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AUTHOR In his first letter to the Thessalonians, St. Paul had written something about the return of Christ and the resurrection of the saints, among other things, and so now he sends them another letter. (Ambrosiaster) DATE Somewhere around 50 BC. 2 Thessalonians was written at Corinth not long after 1 Thessalonians, for both Timothy and Silas are still with Paul (1:1), and the silence of the Acts shows that, once Paul left Corinth, Silas was not again his companion in the ministry. There seem to be allusions in 3:2, to the troublous stay of a year and a half at Corinth (Acts 18); in 2:14, to the letter quite recently written to the Thessalonians; and in 3:7-9, to the ministry of Paul among them as not long passed. (Catholic Encyclopedia) PURPOSE Knowing the benefit coming from the first letter to the Thessalonians, and the fact that despite being subjected to severe assaults for the faith they nobly bore the attacks of the adversaries, the divine apostle wrote a second letter to them as well, urging them to show courage and consoling them with the hope of future goods. Since some people tried to convince them that the time of the consummation was at hand, claiming the apostle said so, he wrote about this as well to make the necessary point that the enemy of truth must first be seen, namely the Antichrist, and then the coming of our God and Savior would take place. He also made useful recommendations to those choosing the life of idleness. (Theodoret of Cyrus) |
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