Christ in the Bible: 1 & 2 Thessalonians

Being a manual laborer in a Greco-Roman city was a hard life by modern and ancient standards, and the thought that it might not be necessary must have been appealing. The idea is plainly that love and respect are essential in Christian relationships, and that living off the charity of others unnecessarily is unloving and disrespectful to the charitable brother s or sister s concerned. It is important to remember that work does not always mean paid work.

Many forms of work—cooking, cleaning, repairing, beautifying, raising children, coaching youth, and thousands of others—meet the needs of family or community but do not receive remuneration. Others—the arts come to mind—may be offered free of charge or at prices too low to support those who do them. Nonetheless, they are all work.

Christians are not necessarily expected to earn money, but to work to support themselves, their families, and the church and community. The mandate in Genesis 2: Paul may have the Genesis 2: Given the importance of work, Christians are to be the best workers they can be. Failure to work with excellence may bring the church into disrepute.

Many Cynics in the Greco-Roman world abandoned their jobs, and this behavior was widely regarded as disgraceful. In 1 Thessalonians 4: With respect to work, Christians should be model citizens. By placing the idlers under discipline, the church would effectively be distancing itself from their defective behavior. Mature Christians are to set an example for young Christians by modeling a good work ethos.

Although Paul knew it was the right of the minister of the gospel to be financially supported 1 Tim. He saw the need to set new converts an example of what the Christian life looked like, and that meant joining them in manual labor. Itinerant philosophers in the Greco-Roman world were often quick to burden their converts financially, but Paul did not care about having an easy life or projecting an image of superiority over his spiritual charges.

Christian leadership is servant leadership, even in the arena of work.

Second Epistle to the Thessalonians

The positive view of hard work that Paul was promoting was countercultural. The Greco-Roman world had a very negative view of manual labor. However, Paul has no time for any rationalizations. He wants the idle brothers to embrace his perspective and to set an impressive, not disgraceful, example for their unbelieving contemporaries. Eerdmans, , 8: Doubleday, , —29; idem, Paul and the Thessalonians: Fortress, , 99— Deichert, , 93; I. Paul is an advocate of social welfare and charitable giving, but only for those who are genuinely in need. Paul clearly regards the early manifestations of generous provision for the unemployed Thessalonian Christians as appropriate expressions of Christian love 1 Thess.

It would have been easy for the benefactors to become disillusioned with charitable giving in general and to shy away from it in the future. The key factor in determining whether someone unemployed was worthy of charity or welfare was a willingness to work 2 Thess. Some who are perfectly capable of working do not, simply because they do not want to—they do not merit financial or material assistance. Verse 13 assumes that there are legitimate charitable cases in the Thessalonian church. In practice, of course, it is difficult to determine who is slacking versus who is willing yet genuinely unable to work or find a job.

This reality has led to deep divisions among Christians with respect to social policy, as practiced by both the church and the state. A particularly thorny question has been support of single mothers with small children and of all persons unemployed for long periods during economic recessions.

Or does it subsidize a culture of removal from working society, to the detriment of both the individual and the community?

These are difficult, challenging issues. Yet we should engage politics and social discourse with respect, kindness, a healthy humility that our views are not infallible, and an awareness that the same passages may lead other believers to contrary conclusions.

Introduction to the First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Thessalonians

The biblical insistence that Christians should work so as to be self-supporting wherever possible ultimately has in view the extension of the kingdom of God on the earth. Engaging dialogue on the theology of work Click to listen. The words of 2 Thessalonians 3: The intention was, of course, to induce a short, sharp shock in the offending brothers by alienating them, and thereby bring them back into line.

The negative consequences of shirking work go beyond the burden placed on others. Those who evade work often end up spending their time on unwholesome pursuits. Louw and Eugene A. Medendorp and Douglas W. Eerdmans, —93 , 3: They are most visible in several explicit passages, and especially in 2 Thessalonians.

Underlying both letters is the principle that Christians are called to work to the degree they are able.

Navigation menu

Work is required to put food on the table, so eaters should be workers. Not everyone has equal capacity to work, so the measure of work is not the quantity of achievement, but the attitude of service and commitment to excellence. In contrast, those who shirk their duty to work should be confronted by the church. We're grateful to God that we've accomplished many of our objectives to help people engage with the Bible's wisdom for their work. Help us finish the year strong.

