:
1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2 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. 3 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; 4 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. 5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 13 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: 14 Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle. 16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, 17 Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.
[AD 165] Justin Martyr on 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4
Now I am aware that your teachers, sirs, admit the whole of the words of this passage to refer to Christ; and I am likewise aware that they maintain He has not yet come; or if they say that He has come, they assert that it is not known who He is; but when He shall become manifest and glorious, then it shall be known who He is. And then, they say, the events mentioned in this passage shall happen, just as if there was no fruit as yet from the words of the prophecy. O unreasoning men! understanding not what has been proved by all these passages, that two advents of Christ have been announced: the one, in which He is set forth as suffering, inglorious, dishonoured, and crucified; but the other, in which He shall come from heaven with glory, when the man of apostasy, who speaks strange things against the Most High, shall venture to do unlawful deeds on the earth against us the Christians, who, having learned the true worship of God from the law, and the word which went forth from Jerusalem by means of the apostles of Jesus, have fled for safety to the God of Jacob and God of Israel; and we who were filled with war, and mutual slaughter, and every wickedness, have each through the whole earth changed our warlike weapons — our swords into ploughshares, and our spears into implements of tillage— and we cultivate piety, righteousness, philanthropy, faith, and hope, which we have from the Father Himself through Him who was crucified; and sitting each under his vine, i.e., each man possessing his own married wife.

[AD 220] Tertullian on 2 Thessalonians 2:1
For the mystery of iniquity doth already work; only he who now hinders must hinder, until he be taken out of the way." What obstacle is there but the Roman state, the falling away of which, by being scattered into ten kingdoms, shall introduce Antichrist upon (its own ruins)? "And then shall be revealed the wicked one, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming: even him whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish.

[AD 235] Hippolytus of Rome on 2 Thessalonians 2:1
And the blessed Apostle Paul, writing to the Thessalonians, says: "Now we beseech you, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together at it, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letters as from us, as that the day of the Lord is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means; for (that day shall not come) except there come the 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 sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth, that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work; only he who now letteth (will let), until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus shall consume with the Spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming: (even him) whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." And Esaias says, "Let the wicked be cut off, that he behold not the glory of the Lord."

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on 2 Thessalonians 2:1
At least, when the apostles were preaching and the eyewitnesses of Jesus were teaching his precepts, no minor dispute in the church took place among Jewish believers about those of the Gentiles who were converted to the faith; the question was whether they ought to keep the Jewish customs or if the burden of clean or unclean meats ought to be taken away so that it would not be a load upon those Gentiles who abandoned their traditional customs and believed in Jesus. Furthermore, in the epistles of Paul, who was contemporary with those who had seen Jesus, there are some statements to be found which concern certain disputes about the resurrection, and about the view that it had already occurred, and about the question whether the day of the Lord was already present or not.

[AD 373] Athanasius of Alexandria on 2 Thessalonians 2:1
Now it is right and necessary, as in all divine Scripture, so here, faithfully to explain the time of which the apostle wrote, and the person and the point. This is so that the reader will not from ignorance miss either these or any similar particular and thus miss the true sense of the text. This was what the inquiring eunuch understood when he asked Philip, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet speak this? Of himself, or of someone else?” He feared lest, having explained the lesson unsuitably to the person, he should wander from the right sense. And the disciples, wishing to learn the time of what was predicted, implored the Lord: “Tell us,” they said, “when shall these things be? And what is the sign of your coming?” And again, hearing from the Savior the events of the end, they desired to learn the time of it, that they might be kept from error themselves. They also wished to be able to teach others, just as, when they had learned, they set right the Thessalonians, who were going wrong. When, then, one understands these points properly, knows properly these points, his understanding of the faith is right and healthy. But if he fails to understand, he immediately falls into heresy. Thus, Hymenaeus and Alexander and their followers5 were beside the time when they said that the resurrection had already taken place. The Galatians, too, were after the time in continuing to think circumcision was an important issue.

[AD 373] Athanasius of Alexandria on 2 Thessalonians 2:1
And further, not to know when the end is, or when the day of the end will occur, is actually a good thing. If people knew the time of the end, they might begin to ignore the present time as they waited for the end days. They might well begin to argue that they should only focus on themselves. Therefore, God has also remained silent concerning the time of our death. If people knew the day of their death, they would immediately begin to neglect themselves for the greater part of their lifetime. The Word, then, has concealed both the end of all things and the time of our own death from us, for in the end of all is the end of each, and in the end of each the end of all is comprehended. This is so that, when things remain uncertain and always in prospect, we advance day by day as if summoned, reaching forward to the things before us and forgetting the things behind. … The Lord, then, knowing what is good for us beyond ourselves, thus stabilized the disciples in a correct understanding. They, being taught, set right those of Thessalonica, who were likely to err on the very same point.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 2 Thessalonians 2:1
When the resurrection will be, he has not said: “It will come in due order”; he has said: “And our assembling to meet him.” This point is quite important. Observe how Paul’s exhortation is accompanied by praise and encouragement, for he makes it clear that Jesus and all the saints will certainly appear at that time with us.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2
When the Resurrection will be, he has not said, but that it will not be now, he has said. "And our gathering together unto Him." This also is no little matter. See how the exhortation also is again accompanied with commendation and encouragement, in that He and all the Saints will certainly appear with us. Here he is discoursing concerning the resurrection and our gathering together. For these things will happen at the same time. He raises up their minds. "That you be not quickly shaken," he says, "nor yet be troubled, either by spirit, or by word, or by epistle as from us, as that the day of the Lord is now present."

Here he seems to me to intimate that certain persons went about having forged an Epistle, as if from Paul, and showing this, said that the Day of the Lord is at hand, that thence they might lead many into error. Therefore that they might not be deceived, Paul gives security by the things he writes, and says, "be not troubled, either by spirit or by word": and this is the meaning of what he says: Though any one having the spirit of prophecy should say this, believe it not. For when I was with you I told you these things, so that you ought not to change your persuasion from the things which you were taught. Or thus, "by spirit": so he calls the false prophet, speaking what they spoke by an unclean spirit. For these men, willing the more to be believed, not only endeavored to deceive by persuasive words, (for this he shows, saying, "or by word,") but they also showed a forged letter, as from Paul, declaring the same thing. Wherefore pointing out this also, he has added, "or by letter as from us." Having therefore secured them on every side, he thus sets forth his own doctrine, and says:

[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on 2 Thessalonians 2:1
To what has been said it must also be added that we must not affirm that after the ascension the Lord Christ is not Christ but only the begotten Son. The divine Gospels and the history of the Acts and the epistles of the apostle himself were, as we know, written after the ascension. It is after the ascension that the divine Paul exclaims “Seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.” … And again when writing to the same a second time, he says, “Now we beseech you, brothers, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him.”

[AD 384] Ambrosiaster on 2 Thessalonians 2:2
Deceivers have a way of counterfeiting letters under the name of some well-known person in order to mislead, so that the authority of the name may recommend something which would never be accepted on its own.
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on 2 Thessalonians 2:2
Therefore, not to know the times is something different from moral decay and the love of vice. For when the apostle Paul said, “Don’t be easily shaken in your mind nor be frightened, neither by word nor by epistle as sent from us, as if the day of the Lord were at hand,” he obviously did not want them to believe those who thought the coming of the Lord was already at hand. Neither, moreover, did he want them to be like the wicked servant and say, “My Lord will not be coming for a long time,” and deliver themselves over to destruction by pride and immoral behavior. Thus, Paul’s desire that they should not listen to false rumors about the imminent approach of the last day was consistent with his wish that they should await the coming of their Lord fully prepared and ready for the journey, with lamps burning.

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on 2 Thessalonians 2:2
All this you repeat with great piety and truth, praising the happiness of those who love the coming of the Lord. But those to whom the apostle said, “Be not easily moved from your mind as if the day of the Lord were at hand,” evidently loved the Lord’s coming. The purpose of the doctor of the Gentiles in saying this was not to break them away from the love which burned in them. Rather, he did not want them to put their faith in those from whom they heard that the day of the Lord was at hand, lest, perhaps, when the time had passed when they thought he would come and they realized that he had not come, they might think that the other promises made to them were also false and might despair of the mercy of faith itself. Therefore, it is not the one who asserts that he is near nor the one who asserts that he is not near who loves the coming of the Lord but the one who rightly waits for him, whether he be near or far, with sincere faith, firm hope and ardent love.

[AD 100] Didache on 2 Thessalonians 2:3
For in the last days false prophets and corrupters shall be multiplied, and the sheep shall be turned into wolves, and love shall be turned into hate; [Matthew 24:11-12] for when lawlessness increases, they shall hate and persecute and betray one another, [Matthew 24:10] and then shall appear the world-deceiver as the Son of God, and shall do signs and wonders, and the earth shall be delivered into his hands, and he shall do iniquitous things which have never yet come to pass since the beginning.

[AD 160] Shepherd of Hermas on 2 Thessalonians 2:3
Happy ye who endure the great tribulation that is coming on, and happy they who shall not deny their own life.

