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Second Epistle to the Thessalonians
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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).
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Over the years, major studies by scholars such as William Wrede in 1903[1] and Alfred Loisy in 1933 [2] challenged the traditional view of the authorship. There is still a widespread dispute over the matter. According to Leon Moris in 1986, the majority of current scholars at that time still held to Paul's authorship. [3] Increasingly, scholars have come to question this, and the majority opinion today appears to be that it was not written by Paul but by an associate or disciple after his death, representing what they believed was his message.[4]
Those who believe Paul was the author of Second Thessalonians note how he wrote the final salutation at the end in his own hand rather than through a scribe.[5] Of this 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)." [6] 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. [7] 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.[8] 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."[9]. Perrin bases this claim off of 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.[1] G. Milligan observed that a church which possessed an authentic letter of Paul would be unlikely to accept a fake addressed to them.[10]
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.
This entry incorporates text from the public domain Easton's Bible Dictionary, originally published in 1897.
- ^ William Wreded, Die Echtheit des zweiten Thessalonicherbriefes untersucht (The Authenticity of the Second Letter to the Thessalonians investigated), Leipzig 1903
- ^ Alfred Loisy, The Birth of the Christian Religion, University Books, New York 1962, pp. 20-21 (Originally published as La Naissance du Christianisme, 1933)
- ^ Leon Moris. Concordia NIV Study Bible. ed. Hoerber, Robert G. St. Lous: Concordia Publishing House, p.1840.
- ^ Ehrman, Bart D. (2004). The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings. New York: Oxford, p.385; Beverly Roberts Gaventa, First and Second Thessalonians, Westminster John Knox Press, 1998, p.93; Vincent M. Smiles, First Thessalonians, Philippians, Second Thessalonians, Colossians, Ephesians, Liturgical Press, 2005, p.53; Udo Schnelle, translated by M. Eugene Boring, The History and Theology of the New Testament Writings (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1998), pp. 315-325; M. Eugene Boring, Fred B. Craddock, The People's New Testament Commentary, Westminster John Knox Press, 2004 p652; Joseph Francis Kelly, An Introduction to the New Testament for Catholics, Liturgical Press, 2006 p.32
- ^ Kretzmann, Paul E. 2 THESSALONIANS CHAPTER 3. The Kretzmann Project. Retrieved on 2007-07-09.
- ^ Metzger, Bruce M. (2003). The New Testament: Its Background, Growth, & Content. 3rd ed. Nashville: Abingdon, p.255.
- ^ Leon Moris. Concordia NIV Study Bible. ed. Hoerber, Robert G. St. Lous: Concordia Publishing House, p.1840.
- ^ Guthrie, Donald (1990). New Testament Introduction. Hazell Books. p593
- ^ Norman Perrin, The New Testament: An Introduction: Proclamation and Parenesis, Myth and History, (Harcourt College Publishers, 1974)
- ^ G. Milligan, Saint Paul's Epistles to the Thessalonians (1908) vi, ix, p448.
Online translations of the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians:
Exegetical Papers on Second Thessalonians:
- Exegesises of II Thessalonians by various authors; maintained by the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary Library.
| Preceded by 1 Thessalonians |
Books of the Bible | Succeeded by 1 Timothy |