Summary: Bible - Book of 2 Thessalonians

The GIST

2 Thessalonians is a letter of three short chapters addressed to the Christian community in Thessalonica, the second city in Europe where Paul helped establish a church. It is sent in the names of Paul, Silvanus and Timothy, and it deals with a congregation under two kinds of pressure. From outside, they are being persecuted. From inside, they have been unsettled by a report, perhaps a message or even a letter claiming Paul's authority, that the day of the Lord has already arrived. Some have apparently stopped working. The letter comforts them about their suffering, corrects the rumor, and tells the idle to get back to their jobs.

Its three chapters match these three concerns almost exactly. It is best known for the mysterious passage in chapter 2 about a figure called the man of sin, who must appear before the end, and for a sentence in chapter 3 that passed into proverb: "if any would not work, neither should he eat." Whether Paul himself wrote the letter is debated, as described below. On the traditional view it was written from Corinth not many months after 1 Thessalonians, around AD 51 or 52.

What It Says

Thanksgiving in affliction (chapter 1). After the greeting, the writers give thanks for the church, and the thanks are specific. "Your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth." They boast about the Thessalonians to other churches, "for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure." The letter does not explain the suffering away. It sets it inside a larger frame. Their endurance is evidence that God's judgment is just and that they are being made worthy of the kingdom for which they suffer.

Then comes a promise of reversal. God will repay with affliction those who afflict them, and to the afflicted he will give rest, "when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels." The language is severe: flaming fire, vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel, and "everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord." On that day Christ will be glorified in his people and marveled at by all who have believed. The chapter closes with a prayer that God will count them worthy of their calling and bring every good purpose and work of faith to completion, so that the name of Jesus is honored in them.

The day has not yet come (2:1 to 12). The second chapter takes up the rumor. The writers beg the Thessalonians not to be quickly shaken or alarmed, "neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand." Whatever its source, the claim is false. "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition."

Two things, then, must happen first. One is a falling away, a great rebellion or apostasy. The other is the appearance of a figure who "opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God," and who goes so far as to take his seat in the temple of God and proclaim himself to be God. The readers are reminded that they were told about this in person: "Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?" Because they had that teaching and we do not, the next lines are among the most obscure in the New Testament. Something, or someone, is at present holding this figure back, so that he will be revealed only at his proper time. The mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but the restrainer remains until he is taken out of the way.

When the lawless one is revealed, his career will be short. The Lord will destroy him "with the brightness of his coming." His arrival will be attended by the power of Satan, with signs and lying wonders, and it will deceive those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth. For that refusal they are given over to a strong delusion and believe what is false.

The point of all this, in its context, is pastoral and practical. It is not written to encourage speculation but to end a panic. The day cannot have come already, since these things have not yet taken place.

Chosen and steadied (2:13 to 3:5). The tone shifts back to gratitude. "But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation." The Thessalonians are not among the deceived. They were called through the gospel to share in the glory of Christ. What they must do is hold their ground: "Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle." A prayer follows that Christ and God the Father, who has loved them and given them lasting comfort and good hope, will comfort their hearts and establish them in every good word and deed.

The writers then ask for prayer in return, that the word of the Lord may spread quickly and be honored, and that they may be rescued from wicked people, "for all men have not faith." The sentence that follows turns on the same word: "But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil." They express confidence in the church and pray that the Lord will direct their hearts "into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ."

The idle (3:6 to 15). The last section is a command, given "in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." The church is to keep away from any member who lives in an unruly way and not according to the teaching received. The problem is spelled out: some are "working not at all, but are busybodies." The letter does not say why they stopped.

The writers appeal to their own example. When they were in Thessalonica they did not eat anyone's bread without paying. They worked night and day, with labor and hardship, so as not to burden anyone. They had the right to support, but they wanted to give the church a pattern to imitate. And they had laid down a rule at the time: "if any would not work, neither should he eat." The idlers are now commanded to work quietly and earn their own living. Everyone else receives a brief word of encouragement: "But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing."

A measure of discipline is prescribed for anyone who ignores the letter. The church is to take note of that person and avoid his company so that he may feel ashamed. But the limit is drawn immediately: "Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother."

Closing (3:16 to 18). The letter ends with a prayer for peace "always by all means" and with a note of authentication. "The salutation of Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write." In a letter worried about false messages circulating under Paul's name, the signature matters.

Why It Matters

For so short a letter, 2 Thessalonians has had a large influence on how Christians think about the end of history. Its man of sin has been linked with the Antichrist of the letters of John and the book of Revelation, and identified with one historical figure after another; some scholars have seen in him a reflection of a Roman emperor such as Caligula. The restraining power has been explained in many ways and remains a puzzle. What the passage plainly teaches is a certain posture. Believers are not to be frightened or swept along by announcements that the end has arrived.

The instruction to hold the traditions taught "by word, or our epistle" has been important in discussions of authority. Early writers such as Basil the Great and John Chrysostom appealed to it for the place of teaching handed down orally alongside what was written.

The line about work has had a remarkable afterlife too. It was even adapted by Lenin as a slogan of the Soviet Union. In its setting it is addressed to people who were not working at all and were minding other people's business instead.

On authorship, scholars are close to evenly divided. Those who doubt that Paul wrote it point to differences from 1 Thessalonians in style, in tone and in its teaching about the coming of Christ, and suggest a follower writing toward the end of the first century. Those who accept it note that it was received very early, that a church holding a real letter from Paul would be slow to accept a false one, and that Paul draws attention to his own signature. A survey of scholars in 2011 found a majority in favor of Paul.

Who Should Read It

Read 2 Thessalonians alongside the first letter, as a companion piece. It will interest anyone curious about the roots of Christian teaching on the last days, and it offers steadying counsel to people rattled by predictions and alarms. Its closing chapter is a useful reminder that waiting for a better world is no excuse for neglecting ordinary duties in this one.