[AD 165] Justin Martyr on 2 Thessalonians 2:3
Now I am aware that your teachers, sirs, admit the whole of the words of this passage to refer to Christ; and I am likewise aware that they maintain He has not yet come; or if they say that He has come, they assert that it is not known who He is; but when He shall become manifest and glorious, then it shall be known who He is. And then, they say, the events mentioned in this passage shall happen, just as if there was no fruit as yet from the words of the prophecy. O unreasoning men! understanding not what has been proved by all these passages, that two advents of Christ have been announced: the one, in which He is set forth as suffering, inglorious, dishonoured, and crucified; but the other, in which He shall come from heaven with glory, when the man of apostasy [2 Thessalonians 2:3], who speaks strange things against the Most High, shall venture to do unlawful deeds on the earth against us the Christians...

[AD 220] Tertullian on 2 Thessalonians 2:3
Well, but who is the man of sin, the son of perdition," who must first be revealed before the Lord comes; "who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; who is to sit in the temple of God, and boast himself as being God? " According indeed to our view, he is Antichrist; as it is taught us in both the ancient and the new prophecies, and especially by the Apostle John, who says that "already many false prophets are gone out into the world," the fore-runners of Antichrist, who deny that Christ is come in the flesh, and do not acknowledge Jesus (to be the Christ), meaning in God the Creator.

[AD 235] Hippolytus of Rome on 2 Thessalonians 2:3
But as, in accordance with the train of our discussion, we have been constrained to come to the matter of the days of the dominion of the adversary, it is necessary to state in the first place what concerns his nativity and growth; and then we must turn our discourse, as we have said before, to the expounding of this matter, viz., that in all respects the accuser and son of lawlessness

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on 2 Thessalonians 2:3
As Celsus also objects to the doctrine about the figure called Antichrist, though he has read neither the passages about him in Daniel, nor those in Paul, nor the Savior’s prophecies in the Gospels concerning his coming, we have to say a little about this also. “Just as faces are unlike other faces, so also the hearts of men are unlike one another.” Obviously differences exist in the hearts of men, both among those who have inclined to goodness, since they have not all been molded and shaped equally and similarly in their propensity toward good, and among those who because of their neglect of what is good rapidly pass to the other extreme. For among the latter there also are some who have been overwhelmed by the flood of evil, while others have sunk less far. Why, then, is it absurd that among men there should be two extremes, if I may so say, the one of goodness, the other of the opposite, so that the extreme of goodness exists in the human nature of Jesus, since from him the mighty work of conversion, healing and improvement flowed to the human race, whereas the opposite extreme exists in him who is called Antichrist? God understood all this through his foreknowledge. Seeing that there were these two extremes, he willed to tell men about these things through the prophets, in order that those who understood their words might be made lovers of what is better and be on their guard against the opposite. It was right, also, that one of the extremes, the best, should be called Son of God because of his superiority, and that the one diametrically opposed to him should be called son of the evil demon, who is Satan and the devil.

[AD 304] Victorinus of Pettau on 2 Thessalonians 2:3
"There was a battle in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon warred, and his angels, and they prevailed not; nor was their place found any more in heaven. And that great dragon was cast forth, that old serpent: he was cast forth into the earth." This is the beginning of Antichrist yet previously Elias must prophesy, and there must be times of peace. And afterwards, when the three years and six months are completed in the preaching of Elias, he also must be cast down from heaven, where up till that time he had had the power of ascending; and all the apostate angels, as well as Antichrist, must be roused up from hell. Paul the apostle says: "Except there come a falling away first, and the man of sin shall appear, the son of perdition; and the adversary who exalted himself above all which is called God, or which is worshipped."

[AD 379] Basil of Caesarea on 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
In truth, both of our ears rang on learning of the shameless and inhuman heresy of those who persecuted you. They had no regard for age, nor for the labors of a life well spent, nor for the affection of the people. On the contrary, they tortured and dishonored bodies, handed them over to exile and plundered whatever property they were able to find, not fearing the censure of men nor foreseeing the fearful requital of the just Judge.… But, along with these considerations, there came this thought also: The Lord has not entirely abandoned his churches, has he? And this is not the last hour, is it? Is apostasy finding an entrance through them, in order that now the impious one may be revealed, “the son of perdition, who opposes and is exalted above all that is called God, or that is worshiped”? But if the trial is transitory, bear it, noble champions of Christ.… For if all creation is destroyed and the scheme of the world is altered, what wonder is it if we also, being a part of creation, suffer the common evils and are given over to afflictions?… The crowns of martyrs await you, brothers; the choirs of confessors are ready to reach out to you their hands and to receive you into their own number.

[AD 380] Apostolic Constitutions on 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12
For in the last days false prophets shall be multiplied, and such as corrupt the word; and the sheep shall be changed into wolves, and love into hatred: for through the abounding of iniquity the love of many shall wax cold. For men shall hate, and persecute, and betray one another. And then shall appear the deceiver of the world, the enemy of the truth, the prince of lies, [2 Thessalonians 2:3-12] whom the Lord Jesus "shall destroy with the spirit of His mouth, who takes away the wicked with His lips; and many shall be offended at Him. But they that endure to the end, the same shall be saved. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven;" [Isaiah 11:4; Matthew 24:1-51] and afterwards shall be the voice of a trumpet by the archangel; and in that interval shall be the revival of those that were asleep. And then shall the Lord come, and all His saints with Him, with a great concussion above the clouds, with the angels of His power, [Matthew 16:27] in the throne of His kingdom, to condemn the devil, the deceiver of the world, and to render to every one according to his deeds. "Then shall the wicked go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous shall go into life eternal," [Matthew 25:46] to inherit those things "which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man, such things as God has prepared for them that love Him;" [1 Corinthians 2:9] and they shall rejoice in the kingdom of God, which is in Christ Jesus.

[AD 384] Ambrosiaster on 2 Thessalonians 2:3
He says this so that they will not be upset by their own lack of caution and be led astray into the worship of the Devil.
[AD 386] Cyril of Jerusalem on 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
Such is Paul’s account. And we have reached the “falling away.” Men, that is, have fallen away from the true faith. Some proclaim the identity of Father and Son. Others dare to assert that one should believe Christ has come into existence out of nonexistence. Formerly heretics were quite evident, but now the church is full of masked heretics. For men have deserted the truth and want to have their ears tickled. Make a plausible case, and everyone is ready to listen to you. Talk of changing one’s life, and everyone deserts you. The majority have fallen away from the sound doctrines and are readier to choose what is bad than to prefer what is good. So there you have the “falling away,” and the coming of the enemy is to be expected next. Meanwhile, he has begun to send out his forerunners here and there, so that the spoil may be prepared for him when he comes. Therefore, brothers, look to yourselves. Watch over your souls carefully.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
Here he discourses concerning the Antichrist, and reveals great mysteries. What is "the falling away?" He calls him Apostasy, as being about to destroy many, and make them fall away. So that if it were possible, He says, the very Elect should be offended. [From Matthew 24:24] And he calls him "the man of sin." For he shall do numberless mischiefs, and shall cause others to do them. But he calls him "the son of perdition," because he is also to be destroyed. But who is he? Is it then Satan? By no means; but some man, that admits his fully working in him. For he is a man. "And exalts himself against all that is called God or is worshipped." For he will not introduce idolatry, but will be a kind of opponent to God; he will abolish all the gods, and will order men to worship him instead of God, and he will be seated in the temple of God, not that in Jerusalem only, but also in every Church. "Setting himself forth," he says; he does not say, saying it, but endeavoring to show it. For he will perform great works, and will show wonderful signs.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
Here Paul discusses the Antichrist and reveals great mysteries. What is the “falling away”? He calls him Apostasy; soon he will destroy many and make them fall away.… And he calls him “the man of sin.” For he shall commit numberless evils and shall cause others to do them. But Paul calls him “the son of perdition,” because he is also to be destroyed. But who is he? Satan? By no means. Rather he is a man in whom Satan fully works. For he is a man.… For he will not introduce idolatry but will be a kind of opponent to God. He will abolish all the gods and will order men to worship him instead of God. He will be seated in the temple of God, not that in Jerusalem only, but also in every church.

[AD 420] Jerome on 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
[Daniel 7:8] "I was looking at the horns, and behold, another small horn rose up out of the midst of them, and three of the earlier horns were torn away before it. And behold, there were in that horn eyes like unto human eyes, and a mouth uttering overweening boasts." Porphyry vainly surmises that the little horn which rose up after the ten horns is Antiochus Epiphanes, and that the three uprooted horns out of the ten are Ptolemy VI (surnamed Philometer), Ptolemy VII (Euergetes), and Artaraxias, King of Armenia. The first two of these kings died long before Antiochus was born. Against Artarxias, to be sure, we know that Antiochus indeed waged war, but also we know that Artarxias remained in possession of his original kingly authority. We should therefore concur with the traditional interpretation of all the commentators of the Christian Church, that at the end of the world, when the Roman Empire is to be destroyed, there shall be ten kings who will partition the Roman world amongst themselves. Then an insignificant eleventh king will arise, who will overcome three of the ten kings, that is, the king of Egypt, the king of Africa, and the king of Ethiopia, as we shall show more clearly in our later discussion. Then after they have been slain, the seven other kings also will bow their necks to the victor. "And behold," he continues, "there were eyes like unto human eyes in that horn." Let us not follow the opinion of some commentators and suppose him to be either the Devil or some demon, but rather, one of the human race, in whom Satan will wholly take up his residence in bodily form. "...and a mouth uttering overweening boasts..." For this is the man of sin, the son of perdition, and that too to such a degree that he dares to sit in the temple of God, making himself out to be like God (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).

