7 - The problem of exploiting charity and the conclusion
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 September 2009
Summary
Introduction
A formidable barrier to the acceptance of the reading of 2 Thessalonians' eschatological problem proposed in the preceding chapters is the assumption of most scholars in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries that the false eschatological claim of 2:2c underlies the problem of ‘idleness’ in 3:6–15. Indeed, it has been argued that 2 Thess. 3:6ff. reveals why the eschatological problem of ‘the Thessalonians’ needed to be addressed. Disagreement exists regarding whether ‘Paul’ is suggesting that the eschatology intensified the community members' perception of the parousia's imminence, with the consequence that they concluded there was no point in working, perhaps feeling that proclamation of the nearness of the eschaton was more important and urgent; or whether he is assuming that excited anticipation of the parousia so seized ‘the Thessalonians’ that they felt unable to carry out their tasks. Some scholars question whether the false eschatology was the primary causative factor, preferring to see it as one contributing ingredient in a larger problem or merely as a pretext. Others view the ἄτακτοι as the originators of the erroneous eschatological claim referred to in 2:2c.
Difficulties of reading 2 Thess. 3:6–15 as an eschatological problem
The most striking difficulty of reading the idleness of 2 Thess. 3:6–15 as an eschatological problem is the silence of 2, and indeed 1, Thessalonians regarding any explicit link between the idleness and eschatology. Not only is there no reference to eschatology in 2 Thess. 2:1ff. (or 1 Thess. 4:13–5:11) had direct ethical consequences.
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- Information
- From Hope to Despair in ThessalonicaSituating 1 and 2 Thessalonians, pp. 157 - 180Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2004