PMT 2013-043 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.
In this blog article I will provide my third installment of my study on Paul’s Man of Lawlessness. In this study I will show the case for the Man of Lawlessness being . . . Nero Caesar.
Paul shows a deep concern regarding the deception (2Th 2:3a). To avoid the deception and to clarify the true beginning of the Day of the Lord upon Jerusalem, Paul informs them that “that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition” (2:3). Before they can say the Day of the Lord “is come,” then, they must witness first (see RSV) the falling away and the revelation of the man of lawlessness, who is also called “the son of perdition.” (These do not necessarily occur in the chronological order presented, as even dispensationalists admit.1 Verse nine is clearly out of order and should occur in the midst of verse eight, if strict chronology were important.) Continue reading
In my previous blog I began a brief analysis of one of Paul’s most difficult passage. I noted widespread statements by church fathers and contemporary scholars confessing its difficulty. Then I noted that despite this, dispensationalism employs this passage as one of its foundations for its distinctive temple-theology. A theology built on difficult passages is not a stable system. 
A PostmillennialismToday reader recently wrote and asked how postmillennialism can be true in light of such passages as 2 Thessalonians 2 regarding the Man of Lawlessness. He stated: “The biggest problem I’ve had with postmillennialism is the falling away: “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition” (2 Thes 2:3).” Certainly for an eschatological to be true it must be able to account for all passages in Scripture. And postmillennialism can explain this passage of evil foreboding. Let us see how! 
This is my third and final article given in response to a reader’s question as to whether the NT envisions Christ’s kingdom as gradually advancing in history. This is an important question for the postmillennialist, hence my lengthy response.
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