[AD 420] Jerome on 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
What the same Apostle writes to the Thessalonians: Unless the apostasy shall come first, and the man of sin be revealed (2 Thess. 2:3), and so forth. In his first Epistle to the Thessalonians he wrote: But of the times and moments, brethren, you need not, that we should write to you. For yourselves know perfectly, that the day of the Lord shall so come, as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, peace and security; then shall sudden destruction come upon them, as the pains upon her that is with child, and they shall not escape. (1 Thess. 5:1 seq.) For he had written to them above: we say this to you in the word of the Lord, that we who live, who survive, will not precede those who have died in the advent of the Lord. For the Lord himself at the command of the Archangel's voice and the trumpet of God will descend from heaven, and the dead who are in Christ will rise first. Then we who live, who are left behind, will be carried together with them in the clouds to meet Christ in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort each other with these words (Ibid. 4:14 et seq.). When the Macedonians heard this, they did not understand whom the Apostle calls those who are to be swept in the clouds to meet the Lord, together with whom he calls the "surviving" ones; but they thought that Christ, in his majesty, would come before they were dead, while they were still in their bodies. When the Apostle heard this, he begs and adjures them by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they be not soon shaken in mind, nor be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter, as from us, as that the day of the Lord is at hand. And that there are two advents of the Lord and that all the books of the prophets teach this and the faith of the Gospels. His first coming in humility and His next coming in glory which the Lord Himself testifies to what shall happen before the end of the world and how the Antichrist shall come. When He spoke to His Apostles, "When you shall see the abomination of desolation, standing where it ought not," let him that readeth understand. Then let them that are in Judea flee to the mountains: And let him that is on the housetop, not go down into the house, nor enter therein to take any thing out of the house. And again: If any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he is there; do not believe him. (Matthew 24:15-16, 23). For false Christ's and false prophets will arise, and they will doubt great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I have told you in advance. Therefore, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness!’ do not go out; ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. (Matthew 24:24-31) And he speaks again about Antichrist to the Jews: 'I came in the name of my Father, and you did not believe me. If another comes in his own name, you will accept him' (John 7:43). So, some Thessalonians were stirred by an error in their minds, whether it was because they did not understand an epistle, or because of a fictitious revelation that deceived them while they were sleeping, or because of the interpretations of Isaiah, Daniel, and the words of the Gospels predicting Antichrist at that time, which disturbed them and caused them to hope that Christ would come in his majesty then. The apostle corrects this error and explains what they should expect before the coming of Christ, so that when those things happen, then they will know that Antichrist, that is, the man of sin and the son of perdition who opposes and exalts himself above everything called God or that is worshipped, will sit in the temple of God. Unless the apostasy comes first, which is called the ἀποστασία in Greek, so that all nations subject to the Roman Empire may depart from them, and he, the man of sin, may be revealed, in whom the fountain of all sins is; and the son of perdition, that is, the devil; for he is the destruction of all, who is opposed to Christ, and therefore called the Antichrist: and he is exalted above all that is called God, so that he may tread with his foot upon all the gods of nations, or approve every religion chosen, and true to him; and he may sit in the Temple of God, or in Jerusalem (as some believe), or in the Church (as we believe more truly), showing himself as if he were Christ himself, and the Son of God. Unless," he says, "the Roman kingdom exists before it is laid waste and Antichrist has already preceded, Christ will not come: who is therefore coming in such a way to destroy Antichrist. You remember, he says, that I was telling you all this in the present conversation when I was among you, and I was saying to you that Christ would not come unless the Antichrist had preceded. And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time: that is, you know very well what is the reason why Antichrist is not coming at this time. Nor does he want to openly say that the Roman empire must be destroyed, which those who rule it regard as eternal. Therefore, according to the Apocalypse of John, on the forehead of the purple-clad prostitute, the name of blasphemy is written, that is, the eternal Rome. For if he had openly and boldly said that the Antichrist would not come unless the Roman empire was first destroyed, it would have seemed like a just cause for persecution to then arise against the Church in the east.

And that which follows: For now the mystery of iniquity operates only that he who now holds, holds until he is taken out of the way, and then the wicked one shall be revealed, whose arrival is after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of iniquity, in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believed not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. And because of his unknown influence he shall prevail, until the advent of the predestined period and the end of the world. And just as the darkness of the sun is dispelled by its coming: so by the illustration of His coming, the Lord will destroy and wipe him out. Whose works are the works of Satan. And just as in Christ the fullness of divinity was embodied, so in Antichrist all will be strength, and signs, and wonders, but all of them lies. For just as the Magi were able to resist the signs of God which Moses worked through their false arts, and the rod of Moses devoured their rods; so the truth of Christ will devour the lies of Antichrist. But those who are prepared for destruction will be led astray by his lies. And since a silent question could be raised, why did God allow him to have all power, signs and wonders, through which, if possible, even the chosen ones of God could be deceived, he provided the answer before the question was asked, and he absolved what could be opposed, before it was made. He says that none of these things would be done by his own power, but by the permission of God, for the sake of the Jews, who did not want to receive the charity of the truth, that is, the Spirit of God through Christ, because the love of God is poured into the hearts of believers (Romans 5:5) : And he himself says: I am the truth (John 14:6) : Of whom it is written in the Psalms: Truth has emerged from the earth (Psalms 84:12). Therefore, those who have not received charity and truth, in order to be saved by having received the Saviour, God will send them not an operator, but the operation itself, that is, the source of error, so that they may believe the lie. For he himself is a liar and his father. And if Antichrist had been born of a virgin and had come first into the world, the Jews could have an excuse, and say that they had believed the truth and therefore received a lie for the truth. But now they are to be judged, or rather without doubt condemned: because, having rejected the truth of Christ, they will afterwards receive the lie, that is, Antichrist.

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
No one can doubt that Paul is here speaking of Antichrist, telling us that the day of judgment (which he calls the day of the Lord) will not come without the prior coming of a figure whom he calls the Apostate, meaning, of course, an apostate from the Lord God. And if this appellation can rightly be attached to all the ungodly, how much more to him! There is, however, some uncertainty about the “temple” in which he is to take his seat. Is it the ruins of the temple built by King Solomon, or actually in a church? For the apostle would not say “the temple of God” if he meant the temple of some idol or demon. For that reason some people would have it that Antichrist means here not the leader himself but what we may call his whole body, the multitude, that is, of those who belong to him, together with himself, their leader.… For myself I am much astonished at the great presumption of those who venture such guesses.

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
He who speaks on his own seeks his own glory. This will be that one who is called the Antichrist, “exalting himself,” as the apostle says, “above all that is called God and that is worshiped.” Indeed, the Lord, announcing that he would seek his own glory, not the glory of the Father, said to the Jews, “I have come in the name of my Father, and you have not received me; another will come in his own name, this one you will receive.” He signified that they would receive the Antichrist, who would seek the glory of his own name, puffed up, hollow, and so not enduring but in fact ruinous. But our Lord Jesus Christ offered us a great example of humility.

[AD 945] Thietland of Einsiedeln on 2 Thessalonians 2:3
Such is the saying of the Lord, "If someone should say to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ,' or 'there,' do not believe it (Mt 24:23)."
[AD 202] Irenaeus on 2 Thessalonians 2:4
And again, speaking of Antichrist, he says, "who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped."

[AD 220] Tertullian on 2 Thessalonians 2:4
We know that "Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light" -much more into a man of light-and that at last he will "show himself to be even God," and will exhibit "great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, he shall deceive the very elect.

[AD 384] Ambrosiaster on 2 Thessalonians 2:4
so much so that he sits in the temple of God
Thus it appears that he will either be of the circumcision or at least circumcised himself, so that the Jews will have the confidence to believe in him.

presenting himself as if he were God
He will even sit in Christ's seat in the house of God and declare that he is not the Son of God, but God himself.
[AD 386] Cyril of Jerusalem on 2 Thessalonians 2:4
so much so that he sits in the temple of God
he means, the Temple of the Jews which has been destroyed. For if the Antichrist comes to the Jews as Christ, and desires to be worshipped by the Jews, he will make great account of the Temple, that he may more completely beguile them; making it supposed that he is the man of the race of David, who shall build up the Temple which was erected by Solomon.
[AD 749] John Damascene on 2 Thessalonians 2:4
For he will not come to us (Christians), but to the Jews- not for the sake of Christ and Christians, for which reason he is called Antichrist.
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 2 Thessalonians 2:5
Do you see that it is necessary continually to say the same things, and to enlarge upon them in the same words? For behold, they heard him saying these things when present, and again they had need to be reminded of them. For as when they had heard concerning afflictions, "For verily," he says, "when we were with you, we told you beforehand that we are to suffer affliction" [1 Thessalonians 3:4]; they nevertheless forgot it, and he confirms them again by letters; so also having heard concerning the Coming of Christ, they again needed letters to compose them. He therefore reminds them, showing that he speaks of nothing strange, but what he had always said.