• Ultimate Accessory.
• Motifs - Book 1 - Beginner and Intermediate motif patterns (Donnas Motif Patterns).
• Wrestling with the Goddess.
• Do You Sleep in the Nude?.
• 2 Thessalonians 1 NIV - Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church - Bible Gateway?
• 2 Thessalonians!

We ask that you prayerfully consider joining us in this work! Every resource on our site was made possible through the financial support of people like you. Based on a work at www. Finishing Up 1 Thessalonians 4: The structures of the two letters to which Best refers include opening greetings 1 Thess. In 2 Thessalonians these begin with similar successions of nine Greek words, at 1: The opening letter section 1: The second, balancing, letter section 2: Of the twelve pieces in 2 Thessalonians seven begin with 'brother' introductions.

Of the eighteen pieces in 1 Thessalonians fourteen begin with 'brother' introductions. In both letters, the sections balance in size and focus, and in many details. In 2 Thessalonians , in 2: Of the books in the New Testament suspected of pseudepigraphy , 2 Thessalonians has the most evidence to support its authenticity. Milligan observed that a church which possessed an authentic letter of Paul would be unlikely to accept a fake addressed to them. The lack of consensus regarding a date and destination Another scholar who argues for the authenticity of this letter is Jerome Murphy-O'Connor.

Admitting that there are stylistic problems between Second Thessalonians and First Thessalonians , he argues that part of the problem is due to the composite nature of First Thessalonians Murphy-O'Connor is only one of many scholars who argue that the current text of Second Thessalonians is the product of merging two or more authentic letters of Paul. Once the text of this interpolated letter is removed and the two letters compared, Murphy-O'Connor asserts that this objection is "drastically weakened", and concludes, "The arguments against the authenticity of 2 Thessalonians are so weak that it is preferable to accept the traditional ascription of the letter to Paul.

Those who believe Paul was the author of Second Thessalonians also note how Paul drew attention to the authenticity of the letter by signing it himself: Other scholars who hold to authenticity include Beale , [18] Green, [19] Jones, [20] Morris , [21] and Witherington. At least as early as , when J.

Schmidt published his opinion, Paul's authorship of this epistle was questioned. Many today believe that it was not written by Paul but by an associate or disciple after his death, representing what they believed was his message. Thessalonica was the second city in Europe where Paul helped to create an organized Christian community. At some point after the first letter was sent, probably soon, some of the Thessalonicans grew concerned over whether those who had died would share in the parousia. This letter was written in response to this concern. The problem then arises, as Raymond Brown points out, whether this letter is an authentic writing of Paul written by one of his followers in his name.

If this letter is authentic, then it might have been written soon after Paul's first letter to this community—or possibly years later.

Brown notes that Paul "most likely visited Thessalonica several times in his journeys to Macedonia". However, if the letter is not authentic, Brown notes that "in some ways interpretation becomes more complex. These scholars emphasize the appearance of " man of sin " in the second chapter of this letter, whether this personage is identified with the Antichrist of 1 John and Revelation, or with a historical person like Caligula.

Chapter 1 Thessalonians and 2 Thessalonians

The traditional view is that the second epistle to the Thessalonians was probably written from Corinth not many months after the first. Biblical commentator and pastor John Macarthur writes, "The emphasis is on how to maintain a church with an effective testimony in proper response to sound eschatology and obedience to the truth. Paul opens the letter praising this church for their faithfulness and perseverance in the face of persecution:. The letter contains a whole chapter regarding the second advent of Christ, among other themes and instructions.

From the inference of 2: This error is corrected in chapter 2 2: Seeing as how this series of events has not yet happened, his argument reads, Christ cannot have returned yet. He then expresses thanks that his readers were the elect of God, chosen for salvation and saved by His grace through faith, and thus not susceptible to the deception of the " Great Apostasy ," 2 Thess 2: In 2 Thess 2: The letter continues by encouraging the Thessalonian church to stand firm in their faith, and to "keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother" 2 Thess 3: Paul ends this letter by saying, "I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, and this is a distinguishing mark in every letter; this is the way I write.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all" 2 Thess 3: Macarthur writes, "Paul added an identifying signature cf. A passage from this book reading "For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat", 2 Thess. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Easton, Matthew George