Basic Orientation to the Letter
Who wrote the letter?
Like 1 Thessalonians, the letter claims to come from Paul, Silvanus and Timothy and ends with Paul claiming to write in his own hand (3.17). Unlike 1 Thessalonians, there is quite a bit of disagreement as to whether or not Paul wrote this letter. While many scholars accept the attribution found in the letter itself, others claim it is a later epistle not from Paul himself but likely after he died.
When was it written?
Clearly the answer to this depends on whether one accepts its as genuinely Pauline. In that case it was likely written not longer after 1 Thessalonians in the early or mid 50s. If, however, it is thought not to be be Paul then it could be much later, perhaps sometime in the last two decades of the 1st century.
Introduction from Zondervan NIV Study Bible
Introducing the Second Letter to the Thessalonians - Resources
Biblical Theologians
Mark Allan Powell has resources based on his Introducing the New Testament (Baker 2009)
His page on 2 Thessalonians has various resources for students and teachers including the following PDFs:
Who (or What) Is the Restrainer?
2 Thessalonians in the Revised Common Lectionary
In this video he explains Paul's instructions regarding the "unruly" in the Thessalonian church.
Gene Green, co-author of The New Testament in Antiquity, explores why Paul teaches about the end times in 1 & 2 Thessalonians
Here Green explains why 1 & 2 Thessalonians include so much about work
Bibledex video on 2 Thessalonians from University of Nottingham
Introduction from Jeffrey A.D. Weima's 2014 commentary on 1 & 2 Thessalonians in the Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament series
An excerpt from Gene L. Green's 2009 Pillar commentary on 1 & 2 Thessalonians
Biblical Training Website
This website has a number of helpful introductory resources including
Dr Robert Stein's New Testament Survey series on
2 Thessalonians (28 mins)
Dr Craig Blomberg's Introduction the New Testament: Romans to Revelation series on
Thessalonians (44 mins)
Thessalonians Part 2 (53 mins)
Dr Bill Mounce's New Testament: Its Structure, Content and Theology series on
Acts 15.36-18.22 and 1 & 2 Thessalonians (1 hr 24 mins)
Luther Seminary's Enter the Bible Website
This has resources on 2 Thessalonians by Matt Skinner including
On the right hand side of the page are various further resources including short commentaries on key texts and 3 short videos.
The Text This Week Website
This has resources relating to
Specific passages from 2 Thessalonians
Fulcrum Articles on 2 Thessalonians
This “author” stands for those providing the resources for Fulcrum’s Reading the NT project. If you wish to contribute suggestions please email [email protected].