For as in the case of husbandmen, the seeds are indeed cast into the earth once for all, yet do not constantly remain, but require much preparation withal, and if they do not break up the earth, and cover over the seeds sown, they sow for the birds that gather grain; so we also, unless by constant remembrance we cover over what has been sown, have but cast it all into the air. For both the devil carries it away, and our sloth destroys it, and the sun dries it up, and the rain washes it away, and the thorns choke it: so that it is not sufficient after once sowing it to depart, but there is need of much assiduity, driving off the birds, rooting up the thorns, filling up the stony ground with much earth, checking, and fencing off, and taking away everything injurious. But in the case of the earth all depends upon the husbandman, for it is a lifeless subject, and prepared only to be passive. But in the spiritual soil it is quite otherwise. All is not the teachers' part, but half at least, if not more, that of the disciples. It is our part indeed to cast the seed, but yours to do the things spoken for your recollection, by your works to show the fruits, to pull up the thorns by the roots.

For wealth truly is a thorn, bearing no fruit, both uncomely to the sight, and unpleasant for use, injuring those that meddle with it, not only not itself bearing fruit, but even hindering that which was shooting forth. Such is wealth. It not only does not bear eternal fruit but it even hinders those who wish to gain it. Thorns are the food of irrational camels; they are devoured and consumed by fire, being useful for nothing. Such also is wealth, useful for nothing, but to kindle the furnace, to light up The Day that burns as an oven, to nourish passions void of reason, revenge and anger. For such is also the camel that feeds on thorns. For it is said by those who are acquainted with such things, that there is no animal so implacable, so sulky and revengeful, as a camel. Such is wealth. It nourishes the unreasonable passions of the soul but it pierces and wounds the rational, as is the case with thorns. This plant is hard and rough, and grows up of itself.

Let us see how it grows up, that we may root it out. It grows in places that are precipitous, stony and dry, where there is no moisture. When therefore anyone is rough and precipitous, that is unmerciful, the thorn grows in him. But when the sons of husbandmen wish to root them up, they do it not with iron. How then? Having set fire to it, they in that way extract all the bad quality of the land. For since it is not enough to cut away the upper part, while the root remains below, nor even to extirpate the root, (for it remains in the earth from its bad quality, and, as when some pestilence has assailed the body, there are still left the remains of it,) the fire from above, drawing up all that moisture of the thorns, like some poison, extracts it by means of the heat from the bowels of the earth. For as the cupping glass placed upon the part draws all the disorder to itself, so also the fire draws off all the base quality that was in the thorns, and makes the land pure.

On what account then do I say these things? Because it behooves you to purge off all affection for riches. With us also there is a fire that draws this bad quality from the soul; I mean that of the Spirit. This if we let work on them, we shall be able not only to dry up the thorns, but also the humor from them, since if they be deeply fixed, all is rendered vain. For mark, has a rich man entered here, or also a rich woman? She does not regard how she shall hear the oracles of God, but how she shall make a show, how she shall sit with pomp, how with much glory, how she shall surpass all other women in the costliness of her garments, and render herself more dignified both by her dress, and look, and gait. And all her care and concern is, Did such a woman see me? Did she admire me? Is my beauty handsomely set off? So that her garments may not rot, nor be rent; and about this is all her care. In like manner also the rich man enters, meaning to exhibit himself to the poor man, and to strike him with awe by the garments which are about him, and by the number of his slaves, who also stand round, driving off the crowd. But he from his great pride does not condescend even to do this but considers it a work so unworthy of a gentleman, that although excessively puffed up, he cannot bear to do it, but commits it to his slaves. For to do this requires truly servile and impudent manners. Then when he is seated, the cares of his house immediately intrude themselves, distracting him on every side. The pride that possesses his soul overflows. He thinks that he does a favor both to us, and to the people, and perhaps even to God, because he has entered into the house of God. But he who is thus inflamed, how shall he ever be cured?

Tell me then, if any one should go to the shop of a physician, and not ask a favor of the physician, but think that he was doing him a favor, and declining to request a medicine for his wound, should concern himself about his garments; would he go away having received any benefit? I think not indeed. But, with your leave, I will tell you the cause of all these things. They think when they enter in here, that they enter into our presence, they think that what they hear they hear from us. They do not lay to heart, they do not consider, that they are entering into the presence of God, that it is He who addresses them. For when the Reader standing up says, "Thus says the Lord," and the Deacon stands and imposes silence on all, he does not say this as doing honor to the Reader, but to Him who speaks to all through him. If they knew that it was God who through His prophet speaks these things, they would cast away all their pride. For if when rulers are addressing them, they do not allow their minds to wander, much less would they, when God is speaking. We are ministers, beloved. We speak not our own things, but the things of God, letters coming from heaven are every day read.

Tell me then, I beseech you, if now, when we are all present some one entered, having a golden girdle, and drawing himself up, and with an air of consequence said that he was sent by the king that is on the earth, and that he brought letters to the whole city concerning matters of importance; would you not then be all turned towards him? Would you not, without any command from a deacon, observe a profound silence? Truly I think so. For I have often heard letters from kings read here. Then if any one comes from a king, you all attend; and does a Prophet come from God, and speak from heaven, and no one attend? Or do you not believe that these things are messages from God? These are letters sent from God; therefore let us enter with becoming reverence into the Churches, and let us hearken with fear to the things here said.

What do I come in for, you say, if I do not hear some one discoursing? This is the ruin and destruction of all. For what need of a person to discourse? This necessity arises from our sloth. Wherefore any necessity for a homily? All things are clear and open that are in the divine Scriptures; the necessary things are all plain. But because you are hearers for pleasure's sake, for that reason also you seek these things. For tell me, with what pomp of words did Paul speak? And yet he converted the world. Or with what the unlettered Peter? But I know not, you say, the things that are contained in the Scriptures. Why? For are they spoken in Hebrew? Are they in Latin, or in foreign tongues? Are they not in Greek? But they are expressed obscurely, you say: What is it that is obscure? Tell me. Are there not histories? For (of course) you know the plain parts, in that you enquire about the obscure. There are numberless histories in the Scriptures. Tell me one of these. But you cannot. These things are an excuse, and mere words. Every day, you say, one hears the same things. Tell me, then, do you not hear the same things in the theaters? Do you not see the same things in the race-course? Are not all things the same? Is it not always the same sun that rises? Is it not the same food that we use? I should like to ask you, since you say that you every day hear the same things; tell me, from what Prophet was the passage that was read? From what Apostle, or what Epistle? But you cannot tell me — you seem to hear strange things. When therefore you wish to be slothful, you say that they are the same things. But when you are questioned, you are in the case of one who never heard them. If they are the same, you ought to know them. But you are ignorant of them.

This state of things is worthy of lamentation — of lamentation and complaint: for the coiner coins but in vain. For this you ought more especially to attend, because they are the same things, because we give you no labor, nor speak things that are strange or variable. What then, since you say, that those are the same things, but our discourses are not the same things, but we always speak things that are new to you, do you pay heed to these? By no means. But if we say, Why do you not retain even these? "We hear them but once," you say, "and how can we retain them?" If we say, Why do you not attend to those other things? "The same things," you say, "are always said"— and every way these are words of sloth and excuse. But they will not always serve, but there will be a time when we shall lament in vain and without effect. Which may God forbid, and grant that having repented here, and attending with understanding and godly fear to the things spoken, we may both be urged on to the due performance of good works, and may amend our own lives with all diligence, that we may be able to obtain the blessings promised to those who love Him, by the grace and lovingkindness, etc.

[AD 945] Thietland of Einsiedeln on 2 Thessalonians 2:5
And, that is, Christ would not come unless the Antichrist came first.
[AD 220] Tertullian on 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7
There is also another, even greater, obligation for us to pray for the emperors; yes, even for the continuance of the empire in general and for Roman interests. We realize that the tremendous force which is hanging over the whole world, and the very end of the world with its threat of dreadful afflictions, is arrested for a time by the continued existence of the Roman Empire. This event we have no desire to experience and, in praying that it may be deferred, we favor the continuance of Rome. APOLOGY 32.Chrysostom: One may naturally inquire what is that which restrains the man of lawlessness, and in addition, why Paul expresses it so obscurely. What then is it that holds back, that is, that hinders the revealing of, the Antichrist? Some indeed say, the grace of the Spirit, but others the Roman Empire. I agree with the latter position. Why? Because if Paul meant to say the Spirit, he would not have spoken obscurely but plainly, that even now the grace of the Spirit, that is the gifts, hold back the Antichrist. If not, he should have come by now, if his coming was to occur with the cessation of the gifts of the Spirit; for they have long since ceased. But because Paul said this of the Roman Empire, he merely touched the topic, understandably speaking covertly and darkly. For he had no need to create unnecessary enemies and useless dangers.… “For the mystery of lawlessness does already work.” He speaks here of Nero, as if he were the type of the Antichrist.

[AD 379] Basil of Caesarea on 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7
Now, if good order with its attendant harmony is characteristic of those who look to one source of authority and are subject to one king, then universal disorder and disharmony are a sign that leadership is lacking. By the same token, if we discover in our midst such discord as I have mentioned, both with regard to one another and with respect to the Lord’s commands, it would either be an indictment or our rejection of the true king. That agrees with the scriptural saying, “only that he who now holds back does so until he is taken out of the way,” or of denial of him according to the psalmist, “The fool has said in his heart: There is no God.”

