THE MAN OF SIN
Few Biblical prophetic terms have stirred people as much as the one found in II Thes 2:3, namely the "man of sin". The common thought in the Churches of God today is that this prophecy concerns a person who will arise in the end time, just prior to Christ's return.
At least one major COG identifies the "man of sin" as a specific Church leader who went astray in recent times.
However, from the Reformation onwards, the standard view among non-Catholics was that the "man of sin" referred to the office of the Papacy. The original introduction of the 1611 King James Bible openly refers to "that man of sinne" in context with "Popish Persons".
I believe that the traditional identification of the "man of sin" as the Papacy is correct.
Let's look at the text of II Thessalonians 2:1-12:
1 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you,
2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come ("is at hand" - KJV).
3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,
4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?
6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time.
7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who (that which) now restrains will do so until he (it) is taken out of the way.
8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.
9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,
10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,
12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Paul states in II Thes 2:7 that the mystery (of emerging false Christianity) was already at work in his time. In Acts chapter 8 we find evidence of this, as Simon Magus, or Simon the Magician, is introduced to us, and obviously for good reason. Eusebius' "Church History", written in the early fourth century, adds more information about Simon, as well as his first successor, Menander (Church History 2:13-14 and 3:26).
Eusebius says that Simon Magus reached Rome before any true apostle did: "With faith in our Lord Jesus Christ reaching all people, the enemy of salvation (Satan) planned to capture the imperial city in advance and sent Simon there ..... and by assisting his sorcery took possession of many in Rome and led them astray. This is reported by (second century author) Justin (Martyr)" (Church History 2:13).
In the same section of his book, Eusebius continues: "Simon was the original author of all heresies. From his time down to ours, his followers, while pretending Christianity, prostrate themselves before pictures of Simon and Helen (Simon's female companion), worshiping them with incense, sacrifices and libations".
We see therefore that the falsification of Christianity started shortly after true Christianity was established. It took centuries, however, for false Christianity to become organised and state sponsored. Roman Emperor Constantine began the process of making the empire "Christian" in the early 4th century AD, and in the latter part of the 4th century Emperor Theodosius made Christianity the state religion. This meant that Christianity's leaders became subject to state approval and direction. Theodosius appointed various cities in his realm as Church administrative centres, and all major cities had their Bishops, or overseers.
In the middle of the 6th century, Emperor Justinian reduced the number of major centres of Christian governance to five, in what was called the Pentarchy. These five cities were Constantinople, Rome, Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria, which each had their leading "patriarch", also called father (Greek "pappas"). When Islamic forces captured most of the Middle East in the 7th century, only Constantinople and Rome were left as major Christian administrative centres in the Roman Empire. From that time on there were two leaders over the "Christian" world: the Patriarch of Constantinople, today known as the head of the Eastern Orthodox Churches, and the Pope of Rome.
For a long time, newly elected Popes of Rome needed to be ratified by the Roman Emperor, based in Constantinople, before they could be installed into office. The Pope would be elected in Rome, but the name of the candidate would have to be submitted to Constantinople for approval. This clearly shows who was in charge of the Empire.
In 684AD however, perhaps affected by a five year drawn out, but ultimately unsuccessful, siege of Constantinople by Muslim forces during the previous decade, Emperor Constantine IV issued an important edict that changed the religious power balance between Rome and Constantinople, as seen in the following quote from Wikipedia:
"John V was the first pope of the Byzantine Papacy consecrated without the direct imperial approval. Emperor Constantine IV had done away with the requirement during the pontificate of Benedict II, John V's predecessor" (Wikipedia page "Pope John V").
John V was installed as Pope in 685, making his first year in office 686.
From this point on, the Papacy was an independent power, or in Biblical language, a "horn".
To be precise, it was the "little horn" of Dan 7:25.
The apostle Paul was a Pharisee and as such was well schooled in the Old Testament Scriptures. When he wrote about the "man of sin" in II Thessalonians, he wasn't talking about something new; rather, he was referring back to the prophecies in Daniel 7 regarding the "little horn". This little horn was prophesied to emerge among ten horns, or powers, that would arise out of the seventh head of the Beast.
The apostle John tells us in Rev 17:10, in regard to the Beast powers, that "five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come". It is clear that Paul already understood these things, and so he knew that it was not until Rome, the sixth head of the Beast, was "taken out of the way" (II Thes 2:7), i.e. conquered in Jerusalem by the seventh head of the Beast, that the time of the "ten horns" could begin, among which the "little horn" was prophesied to emerge. As this little horn is described in Daniel 7:20 as having "eyes", a "mouth" and a "stout look", and it is said of him in verse 25 that he will change "times and laws" (teach people to transgress God's commanded times and laws), and persecute God's people, it is no wonder that Paul labels this power the "man of sin".
In addition, Paul knew that this power was going to be around for a long time as Dan 7:25 mentions "time, times and the dividing of time", or a period of 1260 years, pertaining to it.
Paul had written his first epistle to the Thessalonians to prepare them for the coming of Christ. However, word had reached Paul that the Thessalonians now thought Christ's return was imminent. Paul therefore wrote his second epistle to them, mentioning this concern in II Thes 2:1-2: "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand" (KJV).
Paul then explains (in verse 7) that "he who (that which) now restrains will do so until he (it) is taken out of the way". In other words, the sixth head of the Beast powers that rule Jerusalem, i.e. Rome, had to be taken out of the way (be conquered) before the seventh head, Mecca/Medina, would be in place, and be followed by its ten horns, during which period the "time, times and dividing of time" of the "little horn" would commence. See the page “DANIEL 7 & 8 - JERUSALEM’S CONQUERORS” for more on this.
There are three important years in regard to the rise of the office of the "man of sin":
638AD - when the seventh head of the Beast powers, Mecca/Medina, captured Jerusalem from the sixth head, the Roman Empire headquartered in Constantinople.
661AD - when the first of the ten Islamic "horns", the Umayyad dynasty, began its reign over Jerusalem.
686AD - the first year of rule of the Roman Papacy independent of Constantinople.
These dates can all be seen on the chart on the "HOME" page.
In II Thessalonians it states that God allowed the deceptions of false Christianity to emerge as a test for His people. The office of the "man of sin", i.e. one person ruling the Church, leads to such a person being viewed as an idol, in direct competition with Jesus Christ. History unequivocally shows the immeasurable evil perpetrated by those occupying the office of the "man of sin".
Just because a person comes with certain elements of Biblical truth, doesn't mean that he (or she) should become sole leader. This has been the way in which many people in God's Church have been deceived.
This Laodicean era has unfortunately seen the adoption of far more tenets of Catholicism than most brethren realise. See the page "THE CATHOLIC CHURCH OF GOD" for more information.
By allowing such "strong delusion" (II Thes 2:11), God tests whether His people have a "love of the truth" (II Thes 2:10) or instead "have pleasure in unrighteousness" (II Thes 2:12).
In II Thessalonians 2:8 we learn that Christ will destroy the office of the "man of sin" at His return.
As well as identifying the "man of sin" in II Thes 2:3 as the Papacy, it is also logical to conclude that the office of the Papacy is synonymous with "the Antichrist" mentioned in I John 2:18, and "the false Prophet" in Rev 16:13, 19:20 and 20:10.