First and Second Thessalonians

by Nathan Eubank

  Hold Fast to the Traditions (2:13–15)

  13But we ought to give thanks to God for you always, brothers loved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in truth. 14To this end he has [also] called you through our gospel to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours.

  NT: 1 Thess 2:13–14

  Catechism: Tradition, 74–83

  [2:13–14]

  As in 1 Thessalonians, Paul repeats his thanksgiving (see 1 Thess 2:13–14; 2 Thess 1:3).38 Throughout this section there is also a conspicuous repetition of language from 1 Thess 2. He addresses them as brothers loved by the Lord, words reminiscent of Moses’s description of the tribe of Benjamin (Deut 33:12), which was Paul’s own tribe. God chose them, which recalls the formal reaffirmation of the relationship between God and Israel in Deuteronomy: “The Lord chose you today that you should be his peculiar people . . . to keep all his commands” (LXX 26:18 [my translation]). It is unlikely that the Thessalonians would have caught the biblical echo, but this suggests once again that Paul considered these former pagans to be recipients of the inheritance of Israel.

  In some important ancient manuscripts it says not that God chose them as the firstfruits [aparchēn] but rather that God chose them “from the beginning [ap’ archēs].” The difference in Greek is only one letter. If the latter reading is right, Paul is saying that God had chosen them from the very beginning of creation to belong to him, despite the fact that this surprising reality had only recently been revealed. If the NABRE is correct to accept the former reading, Paul’s point is that the Thessalonians are like a portion of a harvest that is the first or the best and is offered to God. There are reliable ancient manuscripts attesting to both readings. One can never be certain in such cases, but there is good reason to think the NABRE got it right. Though it is no doubt true according to Pauline theology that God chose the Thessalonians from before creation (e.g., Eph 1:4), nowhere else does Paul use the phrase “from the beginning [ap’ archēs].” He does, however, apply the label “firstfruits” metaphorically on a number of occasions (Rom 8:23; 11:16; 16:5; 1 Cor 15:20, 23; 16:15).39 His point here would be that they are but the beginning of a larger harvest of converts who will be holy, devoted to God. Though they are currently a beleaguered minority, Paul hints that there will be (or are already) more who follow in their path. Paul draws here, as elsewhere (Rom 11), on the Old Testament teaching on firstfruits, but it was also common in pagan antiquity to set aside firstfruits to the gods, so Paul’s encouragement would have been understandable regardless of their knowledge of the Scriptures.40

  Paul says they are the firstfruits for salvation (see commentary on “salvation” in 1 Thess 5:9) and mentions two means by which God set them aside for this end: their salvation is through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in truth. God’s sanctifying Spirit has been given to them (see commentary on 1 Thess 4:3–8) to make them holy so they will be found worthy when the Lord returns. They in turn offer their “belief” or “trust” in the truth, in contrast to those mentioned in 2:9–12, who prefer lies. The main idea of the second half of verse 13 is restated in a slightly different way in verse 14: God called you through our gospel. “Through our gospel” means here “through Paul’s preaching,” as Thomas Aquinas paraphrases.41 The call comes from God (1:11; see also 1 Thess 2:12; 4:7; 5:24) through the instrument of Paul’s missionary activity. As Paul puts it in 2 Corinthians, “We are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us” (5:20).

