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THESSALONIANS, SECOND LETTER TO THE

A letter addressed to the church in Thessalonica and attributed to Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy. Despite this attribution, several features of the letter have given rise to a debate about its relationship to 1 Thessalonians. First, 2 Thessalonians closely follows both the form and the wording of 1 Thessalonians (e.g., compare 2 Thess. 1:1-2 and 1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 2:17 and 1 Thess. 3:13). Second, alongside the similarities are significant differences from 1 Thessalonians and other Pauline letters such as the impersonal, even distant tone of 2 Thessalonians; the absence of reference to the cross or resurrection of Jesus Christ; the expectation of a delayed Parousia (2:1-4) coupled with the striking language anticipating divine vengeance against nonbelievers (e.g., 1:6-10).

Those who contend that Paul wrote 2 Thessalonians point out that the letter is attested in other Christian writings as early as the 2nd century c.e. and that it appears in early canonical lists. According to this view, a persecution at Thessalonica grew more intense within just a few months of Paul’s first letter, and that persecution has yielded both unbridled speculation about the return of Jesus and an unwillingness to work. Paul writes to calm this frenzy; the similarities in form and language to 1 Thessalonians occur because this letter follows so quickly on the first.

Those who argue that 2 Thessalonians was not written by Paul find it unlikely that Paul’s tone and instruction on the eschaton would have shifted so substantially in a brief period of time. The reference to forgery in 2:2 creates difficulties, since presumably some substantial period of time would be required in which spurious letters could be written and circulated. In addition, the claim in 3:17 that “every letter” of Paul’s bears his greeting seems odd if 2 Thessalonians is among Paul’s earliest letters. If not written by Paul, 2 Thessalonians may have been written by someone among his co-workers or disciples who employed the authority of Paul to address a situation in which Christians were undergoing intense persecution. Given the early citation of the letter and the sporadic persecutions toward the end of the 1st century, a composition date of the late 1st century is probable. On this view, the identity of the author and audience remain unknown.

Structure and Purpose

In conformity with Greco-Roman letter writing practice, 2 Thessalonians opens with a salutation (1:1-2) and a thanksgiving (1:3-12). The thanksgiving is unusual because of its length and because it introduces a lengthy discussion of Jesus’ return (vv. 5-12). The body of the letter (2:1–3:15) concerns the events that surround the “day of the Lord” (2:1-12) and includes a section of ethical instruction (3:1-15). The conventional greetings conclude the letter (3:16-18).

According to rhetorical analysis, the letter is deliberative in that it seeks to persuade the audience to take a certain action. In this case, the author urgently desires that the audience continue in their Christian faith and that they not be troubled by wild apocalyptic speculation.

Significant Features

Divine Justice

2 Thessalonians promises that the future return of Jesus will bring with it judgment against those who have persecuted believers. The writer not only anticipates punishment for those who have afflicted the faithful, but extends that punishment to include “those who do not know God” and “those who do not obey the gospel” (1:8). Such persons will receive “eternal destruction,” separated from the presence of the Lord Jesus (1:9). Because the letter does not address the persecutors themselves, as might be expected if its purpose were to warn them about their behavior and urge a conversion in practice and thought, this insistence on the future judgment appears to be aimed at comforting Christians themselves. 2 Thessalonians assures believers that those who currently persecute them will themselves receive justice.

The “Day of the Lord”

In an effort to assure the audience that the “day of the Lord” has not already come, 2 Thessalonians explains that the day itself cannot arrive unless preceded by “the rebellion” and “the lawless one.” Other NT writers also expect a time of rebellion against God and a blasphemous antichrist (e.g., Matt. 24:4-28; 1 Tim. 4:1; 1 John 2:18). Discerning exactly who or what the author understands by “the lawless one,” if indeed the author had a specific reference in mind, is now impossible. Whatever the nature of the rebellion, the author is confident that God will triumph over it.

Bibliography. F. F. Bruce, 1 and 2 Thessalonians. WBC 45 (Waco, 1982); K. P. Donfried and I. H. Marshall, The Theology of the Shorter Pauline Letters. New Testament Theology (Cambridge, 1993); E. Krentz, “Through a Lens: Theology and Fidelity in 2 Thessalonians,” in Pauline Theology, ed. J. M. Bassler (Minneapolis, 1991) 1:52-62; E. J. Richard, First and Second Thessalonians. Sacra Pagina 11 (Collegeville, 1995).

Beverly Roberts Gaventa

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

THESSALONIANS, SECOND LETTER TO THE

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)