In this essay, what I refer to as “the Katechon Argument” will be introduced. The purposes of the Katechon Argument are 1. to decisively solve a modern-day Biblical mystery that, to many Christians, was never a mystery in the first place, 2. to explain what this mystery tells us about the Bible itself, and 3. to explain what this mystery tells us about our location in human history.
Identifying The Katechon
In his Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul writes to inform this Church about the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, which will only occur after a great apostasy and the reign of the Antichrist:
“Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” (2 Thessalonians, 2: 3-4)
Then, we come to one of the most debated passages in all of Scripture:
And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restraints will do so until he is taken out of the way. (2 Thessalonians, 2: 6-7)
Someone or something (referred to from now on as the “Katechon”, after the Greek word κατέχον, or restrainer in the passage) is restraining the Antichrist from appearing, and the Antichrist will only appear after this thing is taken out of the way. Who or what is it?
In his Fourth Homily On 2 Thessalonians, Saint John Chrysostom, the Archbishop Of Constantinople, provided the key to understanding these teachings: “Some indeed say, the grace of the Spirit, but others the Roman Empire, to whom I most of all accede…when the Roman Empire is taken out of the way, then [the Antichrist] shall come…as long as the fear of this empire lasts, no one will willingly exit 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, 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 be by Antichrist, and he by Christ, and it will no longer withhold.”1
The Archbishop not only names what the Katechon is, but also why its identity isn’t directly mentioned in Scripture: “Why Paul expresses this so obscurely…because he said this of the Roman Empire, he naturally glanced at it, and for the present 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 now immediately have even overwhelmed him, as a pestilent person, and all the Faithful, as living and warring to this end.”2 …“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.”3
Saint John Chrysostom isn’t the only Church Father to name the Roman Empire as Katechon. Saint Jerome, in his letter to Algasia, concurs: “the Roman Empire, which now holds all nations, will withdraw and be taken out of the way. And then the antichrist will come…[Paul] does not mean to speak openly of the Roman Empire’s destruction…for if openly and brazenly he had said: ‘The antichrist will not come until the Roman Empire is destroyed,’ a reasonable cause for persecution against the church, which was rising at that time, seemed to spring up.” And from Saint Augustine’s City Of God, Book XX, Chapter 19: "It is not absurd to believe that these words of the apostle, ‘Only he who now holdeth, let him hold until he be taken out of the way,’ refer to the Roman Empire".
Was John Chrysostom right? He prayed to God to be given the correct interpretation of Paul’s epistles. One night, his assistant priest Prochorus repeatedly attempted to speak with him, at the request of a nobleman who’d requested an audience with Saint John. Each time he arrived at the door, Prochorus heard voices outside the Saint’s room and, peering through the keyhole, he observed a bald man leaning over John’s shoulder, speaking to him as he wrote. John, who thought he’d been alone, inquired what the man looked like, and Prochorus pointed to the icon of the Apostle Paul on John’s desk.
The Apostle Paul, being a holy man filled with God’s energies, transferred those energies to Saint John Chryosostom as he spoke to him. 1,600 years later, John’s skull (today in the possession of Vatopedi Monastery on Mount Athos), has one incorrupt ear, supernaturally preserved by the holiness of God as his Apostle taught him, testifying that his teaching about the Katechon’s identity are trustworthy.
The Roman Empire, Over The Centuries
The Church Fathers’ teaching that the Roman Empire is restraining the Antichrist can come across as confusing or non-sequitur to Christians living today; it’s understandable that people have their doubts. One objector declares: “The Roman Empire fell in the fifth century AD, so this ‘restrainer’ would have no meaning for today…the Roman Empire has long since ceased to exist, and the appearance of Christ or the lawless one has yet to take place.”
