An unforgivable understanding of 2 Thes 2:6

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Isaac Newton
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An unforgivable understanding of 2 Thes 2:6

Post by Isaac Newton »

καὶ νῦν τὸ κατέχον οἴδατε, εἰς τὸ ἀποκαλυφθῆναι αὐτὸν ἐν τῷ αὐτοῦ καιρῷ.
Many (I think the majority) argue that both the neuter expression τὸ κατέχον here in verse 6 and the masculine ὁ κατέχων in verse 7 refer to the "Holy Spirit" (τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον). This is grammatically very problematic, not to mention that the "Holy Spirit" is nowhere mentioned in the immediate context.

In fact τὸ κατέχον refers to τὸ μυστήριον τῆς ἀνομίας in verse 7. So in a very real sense many readers put evil for good in their understanding of verse 6, confusing the spirit of lawlessness ,which issues from Satan, with the Holy Spirit of God.
Οὐαὶ οἱ λέγοντες τὸ πονηρὸν καλὸν καὶ τὸ καλὸν πονηρόν, οἱ τιθέντες τὸ σκότος φῶς καὶ τὸ φῶς σκότος, οἱ τιθέντες τὸ πικρὸν γλυκὺ καὶ τὸ γλυκὺ πικρόν

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jeidsath
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Re: An unforgivable understanding of 2 Thes 2:6

Post by jeidsath »

The Westcott and Hort punctuation and apparatus follows, which I've recreated here (hopefully without typos; italics are theirs) for their interpretation of that ὅτι ἐὰν... Notice they put a "-" at the end of it, explaining the missing apodosis as the statement breaking off just before Paul asks them if they remember him telling them something about this in person. Interesting, especially in light of the accusation of false letters floating around, which is itself especially interesting in light of this being a bit of a pull-back from 1Thes.

I personally understood the τὸ κατέχον as "the blockage" or "the holdup" and "ὁ κατέχων" as "the one holding back", but it seems open for debate. If I were going to try to make your case, I would start with the "ὁ ἀντικείμενος" coming just before. Is that exactly opposite or exactly the same as ὁ κατέχων?
Ἐρωτῶμεν δὲ ὑμᾶς, ἀδελφοί, ὑπὲρ τῆς παρουσίας τοῦ κυρίου [ἡμῶν] Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ ἡμῶν ἐπισυναγωγῆς ἐπ’ αὐτόν, εἰς τὸ μὴ ταχέως σαλευθῆναι ὑμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ νοὸς μηδὲ θροεῖσθαι μήτε διὰ πνεύματος μήτε διὰ λόγου μήτε δι’ ἐπιστολῆς ὡς δι’ ἡμῶν, ὡς ὅτι ἐνέστηκεν ἡ ἡμέρα τοῦ κυρίου. μή τις ὑμᾶς ἐξαπατήσῃ κατὰ μηδένα τρόπον· ὅτι ἐὰν μὴ ἔλθῃ ἡ ἀποστασία πρῶτον καὶ ἀποκαλυφθῇ ὁ ἄνθρωπος τῆς ἀνομίας, ὁ υἱὸς τῆς ἀπωλείας, ὁ ἀντικείμενος καὶ ὑπεραιρόμενος ἐπὶ πάντα λεγόμενον θεὸν ἢ σέβασμα, ὥστε αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν ναὸν τοῦ θεοῦ καθίσαι, ἀποδεικνύντα ἑαυτὸν ὅτι ἔστιν θεός-. Οὐ μνημονεύετε ὅτι ἔτι ὢν πρὸς ὑμᾶς ταῦτα ἔλεγον ὑμῖν; καὶ νῦν τὸ κατέχον οἴδατε, εἰς τὸ ἀποκαλυφθῆναι αὐτὸν ἐν τῷ αὐτοῦ καιρῷ· τὸ γὰρ μυστήριον ἤδη ἐνεργεῖται τῆς ἀνομίας· μόνον ὁ κατέχων ἄρτι ἕως ἐκ μέσου γένηται. καὶ τότε ἀποκαλυφθήσεται ὁ ἄνομος, ὃν ὁ κύριος [Ἰησοῦς] ἀνελεῖ τῷ πνεύματι τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ καὶ καταργήσει τῇ ἐπιφανείᾳ τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ, οὗ ἐστιν ἡ παρουσία κατ’ ἐνέργειαν τοῦ Σατανᾶ ἐν πάσῃ δυνάμει καὶ σημείοις καὶ τέρασιν ψεύδους καὶ ἐν πάσῃ ἀπάτῃ ἀδικίας τοῖς ἀπολλυμένοις, ἀνθ’ ὧν τὴν ἀγάπην τῆς ἀληθείας οὐκ ἐδέξαντο εἰς τὸ σωθῆναι αὐτούς· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πέμπει αὐτοῖς ὁ θεὸς ἐνέργειαν πλάνης εἰς τὸ πιστεῦσαι αὐτοὺς τῷ ψεύδει, ἵνα κριθῶσιν πάντες οἱ μὴ πιστεύσαντες τῇ ἀληθείᾳ ἀλλὰ εὐδοκήσαντες τῇ ἀδικίᾳ.

