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Second Epistle to the Thessalonians

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The Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, also known as the Second Letter to the Thessalonians, is a book from the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It is traditionally attributed to Paul, because it begins, "Paul, and Silvanus, and Timothy, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ;" (2 Thess. 1:1) and ends, "The salutation of Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write" (2 Thess. 3:17).

Authorship

The authenticity of this epistle is still in widespread dispute.

In favour of authenticity

While Paul's authorship of Second Thessalonians has been questioned more often than his authorship of First Thessalonians, there is more evidence from early Christian writers for his authorship of Second Thessalonians than that of First Thessalonians . The epistle was included in the Marcion canon and the Muratorian fragment; it was mentioned by name by Irenaeus, and quoted by Ignatius, Justin, and Polycarp.

G. Milligan observed that a church which possessed an authentic letter of Paul would be unlikely to accept a fake addressed to them. So also Colin Nicholl who has put forward a substantial argument for the authenticity of Second Thessalonians. He points out that 'the pseudonymous view is ... more vulnerable than most of its advocates conceded. ... The lack of consensus regarding a date and destination ... reflects a dilemma for this position: on the one hand, the date needs to be early enough for the letter to be have been accepted as Pauline ... [on] the other hand, the date and destination need to be such that the author could be confident that no contemporary of 1 Thessalonians ... could have exposed 2 Thessalonians as a ... forgery.'.

Those who believe Paul was the author of 2 Thessalonians also note how Paul drew attention to the authenticity of the letter by signing it himself: "I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, which is how I write in every letter.. Bruce Metzger writes, "Paul calls attention to his signature, which was added by his own hand as a token of genuineness to every letter of his (3:17)."

Other scholars who hold to authenticity include Beale , Green, Jones, Morris, and Witherington .

In favour of pseudonimity

At the turn of the 20th century scholars such as William Wrede in 1903 and Alfred Loisy in 1933 challenged the traditional view of the authorship. Many today believe that it was not written by Paul but by an associate or disciple after his death, representing what they believed was his message, so Ehrman, Gaventa, Smiles, Schnelle, Boring, and Kelly. Norman Perrin observes, "The best understanding of 2 Thessalonians … is to see it as a deliberate imitation of 1 Thessalonians, updating the apostle's thought.. Perrin bases this claim on his hypothesis that prayer at the time usually treated God the Father as ultimate judge, rather than Jesus. However, some form critics have disagreed, instead holding that only Palestinian Jews would have had any problem worshipping Jesus as God.

Content

The traditional view is that the second epistle to the Thessalonians was probably written from Corinth not many months after the first. Apparently the first letter was misunderstood, especially regarding the second advent of Christ. The Thessalonians had embraced the idea that Paul had taught that "the day of Christ was at hand", that Christ's coming was about to occur. This error is corrected (2:1-12), and the apostle announces what first must take place before the end times. The "Great Apostasy" is first mentioned here.

A passage from this book reading "For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat", (2 Thess. 3:10), was later adapted by Vladimir Lenin as an adage of the Soviet Union, He who does not work, neither shall he eat.

See also

Notes

External links

Online translations of the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians:

Exegetical Papers on Second Thessalonians:



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Last updated on Tuesday June 10, 2008 at 11:07:03 PDT (GMT -0700)
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