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 2 Thessalonians 2:6-9
One may naturally enquire, what is that which withholds, and after that would know, why Paul expresses it so obscurely. What then is it that withholds, that is, hinders him from being revealed? Some indeed say, the grace of the Spirit, but others the Roman empire, to whom I most of all accede. Wherefore? Because if he meant to say the Spirit, he would not have spoken obscurely, but plainly, that even now the grace of the Spirit, that is the gifts, withhold him. And otherwise he ought now to have come, if he was about to come when the gifts ceased; for they have long since ceased. But because he said this of the Roman empire, he naturally glanced at it, and speaks covertly and darkly. For he did not wish to bring upon himself superfluous enmities, and useless dangers. For if he had said that after a little while the Roman empire would be dissolved, they would immediately have even overwhelmed him, as a pestilent person, and all the faithful, as living and warring to this end. And he did not say that it will be quickly, although he is always saying it — but what? "that he may be revealed in his own season," he says,

"For the mystery of lawlessness does already work." He speaks here of Nero, as if he were the type of Antichrist. For he too wished to be thought a god. And he has well said, "the mystery"; that is, it works not openly, as the other, nor without shame. For if there was found a man before that time, he means, who was not much behind Antichrist in wickedness, what wonder, if there shall now be one? But he did not also wish to point him out plainly: and this not from cowardice, but instructing us not to bring upon ourselves unnecessary enmities, when there is nothing to call for it. So indeed he also says here. "Only there is one that restrains now, until he be taken out of the way," that is, when the Roman empire is taken out of the way, then he shall come. And naturally. For as long as the fear of this empire lasts, no one will willingly exalt himself, but when that is dissolved, he will attack the anarchy, and endeavor to seize upon the government both of man and of God. For as the kingdoms before this were destroyed, for example, that of the Medes by the Babylonians, that of the Babylonians by the Persians, that of the Persians by the Macedonians, that of the Macedonians by the Romans: so will this also be by the Antichrist, and he by Christ, and it will no longer withhold. And these things Daniel delivered to us with great clearness.

"And then," he says, "shall be revealed the lawless one." And what after this? The consolation is at hand. "Whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of His mouth, and bring to nought by the manifestation of His coming, even he whose coming is according to the working of Satan."

For as fire merely coming on even before its arrival makes torpid and consumes the little animals that are afar off; so also Christ, by His commandment only, and Coming. It is enough for Him to be present, and all these things are destroyed. He will put a stop to the deceit, by only appearing. Then who is this, whose coming is after the working of Satan, "With all display all power," but nothing true, but for deceit. "And lying wonder," he says, that is, false, or leading to falsehood.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 2 Thessalonians 2:6
One may naturally inquire what is that which restrains the man of lawlessness, and in addition, why Paul expresses it so obscurely. What then is it that holds back, that is, that hinders the revealing of, the Antichrist? Some indeed say, the grace of the Spirit, but others the Roman Empire. I agree with the latter position. Why? Because if Paul meant to say the Spirit, he would not have spoken obscurely but plainly, that even now the grace of the Spirit, that is the gifts, hold back the Antichrist. If not, he should have come by now, if his coming was to occur with the cessation of the gifts of the Spirit; for they have long since ceased. But because Paul said this of the Roman Empire, he merely touched the topic, understandably speaking covertly and darkly. For he had no need to create unnecessary enemies and useless dangers.… “For the mystery of lawlessness does already work.” He speaks here of Nero, as if he were the type of the Antichrist.
[AD 425] Severian of Gabala on 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7
That which restrains and prevents the coming of the lawless one is the Holy Spirit. Paul says this to show that the mystery of iniquity is already beginning in the heresies that have arisen since apostolic times. The Manichaeans say that the devil is the God of the law, and the Marcionites say that the father of Christ is not the God of the law.

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on 2 Thessalonians 2:6
And now you know
They show that he was unwilling to make an explicit statement, because he said that they knew. And thus we who have not their knowledge wish and are not able even with pains to understand what the apostle referred to, especially as his meaning is made still more obscure by what he adds.

what it is that holds him back
I frankly confess I do not know what he means. I will nevertheless mention such conjectures as I have heard or read. Some say it refers to the Roman empire, as if it were said, “Only he who now reigneth, let him reign until he be taken out of the way.” Some refer it only to the wicked and the hypocrites who are in the Church, until they reach a number so great as to furnish Antichrist with a great people, and that this is the mystery of iniquity, because it seems hidden;
[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7
Indeed, the God of the universe has decreed that this figure shall himself appear during the time of consummation, and thus it is God’s own decree that actually detains him until that appearance. What this means is as follows. When the divine apostle taught that the Lord had instructed him to preach the gospel among all the Gentiles, and then the end would come, and when he saw the worship of idols flourishing in connection with this, he spoke in obedience to the Lord’s teaching. He said that superstition would be openly overturned and that when divine preaching would shine forth, then the adversary of the truth would appear.… Some say that the mystery of iniquity is Nero, that the master of impiety has already lived. But I think that the apostle indicates the heresies that have since arisen.

[AD 865] Haimo of Auxerre on 2 Thessalonians 2:6
so that he may be revealed in his own time: That is, the proper time set by God.
[AD 304] Victorinus of Pettau on 2 Thessalonians 2:7
"And the beast which ascendeth from the abyss." After many plagues completed in the world, in the end he says that a beast ascended from the abyss. Bat that he shall ascend from the abyss is proved by many testimonies; for he says in the thirty-first chapter of Ezekiel: "Behold, Assur was a cypress in Mount Lebanon." Assur, deeply rooted, was a lofty and branching cypress-that is, a numerous people-in Mount Lebanon, in the kingdom of kingdoms, that is, of the Romans. Moreover, that he says he was beautiful in offshoots, he says he was strong in armies. The water, he says, shall nourish him, that is, the many thousands of men which were subjected to him; and the abyss increased him, that is, belched him forth. For even Isaiah speaks almost in the same words; moreover, that he was in the kingdom of the Romans, and that he was among the Caesars. The Apostle Paul also bears witness, for he says to the Thessalonians: "Let him who now restraineth restrain, until he be taken out of the way; and then shall appear that Wicked One, even he whose coining is after the working of Satan, with signs and lying wonders." And that they might know that he should come who then was the prince, he added: "He already endeavours after the secret of mischief" -that is, the mischief which he is about to do he strives to do secretly; but he is not raised up by his own power, nor by that of his father, but by command of God, of which thing Paul says in the same passage: "For this cause, because they have not received the love of God, He will send upon them a spirit of error, that they all may be persuaded of a lie, who have not been persuaded of the truth." And Isaiah saith: "While they waited for the light, darkness arose upon them." Therefore the Apocalypse sets forth that these prophets are killed by the same, and on the fourth day rise again, that none might be found equal to God.

[AD 325] Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius on 2 Thessalonians 2:7
And-my mind dreads to relate it, but I will relate it, because it is about to happen-the cause of this desolation and confusion will be this; because the Roman name, by which the world is now ruled, will be taken away from the earth, and the government return to Asia; and the East will again bear rule, and the West he reduced to servitude.
[AD 384] Ambrosiaster on 2 Thessalonians 2:7
The mystery of iniquity began with Nero, who in his zeal for idolatry killed the apostles at the instigation of his father the Devil, and went on to Diocletian, and most recently Julian. And that, AQUINAS all the wicked who have gone before are signs of the Antichrist.
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on 2 Thessalonians 2:7
until he is taken from our midst
that is, until the wicked and the hypocrites who are in the Church which now is hidden departs from the Church. For they suppose that it is to this same mystery John alludes when in his epistle he says, “Little children, it is the last time: and as you have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us.” (1Jn 2:18-19 )
[AD 1274] Thomas Aquinas on 2 Thessalonians 2:7
all the wicked who have gone before are signs of the Antichrist.
[AD 202] Irenaeus on 2 Thessalonians 2:8
With the presence of his coming; .
And therefore God will send them the working of error, that they may believe a lie; that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but gave consent to iniquity"

[AD 220] Tertullian on 2 Thessalonians 2:8
What obstacle is there but the Roman state, the falling away of which, by being scattered into ten kingdoms, shall introduce Antichrist upon (its own ruins)? "And then shall be revealed the wicked one, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming: even him whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish."

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on 2 Thessalonians 2:8
Now just as it is said that the task of the Word is to judge with justice, so also the Word’s task is to fight with justice, that by thus fighting the soul’s enemies with reason and justice, he may dwell in the soul, justifying it when the irrational elements and injustices are destroyed. He casts out the hostile elements from that soul which, if I may speak in this way, has been taken captive by Christ for salvation. The war that the Word wages is seen even more clearly when we compare it to the war waged by he who pretends to be the Word. This one proclaims himself the truth when he is not the truth but a lie, declaring that he is the truth. For then the Word, having fully armed himself against the lie, “destroys it with the breath of his mouth and annihilates it by the appearance of his presence.”

