2 Thessalonians 2 and the Great Apostacy

Not sure what you're askig. Your title and the statement seem to say that you think that the perceived lack of church plants is part of the great apostacy.

i get you don't like large churches, but not sure how that works into any kind of prophecy.

I don't perceive a lack of church plants. The North American Mission Board of the SBC is putting all its eggs in the church planting basket. In our local ass'n (sarasota/Manatee, fl) , there have been 3 church plants in the last 2 years.

 

so are you asking more for an exposition of the chapter or how it could relate to churches just staying "indoors"?

 

OK gotcha.

I think v4 and 11 explains the falling away or great apostasy. It the false "Christianity" where people will worship the "man of sin" who sitting in the temple (the church) will proclaim himself to be god. The true God will allow this and use it for His glory in the end.

Sounds a lot like a hyper-catholic ideology to me...

 

Well i think the great apostasy would be central to the reign of the man of sin. (not a fan of the term Anti-Christ) Meaning that, his rule as the leader of the false religion is really the focal point of the falling away.

Personally i lean towards a historicist interpretation of Revelation so, like the reformers I see the Papacy as at least a shadow if not the full substance of the false religions leader. And I think the terms used here in 2 Thess 2 describes the office of Pope very well. But I could be wrong, we shall see.

 

Maybe.
"Even so, come, Lord Jesus."

 

I think it was speaking of nero, during the destruction of the temple. The warnings in Hebrews were coming to pass, there were many who did commit apostasy going back to ot worship .

 

I've read that but I can't really understand how the man of sin here could be Nero... the man of sin is described as being destroyed by the brightness of the coming of Christ.

The other preterist view that I've heard is that the man of sin here is talking about some zealot who set himself up as chief priest in the Temple during the siege of Jerusalem in 70AD or something along those lines. I could see that being more in line with the passage if the coming here refers to the destruction of Jerusalem, as preterism states. However I'm convinced by the context of verse 1 of this chapter as well as the previous chapter that the events prophesied here are eschatological.

 

:thumbs::thumbs::thumbs:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FeeeUFmbPk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ep9W_53yRk