Don't you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.
II Th 2:5-7 (NIV)
Pre-Tribulation Futurists claim the Holy Spirit is the restrainer. His influence, exercised through the "church", keeps the revelation of Antichrist and his demonic kingdom in check. They believe the Holy Spirit, along with the Church will be removed before the Antichrist can be revealed.
I too, thought that for many years... Let me show you what I have found which should, at least, explain my current views.
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
George Santayana
Irenaeus (120-202)
(Against Heresies, Book 5, chapter 25, paragraph 3; chapter 26, paragraph 1)
"Daniel too, looking forward to the end of the last kingdom, i.e., the ten last kings, amongst whom the kingdom of those men shall be partitioned, and upon whom the son of perdition shall come, declares that ten horns shall spring from the beast, and that another little horn shall arise in the midst of them."
"In a still clearer light has John, in the Apocalypse, indicated to the Lord's disciples what shall happen in the last times, and concerning the ten kings who shall then arise, among whom the empire which now rules [Rome] shall be partitioned"
Tertullian (145-220)
(Of the Resurrection of the Flesh, Chapter 24)
"Again, in the second epistle he [Paul] addresses them with even greater earnestness: 'For that day shall not come, unless indeed there first come a falling away,' he means indeed of this present empire, 'and that man of sin be revealed,' that is to say, Antichrist, 'the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, And now ye know what detaineth, that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work; only he who now hinders must hinder, until he be taken out of the way.' What obstacle is there but the Roman state, the falling away of which, by being scattered into ten kingdoms, shall introduce Antichrist upon (its own ruins)?"
Hippolytus (170-236)
(Treatise on Christ and Antichrist, paragraph 28)
The golden head of the image and the lioness denoted the Babylonians; the shoulders and arms of silver, and the bear, represented the Persians and Medes; the belly and thighs of brass, and the leopard, meant the Greeks, who held the sovereignty from Alexander's time; the legs of iron, and the beast dreadful and terrible, expressed the Romans, who hold the sovereignty at present; the toes of the feet which were part clay and part iron, and the ten horns, were emblems of the kingdoms that are yet to rise; the other little horn that grows up among them meant the Antichrist in their midst; the stone that smites the earth and brings judgment upon the world was Christ.
Cyril of Jerusalem (315-386)
(Lecture 15, paragraphs 9,12,15)
"Thus wrote Paul, and now is the 'falling away' ... now the Church is filled with heretics in disguise. For men have fallen away from the truth, and 'have itching ears' ... This therefore is 'the falling away,' and the enemy is soon to be looked for...
"But this aforesaid Antichrist is to come when the times of the Roman empire shall have been fulfilled, and the end of the world is now drawing near. There shall rise up together ten kings of the Romans, reigning in different parts perhaps, but all about the same time; and after these an eleventh, the Antichrist, who by his magical craft shall seize upon the Roman power...
"So that he seateth himself in the temple of God." What temple then? He means, the Temple of the Jews which has been destroyed. For God forbid that it should be the one in which we are!".
John Chrysostom (347-407)
(Homilies on Second Thessalonians II 6-9)
"For the mystery of lawlessness doth already work." He speaks here of Nero, as if he were the type of Antichrist. For he too wished to be thought a god. And he has well said, "the mystery"; that is, it worketh not openly, as the other, nor without shame. For if there was found a man before that time, he means, who was not much behind Antichrist in wickedness, what wonder, if there shall now be one? But he did not also wish to point him out plainly: and this not from cowardice, but instructing us not to bring upon ourselves unnecessary enmities, when there is noting to call for it. So indeed he also says here. "Only there is one that restraineth now, until he be taken out of the way," that is, when the Roman empire is taken out of the way, then he shall come. And naturally. For as long as the fear of this empire lasts, no one will willingly exit himself, but when that is dissolved, he will attack the anarchy, and endeavor to seize upon the government both of man and of God. For as the kingdoms before this were destroyed, for example, 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 will this also be by the Antichrist, and he by Christ, and it will no longer withhold. And these things Daniel delivered to us with great clearness.
Jerome(340-420)
(Letter #60 to Heliodorus, paragraphs 16,17)
"I shudder when I think of the catastrophes of our time. The Roman world is falling: yet we hold up our heads instead of bowing them. ... "Rome's army, once victor and Lord of the world, now trembles with terror at the sight of the foe"
(Letter #123 to Ageruchia, paragraphs 16, 17)
"But what am I doing? Whilst I talk about the cargo, the vessel itself founders. He that letteth is taken out of the way, and yet we do not realize that Antichrist is near. Yes, Antichrist is near whom the Lord Jesus Christ 'shall consume with the spirit of his mouth'. ... "For thirty years the barbarians burst the barrier of the Danube and fought in the heart of the Roman Empire. Rome has to fight within her own borders not for glory but for bare life"
As the preceding comments so clearly sound the warning concerning the coming of Antichrist, here begins the gap of a thousand years. As history clearly shows from about the fifth century Rome had become the seat of antichrist. During this time Rome was the source that distributed the knowledge of God as it saw fit. These days are known as the dark ages in our history books and for good reason, there was very little light given off by the church during the heavy handed rein of the Papacy.