[AD 304] Victorinus of Pettau on 2 Thessalonians 2:8
"And out of His mouth was issuing a sharp two-edged sword." By the twice-sharpened sword going forth out of His mouth is shown, that it is He Himself who has both now declared the word of the Gospel, and previously by Moses declared the knowledge of the law to the whole world. But because from the same word, as well of the New as of the Old Testament, He will assert Himself upon the whole human race, therefore He is spoken of as two-edged. For the sword arms the soldier, the sword slays the enemy, the sword punishes the deserter. And that He might show to the apostles that He was announcing judgment, He says: "I came not to send peace, but a sword." And after He had completed His parables, He says to them: "Have ye understood all these things? And they said, We have. And He added, Therefore is every scribe instructed in the kingdom of God like unto a man that is a father of a family, bringing forth from his treasure things new and old," -the new, the evangelical words of the apostles; the old, the precepts of the law and the prophets: and He testified that these proceeded out of His mouth. Moreover, He also says to Peter: "Go thou to the sea, and cast a hook, and take up the fish that shall first come up; and having opened its mouth, thou shalt find a stater (that is, two denarii), and thou shalt give it for me and for thee." And similarly David says by the Spirit: "God spake once, twice I have heard the same." Because God once decreed from the beginning what shall be even to the end. Finally, as He Himself is the Judge appointed by the Father. on account of His assumption of humanity, wishing to show that men shall be judged by the word that He had declared, He says: "Think ye that I will judge you at the last day? Nay, but the word," says He, "which I have spoken unto you, that shall judge you in the last day." And Paul, speaking of Antichrist to the Thessalonians, says: "Whom the Lord Jesus will slay by the breath of His mouth." And Isaiah says: "By the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked." This, therefore, is the two-edged sword issuing out of His mouth.

[AD 386] Cyril of Jerusalem on 2 Thessalonians 2:8
The Antichrist just mentioned by Paul will come when the destined period of the Roman Empire has run its course and the subsequent end of the world is drawing near. Ten claimants to the empire will arise simultaneously, I suppose in different parts, but all wearing the purple at the same time. Antichrist will form an eleventh after them, having seized the imperial power by the use of magic arts. He will humble three of those who came to power before him and cause the remaining seven to be Caesars under him. At first he will feign mildness and will appear to be a learned and understanding man, with pretended prudence and kindness. Then he will take in the Jews, by making them suppose him to be their expected Messiah, by false signs and wonders produced by magical trickery. And afterwards his character will be written large in evil deeds of inhumanity and lawlessness of every kind, so as to outdo all wicked and godless men that were before him. He will display a murderous, most absolute, pitiless and unstable temper toward all people, but especially toward us Christians. He will act insolently for only three and a half years. Then he will be defeated by the second glorious coming from heaven of the only-begotten Son of God, our Lord and Savior Jesus, the true Christ. He will destroy Antichrist “with the spirit of his mouth” and commit him to the flames of hell.

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on 2 Thessalonians 2:8
We have heard that the Lord Jesus not only judges but also punishes in the Spirit. For neither would he punish Antichrist, whom, as we read, “the Lord Jesus shall slay with the Spirit of his mouth,” unless he had already judged him as fit for punishment … but the unity of the divine action remains undivided, since Christ cannot be separated from the Spirit, nor the Spirit act apart from Christ. For the unity of the divine nature cannot be divided.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 2 Thessalonians 2:8
“To the one a savor from death to death, to the other a savor from life to life.” For this sweet savor some so receive that they are saved, others so that they perish. If any one is lost, it is his own fault.… Light (as I have already observed) blinds the weak. Such is the nature of good things. They not only correct things similar to them but also destroy their opposite. In this way their power is most clearly displayed. Fire displays its unique power when it gives light and when it purifies gold. The same is true when it consumes thorns. In all these cases it demonstrates itself to be fire. Christ, too, in the same way will display his own majesty when he “shall consume” Antichrist “with the breath of his mouth and overcome him with the manifestation of his coming.”

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on 2 Thessalonians 2:8
Then even this is not the last judgment of the wicked; but the last judgment is that which they shall suffer when the bodily resurrection has taken place.
[AD 945] Thietland of Einsiedeln on 2 Thessalonians 2:8
at the brightness of his return
because His coming will be in a flash of lightning, as that passage says, "just as a flash of lightning goes forth from the east." Mt.24:27
[AD 990] Oecumenius on 2 Thessalonians 2:8
The Devil and the Antichrist, together with the kings who march with them, will make war against the Lord and His divine angels, but will be defeated more quickly than a word. Isaiah says, "Let the impious one be done away with, that he may not see the glory of the Lord." (Is. 26:10) What could be quicker than breathing and blowing a breath against His enemies?
[AD 1107] Theophylact of Ohrid on 2 Thessalonians 2:8
For the coming of Christ needs no one to point it out, but it will be utterly clear to all, like lightning. For just as the lightning is sudden and seen by all, so too will the Lord’s coming be visible to everyone on earth.
[AD 220] Tertullian on 2 Thessalonians 2:9
But whichsoever of the two it is, I want to know why he comes "in all power, and with lying signs and wonders? " "Because," he says, "they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved; for which cause God shall send them an instinct of delusion (to believe a lie), that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

[AD 386] Cyril of Jerusalem on 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10
“And his coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders.” This means that Satan will use him as his personal instrument. Realizing that his own condemnation will be no longer deferred, he will no longer wage war through his ministers in his usual way, but now openly, in person. “With all signs and lying wonders,” for the father of falsehood will display his lying works and cheating fantasies, to make the people think they see a dead man raised, when he is not raised, and the lame walking, and the blind receiving sight, when there have been no such cures.

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10
Thus it is that what is obscure in the words of the apostle has given rise to various conjectures. Yet, of one thing there is no doubt, namely, that Paul meant Christ will not come to judge the living and the dead until after his adversary, Antichrist, has come to seduce the souls of the dead. And, of course, the fact that those souls are to be seduced is already a part of God’s hidden judgment.… There seems to be some ambiguity in the expression “pretended signs and wonders.” It may be that Satan is to deceive men’s senses by means of phantasms, in which they imagine they see wonders which are nonexistent. Or perhaps true miracles will lead into deception those who ought to believe that miracles can be done only by God but who mistakenly ascribe them to the devil’s power, particularly at a time when Satan is to be given unheard-of power.… What the devil does is done with his own wicked and malign purpose, but it is permitted by God’s just judgment so “that all may be judged who have not believed the truth but have preferred wickedness.” Thus it comes about that judgments both precede and follow the deception. Those who are deceived are antecedently judged by these judgments of God, covertly just and justly covert, by which he has never ceased to judge even since the first sin of his rational creature. Those are deceived and subsequently judged in a last and overt judgment by Christ Jesus, who is to be the great judge of all judges as he was the victim of the most unjust of all judgments.

[AD 1274] Thomas Aquinas on 2 Thessalonians 2:9
To quote the words of Augustine (De Civ. Dei xx, 19), "it is a matter of debate whether they are called signs and lying wonders, because he will deceive the senses of mortals by imaginary visions, in that he will seem to do what he does not, or because, though they be real wonders, they will seduce into falsehood them that believe." They are said to be real, because the things themselves will be real, just as Pharaoh's magicians made real frogs and real serpents; but they will not be real miracles, because they will be done by the power of natural causes, as stated in the; whereas the working of miracles which is ascribed to a gratuitous grace, is done by God's power for man's profit.
[AD 202] Irenaeus on 2 Thessalonians 2:10
And for this reason the apostle says: "Because they received not the love of God, that they might be saved, therefore God shall also send them the operation of error, that they may believe a lie, that they all may be judged who have not believed the truth, but consented to unrighteousness."

[AD 220] Tertullian on 2 Thessalonians 2:10
You must "seek" until you "find," and believe when you have found; nor have you anything further to do but to keep what you have believed provided you believe this besides, that nothing else is to be believed, and therefore nothing else is to be sought, after you have found and believed what has been taught by Him who charges you to seek no other thing than that which He has taught. When, indeed, any man doubts about this, proof will be forthcoming, that we have in our possession that which was taught by Christ.

[AD 220] Tertullian on 2 Thessalonians 2:10
But whichsoever of the two it is, I want to know why he comes "in all power, and with lying signs and wonders? " "Because," he says, "they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved; for which cause God shall send them an instinct of delusion (to believe a lie), that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." If therefore he be Antichrist, (as we hold), and comes according to the Creator's purpose, it must be God the Creator who sends him to fasten in their error those who did not believe the truth, that they might be saved; His likewise must be the truth and the salvation, who avenges (the contempt of) them by sending error as their substitute -that is, the Creator, to whom that very wrath is a fitting attribute, which deceives with a lie those who are not captivated with truth.

