The life and work of St. Paul

THE SECOND 3SPISTLK TO THE THESSALONLA.N3. 343
when they had first drawn public attention to themselves, a number of them
wore sentenced to be burnt alive in the imperial gardens, and others to be
torn in pieces by wild beasts."
We may, then, say briefly that the object of the Second Epistle to the
Thessaloniang was partly to assure them that, though St. Paul believed the
day of the Lord to be near though he did not at all exclude the possibility
of their living to witness it yet it was not so instantaneous as in the least to
justify a disruption of the ordinary duties of life. 1 He had as little meant
positively to assert that he would survive to the Advent when he said "tee
that are alive," than he meant positively to assert that he should die before it
occurred, when, years afterwards, he wrote, " He which raised up the Lord
Jesus sliall raise up us also by Jesus." 2 That the " we " in these instances
was generic is obvious from the fact that he uses it of the dead and of the
living in the same Epistle, saying in one place, " We shall not all sleep,"* and
in another, " *
God will also raise up u$ by His own power."
On the nearness of the final Messianic Advent, the Jewish and the Christian
world were at one ; and even the Heathen were in a state of restless anticipa-
tion. The trials of the Apostle had naturally led him to dwll on this topic
both in his preaching at Thessalonica, and in his earlier Epistle. His Second
Epistle follows the general outlines of the First, which indeed formed a
model for all the others. Nothing is more remarkable than the way in which
the Epistles combine a singular uniformity of method with a rich exuberance
of detail* In this respect they are the reflex of a life infinitely varied in its
adventures, yet swayed by one simple and supremely dominant idea. Except
when special circumstances, as in the Epistles to Ihe Corinthians, modify his
ordinary plan, his letters consist, as a rule, of six parts, viz. : i. a solemn
salutation ; ii. an expression of thankfulness to God for His work among those
to whom he is writing ; iii. a section devoted to religious doctrine ; iv. a section
!i CV -^
1 The dread of some imminent world- catastrophe, preluded by prodigies, was at thi
time universal (Tac. Ann. vi. 28 ; xii. 43, 64 ; xiv. 12, 22 ; xv. 22 ; Hist. i. 3 Suet.
;
Nero, 36, 39; Dion Cass. Ix. 35; Ixi. 1618, &c.). Hausrath, N. Zeitgtsch. ii. 108.
Kenan
"
L'Antechritt, p. 35 : On ne parlait que de prodiges et de malheurs."
J 2 Cor. iv.
3
14.
1 Cor. xv. 51, on the reading, v. infra, p. 399.
4 1 Cor. vi. 14. Here, as in so many cases, a passage of the Talmud throws most
valuable light on the opinions of St. Paul, which, on such a subject where all special
illumination was deliberately withdrawn were inevitably coloured by the tone of opinion
in his own
" '
nation : When will Messiah come ?' asked R. Joshua Ben Laive
'
'
Go and ask Himself.' Where is He ? '
'At the gateway of
Rome. ' ' How shall I know Him ? '
'He sits among the diseased poor.' (Rashi quotes
'
Isa. liii. 5.) All the others change the bandages of their sores simultaneously, but Hd
prevalent
of Elijah the Tishbite.
change* them successively, lest, if called, His coming should be delayed.' R. Joshua
Ben Laive went to Him, and saluted Him with the words '
Peace be to thee, my Rabbi,
my teacher.' 'Peace be unto thee, Son of Laive,' was the answer of Messiah. 'When
will the Master come ? '
'
asked the Rabbi. TO-DAY,' was the answer. By the time the
Rabbi had finished telling the story to '
Elijah, the sun had set. How? said the Rabbi ;
' He has not come ! Has H lied unto me ? '
'No,' said Elijah. ' He meant " To-DAY, IT
" '
YE WILL HMA His YOic* (Ps. xcv. 7)." (Sanhedrin, f . 98, 1.) This involves the same
truth as the famous remark of St. Augustine, " Ergo latet ultimas dies, ut observentur
oiimei dies," which was also said by R. Eliczor.
See Reuse, TMol. Chret. ii. 11.