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according to 2 Thes. 2:1-12, the church's being gathered together to Christ cannot precede the exaltation of the “Son of Perdition,”

I don't see how anybody can read it like that! I agree AC must come upon the world scene before the Second Coming, but does it mean the beginning of the Tribulation? The Tribulation will begin with the signing of a 7-year peace treaty with Israel, brokered by AC himself, which tells me that he WAS a political power BEFORE the Tribulation. Doesn't say anything about the timing of the Rapture and the Tribulation.

Verse 7 gives us a better idea on timing: Only he who now restrains will do do until he is taken out of the way. I know some people think it is the Holy Spirit who will be taken out of the way, and some translations say He instead of he. But we know that there will be lots of people coming to Christ during the Tribulation, and convicting people is the job of the Holy Spirit. I don't believe He will be removed from earth, or they would be no great soul harvest. So, who restrains "iniquity" and can be removed PRIOR to the Rapture? Certainly not government, nobody in his sense would look at today's administration and claim that it restrains anything. Looking at 2000 years of history, it seems to me a safe guess to say that it is the Church. With all of her faults, the Church has been a force for good in this world, and it is the Church that will be removed before the beginning of the Tribulation.

This is my opinion, and if that makes me a "dispensationalist", so be it!