ST. PAUL - APOSTLE (b.? - died c. 68 AD)
St. Paul is
so well known in Church history that his biography needs no
introduction here.
His second
letter to the Thessalonians, which teaches about the End Times and
the Antichrist, is important in order to establish the Catholic
Church's teachings on End Time events and discerning when the
Antichrist himself will finally appear and not simply just one of his
precursors.
According to
St. Paul, the Antichrist, whom he describes as the 'Man of Sin' and
'Son of Perdition', will come just when the world is about to end.
When Christ returns from Heaven with his Angels, that is, the Second
Coming, Christ will defeat the Antichrist Himself:
St.
Paul: (2 Thessalonians : 1-8) “And we beseech you, brethren, by
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of our gathering together
unto him: (i.e. the Second Coming)
That you be not easily moved from your sense, nor be terrified,
neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by epistle, as sent from us, as
if the day of the Lord were at hand. Let no man deceive you by any
means, for unless there come a revolt first, (I.e.
the Great Apostasy against the Church),
and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth,
and is lifted up above all that is called God, or that is worshipped,
so that he sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself as if he
were God. (I.e the Antichrist).
Remember you not, that when I was yet with you, I told you these
things? And now you know what withholdeth, that he may be
revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity already worketh;
(i.e the foretold precursors were already at work even then),
only that he who now holdeth, do hold, until he be taken out of the
way. And then that wicked one shall be revealed whom the Lord
Jesus shall kill with the spirit of His mouth; and shall destroy with
the brightness of His coming.” (i.e. Christ will kill the
Antichrist at the Second Coming).
The Church
has upheld the teaching from St. Paul as the excellent explanatory
catechism of Spirago and Clarke confirm: “Our Lord will kill him
on the Last Day (2 Thess. 2:8)” This will happen right before
the General Judgement:
“Antichrist
is a man who will give himself out to be Christ. And by the help of
the devil will perform many wonders. (2 Thess. 2:9). He will be a
terror by the persecution which he will raise. (Apoc. 20: 3-9) It is
probably that he will choose for his kingdom Jerusalem and those
places where Christ lived. Our Lord will kill him on the Last Day.
(2 Thess. 2:8) Types and forerunners of Antichrist have existed from
time to time. (1 John 2:18), “for the mystery of iniquity already
worketh” (2 Thess. 2:7)” (Source: Spirago and Clarke, “The
Catechism Explained: The Exhaustive Explanation of the Catholic
Religion, (1899)”, TAN Publishers, 1993, pp. 272- 273):
As the
Antichrist is to come before the Second Coming and the General
Judgement, the early Church Fathers and mystics who foretold the Great
Monarch or commented on these prophecies taught the promised reign of
the Great Monarch must happen before this. This also means the Age
of Peace on earth must also happen before the Antichrist and
the Second Coming. Approved and authentic visions also uphold this
teaching.
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The
“Katechon” - The 'Withholder' of the Antichrist.
In the letter to the
Thessalonians quoted above, St. Paul was
warning the Christians in his time, and us too, not to be worrying
when the Last Judgement was to occur, because it wouldn't happen
until after a huge revolt and apostasy occurred which would herald
the Antichrist. Only after the Antichrist would the Last Judgement
happen when Christ will vanquish the Antichrist.
However,
St. Paul also mentions that the Antichrist would have someone
impeding his arrival before then—the 'Withholder' or the
'kathèkon' or 'katechon'. (2 Thess. 2: 6-8) Only when this Witholder is
removed would the final great apostasy happen and the Antichrist
would finally appear.
St.
Paul: “[6] And now you know what withholdeth, that he may be
revealed in his time. [7] For the mystery of iniquity already
worketh; only that he who now holdeth, do hold, until he be taken out
of the way. [8] And then that wicked one shall be revealed whom the
Lord Jesus shall kill with the spirit of his mouth; and shall destroy
with the brightness of his coming.”
Of
interest, however, St. Paul used both neuter and masculine form of
the word for 'katechon'.
The 'katechon' of course refers to the Church and all good secular
leaders who have followed Church teachings and have withheld the
various antichrist precursors from gaining the final upper hand
through history. (Possibly represented by the neuter, general form of
'Katechon´.)
Then,
we have the MASCULINE form of the word.
Practically
all the early Church fathers have noticed this must point to one last
kingdom or individual who will be manifested, who will 'withhold' the
Antichrist back for one last time, and then this katechon will be
'removed'. Only when the katechon is removed can the Antichrist
finally appear, after which Christ will defeat the evil one at the
Second Coming.
Practically
all the early Church fathers have agreed according to the Scriptures
it is the Holy Roman Empire that will be the 'final' katechon
before the evil one's reign.
Of
course, the Empire will have a leader, hence, enters the 'Last World
Emperor', or Great Catholic Monarch prophecies. Not only have early
Church Fathers and Doctors foretold about this great leader, but also
modern approved apparitions, saints, blesseds, venerables and mystics
as you can see from the Timeline. Hence, the promise of one last Great Catholic Monarch must indeed be the 'katechon' spoken of by St. Paul.
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Therefore, Age of Peace is NOT the New Heaven and the New Earth'
The promised Age of Peace that will be established by the Great Monarch and Angelic Pontiff before the Antichrist is a completely different age and event from the New Heaven and New Earth Christ will establish at the end of Time. The first is temporal and will not last forever, the second is Eternal as it will be established by Christ on the Last Day as foretold in the Apocalypse.
If a
prophecy or an interpretation of a prophecy says The Antichrist
himself and not a precursor will come before the Age of Peace, the
interpretation is not just an error but is heretical, therefore
prophecies that promote this are definitely fake.
Also, fake
prophecies featuring such an erroneous interpretation of the
Antichrist's timing will sometimes promote heretical
interpretations of the 1,000 Year Reign of Christ from the Book of
Revelation in order to account for or even cover up the error. The
heretical literal interpretation of the 1,000 years mentioned in the
Apocalypse is called the Chiliast Heresy, was promoted by Gnostic
heretics, and has been condemned by the Church for centuries. (Read more about that by clicking here.)
