On Katechonic Space and the Problem of Naming the Katechon
Written in April and May 2024; Published in March 2026
The problem with using the katechon as a rationalization for action, is that with many parties involved and with a complicated (and malicious) information environment – it becomes harder to know if our countries are the good guys acting in self defense, or are the bad guys using a good-guy mask to gain sympathy while intentionally doing bad actions.
Eric Voeglin’s lesson for us is that it is wrong to immanentize the eschaton. Byrne Hobert and Tobias Huber’s lesson for us is that it is wrong to immanetize the katechon. But these two are not enough, because simply attempting to definitively name the katechon (even if one doesn’t work to bolster it) dramatically increases the risk of immanentizing it. Or, naming could lead to the problem of rationalizing no action in analyzing alternative options to the katechon at hand. Because if...