During this time, from the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West, around the 5th century, to the 15th century, The Roman church held incredible influence over the people of the empire. This Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in western europe for over a thousand years. By the 10th century its rulers were elected German kings, who usually sought, but did not always receive, imperial coronation by the popes in Rome.1
The Holy Roman Empire was an attempt to revive the Western Roman Empire, whose legal and political structure deteriorated during the 5th and 6th centuries, to be replaced by independent kingdoms ruled by Germanic nobles. The Roman imperial office was vacant after the deposition of Romulus Augustulus in 476. During these turbulent times the traditional concept of a temporal realm coextensive with the spiritual realm of the church had been kept alive by the popes in Rome.
The papacy grew increasingly resentful of interference by secular and ecclesiastical authorities at Constantinople in the affairs and practices of the Western church. The consequent feud between the two divisions of the church attained critical proportions during the reign (717-41) of the Byzantine emperor Leo III, who sought to abolish the use of images in Christian ceremonies. Papal resistance to Leo's decrees culminated (730-32) in a rupture with Constantinople. After severance of its ties with the Byzantine Empire, the papacy nourished dreams of a revivified Western Empire. Some of the popes weighed the possibility of launching such an enterprise and assuming the leadership of the projected state. Lacking any military force or practical administration, and in great danger from hostile Lombards in Italy, the church hierarchy, abandoning the idea of a joint spiritual and temporal realm, seemed to have decided to confer imperial status on the then dominant western European power, the kingdom of the Franks. Several of the Frankish rulers had already demonstrated their fidelity to the church, and Charlemagne, who ascended the Frankish throne in 768, had displayed ample qualifications for the exalted office, notably by the conquest of Lombardy in 773 and by the expansion of his dominions to imperial proportions.
On December 25, 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor. This act established both a precedent and a political structure that were destined to figure decisively in the affairs of central Europe. The precedent established the papal claim to the right to select, crown, and even depose emperors that was asserted, at least in theory, for nearly 700 years.2
Reformation, great 16th-century religious revolution in the Christian church, which ended the ecclesiastical supremacy of the pope in Western Christendom and resulted in the establishment of the Protestant churches. With the Renaissance that preceded and the French Revolution that followed, the Reformation completely altered the medieval way of life in Western Europe and initiated the era of modern history. Although the movement dates from the early 16th century, when Martin Luther first defied the authority of the church, the conditions that led to his revolutionary stand had existed for hundreds of years and had complex doctrinal, political, economic, and cultural elements.3
Geneva Bible (1599 Calvin)
(comments on 2 Thessalonians 2:7)
(6) For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: (7) only he who now (h) letteth [will let], until he be taken out of the way.
(6) Even in the apostles time the first foundations of the apostolic seat were laid, but yet so that they deceived men. (7) He foretells that when the empire of Rome is taken away, the seat that falls away from God will succeed and hold its place, as the old writers, Tertullian, Chrysostom, and Jerome explain and interpret it.
(h) He who is now in authority and rules all, that is, the Roman Empire.
Matthew Henry (1706)
(comments on 2 Thessalonians 2:7)
Concerning this we are to observe two things: (1.) There was something that hindered or withheld, or let, until it was taken away. This is supposed to be the power of the Roman empire, which the apostle did not think fit to mention more plainly at that time; and it is notorious that, while this power continued, it prevented the advances of the bishops of Rome to that height of tyranny to which soon afterwards they arrived. (2.) This mystery of iniquity was gradually to arrive at its height; and so it was in effect that the universal corruption of doctrine and worship in the Romish church came in by degrees, and the usurpation of the bishops of Rome was gradual, not all at once; and thus the mystery of iniquity did the more easily, and almost insensibly, prevail.
John Wesley (1754-1765)
(comments on 2 Thessalonians 2:7)
He will surely be revealed; for the mystery - The deep, secret power of iniquity, just opposite to the power of godliness, already worketh. It began with the love of honour, and the desire of power; and is completed in the entire subversion of the gospel of Christ. This mystery of iniquity is not wholly confined to the Romish church, but extends itself to others also. It seems to consist of,
1) Human inventions added to the written word.
2) Mere outside performances put in the room of faith and love.
3) Other mediators besides the man Christ Jesus.
The two last branches, together with idolatry and bloodshed, are the direct consequences of the former; namely, the adding to the word of God. Already worketh - In the church. Only he that restraineth - That is, the potentate who successively has Rome in his power. The emperors, heathen or Christian; the kings, Goths or Lombards; the Carolingian or German emperors.
