the
joy of Christ's second coming. St. Paul replies that those who are
alive at Christ's appearing will have no advantage over the dead (iv.
15). On the contrary, the dead will rise first, and then the living
Christians will be caught up together with them to meet the Lord. The
day will come with surprise, and will terrify the unprepared (iv. 1-v.
3).

He then calls them to watchfulness and sobriety. There follows an
exhortation to obey the clergy, and the early date of the Epistle is
again suggested by the fact that the titles which are used in his later
epistles are not given to the clergy of Thessalonica. The existence of
an order of prophets seems implied (v. 20). The Epistle has a special
blessing for these troubled Christians who look so wistfully for "the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."

{129}

ANALYSIS

Salutation, thanksgiving, and congratulation. The good fruit borne by
Christianity at Thessalonica is known of through all Macedonia and
Achaia (i.).

The character of the apostle's ministry there, a fresh thanksgiving,
the apostle desires to see his friends, but is hindered by Satan
working through adverse circumstances (ii.).

Timothy's expedition, a prayer (iii.).

Encouragement to obedience, exhortation against impurity and to work;
the blessed dead and Christ's second coming. The sudden coming of the
Lord (iv. 1-v. 3).

Practical conclusion based on the above doctrine (v. 4-28).

THE SECOND EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS

[Sidenote: The Author.]

The external evidence for the genuineness of the Second Epistle is even
stronger than that of the First. It is mentioned by Polycarp,[1] and
apparently by Justin Martyr.[2] It is also supported by the same
versions of the New Testament and by the same Fathers as the First
Epistle. In modern times it has been rejected even by some who accept
1 Thessalonians. Some of the objections which have been raised are
almost too trivial to deserve attention. But the prophetic and
apocalyptic passage in ii. 1-12 has been regarded by many critics as a
serious stumbling-block. It has been urged (a) that 1 Thessalonians
implies that St. Paul believed Christ would return immediately, whereas
2 Thessalonians implies that certain important occurrences must first
intervene. But there is no real contradiction. For 1 Thessalonians
represents the return of Christ as certainly sudden {130} and _possibly
soon_; it does not represent it