In this series of “nutshell” overviews of each of the books of the New Testament, we move now to one of the most intriguing instances of a book that claims to be written by Paul, but was apparently, instead, written by someone else who wanted his readers to think he was the apostle.

2 Thessalonians is an intriguing case because the book certainly sounds a lot like Paul’s other letters and does indeed appear to be a kind of follow-up letter to 1 Thessalonians.  It also has numerous word-for-word similarities to 1 Thessalonians.  It too, for example, is written by “Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy” (1:1)  and is addressed “to the church of the Thessalonians in in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 1:2) – both verses being virtually identically to 1 Thessalonians.

Moreover, its contents are closely related to the other letter: both are concerned about the suffering the Thessalonian Christians are experiencing through persecution and especially about their misunderstanding about when Jesus is to return on the Day of Judgment.  Near the conclusion of 2 Thessalonians the author assures the readers that he really is Paul, and indicates the “proof” – as in all his letters he is signing off in his own hand (meaning a scribe has taken down his dictation for the letter and now he himself writes the ending so the readers can verify his handwriting).

It certainly seems like a slam-dunk case that this is a follow up letter by Paul and his companions.

But there are compelling reasons for thinking it is not, that it is a letter written in imitation of 1 Thessalonians, but with a strikingly different message.  Its main point, in fact, appears to stand at odds with 1 Thessalonians.   I will explain all that in the next post.

In this one, I will summarize the major themes and emphases of the letter, regardless of who wrote it.

I begin with a one-sentence, 50-word summary of the book:

2 Thessalonians is a Deutero-Pauline letter written to assure Christians in Thessalonica that the “Day of the Lord” is not imminent: an anti-Christ figure empowered by Satan and called the “man of lawlessness” must first arise and declare himself to be God before Jesus returns in judgment to destroy him.

Here is how I explain the book more fully in my New Testament textbook (The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings; Oxford University Press)

******************************

Whoever the actual author of 2 Thessalonians was, its occasion appears to be reasonably clear. It was written to a group of Christians who were undergoing intense suffering for their faith (1:4–6). We do not know how this suffering manifested itself—whether there was some kind of official civic opposition to these people, or hostility from the local population, or something else. We do know that the author wrote to assure his readers that if they remained faithful, they would be rewarded when Christ returned in judgment from heaven. At this “parousia” of Jesus, those who opposed them and rejected their message would be punished with “eternal destruction”; but the saints would enter into their glorious reward (1:7–12).

A second reason for the letter was that some members of this Christian community had come to believe that the end of time had already come upon them, that is, that the day of judgment was going to happen not in the indefinite future but right away (2 Thess 2:1–2). Some of those who thought this found confirmation in prophecies spoken by members of the congregation and, still more interestingly, in a letter that was reputedly written by Paul (2 Thess 2:2). The author of 2 Thessalonians, claiming to be the real Paul, warns his readers not to be deceived. Whatever an earlier forger may have asserted, the end had not yet come because there were certain events that had to transpire first (2 Thess 2:3).

The author describes these events in an apocalyptic scenario that sounds very much like what we find in the Apocalypse of John (see chapter 28). A kind of Antichrist figure is to be revealed on earth before Christ returns; this “lawless person” is ultimately “destined for destruction” (2 Thess 2:3). Exalting himself above every other “so-called god or object of worship,” he will eventually take his seat in God’s Temple in Jerusalem, “declaring himself to be God” (2:4). The author reminds his readers that he fully informed them of this scenario when he was with them (2 Thess 2:5); moreover, it has obviously not yet occurred, since no one has yet come forward to assume the grandiose role of this Antichrist. Indeed, the author mysteriously indicates that there is some supernatural force restraining the lawless one for the time being; but once this force is removed, he will make his appearance, setting in motion the final confrontation between Christ and the forces of evil headed by Satan (2 Thess 2:6–12).

In large measure, then, this letter was written to assure this congregation of Christians that the end was not yet upon them. As “Paul” fully instructed them previously (2 Thess 2:5), Christ would not return until this apocalyptic scenario played itself out.

We discover in the final chapter of the book that the problem in the congregation may not have simply been one of establishing an appropriate timetable for upcoming events. Some members of this church apparently were so persuaded that the end was absolutely imminent that they had quit their jobs and were simply waiting for it to happen (2 Thess 3:6–15). Their decision had grave social implications. Those who had kept their jobs were having to feed those who hadn’t, and this situation of apocalyptic freeloading was a source of tension in the congregation. In terms quite reminiscent of 1 Thessalonians, the author reminds his readers how he and his companions had lived among them, working for their own meals and refusing to be a burden on others (2 Thess 3:7–10). He insists that they do likewise (2 Thess 3:11–15).

The question is, was this author actually Paul? It must be admitted that in places, at least, he sounds like Paul: for instance, in the letter’s opening, which, as I pointed out, is very close to the opening of 1 Thessalonians, and in the recollection of Paul’s toil among the Thessalonians when he was first with them (2 Thess 3:8; very similar to 1 Thess. 2:9).  In addition a number of Pauline themes are sounded throughout the epistle: the necessity of suffering, the expectation of ultimate vindication, and the apocalyptic hope that stood at the core of Paul’s gospel.

But do these similarities mean that Paul wrote the letter? The problem from a historian’s point of view is that someone who had decided to imitate Paul would no doubt try to sound like Paul. If both Paul and an imitator of Paul could sound like Paul, how could we possibly know whether we are dealing with the apostle himself or one of his later followers?

That’s what I’ll deal with in the next post.