II. THESSALONIANS.

CHAP. I. This Second Epistle to the Thessalonians appears to have been written not many months after the former, viz. A. D. 52,* while the apostle continued at Corinth, still accompanied by Timothy and Silas, or Silvanus.† He appears to have received a favourable account of the reception of his former letter, but withal saw reason to write another, in order to give the members of this new church some farther admonitions and informations concerning some mistakes they were still under, and to enforce such articles in his former advices as they had not given sufficient attention to.

2. It cannot but be observed, that in the usual tenor of Scripture language, God and Christ are carefully distinguished, the appellation of God being given to the Father only, exclusively of Christ, as well as of all other beings.

5. The maxims of God's moral government being wellknown to these Christians, they would take it for granted that the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, which could not with propriety be made in this world, would be made in another.

7. We see here, as in the former epistle, that these persecuted Christians are referred for their reward, to the second coming of Christ, to raise the dead and to judge the world. No hint is given them of any recompence between the time of death and the resurrection, which the apostle could never have overlooked, if he had known of any such

state.

9. These terms, literally interpreted, would imply that the wicked are to be finally destroyed, and an end put to their existence. But the term destruction is often used in the Scriptures to denote calamity in general, and such as has its period; and if the wicked be raised from the dead, and continue to exist, it is not possible, unless the constitution of their natures be entirely changed, but that their sufferings will, in length of time, work a favourable change in the state of their minds, so that after an adequate punishment, their sufferings may be remitted, though it is probable they will never acquire that state of glory in which the virtuous will be established. But we are wisely kept in ignorance con

See Lardner, VI. p. 304; Doddridge, V. p. 397.

"Silas, which was the Jewish name, altered, probably, into Silvanns, the Roman name, in conformity to the other epistle, written to the Gentiles, as this was to some Jewish converts.' Grotius in Bowyer.

cerning the purposes of God beyond the resurrection and the day of judgment. Of this we may be confident, that our Maker, and the Judge of all the earth, will do that which is right, and consequently that it will be well with the righteous, but that woe will be to the wicked, since they will both receive according to their works.

PARAPHRASE.

I Paul, accompanied by Timothy and Sylvanus, address this second epistle to the members of the Christian church at Thessalonica, who believe in the one true God, the Father, and in his Son, Jesus Christ. May you enjoy all favour, and all the blessings which God bestows upon mankind, by the gospel of his Son.

We esteem it our duty, as it is highly proper in itself, to thank God for your increasing steadfastness in the faith, and that the effects of it appear in the increasing affection which you bear towards each other. On this account you are the subject of our boasting in other churches, as also on account of the patience and fortitude which you have shewn in all the troubles and persecutions with which your faith has been tried. But in this you ought to rejoice, as what will certainly be followed by distinguished honour and happiness in the kingdom of God, after that day of righteous judgment in which he will reward all the faithful disciples of his Son, and confound all his enemies. It is by the prospect of this that you are enabled to bear your present sufferings. It is indeed just that God, according to his promise, should exemplarily punish those who now distress you. But, as to you who are at present in distress on this account, wait with patience, together with us, and all the disciples and followers of Christ, for the glorious time when he shall return from heaven, with power and great glory, accompanied by the angels, his ministers, flaming as it were with vengeance against all those who, notwithstanding the better information they have received, continue in ignorance, and in opposition to the gospel of Christ. In that awful day all such enemies of the gospel, and of you who profess it, shall be for ever driven from the joyful and glorious presence of that Saviour, who, in that great day, will appear truly glorious in the eyes of all his faithful disciples, and will be looked up to with joy and reverence by all his followers, and among the rest by you, who, by our means, were converted to Christianity.

It is therefore the subject of our daily prayers, that God

would so preserve you in the faith of the gospel, that you may be worthy of being distinguished in this manner, that all his gracious designs in calling you to the knowledge of the gospel may be fully accomplished; that by your proper conduct you may be an honour to the gospel, which may redound to your glory, according to the gracious intention of God, and of our Lord Jesus Christ.

II. In the former epistle the apostle had spoken of the coming of Christ to judgment; and it seems that, by some means or other, the Christians at Thessalonica had imagined that great day was near at hand. It is possible that this. might have arisen from the apostle having used this expression, [Chap. iv. 15,] we who are alive and remain, though it was only a form of speech, the writer putting himself in the place of those who would be alive at that time. It seems, however, that other Christians had entertained this opinion, and had endeavoured to bring the Thessalonians into it, and had alleged some other epistle of Paul, perhaps had even forged one in his name, for this seems to be insinuated.

To this misapprehension we are indebted for a most valuable prophecy concerning the great apostacy from the truth of the gospel, of which our Lord himself had given obscure intimations in the parable of the tares, and on other occasions, and of which we have a more distinct account in the Revelation of John.

Of this great event we, at this day, are better judges than any persons living at the time of the apostles. In their times this power was not risen; the principles only on which it was founded then operating, and in a very feeble manner, whereas it has since come to its full growth, and is now even upon its decline.

