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Wed, Apr 27, 2005, 11:16am |
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Hi J., |
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"There's no evidence in Thessalonians that [Paul] suddenly uses the [word 'temple'] differently [than he does in 1 Corinthians 3:16]." |
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Any number of chronological Bibles, Bible dictionaries, and Bible commentaries will document the near certainty that 2Thessalonians predates 1Corinthians, 2Corinthians, and Ephesians. It is therefore misleading for and unwitting of one to assert that no evidence exists for Paul "suddenly" using the word "temple" in Thessalonians to mean something other than "Christ's believers". Such an assertion ignores the chronology of the epistles. Such an assertion ignores the near certainty that "temple" in 2Thessalonians 2.4 is the Holy Spirit's very first use of that term by the hand of Paul in Scripture. |
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When "temple" appears in the singular and is to be understood in any way other than an earthly, material, sanctified habitation in Jerusalem in the land of Israel the Holy Spirit seems always to clarify so, and that in the immediate context. The following are all the verses where the Greek "naos" ("temple") occurs in the singular in the New Testament, with any and all divine clarifications cited.{*1} The list follows the generally accepted chronology:--- |
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Second Thessalonians is largely apocalyptic. The Apocalypse 11.1-2 speaks of "the temple of God" in "the holy city". |
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Any and all difficulty over the intended meaning of "temple" is resolved if we simply refrain from disturbing the text in which it appears. Clarification where given, we do well to receive. Clarification where absent, we do well to leave. An earthly, material "temple of God" in "the holy city" in the land of Israel in the days to come prior to the Second Advent is not irrealizable ( see http://www.temple.org.il/ ).{*4} |
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"Scripture leaves no doubt [that] 'the lie' [of 2 Thessalonians 2:11] is . . . self-righteousness." |
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"[T]he lie" can be the moral antithesis of "the truth" (v. 10), true, but such an interpretation here seems broad. The context seems to suggest the Greek "toi pseudei" ("the lie") relates especially to the Greek "pseudous" (literally "of a lie/of falsehood"; NIV, "counterfeit") in verse 9. No hint is given the "miracles, signs and wonders" of falsehood are merely pretended, purported, professed; but actually performed in the very sight of the elect (Matthew 24.24, Mark 13.22; cf. Deuteronomy 13.1-2; cf. also John 4.48). The "miracles, signs and wonders" of falsehood all seem to serve as convincing evidence of the Antichrist's false claim "to be God" (v. 4). This claim to be God it seems is the particular lie of the passage. The fate of those who prefer this lie over "the truth" proclaimed evidently is the depiction of Revelation 14.6-13. |
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"[C]an we know who this great Antichrist is? . . . [1.] [W]e are looking for someone holding great authority in the midst of the visible church. [2.] His beginnings are at apostolic times, and he continues until Jesus' return. [3.] He supports the great lie of self-righteousness that diametrically opposes the gospel's truth. . . . [T]he one 'capital A' Antichrist who fits all these scriptural criteria is the papacy of the Roman Catholic Church." |
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Point 2 is valid based on 2Thessalonians 2.7-8 and 1John 2.18; 4.3, but points 1 and 3 are _not_ "scriptural criteria". They are professor Gurgel's _interpretations_ of scriptural criteria. |
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"We reject the idea that the teaching that the Papacy is the Antichrist rests on a merely human interpretation of history or is an open question. We hold rather that this teaching rests on the revelation of God in Scripture which finds its fulfillment in history. . . . Scripture teaches that the Antichrist would be revealed and gives the marks by which the Antichrist is to be recognized . . ." |
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What these penmen either fail or refuse to see or admit is that the marks by which Antichrist is to be recognized _must be interpreted_. The WELS interprets one of these marks, namely "God's temple" of 2Thessalonians 2.4, as metaphorical, but the literal is not impossible.{*6} Professor Gurgel interprets "the lie" of 2Thessalonians 2.11 as self-righteousness, but "the lie" might refer to "counterfeit" in verse 9. Let us pray these brothers and sisters of ours have not closed their minds as they have the question. |
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"But what shall we say of the papacy? Does it not so fulfil the prophecy [of 2nd Thessalonians II] that we need not look for further fulfilment? This, it must be admitted, was one of the firmest convictions of the Reformers; and of the English translators of the Bible, who in their address to James I., flatter that monarch with having 'given such a blow unto that man of sin as will not be healed.' It certainly is not surprising that this interpretation should have been warmly accepted by those who bore the full burden and heat of the battle against Rome in the height of her power. And it remains that there is such an agreement between the features of the papacy and those of the man of sin, that it may be said with confidence, the prophecy anticipates the papacy, and the papacy fulfils the prophecy. But here, as often elsewhere, the prophecy is not satisfied by one fulfilment. Its 'height or fulness' has not yet been reached, even in the iniquities of the papacy; the awful possibilities of sin have not yet been fully and finally revealed, no, not even in Rome at her worst. In particular, the prophecy conveys the idea of a person, an individual, rather than that of a system continued from age to age, and headed by a succession of men. Moreover, 'he that opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called god or that is worshipped; so that he sitteth in the temple of God, setting himself forth as God,' goes further than even Papal blasphemy. The Pope pretends to create objects of worship, but he himself adores and insists upon adoration of them. The Papal claim is a claim for divine honours, but for these as the visible representative of God, the personal Vicar of Christ. But the man of sin will not hear of any Being higher than himself. He is no Vicar---no representative of deity, and as such to be honoured. He is the avowed adversary of every object of worship but himself. He does not say, 'I am in the place of God,' but, 'I am the one and only God, the sole object of divine worship---the Godhead is myself.' This is future. There have been monstrous forms of sin, the papacy not the least of them, in which the prophecy has had large fulfilment; but the ever working enmity to God in the heart of fallen man has yet to be consummated." |
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{*1} "Naos" occurs in the plural thrice in most manuscripts (Acts 7.48, "houses"; 17.24, "temples"; 19.24, "shrines"). |
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"The Lord also spoke as follows to those who did not believe in Him: 'I have come in my Father's name, and ye have not received Me: when another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive,' [John 5.43] calling Antichrist 'the other,' because he is alienated from the Lord. This is also the unjust judge, whom the Lord mentioned as one 'who feared not God, neither regarded man,' [Luke 18.2-5] to whom the widow fled in her forgetfulness of God---that is, the earthly Jerusalem---to be avenged of her adversary. Which also he shall do in the time of his kingdom: he shall remove his kingdom into that [city], and shall sit in the temple of God, leading astray those who worship him, as if he were Christ. . . . |
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{*7} Rev. T. Graham, "The Mystery of Iniquity," "Things to Come" 6 (September, 1899): p. 29. |
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The author entreats that his commentary hold no element in one's determination of the truth. As with all humanity, my sin, too, leaves me short of the glory of God. I conclude myself as Job, "Behold, I am vile". A fallen creature can hardly aspire to understand in totality, interpret with precision, and completely communicate the immeasurable breadth, length, depth, and height of the blessed Creator's word. Attainment of the purest Bible knowledge, understanding, and wisdom a human can hope for is solely by ever diligently seeking after God, not through the writings and commentaries and expositions of mortals, but through His only begotten Son Jesus, Whose "name is called The Word of God." |
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