In 2 Thessalonians, Paul's addressing a situation in Thessalonica where believers were worried they'd missed Jesus' return and had lost hope. Some were duped by false teachers that were forging letters to make them look as if they had come from Paul ( 2 Thessalonians 2:2 ). Which book of the NT has been attributed to Paul even though it does not claim Pauline authorship? The document is conceived in the spirit of the synoptic Gospels and is probably not earlier than the first quarter of the second century. Most apparent is the Greek, where 1:3-8 and 1:9-11 are single sentences. 174175, 203). var months=new Array(13); So in 2 Thessalonians we read of "our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us. 1 Thessalonians 2:16b means that the divine wrath in its full and final manifestation had drawn very near to the Jews collectively as a people since by and large they were opposed to the gospel (pp. have followed? var time=new Date(); The undisputed letters say Paul was blameless before following Christ while Ephesians says he followed the desires of the flesh, b. Ephesians says Christians have been raised with Christ while the undisputed letters look forward to being raised with Christ, c. Ephesians speaks of works of the law while the undisputed letters talk about works more generally, d. Ephesians has much longer sentences than the undisputed letters, a. it will come like a thief in the night, c. it should not encourage apocalyptic freeloading. Which of the following does not represent a methodological issue for the study of Paul? Paul ultimately became the bishop of the Roman church. For example, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 Paul encourages the community with the message of the nearness of the Lords return. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. 5:8, 10) and their rejection of the gospel (pp. Faith Baptist Bible College and ACA Agree to Preschool Rental Space, Wilkenings to Join Faculty and Staff at Faith Baptist Bible College, Goergen Ends Eagles Career as an All-Time Great On and Off the Court, 2023 Faith Baptist Bible College and Theological Seminary, Federal Compliance | Institutional Goals and Effectiveness | Title IX Policy | Privacy Policy. Ibid. months[9]="Sept."; 1 Corinthians was written from what city? Archived post. Finally, the idea of canonical pseudonymity falls short ethically. First, the NT itself argues against pseudonymity. The church is depicted as a cosmic entity (2:19; 4:15) instead of a local gathering of believers. In Romans, he writes the night is far gone, the day is near (Rom 13:12). The lawless one's revelation and humanity's final rebellion are prerequisites for Jesus' second coming. Colossians proclaims the present status of believers in terms usually reserved in the undisputed letters for their resurrection (2:9-14; cf. Which of the following books is definitely not pseudonymous? Finally, the urging of wives (3:18) and slaves (3:22) to be subordinate appears to not sit well with the admonitions found in 1 Corinthians 7 and Philemon. Obviously these critics hold a very low view of Scripture. The term rebellion referred to in 2 These 2 : 3 is NOT a translation from the greek but an interpretation of the translator(s) of this particular Bible version of the greek word apostasy used there. Home \ Faith News \ Pseudonymity and the New Testament. Issues for the church in a multi-racial society, The Gospel of John: Introduction, Exposition and Notes, The Faith of Jesus Christ. Rom. Bassler, Jouette M. 2010. A careful reading of 2 ( as well as ) 1 Thessalonians shows that in the Thessalonians epistles the Holy Spirit through Paul is NOT discussion the departure OF THE FAITH referred to elsewhere by Paul ( 1 Timothy 4:1) but that rather in 2 Thessalonians Paul is encouraging and restating The Hope of The Believers that they ( we) will be meeting The Lord in the air upon Our Lords Return to earth to set up His Kingdom. Bassler, Jouette M. 2010. The background of 1 Thessalonians 4:1318 was the failure of the Thessalonians to incorporate Pauls teaching about resurrection into their thinking, so that they feared that their dead would be excluded from future salvation (pp. Write your answer on the answer line. The author thinks that Christians already participate in Christ's resurrection. This suggests that 2 Thessalonians, like the Pastorals, wasn't known as part of the Pauline corpus to the author of Ephesians. This is in opposition to in many of his prior letters to both Thessalonians and other cities. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with powerful angels.". In addition, many Christian colleges and universities and virtually all secular universities are filled with professors who accept the pseudonymity of NT epistles as a standard presupposition. Christs cosmic role and divine nature are emphasized in ways barely anticipated in the undisputed letters (1:15-20; 2:9-10; cf. months[6]="June"; 2 Thessalonians 1:10, 12; 2:14. After a thorough introduction of 45 pages there is a verse-by-verse exegesis in which no issue is dodged and adequate attention is given to matters of lexicography, syntax, and theology. 8. so that he may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before God and Father. Murray J. Harris Also suggested is that the canonical order is wrong and that 2 Thessalonians was written first. It is not written for the instruction of a particular community but aims rather to dissapate the general uneasiness of Christian thought in regard to the Parousia, impatiently expected and continually postponed. Required fields are marked *. 