Dogmatic-fact of the Advent (iv. 13-18). The "leading" of the dead with Jesus necessarily follows from His Death and Resurrection. Let affection learn that we-i.e., those who may be alive-shall not have the advantage of the departed by one golden hour of His Presence (v. 15). Three circumstances selected: (a) Descent of the Lord to Judgment (v. 16). Time of the Advent: B. The day as they know-sudden (vers. 2-3). they are sons of light and sons of day (vers. 5-9). Mention of salvation leads him to soteriology. This, too, is a comfortable word (v. 11). General maxims : iv. 1. Affectionate respect for the Ministerial order as such (vers. 12, 13). 2. Peacefulness (ibid.). 3. Special duties to special classes (v. 14) 4. Love (v. 15); joy (v. 16); prayer (v. 17); thanksgiving (v. 18); cherishing the fire of the Spirit (v. 19); respect for prophecies, but a discriminating respect (vers. 21, 22); universal and impartial abstinence from every form of evil (ibid.). Solemn prayer and sweet promise (vers. 23, 24). Request for prayer. I Cor. ii. 4; iv. 3, 4; ix. 15; 2 Cor. ii. 17; v. II; xi. 9. But, as it is St. Paul's habit thus to repeat himself in undoubtedly genuine epistles, these repetitions are rather a proof than a disproof of genuineness. See Professor Jowett's masterly and convincing argument, St. Paul's Epistles, i. pp. 19–25.1 Its (b) As to external authority, early Church history records no doubt. reception into the Canon has ample attestation. It appears in the "Canon Muratorianus." "2 Tertullian cites it more than twenty times ;3 Irenæus and Clement of Alexandria upon several occasions.1 up these brief pages, which quiver with emotion (chapters i.-iii.). With chapter iv. begins a part of the letter more susceptible of regular analysis, and whose contents are sharply defined, and notched of by the preposition περί (περὶ δὲ τῆς φιλαδελφίας, iv. 9-12; περὶ τῶν κεκοιμημένων, iv. 13-18 : περὶ δὲ τῶν χρόνων καὶ τῶν καιρῶν, ν. 1). It is interesting to note how many germs we have in the earliest Epistle afterwards expanded and matured (see especially 1 Thess. v. 8; Ephes. vi. 13-17; cf. also i. 9--11; 1 Cor. xii. 2, iv. 12; Coloss. iv. 5; 2 Cor. vi. II; also the bare mention of "the trump of God," 1 Thess. iv. 16, with I Cor. xv. 52). “A similar growth is observable in the allusion to the duty of the Church to support the preachers of the Gospel when placed side by side with the larger manner in which the same subject is treated, I Cor. ix. ; 2 Cor. xi. 8, 9; xii. 13. In all these there is the kind of difference that we should expect to find between a thought or precept repeated, and the same thought expressed for the first time in a few words." (Professor Jowett, p. 24.) 2 "Epistolæ autem Pauli... ad Thessalonices sexta. Verum Corinthiis et Thessalonicensibus The Eucharistic kiss of peace (v. 26). IV. omnem orbem terræ ecclesia diffusa esse denos- The authenticity of this Epistle has censibus" and the full quotation of 1 Thess. v. 5 scarcely been seriously impugned. 1 The outline of the First Epistle is soft and undulating in the earlier chapters-Gentle memories; tender recognitions of the fruitfulness of grace among them; affectionate expressions of desire to see them; sympathy in their tribulations; an account of his present position, fill in Tert. De Resurr. Carnis, c. xxiv. and another equally explicit and lengthened quotation in the same chapter of 1 Thess. v. I. 4 I Thess. v. 23. Irenæus, Adv. Hares, vi. 1. I Thess. ii. 6. Clem. Alex. Pædag. i. 5. See full quotations in Kirchofer (Quellensammlung des N. T. Canons, pp. 174, 180), and Introd. Lib. Can. of Dr. Fr. Reithmayer (French translat.), p. 201. SECOND EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS. INTRODUCTION. I. Analysis II. Authenticity III. General Conclusions I. Analysis. [Much of this Epistle has already been discussed in the Introduction to the First Epistle. The Man of Sin is treated of in the Notes to Chapter II. The Apostle specially meets the two evils of feverish fanatical excitement in relation to the Advent; and of disorderly mendicancy. i. The Great Day, and errors about its nearness in time. Thanksgiving for their spiritual growth, and patience in persecution (i. 1-4). He points them to a day of impartial judg. ment; of refreshment to them; of everlasting punishment to the enemies of God (vers. 5-9). Twofold end of that coming for the Saints. Christ glorified in them; they glorified in Christ (vers. 10-12). Before the Day must come the Apostasy and Apocalypse of the Man of Sin; before that a hindrance to his Apocalypse must be removed. ANTICHRIST HAS, ANTICHRISTIANITY HAS, LIKE CHRIST— (a) A coming (v. 3). (b) An apocalypse (ib.). (c) A designation (v. 4). (d) A season (v. 9). (e) A parousia (v. 9). (f) Power, signs, won- (c) A faith or creed (v. LIKE CHRISTIANITY— ders (ib.). II). Hindrance to be removed before Antichrist's coming. St. Paul's teaching while with them made it unnecessary to go further (vers. 5, 6). Cause of the reception of Antichrist by his adherents moral and spiritual—not intellectual.'] ii. He has reason to thank God for them (vers. 13, 14). 