The Second Epistle of Paul
the Apostle
to the
Thessalonians
A simple phone call could
have cleared up some of the problems encountered by believers in the early
church. But of course there were no telephones in the ancient world. Paul had
to be personally tracked down wherever he was and given a letter with
questions. The apostle then had to dictate his response and have someone
hand-deliver a letter in return. Because of the distances and slow modes of transportation,
this process took weeks or even months. The intervening time span often allowed
false beliefs to spread or become ingrained in the new churches. Second
Thessalonians is an example of just this situation. Paul had to write this
letter to correct false ideas about the Second Coming that had arisen in that
church.
Author and Date: Paul identifies himself as the author of
Second Thessalonians and even calls attention to his own handwriting at the end
of the letter (1:1; 3:17).
Although many of the early church fathers, including Irenaeus, Tertullian, and
Clement of Alexandria, confirm that this letter came from Paul, some modern scholar's
have questioned the letter's authenticity. Some have asserted that First and
Second Thessalonians teach contradictory doctrines about the Second Coming. The
first letter is said to teach an imminent return of Christ, but the second to
include an intervening period of "Lawlessness" before Christ's
return. A closer examination of the question reveals that the instructions of
the two letters concerning the end times are complementary, not contradictory.
First Thessalonians emphasizes the suddenness of the Lord's coming to those who
are unprepared, while Second Thessalonians highlights some of the events that
will occur before Jesus returns. Since Paul wrote Second Thessalonians to
correct a misunderstanding that had arisen from the first letter, the
difference between the two letters is understandable. Second Thessalonians was
written from Corinth shortly after First Thessalonians, or around A.D. 51
or 42.
Background: Paul had encountered stiff opposition when he
began to preach the gospel to Thessalonica (Acts 17:1-9), forcing him to flee
at night to Berea. His travels soon brought him to Corinth. From that city, he sent Timothy back to Thessalonica
to ascertain the condition of the church there. Timothy returned with an encouraging
report; The Thessalonian Christians were enduring despite persecution. Not only
that, but the testimony of the Thessalonians' steadfast faith was spreading throughout
out Macedonia (1 Thess. 1:8). Paul wrote a letter to encourage the young
church and to answer a few questions that they had sent with Timothy. He wrote
Second Thessalonians soon after to correct some misunderstandings about the end
times and to counter false teachings that had crept into the church.
Themes: Since the writing of First Thessalonians, reports
had come to Paul of continued progress in the Thessalonian church, indicating
their faithfulness to the gospel. However doctrinal problems had also arisen.
False teachers had begun to tell the believers in Thessalonica that the day of
the Lord was already at hand. These teachers were misapplying and possibly even
twisting Paul's teaching that the day of the Lord would come suddenly (1 Thess.
5:2). Most likely because of this, some of the believers had stopped working
and were simply waiting for the Lord. Mounting persecution may have also fueled
these extreme beliefs about the Second Coming.
In Second Thessalonians, Paul stated emphatically that he
had never taught that the day of the Lord had already come. To counter false
doctrine, Paul gave the Thessalonians a good close of the truth, explaining to
them the emergence of the man of lawlessness and the prevalence of sin during
the end times. Furthermore, he reminded them they had been called by God and
saved through Christ's work. In view of this fact, he exhorted them to stand
firm in Christ (2:13) and to work
hard (3:12), always patiently waiting for Jesus' return.