[b] 1 and 2 Thessalonians. — At the time when Galatians was, on account of similarity in temper and ideas, kept beside Romans, 1 and 2 Thess. used to be treated as the first-fruits of the Apostle's epistolary activity ; and these two Epistles seemed to fit this position very well, being marked by extra- ordinary freshness and simplicity. They were written soon after the missionary left Thessa- loniea after his first visit. Their style is more like that of a lover to the object of his ati'ection, from whom he has been unavoidably separated but to whom he longs to return. Indeed, he com- pares his own affection for his converts to that of a mother for her children ; he declares that the newlv made Christians are his glory and joy ; and he tells them that he lives if they stand fast in the faith. He recalls' his first meeting with them and their subsequent intercourse together ; again and again has he tried to return to see them, and he still cherishes the same ardent desire. There are not a few indications of the amjilitude of the gospel preached b_y him amongst them — as, for instance, in the very first lines of the Epistle, a reference to the trinity of Christian graces, faith, love, and hope. But he does not enlarge on doctrinal m.itters. Taking it for granted that the substance of his recent preaching amongst them must still be well remembered, he contents himself with the plainest exhortations to a life in harmony with the
gospel of Christ — as, for instance, to abstain from the ]ieculiarly pagan siu of fornication and to love one another. Special stress is laid on the duty of those who cnUcil Ihcni.selves by this name of Chri.^i to perform their ordinary daily work in such a way as to commend the gospel to those that are with- out ; and this duty was not to be set aside by the fact that the time was short, and that Christ w ould soon return to judgment. He drew a vivid picture of the Second Advent, as lie conceived it ; but this appears to have acted on the minds of liis corre- spondents in a way dillerent from his intention. And this became the occasion for the Second Epistle, which succeeded the First after a brief interval and is occupied with the same themes, except that it gives a forecast of the history of the world, in- tended to calm the minds of those who had allowed themselves to become so excited about the Lord's coming that they were neglecting their business and bringing .scandal thereby on the new religion. This passage is among the most difficult in the whole compass of St. Paul's writings, and has tested the competency of exegetes ; but the drift of it is jilain : the return of the Lord was not to take place as soon as had been expected ; and, therefore, Christians, while always ready to meet Him, whensoever He might appear, must be pre- pared also for the other alternative — to perform the duties of their earthly callings with fidelity, if the coming was postponed. The Christians at Thessalonica were exposed to severe persecution, and the accounts in the Acts of St. Paul's own experience in that city and at Beroea make it easy to surmise from what quarter this came. Not only, therefore, does their spiritual father make use of every consideration fitted to comfort them, but he breaks out against the race to which he him.self belonged in a style which reminds us of the manner in which even the loving St. John in his Gospel speaks of ' the Jews.'
(c) land 2 Corinthians. — 1 Cor. was written from Ephesus during the author's prolonged sojourn in that city in the third missionary journey. It would, however, appear that it was not the first letter sent by the Apostle to the same church. He had sent one which has not come down to us (see 1 Co 5") ; and this raises the question whether he may not have written other Epistles which have shared the same fate. The sacredness now attach- ing to his writings might a priori be thought to render it impossible that anything as precious as a letter written by him to a church should perish ; but it may be no more astonishing that writings of his should have been lost than that words of Jesus should have been carried irrecoverably down the wind. After receiving the Epistle now lost, the Corinthians had written to the founder of their church, describing their own condition and asking his opinion and advice about a number of problems and difliculties that had arisen among them. And this was not the only case in which a Pauline Epistle was evoked by a communication from those to whom it was addressed. Besides, St. Paul had heard of the condition of the Corinthians from ' them of the hou.sehold of Chloe' (1 Co 1"), and he was far from being satisfied that all was well with his spiritual children. There is a tone of strain and anxiety in the Epistle from first to last ; at the same time, the impression is conveyed tli.at the author feels himself to be dealing with a church holding a great place in the world and destineil for a great future. The intimate nature of the questions propounded in the letter received from the Corinthians leads him to enter into minute details ; accordingly, this Epistle exhibits by far the fullest j)icture in existence of the interior of an apostolic ciiurch. We learn the ditVerent ranks and conditions of which the membership is com-