lonians to confirm them in the faith; to encourage them in enduring persecution; and to warn them against fornication, and excessive grief for their brethren who had departed in the faith.

190. Contents. Introductory salutation The Apostle commends the Thessalonians for their faith and ready reception of Christianity.

reminds them of the disinterested manner in which he had preached the Gospel to them.

praises them for their steadfastness in enduring per

secution.

declares his desire to see them, apologizes for his
absence.

thanks God for the favourable report which he had
received from Timothy concerning them
exhorts them to purity and brotherly love
dissuades them from excessive grief for their deceased
friends

instructs them concerning the resurrection

and warns them to prepare for the day of judgment
He then adds various practical precepts
prays for their sanctification, requests their prayers, ad-
jures them to read the epistle publicly, and concludes
with a benediction.

191. Undesigned Coincidences.

1. In chapters iv. and v. the Epistle speaks of the coming of Christ in terms which indicate an expectation of his speedy appearance. No impostor would have given this expectation to St. Paul after experience had proved it to be erroneous. We may therefore conclude that the Epistle was contemporary with St. Paul.

2. The Epistle concludes with a direction that it should be publicly read in the Church to which it is addressed. (v. 27.) If it was so read, it is scarcely possible that the Church of Thessalonica could be imposed upon by a false epistle, which in St. Paul's lifetime they received and read publicly as his, carrying on a communication with him all the while. If it was not, the clause we produce would remain a standing condemnation of the forgery, and one would suppose an invincible impediment to its success.

3. a. In the Acts (xvi. xvii.) we read that Paul and Silas were beaten with many stripes at Philippi, and their feet made fast in the stocks; and that when they departed from thence they passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, and came to Thessalonica, where Paul opened and alleged that Jesus was the Christ.

In the Epistle (ii. 2) St. Paul says to the Thessalonians, after that we were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold to speak unto you the gospel of God.

In

b. In the Acts (xvii.) we read, that at Thessalonica the house where Paul lodged was assaulted by his enemies. the Epistle (iii. 4), he says: When we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know.

c. The Acts bring Paul, Silas, and Timothy together at Corinth (xviii. 5). The Epistle is written in the name of these three persons, and speaks of their ministry at Thessalonica as a recent transaction. (See ii. 17.)

d. The harmony is indisputable, but the circumstances alluded to are expressly set forth in the narrative, and directly referred to in the Epistle; there is however one circumstance which mixes itself with all the allusions in the Epistle, but does not appear in the history anywhere, namely, St. Paul's intention of paying a visit to the Thessalonians during the time of his residing at Corinth.

Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us (ii. 18; see also iii. 10, 11). The writer of the Epistle could not have learned this circumstance from the history, for it is not there to be met with; nor, if the historian had drawn his materials from the Epistle, is it likely that he would have passed over a circumstance which is one of the most prominent of the facts to be gathered from that source of information.

4. From the Epistle (iii. 1-7) we gather that Timothy joined Paul at Athens, and was sent by him from that place to Thessalonica. The Acts does not mention this circumstance, but it contains intimations which render it extremely probable that the fact took place; for we are informed that when St. Paul came from Macedonia to Athens, Silas and Timothy stayed behind at Beroa; and that as soon as he reached Athens he sent back a message to them, for to come to him with all speed (Acts xvii. 14, 15). Again, the Apostle seems to have stayed at Athens on purpose that they might join him there, Now whilst Paul waited for them at Athens (Acts xvii. 16), and his departure from Athens does not appear to have been in any way hastened or abrupt.

5. Chap. ii. 14. For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judæa are in Christ Jesus, for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews.

It might seem at first sight that the persecutions of the first Christians were suffered at the hands of their old adversaries the Jews; but we find from the Acts, that although the opposition made to the Gospel usually originated from the Jews, yet in almost all cases they accomplished their purpose by stirring up the Gentile inhabitants against the new converts. Out of Judæa they had not power to do much mischief in any other way. Thus at Thessalonica (Acts xvii. 5), the Jews which believed not set all the city in an uproar. At Bercea, the Jews of Thessalonica came thither also, and stirred up the people (Acts xvii. 13). And in Iconium, the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil-affected against the brethren (Acts xiv. 2). The Epistle therefore represents the case accurately as the history states it.

6. a. From the Epistle (ii. 9, 10) we should naturally conclude that the Apostle remained some considerable time at Thessalonica, whereas in the Acts we are informed that he preached in the synagogue three sabbath-days. It is however probable that when the Jews rejected his ministry he quitted the synagogue and betook himself to a Gentile audience, as we know he did at Corinth (Acts xviii. 6—11), and at Ephesus (Acts xix. 9, 10).

b. In i. 9 the Apostle intimates that the great body of the Thessalonian Church had been converted from idolatry to Christianity; whereas in the Acts we are informed that some of the Jews believed, and of the devout Greeks (TWV TE σεβόμενων Ελλήνων) a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few (xvii. 4). If the above reading be correct, and it is supported by most мss. and vss., the passage must refer only to the effect of St. Paul's discourses during the three sabbath-days in which he preached at the synagogue; but Paley says that the expression is redundant, as of σeβόμενοι must necessarily have been Ελλήνες. He suggests that the correct reading is τῶν τε σεβόμενων καὶ Ἑλλήνων, which agrees better with the statement in the Epistle, and is confirmed by A, X, D, and the Vulgate version.