2 Thessalonians b. For some of the Gospels and teachings, we know who the authors were. Bishop's Encyclopedia of Religion, Society and Philosophy, Follow Bishop's Encyclopedia of Religion, Society and Philosophy on WordPress.com, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xApDbRDz8U8&t=320s. We got the seven authentics. var year=time.getYear(); The two are close enough together to be related, but in 2 Thessalonians the Christology represents a later thinking and piety. One of the central concerns in the Pastoral epistles is _____. This is a forum for discussion of academic biblical studies; including historical criticism, textual criticism, and the history of ancient Judaism, early Christianity and the ancient Near East. In 2 Thessalonians 2:67 that which restrains may be the preaching of the gospel to all nations (Mk. At that time unbelievers will be condemned and believers will be saved. Among the Pauline documents in the New Testament, six are thought by many to be pseudonymous, i.e., documents falsely claiming to be written by Paul.1 These six include: Ephesians, Colossians, 2 Thessalonians and the Pastoral Epistles . Some are anonymous, and others are pseudonymous, meaning that they were written by someone pretending to be someone else. The reference in 2:2 suggests that the letter belongs to the deutero-Pauline period, and the letter may have been intended to replace 1 Thessalonians entirely. Beyond these technical arguments lies an even more critical issue. The outlier is 2 Thessalonians. First, the vocabulary differs somewhat from Pauls undisputed letters (8). "; Not really able to afford the most recent academic work, I can't find much accessible scholarly commentary on 2 Thessalonian's authorship. Those who reject it say its eschatology differs too much, and even the author's insistence that he isn't a pseudonymous author is actually evidence he is. I would really like to thanks for the efforts youve got made in writing this post. In the first letter Paul says the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. Bassler, Jouette M. 2010. Second, significanttheological differencesexist between the two letters, especially concerning their eschatological views (2). The lettersstyle appears unusualfor Paul, with long, loose sentences and many repetitious phrases (9). Can this tell us anything about when it was written and who truly received the letter? Though historians cant say definitively whether the letter was written by Paul or not, you can compare the letter to others written by him and draw your own conclusions. 3:1 f.; 2 Cor. Namely, is it legitimate to include a pseudonymous epistle within the NT canon? (2) It is often erroneously claimed that the ancient world had no concept of copyright or intellectual property, and thus it was perfectly normal for someone to use a popular name to promote his own work. James is specializing in the area of new religious movements and is currently guest lecturing and tutoring in the Sociology of Religion and Comparative Religion. 2 Thessalonians b. Paul had worked very hard establishing the church ( 2 Thessalonians 3:7-9. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic. He is a graduate in Creative Brand Communication and Marketing (CBC), and in Theology (majoring in Psychology). The purpose of this article is three-fold. One reason some scholars doubt the authenticity of the authorship claim of 2 Thessalonians is _____. var date=time.getDate(); For instance, there is no indication that different groups are being addressed in these letters. When comparing the Deutero-Pauline and Pastoral epistles with those considered genuinely Pauline, which of the following is not evidence against Pauline authorship? Furthermore, the generation following Paul tended to ascribe to Jesus attributes and functions that Paul's generation reserved to God, a tendency that was a natural consequence of a developing Christology. bomb on Hiroshima? In 1 Thessalonians 1:9b10 Paul echoes traditional missionary phraseology such as would be used in preaching to Gentiles (cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, 9-12. Often, certain historical or theological presuppositions drive scholars to find or to contrive arguments for pseudonymity. Udo Schnelle, translated by M. Eugene Boring. Which of the following is pseudonymous? Serious students of the Bible know that many popular commentaries are written by scholars who deny the traditional authorship of many NT epistles. 3:6-15). During the last quarter of the 20th century a majority of biblical scholars came to support the view that 2 Thessalonians is a pseudonymous composition. 1 Thessalonians anticipates thesudden arrival of the day of the Lord like a thief in the night with no warning signs (3). Which of the following is not a different between Ephesians and the undisputed letters? Three years later and no less consistently Marshall has interpreted the epistle as the work of Paul, thus doing for 2 Thessalonians what E. M. B. 1 Corinthians b. Typical ideas, words and expressions point to a more developed situation in doctrine and forms of Christian life than is seen in 1 Thessalonians and all the other undisputed Pauline letters.'. p. 389. 8083). 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