Prove all things; hold fast that which is good, says Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:21. If it really is Paul. Most scholars say that it is, while casting a good deal of doubt on 2 Thessalonians, which strikes many as a repetitive copy of the first letter. But in fact there is no way to prove definitively the authorship of either letter. The “evidence” is stylistic and interpretive. Beyond that, we are left with arguments such as, “Well, Paul’s name is on them, and no one in the early Church doubted them.” Yet are Christians supposed to seek after proof? Doubting Thomas is gently chided for demanding law-court style proof before he would believe in Christ’s Resurrection: he insisted on being able to see and touch the wounds in Christ’s hands and feet (John 20: 24-29), prompting Jesus to say, “blessed are they who have not seen, and yet who have believed.”
March 31, 2023
March 31, 2023
March 31, 2023
Prove all things; hold fast that which is good, says Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:21. If it really is Paul. Most scholars say that it is, while casting a good deal of doubt on 2 Thessalonians, which strikes many as a repetitive copy of the first letter. But in fact there is no way to prove definitively the authorship of either letter. The “evidence” is stylistic and interpretive. Beyond that, we are left with arguments such as, “Well, Paul’s name is on them, and no one in the early Church doubted them.” Yet are Christians supposed to seek after proof? Doubting Thomas is gently chided for demanding law-court style proof before he would believe in Christ’s Resurrection: he insisted on being able to see and touch the wounds in Christ’s hands and feet (John 20: 24-29), prompting Jesus to say, “blessed are they who have not seen, and yet who have believed.”