2 Thessalonians: Introduction to 2 Thessalonians

Basic Orientation to the Letter

Who wrote the letter?

Like 1 Thessalonians, the letter claims to come from Paul, Silvanus and Timothy and ends with Paul claiming to write in his own hand (3.17). Unlike 1 Thessalonians, there is quite a bit of disagreement as to whether or not Paul wrote this letter.  While many scholars accept the attribution found in the letter itself, others claim it is a later epistle not from Paul himself but likely after he died.

When was it written?

Clearly the answer to this depends on whether one accepts its as genuinely Pauline.  In that case it was likely written not longer after 1 Thessalonians in the early or mid 50s.  If, however, it is thought not to be be Paul then it could be much later, perhaps sometime in the last two decades of the 1st century.

Introduction from Zondervan NIV Study Bible

Introducing the Second Letter to the Thessalonians - Resources

Biblical Theologians

Mark Allan Powell has resources based on his Introducing the New Testament (Baker 2009)

His page on 2 Thessalonians has various resources for students and teachers including the following PDFs:

Authorship of 2 Thessalonians

Antecedents for an Antichrist

What Was the Rumor?

Who (or What) Is the Restrainer?

Christian Freeloaders

2 Thessalonians in the Revised Common Lectionary

Bibliography: 2 Thessalonians

Todd D. Still, co-author of Thinking Through Paul, discusses whether Paul thought Jesus would return sooner rather than later on the basis of 1 & 2 Thessalonians

In this video he explains Paul's instructions regarding the "unruly" in the Thessalonian church.

Gene Green, co-author of The New Testament in Antiquity, explores why Paul teaches about the end times in 1 & 2 Thessalonians

Here Green explains why 1 & 2 Thessalonians include so much about work

Bibledex video on 2 Thessalonians from University of Nottingham

Introduction from Jeffrey A.D. Weima's 2014 commentary on 1 & 2 Thessalonians in the Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament series

Download (PDF, 1.59MB)

An excerpt from Gene L. Green's 2009 Pillar commentary on 1 & 2 Thessalonians

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Biblical Training Website

This website has a number of helpful introductory resources including

Dr Robert Stein's New Testament Survey series on

2 Thessalonians (28 mins)

 

Dr Craig Blomberg's Introduction the New Testament: Romans to Revelation series on

Thessalonians (44 mins)

Thessalonians Part 2 (53 mins)

 

Dr Bill Mounce's New Testament: Its Structure, Content and Theology series on

Acts 15.36-18.22 and 1 & 2 Thessalonians (1 hr 24 mins)

 

Luther Seminary's Enter the Bible Website

This has resources on 2 Thessalonians by Matt Skinner including

Summary

Outline

Background

Introductory Issues

Theological Themes

On the right hand side of the page are various further resources including short commentaries on key texts and 3 short videos.

The Text This Week Website

This has resources relating to

2 Thessalonians as a whole

Specific passages from 2 Thessalonians

 

Fulcrum Articles on 2 Thessalonians

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