[AD 258] Cyprian on 2 Thessalonians 2:10
And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
[AD 304] Victorinus of Pettau on 2 Thessalonians 2:10-11
"And the beast which ascendeth from the abyss." After many plagues completed in the world, in the end he says that a beast ascended from the abyss. Bat that he shall ascend from the abyss is proved by many testimonies; for he says in the thirty-first chapter of Ezekiel: "Behold, Assur was a cypress in Mount Lebanon." Assur, deeply rooted, was a lofty and branching cypress-that is, a numerous people-in Mount Lebanon, in the kingdom of kingdoms, that is, of the Romans. Moreover, that he says he was beautiful in offshoots, he says he was strong in armies. The water, he says, shall nourish him, that is, the many thousands of men which were subjected to him; and the abyss increased him, that is, belched him forth. For even Isaiah speaks almost in the same words; moreover, that he was in the kingdom of the Romans, and that he was among the Caesars. The Apostle Paul also bears witness, for he says to the Thessalonians: "Let him who now restraineth restrain, until he be taken out of the way; and then shall appear that Wicked One, even he whose coining is after the working of Satan, with signs and lying wonders." And that they might know that he should come who then was the prince, he added: "He already endeavours after the secret of mischief" -that is, the mischief which he is about to do he strives to do secretly; but he is not raised up by his own power, nor by that of his father, but by command of God, of which thing Paul says in the same passage: "For this cause, because they have not received the love of God, He will send upon them a spirit of error, that they all may be persuaded of a lie, who have not been persuaded of the truth." And Isaiah saith: "While they waited for the light, darkness arose upon them." Therefore the Apocalypse sets forth that these prophets are killed by the same, and on the fourth day rise again, that none might be found equal to God.

[AD 384] Ambrosiaster on 2 Thessalonians 2:10
Paul says that the deception of the iniquity of his miracles is of advantage to those who will perish, because they have rejected the love of the truth by which they could have been saved through the preaching of the Apostles, they have been handed over to the Devil. They did not want to be saved and so they have been abandoned by God.
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 2 Thessalonians 2:10
Why then, you say, did God permit this to be? And what dispensation is this? And what is the advantage of his coming, if it takes place for the ruin of our race? Fear not, beloved, but hear Him saying, "In them that are perishing," he has strength, who, even if he had not come, would not have believed. What then is the advantage? That these very men who are perishing will be put to silence. How? Because both if he had come, and if he had not come, they would not have believed in Christ; He comes therefore to convict them. For that they may not have occasion to say, that since Christ said that He was God — although He nowhere said this openly — but since those who came after proclaimed it, we have not believed. Because we have heard that there is One God from whom are all things, therefore we have not believed. This their pretext then Antichrist will take away. For when he comes, and comes commanding nothing good, but all things unlawful, and is yet believed from false signs alone, he will stop their mouths. For if you believe not in Christ, much more ought you not to believe in Antichrist. For the former said that He was sent from the Father, but the latter the contrary. For this reason Christ said, "I have come in My Father's name, and you receive Me not: if another shall come in his own name. him you will receive." [John 5:43] But we have seen signs, you say. But many and great signs were also wrought in the case of Christ; much more therefore ought you to have believed in Him. And yet many things were predicted concerning this one, that he is the lawless one, that he is the son of perdition, that his coming is after the working of Satan. But the contrary concerning the other, that He is the Saviour, that He brings with Him unnumbered blessings.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12
"That they might be judged." He does not say, that they might be punished; for even before this they were about to be punished; but "that they might be condemned," that is, at the dreadful Seat of Judgment, in order that they might be without excuse. "Who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." He calls Christ, "the Love of the Truth." "For because," says he, "they received not the love of the truth." For He was both, and came for the sake of both, both as loving men, and on behalf of things that were true.

"But had pleasure," he says, "in unrighteousness." For he came to the destruction of men and to injure them. For what will he not then work? He will change and confound all things, both by his commandments, and by the fear of him. He will be terrible in every way, from his power, from his cruelty, from his unlawful commandments.

But fear not. "In those that perish" he will have his strength. For Elijah too will then come to give confidence to the faithful, and this Christ says; "Elijah comes, and shall restore all things." [Matthew 17:11] Therefore it is said, "In the spirit and power of Elijah." [Luke 1:17] For he neither wrought signs nor wonders, as Elijah did. For "John," it is said, "did no miracle, but all things which John spoke of this Man were true." How then was it "in the spirit and power of Elijah"? That is, he will take upon him the same ministry. As the one was the forerunner of His first Coming, so will the other be of His second and glorious Coming, and for this he is reserved. Let us not therefore fear. He has calmed the minds of the hearers. He causes them no longer to think present things dreadful but worthy of thankfulness. Wherefore he has added,

[AD 202] Irenaeus on 2 Thessalonians 2:11
Speaking of antichrist, too, he says clearly in the Second to the Thessalonians: "And for this cause God shall send them the working of error, that they should believe a lie; that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but consented to iniquity."
[AD 220] Tertullian on 2 Thessalonians 2:11
In this case how happens it that he can suborn the Creator's Christ to avenge his truth? But should he after all agree with us, that Antichrist is here meant, I must then likewise ask how it is that he finds Satan, an angel of the Creator, necessary to his purpose? Why, too, should Antichrist be slain by Him, whilst commissioned by the Creator to execute the function of inspiring men with their love of untruth? In short, it is incontestable that the emissary, and the truth, and the salvation belong to Him to whom also appertain the wrath, and the jealousy, and "the sending of the strong delusion," on those who despise and mock, as well as upon those who are ignorant of Him; and therefore even Marcion will now have to come down a step, and concede to us that his god is "a jealous god.

[AD 258] Cyprian on 2 Thessalonians 2:11
Nevertheless the profound gloom of the falling darkness has so blinded the hearts of some, that they receive no light from the wholesome precepts, but, once turned away from the direct path of the true way, they are hurried headlong and suddenly by the night and error of their sins.

[AD 258] Cyprian on 2 Thessalonians 2:11
Not to recognize sins lest penance follow is the wrath of God, as it is written, “And the Lord gave to them the spirit of a deep sleep,” lest they actually return and be cured and healed by their lamentations and just satisfactions after their sins. The apostle Paul in his epistle states and says, “For they have not received the love of truth that they might be saved. Therefore God will send them a misleading influence that they may believe falsehood, that all may be judged who have not believed the truth but have preferred wickedness.” The first degree of happiness is not to sin; the second, to recognize the sins committed.

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on 2 Thessalonians 2:11
We can recount many other events clearly showing that from a hidden judgment of God comes perversity of heart, with the result that refusal to hear the truth leads to commission of sin, and this sin is also punishment for preceding sin. For to believe a lie and not believe the truth is indeed sin, but it comes from the blindness of heart which by a hidden but just judgment of God is also punishment for sin. We see this also in what the apostle says to the Thessalonians, “For they have not received the love of truth, that they might be saved. Therefore God sends them a misleading influence that they may believe falsehood.”

[AD 533] Fulgentius of Ruspe on 2 Thessalonians 2:11
Sometimes by the hidden and incomprehensible judgment of God, the bad angels are permitted to make certain things to test the good and seduce the evil. Now the bad angels themselves do not create what they produce, but they are permitted to bring forth certain things, because these already exist hidden in the heart of God, things which we cannot see. Similarly, the devil was not able to create serpents or frogs, although with God’s permission he produced them, just as he was not the creator of the fire when, to test Job, he, with fire falling from heaven, consumed his sheep together with the shepherds. Nor was he the creator of the wind, when a wicked wind blowing out of the desert, struck the four corners of the house and crushed all the children of holy Job in one simultaneous ruin. The omnipotent God alone created the various natures, that is, the elements of this world. In secret and hidden places, God places certain seeds of things, hidden to us but visible to the angels. From these, as the nature of the work and its own proper time require, by the hidden counsel of his wisdom, God either commands that certain things be produced by the good angels or permits them to be shown through the bad angels. By permitting these latter things, God shows how much power he has given to the holy angels when he has given the ability to do certain things in the material creation even to the wicked angels.… So it is [that] the blessed apostle, speaking of the Antichrist, says, “And thus the lawless one will be revealed.”

[AD 749] John Damascene on 2 Thessalonians 2:11
One should know that the Antichrist must come. Antichrist, to be sure, is everyone who does not confess that the Son of God came in the flesh, is perfect God and became perfect man while at the same time he was God. In a peculiar and special sense, however, he who is to come at the consummation of the world is called Antichrist. So, it is first necessary for the gospel to have been preached to all the Gentiles, as the Lord said, and then God shall proceed to the conviction of the impious Jews.… “Because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends upon them a strong delusion, to let them believe what is false, so that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

[AD 945] Thietland of Einsiedeln on 2 Thessalonians 2:11
Note that the Apostle did not hesitate to say that God sends to them the working of error, since then God is said to send it, when He allows to send it with the Devil. For God permits the Devil to do this with a just and hidden judgment, because he acts unjust and uneven intention. But what follows, who have not believed in the truth, is similar to that passage of the same Apostle, "because though they knew God they did not worship him as God or give Him thanks" (Rom 1:21). And right after that, "For that reason God gave them over to a reprobate frame of mind, that they may do those things which are not fitting." (Rom 1:28) Nevertheless, we must note that those who were judged shall be deceived, secretly by the just judgments of God, whom God himself did not cease to judge since the beginning of the sin of the rational creature. Even those who were described and led astray shall be justified at the last and open judgment of God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, who, having been judged most unjustly, shall judge most justly.
[AD 384] Ambrosiaster on 2 Thessalonians 2:12
In this passage the foreknowledge of God comes through clearly. He knows the minds of all before they are born, nor is it a secret to Him of who will believe. He has known from the beginning who would become believers and which of them will increase in faith and not decrease.
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on 2 Thessalonians 2:12
For holiness is a grace of the Spirit.
[AD 945] Thietland of Einsiedeln on 2 Thessalonians 2:12
Yet we must always give thanks to God for you
We should note that he had said this at the beginning of the epistle.

