This is the first extant example of that work by which the apostle Paul has served the Church of all ages in as eminent a degree as he labored at the found- ing of it in his lifetime. All commentators upon the New Testament have been accustomed to notice the points of coincidence between the history in the Acts and these Letters. Paley's Horce PanUme is famous as a special work upon this subject. But more recently important attempts have been made to estimate the Epistles of Paul more broadly, by considering them in their mutual order and relations, and in their bearing upon the question of the development of the writer's teaching. Such attempts must lead to a better under- standing of the Epistles themselves, and to a finer ap- preciation of the apostle's nature and work. It is noto- rious that the order of the Epistles in the book of the N. T. is not their real, or chronological order. The mere placing of them iu their true sequence throws con- siderable light upon the histor\'; and happily the time of composition of the more important Epistles can be stated with sufficient certaint3\ The two Epistles to
VII.— E E E
the Thessalonians belong — and these alone — to the pres- ent missionary journej-. The Epistles to the Galatians, Romans, and Corinthians were written during the next journey. Those to Philemon, the Colossians, the Ephe- sians, the Philippians, and the Hebrews belong to the captivity at Kome. With regard to the Pastoral Epis- tles, there are considerable difficulties, which require to be discussed separately.
The First Epistle to the Tliessalonians was prob- ably written soon after Paul's arrival at Corinth, and be- fore he turned from the Jews to the Gentiles. It was drawn from Paul by the arrival of Silas and Timothy. The largest portion of it consists of an impassioned re- calling of the facts and feelings of the time when the apostle was personally with them. But we perceive gradually that those expectations which he had taught them to entertain of the appearing and presence of the Lord Jesus Christ had undergone some corruption. There were symptoms in the Thessalonian Church of a restlessness which speculated on the times and seasons of the future, and found present duties flat and unimpor- tant. This evil tendency Paul seeks to correct, by re- viving the first spirit of faith and hope and mutual fel- lowship, and by setting forth the appearing of Jesus Christ — not indeed as distant, but as the full shining of a day of which all believers in Christ were already chil- dren. The ethical characteristics apparent in this Let- ter, the degree in which Paul identified himself with his friends, the entire surrender of his existence to his calling as a preacher of Christ, his anxiety for the good fame and well-being of his converts, are the same which will reappear continually. See Thessalonians, First Epistle to the.
What interval of time separated the Second Letter to the Thessalonians from the First we have no means of judging, except that the later one was certainly written before Paul's departure from Corinth. The Thessalo- nians had been disturbed by announcements that those convulsions of the world which all Christians were taught to associate with the coming of Christ were im- mediately impending. To meet these assertions, Paul delivers express predictions in a manner not usual Avith him elsewhere; and while reaffirming all he had ever taught the Thessalonians to believe respecting the early coming of the Saviour and the blessedness of waiting patiently for it, he informs them that certain events, of which he had spoken to them, must run their course before the full manifestation of Jesus Christ could come to pass. At the end of this epistle Paul guards the Thessalonians against pretended letters from him, by telling them that every genuine letter, even if not written by his hand throughout, would have at least an autograph salutation at the close of it. See Thes- salonians, Second P^pistle to.
We now return to the apostle's preaching at Corinth. When Silas and Timotheus came, he was testifying to the Jews with great earnestness, but with little success. So " when they opposed themselves and blasphemed, he shook out his raiment," and said to them, in words of warning taken from tlieir own prophets (Ezek. xxxiii, 4), "Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean, and henceforth will go to the Gentiles." The experi- ence of Pisidian Antioch was repeating itself. The apostle went, as he threatened, to the (ientiles, and be- gan to preach in the house of a proselyte named .lustus. Already one distinguished Jew had become a believer, Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, mentioned (1 Cor. i, 14) as baptized by the apostle himself: and many of the Gentile inhabitants were accepting the (iospel and re- ceiving baptism. The envj' and rage of the Jews were consequently excited in an unusual degree, and seem to have pressed upon the spirit of Paul. He was therefore encouraged by a vision of the Lord, who appeared to him by night, and said, "Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee, to hurt thee; for I have much people in this city." Corinth was to be an important seat of