the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians

The fourteenth book of the NT. This letter of Paul to the Macedonian church at Thessalonica was written shortly after the letter known as I Thessalonians. For details of date, context and venue, see the previous entry.

During his sojourn with the Thessalonians and in his first letter to them, Paul had spoken extensively about the coming of the Lord. Certain statements in his first letter (or similar ones made while he was at Thessalonica), may have led them to expect Jesus to return in the immediate future (I Thes 2:19; 3:13; 5:23). Paul's intention in the first letter had been to show the suddenness of Jesus' coming (I Thes 4:16). In this second letter he clarifies this by pointing out (II Thes 2:2-12) that the "day of the Christ" could not have come yet because certain conditions had still to be met. There will first be a falling away from the faith by some and the appearance of a fugure Paul calls "the man of sin,� the son of perdition". If these things are obscure to the modern reader, it is because Paul had explained them in detail to the Thessalonians while he was with them; now it was enough for him to say "you know what is restraining" (2:6) without further elaboration.

Because members of the congregation seem to have understood (as some were actually saying), that the end had already begun, there were those who decided it was not necessary to work and earn a living. Some may have been predisposed to this even before Paul's coming to them, because he had already spoken out against such laziness while he was there (I Thes 4:1ff; II Thes 3:10). In this second letter he goes to some length (3:6-15) to stress the need for honest industry. He recalls that he and his companions had worked even during the short time they were in Thessalonica, and he lays down disciplinary measures to be taken against any who persist in their voluntary unemployment.