THE EPISTLE OF THE HOLY APOSTLE PAUL TO THE THESSALONIANS II

interpreted by St. Theophan

INTRODUCTION

1. THE REASON FOR WRITING AND THE CONTENT OF THE MESSAGE

It is not known how long after the dispatch of the first Epistle to the Thessalonians, but it is very likely that it was not long, the Apostle Paul received new news about the state of the Church of Thessalonica, worthy of attention and requiring his participation. One of the believers of Thessalonica came either on their own business, or on purpose, having been sent by the local guardians of the Christians, and told about what was happening there. Though it was a rumor, for he says: "we heard" (3:11), it was furnished with such evidences that St. Paul had no reason to doubt his faithfulness, and therefore could not but be concerned about the situation of the Christians there.

What exactly this rumor concerned can be guessed from the content of the epistle, as all interpreters do. It was said that the Christians of Thessaloniki roughly keep themselves in accordance with Christian rules, their faith is strong, their love is flaming and expanding, and they, despite persecution and oppression, remain unshakably devoted to the Gospel of Christ; but that there are wrong thoughts among them regarding the second coming of Christ, which disturb and confuse them. Previously, they were worried about the dead, not understanding what would happen to them at the coming of the Lord. The Epistle of the Holy Apostle dispelled these concerns. But they found another source for themselves. The opinion has arisen that the coming of the Lord is already present, that it is about to be revealed, whether it is day or hour. This probably struck some with fear, at the sight of the tremendous manifestations with which this coming was to accompany, and in others, perhaps, they were irritated by a strong desire to see the glory of the kingdom of Christ as soon as possible; and put everyone in such a mood that it could be said of them: "They moved from their minds" (2:2). This opinion became all the more firm, and all the more alarming, because there were people who claimed to have received a revelation of this kind; others referred to the fact that they heard this from the mouth of the Apostle himself; others even presented an epistle, as if written by the Apostle Paul himself. It is not surprising that the first Epistle also made this thought at least probable where the Apostle speaks of the accidental appearance of the Lord. At the same time, it was also said that the old defect of the Thessalonians, the passion for a careless, idle, and restless life, which the Apostle noticed during his personal stay in Thessalonica, and for the correction of which he insisted at the same time and wrote in addition in the first epistle, remained among the Christians. Some indulge in it in the old way, without thinking about correcting their behavior.

Having received such news, Saint Paul could not but take care to bring order to the mood there, to calm the minds, to dispel wrong thoughts, and to correct the bad temper. Why does he write a second epistle to them? He was prompted to do this by apostolic zeal and fatherly love for those who were converted. He could not tolerate any stain on Christians, and he was zealous to present every Church to the Lord pure, without any defilement or blemish.

This is the reason for writing the epistle. But since we infer it from the content of the epistle, it is needless to mention that such is its content, which this occasion presupposes. In it, St. Paul: 1) thanks God for the advancement of the Thessalonians in Christian virtues, encourages them to further success, especially to endure persecution and sorrows by hoping for future blessings (chapter 1); 2) dispels false thoughts that the day of Christ is already at hand, predicting that the day of the Lord will not come until the enemy of the truth, the Antichrist, appears (chapter 2); and 3) induces to correct those who walk disorderly both by conviction and by the severity of the apostolic authority (chapter 3). But it is not difficult to notice that the main thing in this epistle is the establishment of precise concepts about the signs of the second coming of Christ. The praise of the good qualities of the Thessalonians and the encouragement of their patience is, as it were, only an introduction to the exposition of these concepts, and the instruction on the correction of the disorderly is a particular addition, although it is edifying for all, but it does not concern everyone, because only some persons were defective. Blessed Theodoret does not give precedence to any of the subjects shown, but St. John of Damascus, and then Ecumenius and Theophylact, consider the teaching about the signs of the Second Coming of the Lord to be the main subject and purpose of the epistle. At the same time, other objects and targets, of course, should already be arranged in the order shown.

2. THE TIME AND PLACE WHEN AND WHERE THE EPISTLE WAS WRITTEN

Christian antiquity has not without reason told us that the second Epistle was written after the first, and the content of the Epistle irresistibly impresses the conviction of this. Meanwhile, there were people who guessed that the second epistle was written before the first. How much weight there is in this divination can be judged by the grounds on which they want to establish it. One, for example, says: in verse 17 of the 3rd chapter of the second epistle, in the words: "This is what I write," there is a sign by which it was necessary to distinguish the true epistles of St. Paul from the spurious ones; and it is appropriate for such an instruction to be found in the first, and not in the second. But such a sign was pointed out by St. Paul on the occasion that an attempt was made to let out under the name of his epistle not his (2, 2), and such an attempt already presupposes the existence of at least one true epistle, which was the first. Moreover, the Apostle himself in this second Epistle makes it clear that one of his epistles was already in the hands of the Thessalonians, when he says: "Keep the traditions which you have learned, either by word or by our epistle" (2:15). Therefore, the second message can no longer be considered the first. It seemed to another that the very content of the second epistle might suggest that it was written before the first. Leaving aside its presentation in this sense, we recall to everyone that the content of the second epistle is most tangible and shows that it was written after the first, and precisely in addition to it, in further explanation and the most precise definition of some of the objects contained in it. While the first epistle only mentions how and under what circumstances the Thessalonians accepted the Christian faith, the second speaks of their success in Christianity, of the growth of their faith and the increase of love (1:3). While the first epistle speaks of the suddenness of the Lord's appearance and the necessity of always being ready to meet Him, because of the obscurity of the time when He comes, the second removes the false conclusion that the day of the Lord is already at hand, by which the indefinable time was determined (chapter 2). While in the first only general rule about a quiet, serene and industrious life is expressed (4, 10 ff.), in the second the contrary behavior of certain persons is extensively exposed (3, 6-16). Moreover, when St. Paul says in the second epistle: "We beseech you for the coming of our Lord, and for our assembly in Him not to be quick to strive in the mind" (2:1-2), without any explanation of what our assembly about Him is; then it must be thought that he did this because it was previously clearly stated what this assembly meant; it is said in the first Epistle – 4:16.

Thus, it is evident that the second Epistle to the Thessalonians was written not before, but after the first, as it has always been accepted and is accepted by all. When exactly? A little after the first, in the same year that St. Paul was still in Corinth, and probably before the end of his sojourn there. That Saint Paul was still in Corinth at that time is evident from the fact that in the inscription of this epistle he places together with him his companions – Silas and Timothy, and they were both together with him only in Corinth. After the departure of Saint Paul from this city, we meet Saint Timothy with him in Ephesus (Acts 19:22); but the holy Power is nowhere later mentioned as a companion of St. Paul. Therefore, the writing of the second Epistle to the Thessalonians cannot be attributed to any time after the sojourn of St. Paul in Corinth or to any other place than Corinth. That it was written towards the end of St. Paul's stay in Corinth can be inferred from the fact that in it (3:2) the Apostle asks to pray for deliverance from evil and evil people, by which he probably hints at the rebellion against him in Corinth (Acts 18:12-17); and it happened before the end of his stay there (Acts 18:18). Thus, if the first epistle was written in the year 54, then there is no reason to attribute the writing of the second to the later of that year.

3. SEPARATION

From the content of this epistle it is already clear what its composition is and what parts it contains.