About Jesus - Steve Sweetman The Temple - 2 Thess. 2:4 Concerning the word temple - 2 Thess. 2:4; There are 2 Greek words translated as temple in the N.T. 1 - "hieron" - always translated as a physical temple - never translated symbolically - could be a temple of God, or a temple with idols - meaning "a sacred place". 2 - "naos" - a sanctuary or shrine where a deity lives - in N.T. was translated as a literal building or symbolically as the body of Christ. 1 Thess. 2:4 uses "naos", but since this word is translated both ways in the N.T. that does not define Paul's meaning for us conclusively. If the 2 Thess. temple is literal (which it might be) then we have other problems to consider, mainly, why would God be involved in a new temple after the cross, when He says that He does not live in buildings made with hands? Would God get back into animal sacrifices in a rebuilt temple as some suggest after His only Some became the supreme sacrifice?
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