Introduction to 2 Thessalonians

Introduction

A NOTE BEFORE WE BEGIN

This study material can be very enriching either for small-group Bible Study or for personal study and growth.  We will occasionally offer instructions that would be useful for a small-group study.

Introductions for a Small-Group Bible Study

If you are studying as a group, it is important to build community, beginning with ensuring that everyone knows everyone else’s name.  If you are either (a) starting a new year, or (b) have several new members, begin with introductions.  One way to do this would be to ask everyone in the group to answer these questions:

Share with the group your name, your connection to the Church or the parish or this group, and why you are interested in studying the Bible with other people.

When have you received a letter (or perhaps an email) that was especially important in your life?  What was it about?

This is a study of Paul’s Second Letter to the Thessalonians.

See the Introduction to 1 Thessalonians for the primary background information for this letter.

Introduction to 2 Thessalonians

After Paul wrote his first letter to the Thessalonians (known as 1 Thessalonians), something went wrong.  We don’t know precisely what problem arose, but in 2 Thessalonians, Paul warns the Thessalonians (in 2 Thess. 2:2) not to become alarmed by a letter allegedly sent from him, claiming that the day of the Lord “is at hand” (NABRE) or “is already here” (NRSV) – i.e., that the Second Coming has already begun.  (“The day of the Lord” was the term used in prophetic books of the Old Testament – Daniel, Isaiah, Joel, and others – for the miraculous time when God would bring victory for the Jews.  Christians re-interpreted it as the day when Christ would return in power and glory.)

Paul suggests in 1 Corinthians 16:21 and Galatians 6:11 that he ordinarily dictates his letters and someone else does the actual writing (the formal term for that person is an “amanuensis”).  At the end of this letter (2 Thess. 3:17), Paul implies that he always signs his letters in a way that is distinctive and identifiable.  He is suggesting that a forgery written in his name could be detected because it would be missing Paul’s genuine signature.

It is also possible that Paul’s own words in his first letter were a source of the Thessalonians’ confusion.  In 1 Thessalonians, he described the Lord’s coming as a sudden event, and they may have interpreted “sudden” to mean that it was imminent and they might have missed it.

Most scholars believe this letter was written by Paul shortly after 1 Thessalonians, in which case it was probably written around AD 50 from Corinth.  However, other possibilities have been suggested: Some say that it was written before 1 Thessalonians; some say it was written to some other church; and some suggest that it was written decades later by someone else using Paul’s name (which would be highly ironic given its claim that Paul’s authentic signature offers clear evidence that the letter was written by him).

In this letter, Paul wants to clear up confusion about the Second Coming of Christ.  He also wants to reinforce and expand on his teaching about the kind of orderly life that Christians should live.

When has something you have said been misrepresented?  What did you do about it?

Do you have distinctive ways of writing or of using the signature block at the end of your emails, or distinctive ways of beginning or ending your emails or texts, that people might use as a guide to deciding whether a message is actually from you?  How important to you are those signs of your individuality, and why?

How is your individuality important in the body of Christ and in the kingdom of God?

Take a step back and consider this:

Paul is eager to guide the young church at Thessalonica – to support them in their faith, thank them for the love they show for one another, and encourage them in their endurance in the face of persecution.

Paul has great concern for the church at Thessalonica.  How do you demonstrate a concern for your own local church?  In what ways do you support your fellow church members in their faith, participate in and bolster their love for one another, and encourage those who are facing difficulties?