The words of the title «The Semantic Dissolution of the Katéchon» summarize the fundamental thesis of the article. Indeed, the history of the interpretation of 2Th. 2:6-7 wanted to see evoked in those verses an entity (reality or person),... more
The words of the title «The Semantic Dissolution of the Katéchon» summarize the fundamental thesis of the article. Indeed, the history of the interpretation of 2Th. 2:6-7 wanted to see evoked in those verses an entity (reality or person), functional to retain, curb or prevent the last manifestation of the Antichrist, in order to delay the parousía of Christ himself. The contribution of the present study aims to definitively dissolve this semantics that has influenced the very eschatological interpretation of Paul and his school from the end of the second century, with Tertullian. Instead of a «restraint» for the manifestation of the Antichrist, more simply, the Katéchon represents the Pauline mysterium, the Gospel to treasure in the community of Thessalonica, in line with the constant concern of the Pauline mission. The combination of these values of an imminent eschatology, documented in primis by the Gospel according to Matthew, allows us to place this Pauline conception in the context of the broader synoptic tradition of Jesus.