  In the Thessalonian correspondence the language of divine calling is always linked to sanctification—it is a call to become like God—and this passage contains perhaps the most arresting articulation of this idea (see also 1 Thess 2:12; 4:7; 5:23–24; 2 Thess 1:11). The purpose of the call is for them to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.42 What does the “glory” of Christ refer to here, and how could the Thessalonians come to possess it? In the Old Testament the glory (Greek doxa) of God is God’s visible radiance, the splendor that surrounds him in the heavenly throne room (Isa 6:1; Ezek 1:28) and that will one day be revealed to all people (Isa 40:5), though the earth is already full of divine glory (Isa 6:3; Ps 8) in the sense that it attests to the greatness of the Creator. In 2 Thess 1:9 Paul describes the fate of the damned as being estranged from the “glory” of the Lord, cast away from his brilliance (Rom 3:23). This verse adds to this idea, claiming that the saved come to possess Christ’s glory for themselves, which would mean that they participate or share in that glory. This could mean sharing in the honor of his rule over all things, but the link to sanctification suggests that it means what later Church Fathers would call “theosis” or divinization, being transformed to become like God. Theosis is already implied by sanctification, and Paul’s later letters often link salvation to participation in divine glory (Rom 2:7; 2 Cor 3:18; Phil 3:21).43

  [2:15]

  Sometimes verse 15 is quoted as a freestanding statement about the importance of tradition, but it is important at least in the first instance to read it for what it was originally: a final instruction designed to protect the Thessalonians from wandering into error again. After reassuring the Thessalonians that the day of the Lord has not yet come (2:1–12) and that they are on the path to salvation (2:13–14), Paul attempts to prevent this sort of confusion from taking root again: stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught. The word translated “tradition” (paradosis) can have the sense of handing something down, such as the traditions handed down (paradidōmi) about Jesus’s death (1 Cor 11:23–26) and resurrection (1 Cor 15:1–11) in the early years of Christianity. Paul saw the traditions he handed down as having divine origins because they came ultimately from the Lord (see commentary on 1 Thess 2:13). Standing firm and holding fast suggests a contrast to the Thessalonians’ current “shaking” with fear (2 Thess 2:2). By holding lightly to what they had been taught, they made themselves vulnerable to the idea that the day of the Lord had already come, and in 3:6–13 we discover another tradition to which the Thessalonians need to cling: working to support oneself.

  Paul specifies two forms of tradition that they should hold to, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours. The phrase “oral statement” translates logos (“word”), referring to Paul’s preaching and teaching. The Thessalonians are to hold fast to what Paul taught regardless of whether they received it when he was with them or by letter. Paul’s oral teaching and his letters are to be the authoritative guards against possible sources of confusion mentioned in 2:2: spirits, oral teaching from other sources, and letters supposedly from Paul. One of the three sources of information mentioned in verse 2 is conspicuously absent here: the utterances of “spirits.” Why doesn’t Paul ask them to hold fast to authentic prophetic utterances as well? In 1 Thess 5:20–21 he instructed them not to despise prophecies but to test all things and hold on to the good. Since that time the Thessalonians do not seem to have done well at weighing ideas and holding to the good. It may be that he preferred to direct the “shaken” converts to the truths that would help them discern true prophecies from false in the first place.

  Reflection and Application (2:13–15)

  Scripture and Tradition. Catholics have sometimes appealed to 2 Thess 2:15 to defend the view that there are two sources of revelation: Scripture (written tradition) and oral tradition.44 Since the Second Vatican Council, Catholic teaching has stated strongly and repeatedly that there is only one source of revelation—God—and that Scripture and Tradition are the two modes of transmitting divine revelation.45 Why does this matter? A 1962 lecture given by a young Joseph Ratzinger on the eve of the Council helps to explain what is at stake.46 For one thing, speaking of Tradition as a discrete “source” of revelation encourages the erroneous idea that all Church teaching was already formulated in the first century and was then pas
sed down orally to be defined publicly at some point in the future. Professor Ratzinger rightly objects, “History can name practically no affirmation that on the one hand is not in Scripture but on the other hand can be traced back even with some historical likelihood to the Apostles.”47 In other words, it is impossible for historians to defend the view that everything the Church now teaches was known by Tradition in the apostolic period. It is clear that doctrine has developed in the Church through the centuries “through the contemplation and study made by believers, who treasure these things in their hearts” (Dei Verbum 8). Moreover, treating Scripture and Tradition as the “sources” of revelation can lead to a serious theological error. This approach narrows the concept of revelation to a finite list of truths, whereas the Fathers and medieval theologians taught that revelation is divine self-gift that always exceeds our knowing.48 As the Council’s declaration on divine revelation, Dei Verbum, would go on to put it, there is one “divine wellspring” of revelation from which flows both Scripture and Tradition.49 This is why sacred Tradition is rightly said to be “living”: it reflects the people of God’s ongoing search for the face of the Lord.

