Loading...I thought it migh be interesting for readers who like on occasion to get down into the weeds of scholarship to see a more detailed argument for how the *similarity* of 2 Thessalonians to 1 Thessalonians suggests not that Paul wrote both of them but that a later author (of 2 Thessalonians) was imitating Paul’s authentic letter (1 Thessalonians). Here’s how I express the case in my book Forgery and Counterforgery (Oxford University Press). [Don’t worry about the Greek: you can either just see the similar letters or look up the verses in your English translation]:
2 Thessalonians as a Forgery
One reason the case for the inauthenticity of 2 Thessalonians has occasionally seemed wanting, even to some very fine scholars, is that critics have often resorted to a shotgun approach, citing every possible argument, good or bad, in support of their position. It is all too easy to dismiss bad arguments, leaving an appearance of evidence in balance, pro and con. And so, for example, the letter is often said to lack Paul’s customary “warmth” (are all of Paul’s writings necessarily warm? Even to the same congregation? Think of the different fragments of correspondence with the Corinthians – including 2 Corinthians 10-13); the focus is on Christ as Kurios rather than on his cross (does Paul have to focus on the cross, in everything he says?); the letter does not employ the diatribe style (as if Paul was obliged to do so?); the letter is lacking in justification language (do we need to read every Pauline letter with Lutheran blinders?). A scholar like Malherbe can easily dismiss such claims, making the other arguments seem weak by association.
A better tack is
Get access to Dr. Ehrman's library of 4,000+ articles plus five new articles per week about the New Testament and early Christianity. It costs as little as $2.99/mth and every cent goes to charity!
Unlock 4,000+ Articles Like This!
Fascinating post! When Paul (or someone claiming to be Paul) penned these letters, do you think they had any idea these treatises would be collected, collated, and enshrined as canon of a new religion?
If Paul was merely firing off letters with what was on his mind at the time, I’ve always wondered if he’d be surprised (and likely pleased) to learn his words would eventually become The Inspired Word of God.
There just seems to me a huge gulf between the informal act of writing a letter and having that letter elevated as doctrine. A person would write differently with two different aims, for one.
Do scholars ever remark on the strangeness of having letters in the Bible in the first place?
I don’t think he had any idea at all. But he did expect his letter to be considered authoritative, just as Paul was an authority. And yes, scholars are quite alert to issues of genre in the NT. In this case, “letters” make sense because they show how an apostle’s views were supposed to be authoritative for the early Christian communities, when he could only be one place at a time.
Hey Bart,
Given the differences of 1 and 2 Thess. to the rest of the Pauline corpus, what makes scholars/you believe that 1 Thess. was indeed written by Paul and not a later Christian claiming to be Paul?
Thanks
It’s a judgment call, but it’s because the writing style, theology, presupposed historical situatoin and everything else about 1 Thessalonians conforms with what we know about Paul from other probably Pauline letters.
Thank you Dr Ehrman for your explanation.
Thank you. It’s great to have some posts that go deeper.
Re 2nd Thessalonians: If it is being written a few years after 1st Thess couldn’t Paul have changed his mind on how imminent the endtimes were?
If he asked Timothy to write to the Thessalonians and use 1st Thess as a template so they know its from Paul, and Paul would sign it at the end – wouldn’t that explain things just as well as a later forger?
Sure. Most anything’s possible when it comes to authorship. It’s also possible, e.g., he wrote 3 Corinthians and the Letter to the Laodiceans. It’s always a judgment call. But in the case of 2 Thess, it appears even to those who hold authenticity that it was written soon after 1 Thess. If so, it seems unlikely he’d completely flip his views. But possible! I give a fuller discussion of the argument(s) in my book Forgery and Counterforgery. (But there’s no evidence of people in the ancient world assigning letters like this to colleagues/secretaries and then signing off; the only time that appears to happen — e.g., Cicero and Tiro) is when it’s a very brief form letter.