4. Teaching of the Epistles.— (i.) Doctrine of God. — The dominant thought is that God is a living personal reality, as opposed to the abstractions of heathen philosophy or the mere fancies of heathen religion (1 Th 1"- '"). God gave the apostles their message (2^- "), and His inward power moved their hearers to accept it (2'3, 2 Th 2"), so that their life is now lived in His very presence (linrpoaOev tov deov, 1 Th 1^). From Him alone come grace and peace {3'= 5°-^, 2 Th 2'" 31"). He is our Judge (1 Th 2') but He is also our Father (P 3"- '\ 2 Th !■•» 21").
(ii.) Christology.— (a) Person of Christ.— It is not too much to say that the essential Divinity of Christ and His essential equality with the Father are everywhere taken for granted. Christ is the Son (1 Til V) : He is linked with the Father as the source of the Church's life (P, 2 Th P ; cf. 1 Th 2"), as the object of prayer (1 Th 3", 2 Th 2'"), as the giver of supreme blessings (2 Th 1' ; cf. 3"*, 1 Th 5^). To one trained in Jewish monotheism, this can have meant nothing less than that Christ Himself is God (see Sanday in HDD iii. 048). Therefore He is naturally called 6 KOpios, a title commonly applied to God among the Hellenistic Jews. At the same time His humanity is indicated by the use of the simple human name 'Jesus' (1 Th P"4"), and His Messiahship by the frequent repetition of the title Xpicrxis.
(6) Work of Christ. — On earth Christ died and rose again (1 Th P" 4'« 5'"). His death was the means of man's salvation (S'- '") ; His resurrection is the pledije of the resurrection of His followers (4'*), who shall hereafter share His glorified life (4" 5'°). As Messiah He will finally vanquish the forces of evil (2 Th 2"-'"), and sit on the judgment-seat (p-'").
(iii.) The Holy Spirit.— As the Son is linked with the Father, so also the Holy Spirit is associ- ated with the Divine nctivitj'. The Holy Spirit inspired both the conviction with which the apostles preached and the joy with which their message was received (I Th 1°-"). From the Holy Spirit came those charismatic gifts which abuse seemed likely to bring into contempt (i)"). IJodily impurity is a sin against the Holy Spirit of God planted within (4"). It cannot be claimed, however, that the Holy Spirit is s]ioken of as distinctly i)ersonal.
(iv.) EscHATOLOOY. — The e.schatological teaching of these Epistles centres round the doctrine of the victorious coming of the Lord Jesus as the climax of human history. Yet in neither Epistle do the writers profess to give a complete description of that final event. They select only those points which boar directly on the practical question before them at the moment. The teaching of the First Epistle is framed to answer the question ' What part will dead Christians take in the Parousia ? ' That of the Second Epistle is shaped by the desire to quiet hysterical unrest at Thessa- louica with an assurance that the Parousia is not imminent. If the statements of the two Epistles have few points of contact, it is because they are dealing with entirely diBerent aspects of their subject.
(1) 1 Th 4"-5'».— (a) ^/^« Parotisia and the resur- rection vf the dead (4'*"'*). — No anxiety need be felt about the faithful departed. When Jesus conies again, God, who raised Him from the dead, will also raise up those who are united to Him.* Nor will they be at any disadvantage as compared with the living. ' I""or the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a commanding word (KeXevaixari), with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God.' The dead in Christ will first rise ; then they who are (still) alive will be snatched up along with them into the air in clouds to meet the Lord : thus shall they be ever with the Lord (416-1S) j[j ^i,ig passage the writers claim to be speaking in \frfif Kupiou (4"). Whether they are referring to actual sayings recorded in the Gospels (e.g. Mt 24™"-, Jn 6™) or to some personal revela- tion to Paul is uncertain (cf. Milligan, Thessa- loninns, ad loc.). But there can be no doubt as to the .source of many of the details of their jdcture. They have freely borrowed the bold imagery of Jewish Apocalyptic. This should be a sufhcient warning against a too literal interpretation of their statements.
KtKevtTtia, (^ojKi) apxay-y^Aou, ffoATTtyf deov, wlietlier they bO synonymous or di.stiiicL ideas, are the usual prelude to a theo- phany in Jewish iinapcry (Ex 191**, Zee f)i-*), and are especially connected with the end of the last world a;;e and the Resurrec- tion (l^n 121, i i'-r. vi. 23 ; ef. Tarpuut on Zee 14-*, ' at that time will .Jehovah take in His hand a great trumpet and with it blow ten bl.ists to raise the dead '). The advantage of those who surviveC qui derelicti sunt': cf. oi n-epiAeiird^iet'oOattheendover the dead is discussed in /. Kzr. xiii. 24, thou^jh the conclusion is different from that cf 1 Thessalonians. The mention of clouds in connexion with the Lord's coniinj^ seems to ^'o baclc to Dn 71* (cf. Mt 24-'<> 26''^). The snat(;hin|; up of the living in clouds as in a chariot (cf. Ps 104-') has no known parallel in earlier or con- temporary writer.s, but the idea is quite in keeping with Jewish apocalyptic notions (see Tliackeray, The Relation 0/ St Paul to Coiitejnporary Jewish Thought, cIl v.).