16 But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. 17 And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; 18 Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.
Hymenaus and Philetus were Judaizing teachers of the Circumcision who taught that the Gentile Christians must be circumcised and keep the law. By claiming the (spiritual) resurrection of Israel was already past, they could also claim that God intended for Christians to keep the law. The Temple was still standing, the daily sacrifices were still made by the priests, and nothing had changed since the death of Christ. This teaching could and did overthrow the faith of some. Nobody at that time was teaching our modern day traditional and literal Second Coming of Christ in the Clouds with a simultaneous resurrection of dead bodies on land and sea lining up as sheep and goats to literally stand before the judgment seat of Christ to be separated into heaven and hell.
"All that the South has ever desired was that the Union, as established by our forefathers, should be preserved, and that the government, as originally organized, should be administered in purity and truth." – Robert E. Lee
