men being meant in Daniel, it is probable that the same was intended here also.  It is the more probable, because a single man appears hardly sufficient for the work here assigned; and it is agreeable to the phraseology of Scripture, and especially to that of the prophets, to speak of a body or number of men, under the character of one: thus, a king, Da 7:8; Re 17:1-18, is used for a succession of kings.  The man of sin being to be expressed from Da 7:24, according to the Greek translation, He shall exceed in evil all that went before him; and he may fulfil the character either by promoting wickedness in general, or by advancing idolatry in particular, as the word sin signifies frequently in Scripture.  The son of perdition is also the denomination of the traitor Judas, Joh 17:12, which implies that the man of sin should be, like Judas, a false apostle; like him, betray Christ; and, like him, be devoted to destruction.  Who opposeth, &c., is manifestly copied from Daniel, He shall exalt himself, &c.  The features exactly resemble each other: He opposeth and exalteth himself above all; or, according to the Greek, above every one that is called God, or that is worshipped. The Greek word for worshipped is sebasma, alluding to the Greek title of the Roman emperors, sebastov, which signifies august or venerable.  He shall oppose; for the prophets speak of things future as present; he shall oppose and exalt himself, not only above inferior magistrates, (who are sometimes called gods in holy writ,) but even above the greatest emperors; and shall arrogate to himself Divine honours.  So that he, as God, sitteth in the temple, &c.  By the temple of God the apostle could not well mean the temple of Jerusalem; because that, he knew, would be destroyed within a few years.  After the death of Christ the temple of Jerusalem is never called by the apostles the temple of God; and if at any time they make mention of the house or temple of God, they mean the Church in general, or every particular believer. Who ever will consult 1Co 3:16,17; 2Co 6:16; 1Ti 3:15; Re 3:12; will want no examples to prove that, under the Gospel dispensation, the temple of God is the Church of Christ; and the man of sin sitting implies this ruling and presiding there; and sitting there as God implies his claiming Divine authority in things spiritual as well as temporal; and showing himself that he is God, implies his doing it with ostentation.

Verses 5, 6, 7.  Remember ye not, &c.-The apostle thought it part of his duty, as he made it a part of his preaching and doctrine, to forewarn his new converts of the grand apostasy that would infect the Church, even while he was at Thessalonica.  From these verses it appears that the man of sin was not then revealed; his time was not yet come, or the season of his manifestation. The mystery of iniquity was indeed already working; the seeds of corruption were sown, but they were not grown up to maturity; the man of sin was yet hardly conceived in the womb; it must be some time before he could be brought forth; there was some obstacle that hindered his appearing.  What this was we cannot determine with absolute certainty at so great a distance of time; but if we may rely upon the concurrent testimony of the fathers, it was the Roman empire.  Most probably it was somewhat relating to the higher powers, because the apostle observes such caution; he mentioned it in discourse, but would not commit it to writing.

Verse 8.  Then shall that Wicked be revealed.-When the obstacle, mentioned in the preceding verse, should be removed, then shall that wicked, &c.  Nothing can be plainer than that the lawless, (o anomov,) as the Greek signifies, the wicked one, here mentioned, and the man of sin, must be one and the same person. The apostle was speaking before of what hindered that he should be revealed, and would continue to hinder it till it was taken away; and then the wicked one, &c.  Not that he should be consumed immediately after he was revealed.  But the apostle, to comfort the Thessalonians, no sooner mentions his revelation than he foretells also his destruction, even before he describes his other qualifications.  His other qualifications should have been described first, in order of time; but the apostle hastens to what was first and warmest in his thoughts and wishes: Whom the Lord shall consume, &c.  If these two clauses refer to two distinct and different events, the meaning manifestly is, that the Lord Jesus shall gradually consume him with the free preaching and publication of his word; and shall utterly destroy him at his second coming, in the glory of his Father, with all the holy angels.  If these two clauses relate to one and the same event, it is a pleonasm very usual in the sacred, as well as other oriental writings; and the purport plainly is, that the Lord Jesus shall destroy him with the greatest facility, when he shall be revealed from heaven, as the apostle has expressed it in the preceding chapter.

Verses 9-12.  Whose coming is after, &c.-The apostle was eager to foretell the destruction of the man of sin; and for this purpose having broken in upon his subject, he now returns to it again, and describes the other qualifications by which this wicked one should advance and establish himself in the world.  He should rise to credit and authority by the most diabolical methods; should pretend to supernatural powers; and boast of revelations, visions, and miracles, false in themselves, and applied to promote false doctrines.

Verse 9.  He should likewise practise all other wicked acts of deceit; should be guilty of the most impious frauds and impositions upon mankind; but should prevail only among those who are destitute of a sincere affection for the truth; whereby they might attain eternal salvation.

Verse 10.  And indeed it is a just and righteous judgment of God, to give them over to vanities and lies in this world, and to condemnation in the next, who have no regard to truth and virtue, but delight in falsehood and wickedness; 2Th 2:11,12.

