Fathers

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What the Fathers say

2 Thessalonians 1:9

Eastern Fathers

John Chrysostom

"Who shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord, and from the glory of His might, when He shall come to be glorified in His Saints, and to be marveled at in all them that believed." There are many men, who form good hopes not by abstaining from their sins, but by thinking that hell is not so terrible as it is said to be, but milder than what is threatened, and temporary, not eternal; and about this they philosophize much. …

Homily on 2 Thessalonians 3 ↗

Theophylact of Ohrid

So then, where are the Origenists, who fabulously teach about the finality of punishments? This, that is punishment, Paul called eternal. In what way then can the eternal be temporal according to you? Here the apostle shows the ease with which this will be accomplished. For this, he says, no efforts of any kind are needed, but it is sufficient for God to appear — and punishment will overtake all the disobedient. His very sight and coming will be light for some, and punishment for others. …

Commentary on 2 Thessalonians ↗

Irenaeus

...And as the wrath of God did then descend upon the unrighteous, here also does the apostle likewise say: "For the wrath of God shall be revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of those men who hold back the truth in unrighteousness." And as, in those times, vengeance came from God upon the Egyptians who were subjecting Israel to unjust punishment, so is it now, the Lord truly declaring, "And shall not God avenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him? …

Against Heresies Book 4 ↗

Western Saints

Thomas Aquinas

The punishment is likewise long lasting, for they "shall suffer eternal punishment in destruction." And this can be read in two ways, because there are two kinds of punishment, namely, that of the sense and that of the condemned. This is how it can be understood as about the punishment of the sense: "They shall suffer," i.e., they shall endure eternal punishments, never to end, and this "in destruction," because they shall be ever dying. …

Commentary on 2 Thessalonians ↗