John Gill (1697-1771)
(comments on 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7)
though till the time came fixed by God for his appearance, the decree must be a bar in his way; since as there is a time for every purpose, nothing can come to pass till that time comes: but by that which withheld, let or hindered the open appearance of antichrist, were the Roman empire and emperors; these stood in his way, and while this empire lasted, and the emperors wore the imperial crown, and sat on the throne, and held the government in their hands, the popes could not come at the height of their ambition, dignity, and authority, nor shine in their glory; nor could the whore of Babylon take her seat, and sit upon the seven hills of Rome until the Roman emperor was taken out of the way: this therefore hindered,
verse 7 that is, the Roman empire and Roman emperors, and which were by degrees entirely removed, and so made way for the revelation of this wicked one: and which was done partly by Constantine the emperor receiving the Christian faith, whereby the Roman empire as Pagan ceased; and by increasing the riches of the church, and feeding the pride, ambition, and covetousness of the bishops, especially the bishop of Rome; and next by removing the seat of the empire from Rome to Byzantium, which he called Constantinople: here the Greek emperors continued in succession, and neither they themselves, nor even their exarchs, resided at Rome, but at Ravenna; so that way was made for antichrist to come to his seat, and there was nothing to rival and eclipse the grandeur, power, and glory of the Roman popes
Adam Clarke (1762-1832)
(comments on 2 Thessalonians 2:7)
7; and that the power of the Roman emperors, and of the magistrates under them, was that which then, and during the succeeding ages, restrained the mystery of iniquity in its working, and the man of sin from revealing himself.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown (1871)
(comments on 2 Thessalonians 2:6)
6. now ye know--by my having told you. The power must have been one "known" to the Thessalonians. what withholdeth--that which holds him back; "keeps him in check": the power that has restrained the man of sin from his full and final development, is the moral and conservative influence of political states [OLSHAUSEN]: the fabric of human polity as a coercive power; as "he who now letteth" refers to those who rule that polity by which the great upbursting of godlessness is kept down [ALFORD]. The "what withholdeth" refers to the general hindrance; "he who now letteth," to the person in whom that hindrance is summed up. Romanism, as a forerunner of Antichrist, was thus kept in check by the Romanemperor (the then representative of the coercive power) until Constantine, having removed the seat of empire to Constantinople, the Roman bishop by degrees first raised himself to precedency, then to primacy, and then to sole empire above the secular power ... The elect Church and the Spirit cannot well be, as DE BURGH suggests, the withholding power meant; for both shall never be wholly "taken out of the way" (Matthew 28:20). However, the testimony of the elect Church, and the Spirit in her, are the great hindrance to the rise of the apostasy; and it is possible that, though the Lord shall have a faithful few even then, yet the full energy of the Spirit in the visible Church, counteracting the energy or "working" of "the mystery of lawlessness" by the testimony of the elect, shall have been so far "taken out of the way," or set aside, as to admit the manifestation of "the lawless one"; and so DE BURGH'S'S view may be right (Luke 18:8'Revelation 11:3-12'). This was a power of which the Thessalonians might easily "know" through Paul's instruction.
Barton Johnson (1891)
(comments on 2 Thessalonians 2:6-10)
Ye know now what withholdeth. They knew because Paul had told them when with them. We have not that advantage, but I believe that he told them that this development could not take place until pagan imperial Rome fell. We know that it did withhold, or prevent it. 7. For the mystery of iniquity. This revelation of the man of sin. It was a mystery, that is, something yet hidden. Doth already work. Causes are beginning to work which will lead to it. Only he who now letteth. He that hindereth must first be taken out of the way. There was no room for an arrogant spiritual power in Rome as long as imperial Rome continued to persecute the church. A persecuted church cannot be a haughty church. Two things were needful before the papal power could be developed; viz., the overthrow of paganism, and the removal of the capital of the Empire from Rome. When these things were done, it was free to seize the old Roman scepter. 8. Then shall that Wicked be revealed. After the hindering power is removed. Whom the Lord shall consume. The Wicked power will be destroyed by the Lord's coming, and will continue to exist, possibly, until that event. 9. Whose coming. That of the Wicked power. Is after the working of Satan. That is, it will deceive men as Satan does. Lying wonders. False miracles. 10. Deceivableness of unrighteousness. Unrighteous delusions which will be accepted by its votaries, them that perish. Those that perish, receive not the love of the truth. They have a disinclination to receive it.
James Burton Coffman (1980's)
(comments on 2 Thessalonians 2:6)
That which restraineth ... This is viewed generally, by nearly all schools of interpreters, as being the Roman government. This is supported by the context in that it would explain why Paul spoke so guardedly of its being taken out of the way."
1 "Middle Ages" Microsoft (R) Encarta. (c) 1994 Funk & Wagnall's Corporation.
2 "Holy Roman Empire" Microsoft (R) Encarta. (c) 1994 Funk & Wagnall's Corporation.
3 "Reformation" Microsoft (R) Encarta. (c) 1994 Funk & Wagnall's Corporation.
Beware of those who preach prophecy for profit...