Page 41 - Pauline Epistles Student Textbook

and Timothy in the composition, the primary voice and the apostolic authority that undergirded it
67
are Paul’s.” Wanamaker maintains that “no contemporary scholars of repute seem to doubt the
authentic Pauline character of the letter.”
68

External evidence is strong in its ascription of the authorship of 2 Thessalonians to Paul. “Various
nd
ancient Christian authors allude to it, such as Ignatius (d. ca. 107; Romans 10.3 with 2 Thess. 3:5),
Polycarp (d. ca. 155; Philippians 11.3 and 4 with 2 Thess. 1:4 and 3.15), and Justin (d. 165; Dialogue
nd
with Trypho 32.12 and 110.6 with 2 Thess. 2:3).” Since the bolster of the paternity of 2
69
Thessalonians by both the internal and external evidence are complex to overturn, it is fair to
declare Paul as the writer.

Background History
Timothy, who is mentioned as the one who brought the report to Paul concerning the church at
Thessalonica (1 Thess. 3:1-2), was sent back to Macedonia to find out how the new church was
coping in their life-changing walk with Jesus. For the second time, Silas and Timothy had to rejoin
Paul in Corinth (Acts 18:5). After hearing the Lord speak to him at night in a vision, “do not be afraid;
keep on speaking . . . because I have many people in this city” (Acts 18:5, 9-10), Paul “stayed in
Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the Word of God” (Acts 18:11). Most scholars believe
nd
that it was during that long stay in Corinth when Paul wrote 2 Thessalonians. Don N. Howell, Jr.
maintains, “after Timothy’s arrival and good report (1 Thess. 3:6), Paul, along with his two co-
workers in the salutations,” wrote “1 Thessalonians (in early Summer A.D. 51) from Corinth (note
st
Achaia in 1:7-8; thus, Athens is a possibility). A few weeks later (late Summer 51 AD.) he” wrote “2
70
Thessalonians over fresh misunderstandings in eschatology.”

Date
Arrival at date is grounded on one’s decision on the time lapse between the epistles. Some advocate
for a year while others, a few months. Tenney notes that “it would seem preferable to predicate as is
generally held that it was two or three months. This would require a date in the fall or early winter
of either A.D. 50 or 51.” As per Carson’s and Moo’s, “the most likely general Pauline chronology,
71
then, 1 Thessalonians will have been written in A.D. 50, early in Paul’s stay in Corinth and perhaps
four to six months after his ministry in Thessalonica.” If the sequence is upheld, 2 Thessalonians
nd
72
is suggested to have been written “very shortly after 1 Thessalonians—either late in A.D. 50 or early
73
in A.D. 51.”

Readers
Concerning the addressees for whom the letter was penned down, the Epistle itself, anchored by the
canonical biblical book of Acts, advocate for the believers at Thessalonica (2 Thess. 1:1; cf. Acts 17:1-
9).

67 Ibid.

68 Wanamaker, The New International Greek Testament Commentary: The Epistles to the
Thessalonians, 17.

69 Green, The Letters to the Thessalonians: The Pillar New Testament Commentary, 59.
70 Don N. Howell, Adapted and modified from BIB 5133: Acts-Revelation, 18.

71 Tenney, The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, 726.
72 Carson and Moo, An Introduction to the New Testament, 543.

73 Ibid., 544.

40