(Adam Clarke’s conclusions)

Upon this survey there appears little room to doubt of the genuine sense and meaning of the passage.  The Thessalonians, as we have seen from some expressions in the former epistle, were alarmed as if the end of the world was at hand.  The apostle, to correct their mistake and dissipate their fears, assures them that a great apostasy, or defection of the Christians from the true faith and worship, must happen before the coming of Christ.  This apostasy all the concurrent marks and characters will justify us in charging upon the Church of Rome.  The true Christian worship is the worship of the one only God, through the one only Mediator, the man Christ Jesus; and from this worship the Church of Rome has most notoriously departed, by substituting other mediators, and invocating and adoring saints and angels, nothing is apostasy, if idolatry be not.  And are not the members of the Church of Rome guilty of idolatry in the worship of images, in the adoration of the host, in the invocation of angels and saints, and in the oblation of prayers and praises to the Virgin Mary, as much or more than to God blessed for ever?  This is the grand corruption of the Christian Church: this is the apostasy as it is emphatically called, and deserves to be called; which was not only predicted by St.  Paul, but by the Prophet Daniel likewise.  If the apostasy be rightly charged upon the Church of Rome, it follows of consequence that the man of sin is the pope; not meaning any pope in particular, but the pope in general, as the chief head and supporter of this apostasy.  He is properly the man of sin, not only on account of the scandalous lives of many popes, but by reason of their most scandalous doctrines and principles; dispensing with the most necessary duties; and granting, or rather selling, pardons and indulgences to the most abominable crimes. Or, if by sin be meant idolatry in particular, as in the Old Testament, it is evident how he has perverted the worship of God to superstition and idolatry of the grossest kind.  He also, like the false apostle, Judas, is the son of perdition; whether actively, as being the cause of destruction to others; or passively, as being devoted to destruction himself.  He opposeth-he is the great adversary of God and man; persecuting and destroying, by croisades, inquisitions, and massacres, those Christians who prefer the word of God to the authority of men. The heathen emperor of Rome may have slain his thousands of innocent Christians; but the Christian bishop of Rome has slain his ten thousands.  He exalteth himself above all that is called God, or is worshipped-not only above inferior magistrates, but likewise above bishops and primates; not only above bishops and primates, but likewise above kings and emperors; deposing some, obliging them to kiss his toe, to hold his stirrup, treading even upon the neck of a king, and kicking off the imperial crown with his foot; nay, not only kings and emperors, but likewise above Christ and God himself; making even the word of God of none effect by his traditions-forbidding what God has commanded; as marriage, the use of the Scriptures, &c.; and also commanding or allowing what God has forbidden, as idolatry, persecution, &c.  So that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, &c.; he is therefore in profession a Christian, and a Christian bishop.  His sitting in the temple of God implies plainly his having a seat or cathedra in the Christian Church; and he sitteth there as God, especially at his inauguration, when he sits upon the high altar in St.  Peter's church, and makes the table of the Lord his footstool, and in that position receives adoration.  At all times he exercises Divine authority in the Church, showing himself that he is God-affecting Divine titles, and asserting that his decrees are of the same or greater authority than the word of God.  So that the pope is evidently, according to the titles given him in the public decretals, The God upon earth; at least there is no one, like him, who exalteth himself above every god; no one, like him, who sitteth as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.  The foundations of popery were laid in the apostle's days, but of which the superstructure was raised by degrees; and several ages passed before the building was completed, and the man of sin revealed in full perfection.  The tradition that generally prevailed was that that which hindered was the Roman empire: this tradition might have been derived even from the apostle himself; and therefore the primitive Christians, in the public offices of the Church, prayed for its peace and welfare, as knowing that, when the Roman empire should be dissolved and broken in pieces, the empire of the man of sin would be raised upon its ruins.  In the same proportion as the power of the empire decreased, the authority of the Church increased, and the latter at the expense and ruin of the former; till at length the pope grew up above all, and the wicked, or lawless one, was fully manifested and revealed. His coming is after the energy of Satan, &c; and does it require any particular proof that the pretensions of the pope, and the corruption of the Church of Rome, are all supported and authorized by feigned visions and miracles, by pious frauds and impositions of every kind?  But how much soever the man of sin may be exalted, and how long soever he may reign, yet at last the Lord shall consume him, &c.  This is partly taken from Isa 11:4, And with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked one; where the Jews put an emphasis upon the words the wicked one; as appears from the Chaldee, which renders it, "He shall destroy the wicked Roman."  If the two clauses, as said in the note on 2Th 2:8, relate to two different events, the meaning is, "that the Lord Jesus shall gradually consume him with the free preaching of the Gospel; and shall utterly destroy him at his second coming in the glory of the Father."  The former began to take effect at the Reformation; and the latter will be accomplished in God's appointed time.  The man of sin is now upon the decline, and he will be totally abolished when Christ shall come in judgment. Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Origen, Lactantius, Cyril of Jerusalem, Ambrose, Hilary, Jerome, Augustine, and Chrysostom, give much the same interpretation that has here been given of the whole passage. And it must be owned that this is the genuine meaning of the apostle; that this only is consistent with the context; that every other interpretation is forced and unnatural; that this is liable to no material objection; that it coincides perfectly with Daniel; that it is agreeable to the tradition of the primitive Church; and that it has been exactly fulfilled in all its particulars; which cannot be said of any other interpretation whatever.  Such a prophecy as this is an illustrious proof of Divine revelation, and an excellent antidote to the poison of popery.