"Shewing Himself that He is God"

"Lesson 31 of the Sunday School curriculum includes some very familiar verses from the apostle Paul concerning the relationship between the Second Coming of Christ and the Great Apostasy that was to precede his coming. To correct the Thessalonian saints concerning their expectation that Christ would return in their day, the apostle Paul wrote:

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.

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;

Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4)

These verses were, and continue to be, favorites used by missionaries. They establish the fact of a universal apostasy following Jesus Christ. They further create the condition that necessitated a restoration of the true gospel through the prophet Joseph Smith. This application of these verses, however, is not what I desire to write about in this blog. Rather, I would like to focus my comments on the man of sin, the son of perdition, that is to be revealed and, moreso, the fact that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

"Anti" Christ Defined

"Anti" is a "a preposition signifying against, opposite, contrary, or in place of" (see Webster's 1828 Dictionary). Hence, when applied to a belief in Christ, two types of antichrist appear; one being, by far, more dangerous and seditious than the other. The first that poses the least threat to God and His saints are individuals, like Sherem, Korihor, or Zoramites, who argue that there is no Christ (see Jacob 7:2, Alma 30:6, 12-44, Alma 31:16). Inasmuch as Christ is the emblem of their religion, it does little good for one to tempt Christians to deny Him or to declare that his works do not redeem. Such antichrists, who outwardly adorn the wardrobe of wolves, are easily discerned and turned out by the congregations of the righteous.

Contrary, the second type of antichrist--the one who argues that he is Christ--is, indeed, a peril to the Saints. Some might argue that such wolves, dressed in their "Sunday best", are easily diagnosed and separated from the flock. NOT SO!! Such antichrists are far too subtle and, in fact, most Latter-day Saints have already embraced their philosophy.

"Anti" Christ Revealed

When he speaks of “the temple of God,” without other qualification, the apostle Paul appears to refer to the existing Temple of Jerusalem (comp. Daniel 11:31; Daniel 12:11, cited by our Lord in Matthew 24:15; Mark 13:14). Attempts have been made to show that the Apostle’s words were literally fulfilled by certain outrages committed by the Herods upon the sacred building (see Meyer's NT Commentary). The shout of the populace at Cæsarea, hailing “the voice” of Herod Agrippa as that “of a god and not of a man,” illustrates the lengths to which a corrupt and servile crowd was prepared to go in worshipping an unclean beast (Acts 12:20-24).

But the Herods were not alone in demonstrating that the intoxication of supreme power can cause even the vile and common to declare that they are God. Eventually, Sebastos, the Greek rendering of the imperial title Augustus, signified “the one to be worshipped.” Caesar or Christ became the martyr’s alternative after Augustus "consented to be worshipped with temples and statues as a deity." Augustus Caesar died in the midst of the Savior's mortal probation. He believed that his empire was "secure and at peace." His reported last words were twofold. To his subjects he said, “I found Rome of clay; I leave it to you of marble.” But to the friends who had stayed with him in his rise to power he added, “Have I played the part well? Then applaud me as I exit.” Soon after his acknowledgement of this human frailty that visits paupers and kings alike, the Roman Senate officially declared their departed emperor, like Julius Caesar before him, to be a god. These emperors, however, considered individually or together in one big black ball, do not fit the crowning act of profanation described by the apostle Paul. At best, these kings were but a type--a dark shadow--of a day to come.

The Man of Sin Revealed
In his book called Revelation, the apostle John described a day wherein the devil would come "down to earth, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time" (JST Revelation 12:12). The apostle John was undoubtedly identifying the day seen also by the apostle Paul wherein the man of sin, the son of perdition, would be revealed. During a conference held June 3-6, 1931 in Kirtland, Ohio, the apostle Paul's words were, in part, literally fulfilled. In the journal of John Whitmer, Jr., he recorded that "Joseph Smith, Jr., prophesied . . . that the man of sin should be revealed" during the conference. Continuing, Brother Whitmer recorded that, on the following day, "while the Lord poured out his spirit upon his servants, the devil took a notion, to make known his power, he bound Harvey Whitlock and John Murdock so that they could not speak, and others were affected, [B]ut the Lord showed to Joseph the Seer, the design of the thing, [and] he commanded the devil[,] in the name of Christ[,] and he departed to our joy and comfort." Concerning events of that day, Joseph Smith likewise noted:

On the 3rd of June, the Elders from the various parts of the country where they were laboring, came in; and the conference before appointed, convened in Kirtland; and the Lord displayed His power to the most perfect satisfaction of the Saints. The man of sin was revealed, and the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood was manifested and conferred for the first time upon several of the Elders" (see History of the Church, 1:175).

Sanctuaries of the Holy Spirit

Notwithstanding how precisely these accounts accord with Paul's prophecy, the manner in which the man of sin is revealed and reigns, as God, in the temple of God is more subtle and, certainly, more personal than portrayed by the foregoing events. In our day, the great Usurper, who claims for himself that he is God, appropriates the sanctuaries of the Holy Spirit (compare D&C 88:137) and prostitutes them to his own worship. He seeks to possess the dwelling places that are not his (Habakkuk 1:5-11, 6) and to reign “within the temple of God—not in Jerusalem alone,” says Chrysostom, “but in every person's body.” (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges). 

"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?", wrote the apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 3:16-17). The Lord requires the hearts of the children of men (D&C 64:22). Unfortunately, this is also the residence of evil spirits (Mosiah 3:6; also D&C 45:55). It is where "anger rages" against that which is good (2 Nephi 28:20). Thus, speaking more precisely of the manner in which the apostle Paul's words would be fulfilled, the prophet Joseph Smith wrote:

Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you my servants, concerning the parable of the wheat and of the tares:
Behold, verily I say, the field was the world, and the apostles were the sowers of the seed;
And after they have fallen asleep the great persecutor of the church, the apostate, the whore, even Babylon, that maketh all nations to drink of her cup, in whose hearts the enemy, even Satan, sitteth to reign—behold he soweth the tares; wherefore, the tares choke the wheat and drive the church into the wilderness (D&C 86:1-3).

Those who are Babylon--the nations of the world enveloped in spiritual wickedness (see D&C 133:14)--are the means whereby the man of sin, the son of perdition, reigns in the temple of God! Their hearts are his throne and gross darkness is the hue of their minds (D&C 112:23).