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2 Thessalonians (New Testament Readings) PDF

180 Pages·1994·2.77 MB·English
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2 Thessalonians The second letter to the Thessalonians, ascribed to Paul, is a difficult text for modern readers. Maarten Menken aims to make the letter accessible by treating it from a predominantly historical point of view, as part of a process of communication between its sender and the original addressees. A new translation of the short Greek text is provided. The book then examines three important aspects of its historical context: letter genre, authorship, and religious milieu. The nature of ancient letter-writing is discussed. Professor Menken offers an extensive introduction to apocalyptic eschatology and considers the implications of this element of the letter for our understanding of its original message. 2 Thessalonians is an apostolic, advisory letter, not written by Paul himself but by a later author who placed himself in the Pauline tradition, and who was at home in the realm of thought and the imagery of apocalyptic eschatology. Part 2 of Professor Menken’s book offers an extensive commentary on the letter and examines its literary structure in detail. 2 Thessalonians: Facing the end with sobriety will appeal to theologians, ministers of religion, students of theology and all those interested in biblical studies. Maarten J.J.Menken is Professor of New Testament Exegesis at the Catholic Theological University, Utrecht, The Netherlands. His previous publications include Numerical Literary Techniques in John (1985) as well as many contributions to periodicals and collected essays. He is Editorial Secretary of Novum Testamentum, an International Quarterly for New Testament and Related Studies. New Testament Readings Edited by John Court University of Kent at Canterbury JOHN’S GOSPEL Mark W.Stibbe EPHESIANS Martin Kitchen 2 THESSALONIANS Maarten J.J.Menken Forthcoming books in this series: MATTHEW’S GOSPEL David J.Graham MARK’S GOSPEL John Painter ACTS Loveday Alexander GALATIANS Philip Esler JAMES Richard Bauckman THE GOSPEL OF THOAMS Richard Valantasis READING THE NEW TESTAMENT John Court 2 Thessalonians Maarten J.J.Menken London and New York First published 1994 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002. © Maarten J.J.Menken 1994 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data. Menken, M.J.J. 2 Thessalonians/Maarten J.J.Menken p. cm. —(New Testament Readings) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Bible. N.T.Thessalonians, 2nd-Commentaries. I. Title. II. Title: Second Thessalonians. III. Series. BS2725.3.M46 1994 93–33187 227'.82077–dc20 ISBN 0-415-09504-2 (Print edition) 0-415-09505-0 (pbk) ISBN 0-203-13306-4 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-17817-3 (Glassbook Format) Contents Series editor’s preface vi Acknowledgements vii Introduction: 2 Thessalonians in historical perspective 1 2 Thessalonians in English translation 5 Part 1 The setting of 2 Thessalonians 1 2 Thessalonians as a letter 11 2 The author of 2 Thessalonians 27 3 The milieu of 2 Thessalonians 44 Part 2 A commentary on 2 Thessalonians 4 The structure of 2 Thessalonians 69 5 2 Thessalonians 1: Prescript and proem—the eschatological retribution 79 6 2 Thessalonians 2: The body of the letter—the day of the Lord has not yet come 96 7 2 Thessalonians 3: Exhortation and letter-closing—the disorderly brothers and sisters 125 Conclusion: 2 Thessalonians and Paul 146 Bibliography 150 Index of subjects 156 Index of references to biblical and other ancient literature 160 Series editor’s preface This volume has every right to stand on its own, as a significant contribution to the study of the book of the New Testament with which it is concerned. But equally it is a volume in a series entitled New Testament Readings. Each volume in this series deals with an individual book among the early Christian writings within, or close to the borders of, the New Testament. The series is not another set of traditional commentaries, but designed as a group of individual interpretations or ‘readings’ of the texts, offering fresh and stimulating methods of approach. While the contributors may be provocative in their choice of a certain perspective, they also seek to do justice to a range of modern methods and provide a context for the study of each particular text. The collective object of the series is to share with the widest readership the extensive range of recent approaches to Scripture. There is no doubt that literary methods have presented what amounts to a ‘new look’ to the Bible in recent years. But we should not neglect to ask some historical questions or apply suitable methods of criticism from the Social Sciences. The origins of this series are in a practical research programme at the University of Kent, with an inclusive concern about ways of using the Bible. It is to be hoped that our series will offer fresh insights to all who, for any reason, study or use these books of the early Christians. John M.Court Series Editor Acknowledgments Chapter 4, ‘The structure of 2 Thessalonians’, is an adapted and slightly abbreviated version of my article ‘The Structure of 2 Thessalonians’, in R.F.Collins (ed.), The Thessalonian Correspondence (Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium 82), Leuven: Leuven University Press—Uitgeverij Peeters, 1990, pp. 373– 82. I thank both publishers for their permission to reuse the article. Parts of the commentary on 2 Thessalonians 2 and 3 are an adapted and slightly abbreviated version of my article ‘Paradise Regained or Still Lost? Eschatology and Disorderly Behaviour in 2 Thessalonians’, New Testament Studies, 1992, vol. 38, no. 2, pp. 271– 89. I thank Cambridge University Press for their permission to reuse the article. I thank Professor James H.Charlesworth for his permission to include materials from J.H.Charlesworth (ed.), The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, 2 vols, London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1983 and 1985. Last but not least, I thank my colleague and friend Dr John M. Court, not only for his invitation to contribute a volume to the series New Testament Readings, but also for his critical remarks and his correction of my English. Introduction: 2 Thessalonians in historical perspective The letter known to us as Paul’s second letter to the Christian community of Thessalonica is in many respects a text that at first sight seems foreign to our present-day attitude to life. Its author, who calls himself Paul, is apparently very interested in what is usually called the second coming or parousia of Christ. He speaks of a revelation of Jesus from heaven with angels and with fire, of a retribution which means punishment for unbelievers and salvation for believers. He also asserts that Christ’s second coming will be preceded by apostasy and by the arrival of a person called ‘the man of lawlessness’, who is an instrument of Satan, and who performs signs and wonders. It seems that the author of 2 Thessalonians speaks in a mythical language about a topic that is hardly relevant to a modern reader. At the same time, we may have a feeling that this author touches on certain important points for both ancient and modern times. He speaks of the ultimate future of our world and of final justice to oppressors and oppressed, to persecutors and persecuted. He gives a perspective in which the reality of evil in history is taken seriously but not given the final word; for him, the course of history is in the end determined by God and Christ. He discusses the value of labour and the relationship between labour and the right to sustenance. One could only wish that he had treated these topics in a language that is more comprehensible to people living at the end of the twentieth century than the apocalyptic imagery he employed. As a part of the New Testament, 2 Thessalonians is considered by Christians as possessing a certain authority, and sections of the letter are sometimes read and explained in liturgical assemblies. For those in our society who are not themselves members of a Christian church, the letter may nevertheless have some importance because, as a New Testament letter, it is part of our cultural heritage and has had

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In this lucid expose the second letter to the Thessalonians is approached from a historical perspective. The letter is read as part of a process of communication between its sender and the original addressees, making it accessible to the modern reader.2 Thessalonians includes a translation of the sh
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