There have, indeed, been various interpretations of this famous prophecy; but I cannot help thinking that the application of it to those corruptions of Christianity, which we generally term Popish, and to that astonishing usurpation of power by the bishops of Rome, is by much the most easy and natural. That the apostles themselves had what we may call historical knowledge of the fulfilment of this prophecy, is not probable. The ancient prophets had no just idea of that kingdom of Christ which they announced to the world. The real use of prophecy respects those who see the accomplishment of it; and it is sufficient for the purpose, that the event be described in such a manner, though still so obscurely as not to be understood at the time, as to

satisfy those who see the accomplishment of it, that God' alone, who sees the end of all things from their beginnings, could have given such a description of it at that time. There was a peculiar reason why this particular prophecy should not have been a plain one, for in that case, as it respects the future state of the Christian church, in which the Scriptures, as being the rule of our faith and conduct, are continually read, it would have been impossible, in the nature of things, that it should have been fulfilled.

1. In our translation we have here the form of an oath which is quite unnecessary and improper. The better reading is, not by, but concerning. This at least makes it much. better sense.

2. As the apostle informs us that he signed his letters with his own hand, and says that he should do so for the future, in order to distinguish his epistles, it is not improbable but there had been some forged epistle of his, produced' to the Thessalonians.

3. It by no means follows that, because the term man of sin is used, some individual person is intended. It may be a succession of persons. Thus, in the prophecies of Daniel, a king often means a succession of kings. Whatever be meant by it must be understood of a state, or power, which shall be the cause of much wickedness, and that it shall be utterly destroyed in some sense or other by the coming of Christ, and in the former of these particulars it certainly agrees very well with the Church of Rome, the maxims of which have furnished a cover for much wickedness, and which is itself founded on imposture and tyranny.§

4. [All that is called God.] That is, all magistrates who are sometimes styled gods in Scripture. The term all that is worshipped, is appropriated to the magistrates of the Roman empire, who ranked above all princes at that time. That the popes have been styled God's vicegerents, and have usurped all power in the temple, or church of God, acting as if they were God, and that they have been often so denominated, is well known.

* See Doddridge.

"Yet this," says Doddridge, "the primitive Christians confidently expected, and some tell us, they were the more desirous of martyrdom, that they might not be spectators of so dreadful a scene." See Reeves's Apol. I. p. 30, Note; Impr. Vers.

Le Clerc understands Paul to mean the Jews who were yet restrained, but would soon rebel against the Romans. See his Note.

See on Amoracia, Mede, pp. 625, 626; Le Clerc; Doddridge.

See Le Clerc; Hallett, II. pp. 217, 218.

"Chrysostom says, that the man of sin will not sit in the temple of God, and at Jerusalem only, but in the churches every where.'" Lardner, V. p. 145.

6. It seems as if the apostle had told the Thessalonians plainly, what power it was that stood in the way of this man of sin, so as to prevent his rise, and that he did not choose to mention it in writing, which agrees very well with the supposition of its being the Roman empire, concerning which, as it was then in its greatest power, there was evident reason why he should not write very plainly, and there was an early tradition in the Christian church, that this was the apostle's meaning.*

7. Those general principles which afterwards branched out and produced all the corruptions of Popery, existed in the time of the apostle. They were called Antichrist by the apostle John, and science falsely so called, by Paul; being the doctrines of those who are generally called Gnostics, concerning which I shall have occasion to speak more largely hereafter. Also the spirit of usurpation and contention appeared at this time in the Christian church, as the Epistles of Paul clearly evince, especially at Corinth, where he then was, and this spirit, by improving every favourable opportunity, led to the amazing power and absolute supremacy of the Church of Rome over other churches, and finally over all other powers, civil as well as religious.

While the Roman empire subsisted, it was not possible for the Church of Rome to assume much power, especially in things temporal; but upon the removal of the seat of empire from Rome, the bishops of that church, which was before immensely rich, had great authority in temporal affairs, and afterwards they became temporal sovereigns themselves, besides acquiring great influence in the civil affairs of other kingdoms. This circumstance made it unlike all other kingdoms, as is mentioned in the prophecies of Daniel.

8. What is meant by the spirit of our Lord's mouth is not certain. It may mean his word, or the gospel, the true knowledge of which may contribute to the downfal of the Church of Rome. Or it may express, in a figurative manner, the ease with which our Lord will destroy this power, as if by the very breath of his mouth.† Also, what is meant by the coming of Christ, in this place, is not certain. As the

It was a "custom in the church, in the most ancient times of it, to pray in their liturgy for the lasting of the Roman empire; that so Antichrist might be long a coming." Mede, p, 656. See Doddridge in Note (f).

+ "Comme l'on ôte la poudre de quelque chose, en soufflant." Le Clerc. See *(on Isai. xi. 4) Dodson, p. 218.