The relation between 1 Thessalonians and 2 Thessalonians and the inauthenticity of 2 Thessalonians

摘要

The relation between 1 Thessalonians and 2 Thessalonians is a disputed?question. Many scholars argue that 2 Thessalonians is pseudepigraphic, written one or more decades after 1 Thessalonians. ?Others defend?the authenticity of 2 Thessalonians. Wanamaker argues in his recent?commentary that 2 Thessalonians was written before 1 Thessalonians. In?this way the problems raised by the complicated relation between the two?letters would be solved. Wanamaker argues that Timothy on his visit to?Thessalonica (1 ?Thes 3:1-5) brought the letter we call 2 Thessalonians.?Lecompte argues that Silas wrote 1 Thessalonians and that Paul himself?is the author of 2 Thessalonians, so he could correct the misunderstandings caused by Silas's writing. Or perhaps Silas did not exactly write?what Paul had agreed with his co-workers. I will argue in this article?that the arguments used by Wanamaker and Lecompte are invalid for?grammatical reasons. The great resemblance between 1 Thessalonians?and 2 Thessalonians in spite of these different opinions, is best explained?if we see 2 Thessalonians as a pseudepigraphic epistle.