Belial und Katechon

In his thesis on the eschatological sections of 1 Thess 4:13-5:11 and 2 Thess 2:1-12, Fritz W. Röcker deals with the issue of identifying the traditio-historical origins of the expression »the man of lawlessness« (2 Thess 2:3) and »the lawless one« (2 Thess 2:8). He shows that the term »Belial« is associated with attributes which are inherent to the Greek lexical cluster »lawlessness,« both in the Old Testament and in Qumran, as well as in the Old Testament's pseudephigrapha and in the New Testament. The thesis also deals with the issue of identifying early Christian traditions on which the eschatological concepts of the letters to the Thessalonians are supposedly based. The author demonstrates that the tradition on which Mt 24 is based is also fundamental to the letters to the Thessalonians. The Katechon (in its masculine and neuter form) is identified as the one who proclaims the Gospel / the gospel itself.