1 [v. 10.—"Whatever, therefore, the prophecy means, those who are truly well-meaning cannot be involved in its censure."-Keble, Stud. Sacra, p. 235.] Second main subject of the Epistle. They are to discountenance all disorder (v. 6). Appeal to his own conduct-not that he had not a right to maintenance-but for example (vers. 7, 8, 9). Solemn exhortation to quiet work. Adjuration by CHRIST (on the same line with prayer TO HIM, vers. 10, 11, 12). How they are to treat the disobedient, with the affectionate sternness of a loving disapprobation (v. 15). Solemn prayer TO CHRIST-double sigh of supplication. (a) "The Lord of Peace give you peace ❞— Pax vobiscum. (b) Dominus vobiscum. Salutation (v. 17). Last sigh of prayer TO CHRIST (v. 17). Grace answering to grace, as in last Epistle (1 Thess. v. 28). II. The Second Epistle to the Thessalonians will require little to be said upon its authenticity. It was written while Silvanus could still be named with Paul and Timothy, and while all three were at Corinth, A.D. 53. The subscriptions which place it at Athens (Theodoret. Cathol. A, B); at Rome (Synops. St. Athanas.); at Laodicea (Pesch.) are in error. It is externally well attested (Irenæus, Adv. Hæres. III. vii. 2, quotes 2 Thess. ii. 8. Clem. Al. Strom. v. 5, quotes 2 Thess. iii. 1, seqq. St. Justin M. speaks of "the man of sin" (Dial. c. 110; 2 Thess. ii. 3-8; St. Polycarp quotes 2 Thess. iii. 15; ad Philipp. C. xi.). III. If the view which is taken in the Introductions to these Epistles be correct, our estimate of their importance will be proportionately enhanced. We shall consider it worse than inaccurate to content ourselves with speaking in a somewhat patronizing way of their undogmatic tone, of their peculiar caressing tenderness,' their engrossing sentiment, and unsystematic idealism. For we shall perceive in them a precise adapta tion to the wants of the Church and to the crisis of human society. The position of Christians and of Pagan civilization at the time when these letters were written is met at every point by these earliest lines of New Testament Scripture. (1) The Church still gazed after her Lord, who had ascended about twenty years before; in the times to come she wanted clear direction and authoritative example, that she might tell those who were to come after, whether the name which she bore was derived from the first of martyrs, or from the Lord of Glory; whether her prayers were to be directed to Him as the object of her worship; whether His Death was an illustrious example or the one true sacrifice. (2) He who ascended was so to come in like manner as He had gone up into Heaven. Was the Church to expect This tenderness is, no doubt, peculiarly a feature of the First Epistle to the Thessalonians (1 Thess. ii. 7, 8, 17-19; iii. 1-8; iv. 13-18; v. 14). And this softness as of a woman's heart manifested in St. Paul's first extant letter is an indication of the total change of character which had passed over him who had devastated the Church, and who had flung into prison for their faith's-sake even those whose weakness might well have been their protection. ("And haling men and women committed them to prison -Acts viii. 3.) New Test.