  Tradition and Traditions. Broadly speaking, the New Testament describes two kinds of tradition (Greek paradosis): traditions that distract from the truth, and holy traditions that guide one into it.

  Stand firm and hold fast to the traditions [plural of paradosis] that you were taught. (2 Thess 2:15)

  We instruct you . . . to shun any brother who conducts himself in a disorderly way and not according to the tradition [paradosis] they received from us. (2 Thess 3:6)

  I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold fast to the traditions [plural of paradosis], just as I handed them on to you. (1 Cor 11:2)

  You have nullified the word of God for the sake of your tradition [paradosis]. (Matt 15:6)

  In her book on the importance of tradition in Scripture, Edith Humphrey points out that English Bibles since the King James Version tend to use the word “tradition” only in negative contexts.50 When Jesus condemns paradosis that nullifies the word of God, the KJV and many English Bibles since are happy to use the translation “tradition.” But when the same Greek word is used in a positive context, it is translated as “instruction” or “teaching” or some other word. The New International Version largely follows the KJV in casting a sinister light on “tradition,” as does the New Living Translation.51 The tendency of English Bibles to make “tradition” something to be avoided arises from and reinforces a Reformation suspicion of tradition, and it also obscures the fact that these passages speak not just of “teaching” but of something handed down and treasured. It would be a mistake, however, to assume that traditions are always a good thing. As Thomas Aquinas notes in his commentary on 2 Thessalonians, traditions are not to be kept if they are contrary to the teaching of the faith.52 Indeed, Paul himself tells the churches in Galatia not to listen to anyone who teaches something contrary to the gospel (Gal 1:8).

  Prayer for Strength (2:16–17)

  16May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement and good hope through his grace, 17encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed and word.

  NT: 1 Thess 3:11–13

  Lectionary: 2 Thess 2:1–3a, 14–17; Memorial of Saint Augustine

  [2:16–17]

  In a prayer very similar to 1 Thess 3:11–13, Paul asks our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father to console the Thessalonians and empower them to do good deeds.

  LIVING TRADITION

  Divine Assistance in Doing Good according to 2 Thessalonians 2:16–17

  The North African bishop St. Fulgentius (468–533) writes:

  To be sure, divinely given grace works in a man so that his heart, upon receiving the gift of faith and love, may both bring forth worthy speech and persevere in zeal for doing good. This is divinely given to the faithful, as the blessed Apostle both shows and prays for when he says, “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good work and word.”a

  The monk John Cassian (ca. 360–435) writes:

  The endurance with which we are able to put up with the temptations hurled at us depends not so much in our power as in the mercy and guidance of God. The blessed Apostle thus teaches, “No temptation has come upon you but what is common to humans. But God is faithful and will not allow you to be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation will provide an escape so you will be able to bear it” [1 Cor 10:13]. And the same Apostle teaches that God adapts and strengthens our souls for every good work. . . . “May the God of peace, who brought out of shadows the great shepherd of sheep, Jesus Christ, in the blood of the eternal covenant, adapt you in all goodness, working in you what is pleasing in his sight” [Heb 13:20–21]. And that the same may come to the Thessalonians he prays thus: “May the Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father who loved us and gave us eternal consolation and a good hope in grace exhort your hearts and confirm you in every work and good word” [2 Thess 2:16–17].b

  a. Fulgentius of Ruspe and the Scythian Monks: Correspondence on Christology and Grace, trans. Rob Roy McGregor and Donald Fairbairn, FC 126 (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2013), 109.

  b. Conlationes 3.17 (my translation).