Marginal alternatives:

"ἡ ἡμέρα τοῦ κυρίου,-"
"ὁ ἄνθρωπος τῆς ἁμαρίας"
"ἀναλοῖ"
"ἅπαντες"
“One might get one’s Greek from the very lips of Homer and Plato." "In which case they would certainly plough you for the Little-go. The German scholars have improved Greek so much.”

Joel Eidsath -- jeidsath@gmail.com

Isaac Newton
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Re: An unforgivable understanding of 2 Thes 2:6

Post by Isaac Newton »

Hi Jeidsath,

According to my understanding ὁ ἀντικείμενος is the anti-Christ (i.e. the God-man). This is the one who sits in the temple of God and proclaims himself to be God (i.e. ὁ ἄνθρωπος τῆς ἀνομίας, ὁ υἱὸς τῆς ἀπωλείας). τὸ κατέχον is the mystery of lawlessness (τὸ μυστήριον τῆς ἀνομίας), which is the power of Satan. ὁ κατέχων is Satan, that ancient Dragon . A time will come when Satan no longer will have access to Heaven before God's throne , that is, when he is "gone out of the midst" -- essentially when he is confined to the earthly sphere (see Rev. 12:7-12). It is then that the man of lawlessness (the second person of the Trinity, as it were) will also be revealed upon the earth, culminating with the arrival of Jesus and the ultimate destruction of the anti-Christ by him (see 2 Thes. 2:7-8).
.
Οὐαὶ οἱ λέγοντες τὸ πονηρὸν καλὸν καὶ τὸ καλὸν πονηρόν, οἱ τιθέντες τὸ σκότος φῶς καὶ τὸ φῶς σκότος, οἱ τιθέντες τὸ πικρὸν γλυκὺ καὶ τὸ γλυκὺ πικρόν

Isaac Newton
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Re: An unforgivable understanding of 2 Thes 2:6

Post by Isaac Newton »

ὁ κατέχων ἄρτι ἕως ἐκ μέσου γένηται.
Reminds me of the following from Ezekiel, --
28:14 μετὰ τοῦ χερουβ ἔθηκά σε ἐν ὄρει ἁγίῳ θεοῦ ἐγενήθης ἐν μέσῳ λίθων πυρίνων
and
28:16 ἀπὸ πλήθους τῆς ἐμπορίας σου ἔπλησας τὰ ταμίειά σου ἀνομίας καὶ ἥμαρτες καὶ ἐτραυματίσθης ἀπὸ ὄρους τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἤγαγέν σε τὸ χερουβ ἐκ μέσου λίθων πυρίνων
Οὐαὶ οἱ λέγοντες τὸ πονηρὸν καλὸν καὶ τὸ καλὸν πονηρόν, οἱ τιθέντες τὸ σκότος φῶς καὶ τὸ φῶς σκότος, οἱ τιθέντες τὸ πικρὸν γλυκὺ καὶ τὸ γλυκὺ πικρόν

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