However, the situation isn’t actually as straightforward as the objector believes. The Western Roman Empire may have fallen in the 5th century, but the Emperor Constantine, after his conversion to Christianity, built a new capital in the Eastern part of the Empire, Constantinople, and this Eastern Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, was unconquered until the 15th century A.D. Furthermore, as Vladimir Moss explains in The Mystery Of Christian Power (2007), the Roman Empire had certain characteristics: its vast size, its hunger for moral strictness, its universalism, the standardization of its laws, its ability to adopt new ideas, and its heterogeneity, that caused God to look to it, as the means of Christianizing the nations. The Lord Jesus Christ was born a citizen of the Roman Empire, and Christianity and Romanity became closely linked to one another after the conversion of Saint Emperor Constantine.4
“In our times”, writes Archimandrite Panteleimon of Jordanville, “the only significance we can give to such an idea is within the context of understanding the Roman Empire to mean imperial (monarchical) power in general. Concerning such power, we should understand it to be a monarchy which has the ability to control social movement, and at the same time adhere to Christian principles. It does not allow the people to stray from these principles; it contains the people.”5 Monarchs who defended the Holy Orthodox Faith from heresy and paganism rightly saw themselves as carrying the traditions of the Roman Empire forward. In the 10th century, Monk Adso Of Montier-En-Der, in his Letter On The Origin And Time Of The Antichrist, mentions that the man of sin will not appear while the King Of The Franks is on his throne. Vladimir Moss, in The Fall Of Orthodox England, describes England’s Pre-Norman, Anglo-Saxon monarchs (until 1066) as those who restrained the Antichrist.6
After the fall of Constantinople in the spring of 1453, it was the pious Tsars of Russia who became the principal guardians of the Orthodox Faith, with Moscow famously coming to see itself as “the Third Rome”. Saint Theophan The Recluse, during the 19th century taught: “When the monarchy falls, and nations everywhere institute self-government (republics, democracies), then the Antichrist will be able to act freely…when such a social order is instituted everywhere, then the Antichrist will come forth.” 7
Individual Bible Readers
Now for a digression. Because the Apostle Paul expresses himself cryptically in 2 Thessalonians 2: 6-7, identifying the Katechon presents insurmountable difficulties to those who hold to “Scripture Alone” (Sola Scriptura) for their Christian beliefs. John Calvin knew of Chrysostom’s homily, yet disagreed with him, saying that the preaching of the Gospel was the actual Katechon.8 The current prevailing candidate among Evangelical Protestants seems to be the Holy Spirit. S. Michael Houdmann from the Protestant apologist website GotQuestions.org writes: “Many scholars have speculated as to the identity of the restrainer, naming the restraining force as 1) the Roman government; 2) gospel preaching; 3) the binding of Satan; 4) the providence of God; 5) the Jewish state; 6) the church; 7) the Holy Spirit; and 8) Michael the archangel. We believe the restrainer is none other than the Holy Spirit.”
Eight different opinions for the Katechon, with no method for determining which, if any, is true. Where else has this happened since the Reformation? The Calvinists vs. the Wesleyans. The paedobaptists vs. the credobaptists. The teetotalers, vs. those who drink in moderation. The pre-millennials vs. the post-millennials vs. the amillennials. 30,000+ denominations. Confusion and division. The fruits of the Reformation. By their fruits, you will know them.
For the Orthodox apologist searching for an unbeatable trump argument, the Monadnock Review recommends the Katcheon Argument as a gold standard. While it is improper to be in combat mode all the time, especially if one is unwilling to meet their opponent with the love they need, the simple fact is that the Holy Orthodox Faith is under attack from its critics and will continue to be attacked until all is set right at the Second Coming, hence the time comes to defend the True Faith.
If you find yourself in that situation, try using the Katechon Argument and see what sort of results you get. One aspect that I think is particularly effective: the Protestant will often have a populist worldview, claiming that the true meaning of everything in Scripture is self-evident and obvious to anyone who reads it, even if they’re a simpleton, and now they’re presented with something obscure and opaque.
When I brought the Katechon Argument up in a discussion with a Protestant pastor, he responded: “I believe there are some things in Scripture that God doesn’t want us to know.” By saying that, the pastor is implying it’d be better if the Antichrist rose up without any advance warning from God, than for him to walk away from his self-appointed role as Supreme Bible Interpreter. Maybe the pastor didn’t realize his words imply this, but they do.
Another Protestant told me that as long as the Church in Thessalonica understood what Paul meant, then it was of no consequence that he himself didn’t understand. But this is contrary to Paul’s claim that “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy, 3: 16-17) A verse that can’t be understood by any means has become useless. Ironically, 2 Timothy 3: 16 is often employed by Protestants to “prove” Sola Scriptura.
The fact is, if the monarchy really is the restrainer of the Antichrist, then a full shift to pro-monarchy political opinion among Christians, and the resurrection of abolished kingships could forestall the coming of the Antichrist yet longer. Exactly how long is debatable and will depend on God’s mercy and our righteous conduct. That shift won’t occur however if misidentification of the Katechon persists. 9
The End Of Civilization…Or Is It?
The identity of the Roman Empire, and its continuation in the Orthodox Christian monarchies that inherited the Holy Faith from it, as the Katechon against the Antichrist, focuses us on the last Russian monarch, Saint Tsar Nicholas II.
Many biographies exist extolling the Christian beliefs and piety of Russia’s last Tsar. He possessed a supernatural calm from God and raised mercy, the loving of his enemies, to an art form. He gave generously to parishes and monasteries; he sought counsel from monks and nuns, many of whom supernaturally foresaw his martyrdom. “The tsar's devotion to prayer was commented on by many; his private [railroad] car included a ‘veritable chapel’, and he never missed a service while in army headquarters.” The other members of the Romanov family had this same devotion, and today they are all canonized Saints in the Orthodox Church.