  The prayer states that God has already loved us and given us everlasting encouragement and good hope through his grace. The encouragement or consolation is “everlasting” in the sense that it is has already been given but will never end. The “good hope” refers to the hope of their final salvation. Though this phrase does not appear elsewhere in Scripture, it was used occasionally by Jews and pagans to refer to the hope of life after death.53 The words “through his grace” indicate again that this is a divine gift. Paul prays that God would encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed and word. In modern English, “heart” refers to the source of a person’s emotions, but “heart” here and in the Bible generally refers to the center of a person’s being, the source of thinking and willing as well as feeling. God will strengthen them to speak the word, which could refer to their own evangelizing efforts. The encouragement and strength he prays for contrasts with their current state of confusion, and the mention of good deeds foreshadows the coming rebuke of those who have been idle.

  1. See the discussion in Jeffrey A. D. Weima, 1–2 Thessalonians, BECNT (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2014), 501–2.

  2. Abraham J. Malherbe, The Letters to the Thessalonians: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, AB 32B (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000), 429.

  3. Bart D. Ehrman and Zlatko Pleše, The Apocryphal Gospels: Texts and Translations (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), 323.

  4. See also Acts of Paul and Thecla 14; Irenaeus, Against Heresies 1.23.5.

  5. This passage reads very differently on the assumption of non-Pauline authorship. See, e.g., M. Eugene Boring, I & II Thessalonians, NTL (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2015), 259–81.

  6. Homiliae in epistulam ii ad Thessalonicenses (PG 62:469 [my translation]).

  7. Homiliae (PG 62:469 [my translation]). See also 2 Pet 3:3–4.

  8. Weima, 1–2 Thessalonians, 504–6.

  9. See also 2 Pet 3:3–4; Jude 1:17–19.

  10. This same phrase refers to Judas in John 17:12.

  11. In Scripture only the Johannine Epistles use the word “antichrist” (1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 1:7), where it refers to a coming figure (1 John 2:18) as well as to all who deny that Jesus is the Christ (1 John 2:22) or that he came in the flesh (2 John 1:7).

  12. The NABRE’s “claiming that he is a god” is grammatically possible but contextually unlikely. From a Jewish perspective, pretending to be the One who resides in the temple is a claim to be God.

  13. Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 14.4; Jewish War 1.7.6; Tacitus, H
istories 5.9.

  14. Josephus, Jewish War 2.184–85; Tacitus, Histories 5.9; Philo, The Embassy to Gaius. Caligula’s assassination prevented his wish from being carried out.

  15. Naturally, those who read 2 Thessalonians as the product of a later follower of Paul will put more weight on these later events.

  16. See chaps. 2, 8, and 17. The figure spoken of is probably Pompey.

  17. Béda Rigaux, Saint Paul: Les Épitres aux Thessaloniciens, EBib (Paris: Lecoffre, 1956), 660–61.

  18. See the discussion in Weima, 1–2 Thessalonians, 518–23.

  19. I take “now” (nun) to modify “what is restraining,” not “you know” as in the NABRE. See Gordon D. Fee, The First and Second Letters to the Thessalonians, NICNT (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009), 286–87.

  20. The City of God 20.19, in The City of God, Books XVII–XXII, trans. Gerald G. Walsh and Daniel J. Honan, FC 24 (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1954), 298.

  21. For longer discussion including more proposals, see Weima, 1–2 Thessalonians, 567–77.

  22. See Tertullian, The Resurrection of the Flesh 24.

  23. Boring, I & II Thessalonians, 276.

  24. On this point and in support of this reading generally, see Colin Nicholl, “Michael, the Restrainer Removed (2 Thess. 2:6–7),” JTS 51 (2000): 27–53, esp. 42–50. Weima (1–2 Thessalonians, 574) notes that Rev 20:1–3 likewise speaks of an angel temporarily restraining evil (in this case, the devil) that will be unleashed in the final days.