this end-time figure (cf. 2:8). Even the name sends the signal to believers that ultimately they need not fear the antics of Satan’s deputy, whose doom is assured. These antics are suggestively recounted: who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or worship object so that he sits in the temple of God proclaiming himself that he is God (2:4). We can be sure that the believers gathered for worship in Thessalonica hear these words with more insight than later readers can ever hope