-VOL. III. His return with the flurried pulse of a feverish expectation, with a wild excitement shaking humanity from its steadfastness? or was the honour of that Day concerned in the reverential calmness of a quiet expectation? (3) The Christian community, in the very freedom and spirituality of the new life, might be tempted to reject all ordinances as a burden, and all ecclesiastical organization as a useless or mischievous restraint. (4) The words of the Great Teacher were unwritten for a while; they lived in memories which were quickened by the Holy Spirit. What was the relation of those words to the doctrine which was being borne by every breeze, and along a hundred different roads, to the heart of Italy and Greece, to the cities of Africa and Asia Minor? (5) The old society was sick to death with diseases which it felt to be fatal, but for which it was unable to find a name, or to apply a remedy. If the view presented in these pages be correct, the Epistles to the Thessalonians contain precisely the answer to these questions. (1) The first writings of the New Testament Canon call Jesus "the Lord," and breathe forth repeated prayers to Him. (2) While they maintain the attitude of Advent, they warn the faithful against Pseudo-Apocalyptic fever-fits. (3) They incidentally imply an ecclesiastical organization, already compacted and recognized, which, if simple and free from intricacy, was yet solid as iron—a sacramental life already in existence which is never to fail until the end of time. (4) These Epistles disclose to those who will search for them carefully, words of Jesus--afterwards recorded in the Gospels-and those words are not introduced by way of accidental ornament, like pieces of old stained glass, which obtain a place in some window solely for their colouring, and contribute nothing to the design. They are rather like the rafters which, concealed from those who do not look for them, support the weight of the roof. (5) Finally, these earliest of the Canonical letters proclaimed to a world which was degraded by lust, and vitiated by the system of slavery, that purity is the first of moral virtues, and industry the first of 2 Y 1 social duties. Thus they served to prepare the way for the sanctities of Christian marriage, as well as for the recognition of the dignity of free labour and commercial pursuits. A revelation, which did not come into existence amidst the pomp of philosophical dispu 1 Is it fanciful to find in 2 Tim. iv. 10, a possible connection with this part of St. Paul's teaching to the Thessalonians? Exhortations to industry might easily be abused by unspiritual Christians; and Demas might find in Thessalonica a congenial atmosphere, where his love of the world might be indulged without absolute abandonment of the Christian community. 2. Grace unto you, and peace, from God cur Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.] The words after peace in the Text. Rec. are omitted by Lachm. (followed, as usual, by Prof. Jowett), and by Tischend.-probably wrongly. (1) The words are omitted chiefly in Alexandrian sources, and Western MSS connected with them. (2) The salutation would scarcely be very Apostolic, or indeed Christian without them. The omission would certainly be against St. Paul's invariable usage in all his letters, even in those which are addressed to individuals. (See Epistles to Timothy, Titus, Philemon.) [The omission in Coloss. i. 1 of the words kal kup. I. X., which are wanting in I Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ : Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; 3 Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our some MSS, can scarcely be sustained.] (See Reiche, Comm. Crit.' in 1.). "Peace"-this is the first word which Christ spoke to His disciples after the Resurrection. Therefore, Paul everywhere says, "grace unto you and peace." (S. Joann. Chrysost. 'in Joann. Homil.' LXXXVI.). Cf., for general sentiment and feeling, Philipp. i. 3, 4. at our prayers;] (ení with gen. signifying "at the time of any event;"" at the point of time when it takes place." Cf. Rom. i. 10; Ephes. i. 16; Philemon v. 4, for this. 3. work of faith, labour (toil, Bp. Ellicott) of love, and patience of hope.] (1) epyov, (2) KÓTTOU, (3) voμovñs, are added to (1) three great Christian graces to the Thessafaith, (2) love, (3) hope. He attributes the lonians, to each of which he thoughtfully assigns its specific property and attribute. (1) "work" in sing. signifies the perpetual central work which faith is and has, translating itself into work from its very nature; so that he who works little has little faith. On this conception of faith, cf. our Lord's words. When the Jews ask, "What shall we do that we may work the works of God?" Jesus answers, with an emphatic transition from the plural to the singular, "This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent" (St. John vi. 28, 29). (2) “Labour of love," laborious love. "Laboriosam charitatem" (Pagnini). "Love is much by itself, but much more if toilful labour (for such is the sense) be added to it.” (Grotius, |