SECT. III.-THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS.

192. Authorship. This Epistle, like the former one, is quoted and recognized as the genuine production of St. Paul by Irenæus, Clemens Alexandrinus, Tertullian, etc.; it is placed among the homologoumena by Eusebius, but rejected

on internal grounds by some of the German critics. (See Davidson's Introduction.)

193. Time, place, and design. Silvanus and Timothy are joined with Paul in the inscription of this Epistle, as well as in that of the former; we may therefore conclude that it was written from the same place, namely Corinth, and not long after the first, namely, in the year 52 or 53 A.D.

We find in this Epistle that the Apostle had received fresh intelligence from Thessalonica, perhaps from the bearers of the first Epistle, perhaps from some other source. Among other things he was informed that the Thessalonians expected that the day of judgment would happen in that age, and consequently neglected their secular affairs. Some suppose that this misapprehension arose from their misunderstanding the sense of certain expressions in the former Epistle (1 Thess. iv., v.), whereas others think that they were imposed upon by an epistle forged in the Apostle's name, as well as by pretended revelations, erroneous interpretations of certain passages in the 1st Epistle, and incorrect reports of the words spoken by him at Thessalonica. This view, although contrary to that adopted by Paley, is supported by Davidson, Wordsworth, and other eminent critics, and certainly agrees best with 2 Thess. ii. 1, 2, Now we beseech you, brethren, that ye be not troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us (¿s di ¡μôv), as that the day of Christ is at hand. The principal object of the present Epistle was to correct this mistaken notion of the Thessalonian Christians.

194. Contents. Introductory salutation The Apostle thanks God, and prays for them Corrects their mistake concerning the day of judgment, which will not come except the apostasy come first and the Man of Sin be revealed

He then requests their prayers

Commands them to avoid the disorderly, reminds them of his own example, and concludes with a salutation and benediction

i.

1, 2 3-12

ii.

iii.

1, 2

. 3 to end

a. Commentators differ much in their interpretations of the prophecy in Chap. ii. concerning the Man of Sin, the apostasy, and the restraining power (τὸ κατέχον, ὁ κατέχων, A.V. what withholdeth, he who letteth).

The prophecy has been referred, by different interpreters, to Caligula, Nero, Domitian, Simon Magus, Mahomet, the Jewish nation, the spread of infidelity, and the Pope of Rome, and other historical characters; while some think that it has not yet been

fulfilled. Whether, as some suppose, the Man of Sin be the same as the Antichrist mentioned in 1 John ii. 18, and perhaps also in Dan. viii. and Rev. xiii., is a point concerning which we will not venture to offer an opinion; but from ii. 5, 6, and now ye know what withholdeth, we may conclude that the restraining power was well known to the Thessalonians, and existed even in their time. Some of the Fathers thought that the restraining power (TO KATEXOV) was the gift of the Holy Spirit then given to believers, but they more generally refer it to the Roman empire. Quis nisi Romanus status? says Tertullian, and this opinion has been adopted by many modern critics. Perhaps the most general interpretation of the prophecy is that which refers the Man of Sin to the Pope, the apostasy to the corruptions of the Romish Church, and the restraining power to the Roman empire.

According to this interpretation, the signs and lying wonders (ii. 9) refer to the pretended miracles of the Romish Church, the strong delusion that they should believe a lie, to the doctrine of transubstantiation, and (ii. 4), who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or worshipped.... refers to the adoration' claimed by the Pope. (See Wordsworth ad loc.)

b. The Epistle concludes with the following words, The salutation of Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all, Amen. The salutation here specified is the concluding benediction. We know from Rom. xvi. 22, that Paul usually employed an amanuensis, although the Epistle to the Galatians (vi. 11) was written by his own hand. This addition, which is found in all the Pauline Epistles,* appears to have been added as a safeguard against forgeries disseminated in his name.

195. Undesigned coincidences.

1. In the prediction concerning the Man of Sin is the following passage: 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 (ii. 5, 6).

The entire prediction is involved in great obscurity; but the verses just quoted refer to a former conversation, and it is possible that those who were present at that conversation may have understood what seems to us almost unintelligible. Paley remarks that this passage, referring to a former conversation, and difficult to be explained without knowing that conversation, proves that the conversation had actually oc

*All the Pauline Epistles end with some salutation containing the word grace.' In the present Epistle we have, The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all; in the Epistles to Titus and the Colossians, Grace be with you; in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all, etc.