2 Thessalonians
Paul’s first letter to the saints in Thessalonica in northern Greece is one of the first documents written that we have in our New Testament. From our understanding of the textualization of these early Christian documents, 2 Thessalonians is understood to probably be one of the last things written, most likely long after Paul had died. The majority of scholars agree that 2 Thessalonians deals with issues that were a concern decades after Paul’s death.
The two issues at hand are the unfulfilled expectations of the coming of Jesus in his triumphant Second Coming and some Christians in Thessalonica that were being lazy and living off of the generosity of the saints there.
Second Coming Expectations
Remember that in 1 Thessalonians Paul expected the Savior to come soon. 2 Thessalonians is the author’s attempt to explain why this has not yet happened. We read:
Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 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; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders… (2 Thessalonians 2.1-9, emphasis added)
The author is teaching why the Second Coming had not yet happened. Things must first take place: there must be a falling away first, ἀποστασία, an apostasia, or mutiny. Later in the text the author says that “he as God sitteth in the temple of God” – perhaps referring to the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 A.D. or even typologically referring to the usurpation of the temple by Antiochus Epiphanes in 167 B.C. We do not know. But the author is assuming that his listeners understand what he is saying. The situation in verse 4 seems to speak of events after the death of Paul, especially if he dies in Rome sometime between 64-68 A.D. 1
It is important to see and understand how different this letter is when compared to 1 Thessalonians. It is as if it is an entirely different message. In 1 Thessalonians, the time is short and Jesus is coming soon! In this letter, the author explains that things have to happen first and not to be too worried – hold on to your hopes and hold on to your jobs, for there is still time. 2 The author of this text must have been a Christian from one of the churches Paul had established who studied 1 Thessalonians and wrote in a way that mimicked this text, working to resolve problems of the Christians of his time. In scholarship this is referred to as pseudepigraphy.
Latter-day Saints may see in the statements about the “man of sin (being) revealed in 2 Thessalonians having reference to Satan being exposed through the First Vision, the doctrinal understanding brought with the Restoration – specifically the Book of Moses and other restoration texts, as well as the works of darkness that have proliferated in the Last Days. Certainly many LDS authorities have used 2 Thessalonians 2.1-4 to speak of general apostasy, or falling away from Christian teachings and practices as understood by the group of followers established by Jesus Christ in the first century. 3
Lazy Christians
The issue of lazy Christians is the topic of the last chapter of 2 Thessalonians. Paul instructed these lazy moochers to knock it off and get up and work! He said:
For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you; Neither did we eat any man’s bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you: Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us. For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread. But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing. And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. (2 Thessalonians 3.7-14)
Clearly to this author, anyone who would not work should not eat. This is an issue that is addressed in another Deutero-Pauline Epistle – 1 Timothy, most likely written about the same time as 2 Thessalonians, maybe even later. These seem to be issues faced by Christian communities around 100 A.D.
Why It Matters
It doesn’t really matter whether or not Paul wrote this letter, the statements in it are true. The man of sin was revealed through the Restoration (especially in the events of the First Vision), the Savior will come again, and we should work for our bread. Being a moocher of someone else’s hard work isn’t very Christian! The specific references to the apostasy in 2 Thessalonians have been understood and read by thousands of missionaries as they have preached the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. We know that historically Christianity lost its way. It has been restored and we work to build on the works of Paul and other apostles in preaching the Gospel in our day.
Notes
- John Chrysostom wrote that Nero killed the apostle Paul. He wrote: Two years then [Paul] passed bound, in Rome; then he was set free; then, having gone into Spain, he saw Jews also in like manner; and then he returned to Rome, where he was slain by Nero. See Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, volume XIV Saint Chrysostom: Homilies on the Gospel of St. John and The Epistle to the Hebrews, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York: 1906, p. 364. See also: Homilies on the Epistle to the Hebrews NPNF 1.14.364. 1 Clement 5.1-6 also gives reason to the tradition that Paul was executed in Rome, though the text does not explicitly state this. It says, “when he had borne his testimony before the rulers, so he departed from the world and went unto the holy place, having been found a notable pattern of patient endurance.” (1 Clement 5.6)
- Bart Ehrman does an excellent job of illustrating the difference between these two documents – 1st and 2nd Thessalonians in The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, Oxford University Press, 2000, p. 344-346.
- See for example: Elder Alvin R. Dyer, A New Dispensation, Conference Report, April 1963, pp. 48-52. Merrill J. Bateman, A Pattern for All, October General Conference 2005. Elder Robert D. Hales, Fulfilling Our Duty to God, October General Conference 2001.