brothers, beloved of God as if he should say, his unspeakable and immeasurable gifts. But not that those who he said to be about to be loved by God cannot in any way be mistaken. No one, therefore, disputed that they are of great merit; wherefore the Apostle calls them beloved in the judgment of him who can neither deceive nor be deceived.

by the sanctification of the Spirit and by faith in the truth
He added 'of the Spirit' because this sanctification is in the Spirit and is acquired in the Spirit.
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on 2 Thessalonians 2:13
And the apostle also teaches that the Holy Spirit sanctifies. For he speaks thus, “We are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brothers dearly beloved of the Lord; because God chose you as first fruits for salvation, in sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth.” So, then, the Father sanctifies, the Son also sanctifies, and the Holy Spirit sanctifies; but the sanctification is one, and the grace of the sacrament is one.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 2 Thessalonians 2:13
How unto salvation? By sanctifying you through the Spirit. For these are the things that are the efficient causes of our salvation. It is nowhere of works, nowhere of righteous deeds, but through belief of the truth. Here again, "in" is used for "through." "And through sanctification of the Spirit," he says,

[AD 945] Thietland of Einsiedeln on 2 Thessalonians 2:13
With these words they show that they were converted to faith by his teaching. The purpose was for the acquisition of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. As if he should say, "Therefore you were drawn to the faith by our teaching, so that you might obtain for yourselves the glory of the Lord."
[AD 202] Irenaeus on 2 Thessalonians 2:14
In this order, and by this succession, the ecclesiastical tradition from the apostles, and the preaching of the truth, have come down to us. And this way there is one and the same vivifying faith, which has been preserved in the Church from the Apostles until now, and handed in truth.
[AD 384] Ambrosiaster on 2 Thessalonians 2:14
In order for God's foreknoledge to remain favorable to their salvation, Paul warns them to stand and to presevere in the traditon of the Gospel. They must take care not to grow weary through idleness or sloth and so fail to complete the work of God which they have begun.
[AD 386] Cyril of Jerusalem on 2 Thessalonians 2:14-15
In learning and professing the faith, embrace and guard that only which is now delivered to you by the church and confirmed by all the Scriptures. For since not everyone has the education and the leisure required to read and know the Scriptures, to prevent the soul perishing from ignorance, we sum up the whole doctrine of the faith in a few lines.… For the present, just listen and memorize the creed as I recite it, and you will receive in due course the testimony from Scripture of each of its propositions. For the articles of faith have not been composed to please human desire, but the most important points collected from the Scriptures make up one complete teaching of the faith. And just as the mustard seed in a small grain contains in embryo many future branches, so also the creed embraces in a few words all the religious knowledge in both the Old and New Testament. Pay attention, therefore, brothers, and cling to the teachings which are now delivered to you, and “write them on the tablet of your heart.”

[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on 2 Thessalonians 2:14
That is, by succession from the Apostles through the saints who came after them.
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on 2 Thessalonians 2:14
The very tradition, teaching, and faith of the Catholic Church from the beginning was preached by the Apostles and preserved by the Fathers.
[AD 403] Epiphanius of Salamis on 2 Thessalonians 2:14
We must turn to tradition, for everything cannot be received from the divine Scriptures. That is why the holy Apostles handed down certain things in writings but others by traditions.
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 2 Thessalonians 2:14
This too is no little thing, if Christ considers our salvation His glory. For it is the glory of the Friend of man that they that are saved should be many. Great then is our Lord, if the Holy Spirit so desires our salvation. Why did he not say faith first? Because even after sanctification we have yet need of much faith, that we may not be shaken. Do you see how He shows that nothing is of themselves, but all of God?

[AD 445] Vincent of Lérins on 2 Thessalonians 2:14
Here perhaps, someone may ask: Since the canon of the Scripture is complete and more than sufficient in itself, why is it necessary to add to it the authority of ecclesiastical interpretation? As a matter of fact, Holy Scripture, because of its depth, is not universally accepted in one and the same sense. The same text is interpreted different by different people, so that one may almost gain the impression that it can yield as many different meanings as there are men. Thus, because of the great distortions caused by various errors, it is, indeed, necessary that the trend of the interpretation of the prophetic and apostolic writings be directed in accordance with the rule of the ecclesiastical and Catholic meaning.
[AD 1274] Thomas Aquinas on 2 Thessalonians 2:14
The Apostles, led by the inward instinct of the Holy Spirit, handed down to the churches certain instructions which they did not put in writing, but which have been ordained, in accordance with the observance of the Church as practiced by the faithful as time went on.
[AD 202] Irenaeus on 2 Thessalonians 2:15
To which course many nations of those barbarians who believe in Christ do assent, having salvation written in their hearts by the Spirit, without paper or ink, and, carefully preserving the ancient tradition,

[AD 220] Tertullian on 2 Thessalonians 2:15
And so they upbraid the discipline of monogamy with being a heresy; nor is there any other cause whence they find themselves compelled to deny the Paraclete more than the fact that they esteem Him to be the institutor of a novel discipline, and a discipline which they find most harsh: so that this is already the first ground on which we must join issue in a general handling (of the subject), whether there is room for maintaining that the Paraclete has taught any such thing as can either be charged with novelty, in opposition to catholic tradition, or with burdensomeness, in opposition to the "light burden" of the Lord.

[AD 220] Tertullian on 2 Thessalonians 2:15
"When I was a child," he says, "as a child I spake, as a child I understood; but when I became a man, those (things) which had been the child's I abandoned: " so truly did he turn away from his early opinions: nor did he sin by becoming an emulator not of ancestral but of Christian traditions, wishing even the precision of them who advised the retention of circumcision.

[AD 236] Pope Anterus on 2 Thessalonians 2:15
Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the tradition of the apostles and the apostolic seat, "that our Lord Jesus Christ and our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, may comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good work and word."
[AD 379] Basil of Caesarea on 2 Thessalonians 2:15
In answer to the objection that the doxology in the form “with the Spirit” has no written authority, we maintain that if there is no other instance of that which is unwritten, then this must not be received. But if the greater number of our mysteries are admitted into our constitution without written authority, then, in company with the many others, let us receive this one. For I hold it apostolic to abide also by the unwritten traditions. “I praise you,” it is said, “that you remember me in all things and keep the ordinances as I delivered them to you,” and “Hold fast the traditions which you have been taught whether by word or by our epistle.”

[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on 2 Thessalonians 2:15
This is so that you may know that the Father is, and the Son is, and that the work of the Father and of the Son is one.
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 2 Thessalonians 2:15
Hence it is manifest, that they did not deliver all things by Epistle, but many things also unwritten, and in like manner both the one and the other are worthy of credit. Therefore let us think the tradition of the Church also worthy of credit. It is a tradition, seek no farther. Here he shows that there were many who were shaken.

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 2 Thessalonians 2:15
Paul did not instruct Timothy in his duty through letters alone, but also through the spoken word. He shows this, both in many other passages, as where he says, “whether by word or our epistle,” and especially here. Let us not, therefore, suppose that Paul spoke anything imperfectly that was related to doctrine. For he delivered many things to Timothy without writing. He reminds him of these when he says, “Hold fast the form of sound words, which you have heard from me.” After the manner of artists, I have impressed on you the image of virtue, fixing in your soul a sort of rule, model and outline of all things pleasing to God. Therefore, cling to these things, and whether you are meditating on any matter of faith or love, or of a sound mind, form your ideas from what I have taught you. It will not be necessary to consult others for examples, when all has been deposited within yourself.

[AD 865] Haimo of Auxerre on 2 Thessalonians 2:15
who has loved us
So much so that He gave us His only Son.
[AD 945] Thietland of Einsiedeln on 2 Thessalonians 2:15
and who has given us an everlasting consolation
For He is their Fater, He consoles them, and they cannot be his sons without consolation. And because there is consolation in prosperous lands, Paul adds "eternal" so that he might separate earthly consolation from that which is in eternal things.

and good hope in grace
Becase there is hope in prperous times, he added "good" so that he might separate earthly hope from that which is in heavenly things.
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
Again a prayer after an admonition. For this is truly to benefit. "Which loved us," he says, "and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace." Where now are those who lessen the Son, because He is named in the grace of the Laver after the Father? For, lo, here it is the contrary. "Which loved us," he says, "and gave us eternal comfort." Of what sort then is this? Even the hope of things future. Do you see how by the method of prayer he stirs up their mind, giving them the unspeakable care of God for pledges and signs. "Comfort your heart," he says, "in every good work and word," that is, through every good work and word. For this is the comfort of Christians, to do something good and pleasing to God. See how he brings down their spirit. "Which gave us comfort," he says, "and good hope through grace." At the same time he makes them also full of good hopes with respect to future things. For if He has given so many things by grace, much more things future. I indeed, he says, have spoken, but the whole is of God. "Stablish"; confirm you, that you be not shaken, nor turned aside. For this is both His work and ours, so that it is in the way both of doctrines, and of actions. For this is comfort, to be established. For when any one is not turned aside, he bears all things, whatever may happen to him, with much longsuffering; whereas if his mind be shaken, he will no longer perform any good or noble action, but like one whose hands are paralyzed, so also his soul is shaken, when it is not fully persuaded that it is advancing to some good end.