1. NWT101C-03: A Survey of the New Testament
“Success is not permanent.
The same is also true of failure.”
NWT101C-03: A Survey of the New Testament
Chapter 21 / Part I
1 & 2 Thessalonians and The Pastoral Epistles:
A Legacy of Faithfulness

2. 1 Thessalonians: Congratulations and Comfort
 “Congratulations to believers on their conversion and progress in faith”
 “Exhortations toward further progress with emphasis on comfort from and expectancy toward the second coming of Christ”
21 – 1 & 2 Thessalonians
Introductory Issues: a). Did Paul stay short or long time in Thessalonica? B). Was it 1 or 2 Thessalonians the very first writing of the apostle Paul?
Main Background Source: Acts 17:1-15

3. 1 Thessalonians was written in Corinth ca
1 Thessalonians was written in Corinth ca and 2 Thessalonians was also written a few months later.
Occasion: “Timothy rejoined Paul in Athens, went back to Thessalonica, and then rejoined Paul in Corinth. His report provided the occasions for Paul’s writing on 1 Thessalonians (cf. 3:1-2 with Acts 18:5). We infer, then, that Paul wrote Thessalonians from Corinth during his second journey, not very many weeks after evangelizing the addressees.”
R. H. Gundry (p. 398)
21 –1 & 2 Thessalonians

4. 1 Thessalonians: On the Second Coming
Rapture as catching up of Christians at the second coming of Jesus
Translation as immortalizing the bodies of Christians still living at the second coming
Resurrection as enlivening the bodies of deceased Christians at the second coming
Parousia used for second coming implying the coming of a high rank person and the meeting together with the host in arrival
Day of the Lord as time of the second coming
21 – 1 & 2 Thessalonians

5. 2 Thessalonians: Correction on the Second Coming
Presence of Paul through his personal letters!
1. Concerning the Parousia (2:1-12)
Be not deceived (vv. 1-4)
Coming of lawless one (vv. 5-12)
mustērion of lawlessness is ēdē at work (v. 7)
2. Exhortations and Instructions (3:1-15)
Request for prayer (vv. 1-2)
Confidence in obedience (vv. 3-5)
Teaching against idleness (vv. 6-15)
admonishing the ataktoi (1 Thess. 5:14) and keep away from believers who are living in ataktōs (2 Thess. 3:6) for “…If any one will not work let him not eat” (2 Thess. 3:10)
21 – 1 & 2 Thessalonians

6. 2 Thessalonians: Correction on the Second Coming
It is necessary that the man of lawlessness (the antichrist) must appear before the day of the Lord.
It is Paul’s intention to exhort the Thessalonians for a settled Christian living despite of the soon return of Christ.
21 – 1 & 2 Thessalonians
Encouragement – pointed to Christ’s return
Correction – warning about any deception
Restraint-Restrainer – unnecessary to identify