The motif of lawlessness, lawless personage and the usurpation of Divine prerogatives in Scripture

Abstract

The motif of lawlessness has been well articulated in Scripture, and even by extension inthe extra biblical writings. This motif appears in all its perspicuity having been bequeathed from the Old Testament, particularly the Prophets, and Writings. This motif has had an indelible influence on the Second Temple Jewish writers, and also the Church Fathers. In most of the contexts where these motifs exist the lawless personage engages in actions that are targeted at supplanting God and concomitantly exhibit an attitude of wanton arrogance and blasphemy. The motif of lawlessness therefore always exists within context of cosmic conflict between two opposing powers vying for supremacy and control. In the Prophets this conflict is placed within perspective with the reader  being led into its origin, nature, and the key proponents. While the lawless personage in the Old Testament constitutes a supernatural being, in the New Testament it is cosmicized into temporal beings that become the embodiment of lawlessness. The Old Testament thus provides both a contextual and theological framework by which the New Testament motif of lawlessness should be understood.