When the Tsar, abandoned by many of the Russian people, abdicated his throne in February 1917, the atheistic and Satanic Bolsheviks seized control of Russia, murdering countless faithful Christians, trying to eradicate the Church altogether. And on the morning of July 17, 1918, the entire Romanov family was assassinated by the Bolsheviks. The restrainer had been taken out of the way, and the mystery of lawlessness was able to work not clandestinely, but now openly, to usher in the end times.10
The Orthodox Christians were far from the only people who detected the apocalyptic significance of the First World War, for the Spirit Of Truth enlightens the whole Earth. The economist and philosopher Hans-Hermann Hoppe has examined how monarchies function vs. how democracies function, finding the former vastly more beneficial. He subsequently labelled World War I as “the end of civilization” because it was the time when State power almost completely passed out of the hands of monarchs.11 Fr. Seraphim Rose in his May 1981 talk “Contemporary Signs Of The End Of The World” mentioned Alfred Frankenstein, musician and journalist for the San Francisco Chronicle, who wrote a history of Western music that stopped at the 20th century, saying that what happened at the beginning of the 20th century “was no longer music as he knew it”, because previous laws of music were now being violated regularly: the mystery of lawlessness. The Jehovah’s Witnesses, though they see through a very dark glass, do understand that there was something cosmic and ethereal about 1914 that went beyond worldly war or geopolitics.
The 20th century would see Communist governments murder over 100 million people, with additional millions perishing in episodes like the Congo Free State, the Armenian Genocide and the Nazi labour camps. It would see the mass slaughter of the unborn in the name of “reproductive freedom” and the development of nuclear weapons capable of ending all life on Earth. “Today’s world”, said Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in 1983, “has reached a stage which, if it had been described to preceding centuries, would have called forth the cry: ‘This is the Apocalypse!’ Yet we have grown used to this kind of world; we even feel at home in it.”
Yet the Elders and Saints who foresaw the Bolshevik Revolution also foresaw that Communism in Russia would eventually end. And today, Russia in several ways is leading a robust, revitalized Christianity, while the West has sold whatever was left of its soul to the religion of sodomy. Looking further ahead is a topic for a different article, but we will conclude by mentioning the glorious news: the Church’s prophets throughout history have proclaimed that, though the Katechon would be taken out of the way, it would also return, the monarch to his throne, and that with the Antichrist newly restrained, the flames of Faith would burn brighter than ever before, brighter than any time in the last thousand years. These events are sometimes referred to as “the Relighting Of Orthodoxy”.
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(1843). The Homilies Of S. John Chrysostom, Archbishop Of Constantinople, On The Epistles Of Saint Paul The Apostle, To The Philippians, Colossians And Thessalonians. Oxford, England. John Henry Parker. Pages 491 to 492.
Ibid.
Ibid, Page 491.
Moss, Vladimir. (2007). The Mystery Of Christian Power. Woking, England. Self-Published. Pages 89 to 94.
Archimandrite Panteleimon, compiler. (1991). A Ray Of Light: Instructions In Piety And The State Of The World At The End Of Time. Translated by Michael Hilko. Jordanville, New York. Holy Trinity Monastery. Page 38.
Moss, Vladimir. (2007). The Fall Of Orthodox England. Woking, England. Self-Published. Page 111. Note: Anglo-Saxon England was Orthodox. The Norman Conquest of 1066 contained a religious aspect; English Orthodox bishops were replaced by Norman bishops who accepted the post-Great Schism beliefs of the Catholic Church, i.e. that the Pope had universal jurisdiction, as opposed to limited jurisdiction.
Archimandrite Panteleimon, compiler. (1991). A Ray Of Light. Page 38.
Calvin, John. (1851). Commentaries On The Epistles Of Paul The Apostle To The Philippians, Colossians And Thessalonians. Translated by Henry Pringle. Edinburgh, Scotland. Calvin Translation Society. Pages 332 to 333.
It also won’t occur as long as rabid American patriots continue to insist that monarchy is synonymous with tyranny, and that all monarchy is bad because of King George III’s sins against the 13 colonies.
For an elaborate list of evidences of Tsar Nicholas II as Katechon, see: Engleman, Dennis. (1995). Ultimate Things: An Orthodox Christian Perspective On The End Times. Ben Lomond, California. Conciliar Press. Pages 70 to 82.
See also: Hoppe, Hans-Hermann. (2001). Democracy: The God That Failed. New Brunswick, New Jersey. Transaction Publishers.