1 and 2 Thessalonians Through the Centuries E-Book

Anthony C. Thiselton

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 670

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Beschreibung

This unique commentary on Paul's early letters by an outstanding New Testament specialist, provides a broad range of original perspectives of how people have interpreted, and been influenced by, Paul's first two letters. * Addresses questions concerning the content, setting, and authenticity of the two Thessalonian letters, drawing on responses from leading scholars, poets, hymn writers, preachers, theologians, and biblical scholars throughout the ages * Offers new insights into issues they raise concerning feminist biblical interpretation. * Provides a history of two-way influences, as exemplified by Ulrich Luz, Hans Robert Jauss, and Hans-Georg Gadamer * Written by Anthony Thiselton, a leading commentator on the Greek New Testament

Leseprobe

Contents

Series Editors’ Preface

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Introduction

The Aims of Reception History

The Situation and Substance of 1 Thessalonians

The City of Thessalonica

Traditional and Nineteenth-Century Arguments about the Authenticity of 2 Thessalonians and Their Criticism

The Situation and Substance of 2 Thessalonians

Some Key Interpreters in the Reception History of 1 and 2 Thessalonians

1 Thessalonians

Pauls Address, Thanksgiving, Prayer, and Reflection on His Visit (1 Thessalonians 1:1–10)

Address, Thanksgiving, and Prayer (1 Thess. 1:1–6a)

Introduction and Overview

The Apostolic Fathers and the Patristic Era

The Medieval Period

The Reformation and Post-Reformation Eras

The Eighteenth Century

The Nineteenth Century

Pauls Reflection on His Visit: The Readers are an Example to Believers from Greece (1 Thess. 1:6b–10)

Introduction and Overview

The Subapostolic and Patristic Era

The Medieval Period

The Reformation and Post-Reformation Eras

The Eighteenth Century

The Nineteenth Century

Pauls Autobiographical Reflections and Defense (1 Thessalonians 2:1–8)

Introduction and Overview

The Patristic Era

The Medieval Period

The Reformation and Post-Reformation Eras

The Eighteenth Century

The Nineteenth Century

How the Readers Received the Gospel (1 Thessalonians 2:9–16)

Introduction and Overview

The Patristic Era

The Medieval Period

The Reformation and Post-Reformation Eras

The Eighteenth Century

The Nineteenth Century

Pauls Longing to See the Thessalonians and Timothys Visit and News (1 Thessalonians 2:17–3:13)

Introduction and Overview

The Patristic Era

The Medieval Period

The Reformation and Post-Reformation Eras

The Eighteenth Century

The Nineteenth Century

The Call to Holiness, Especially to Holiness and Love in Personal Relationships (1 Thessalonians 4:1–12)

Introduction and Overview

The Patristic Era

The Medieval Period

The Reformation and Post-Reformation Periods

The Eighteenth Century

The Nineteenth Century

The Living and the Dead Share Together in the Parousia and in the Resurrection (1 Thessalonians 4:13–18)

Introduction and Overview

The Patristic Era

The Medieval Period

The Reformation and Post-Reformation Eras

The Eighteenth Century

The Nineteenth Century

Note on “the Rapture“ in Dispensationalist Views of 1 Thessalonians 4:13–17

The Day of the Lord: Timing and Light (1 Thessalonians 5:1–11)

Introduction and Overview

The Patristic Era

The Medieval Era

The Reformation and Post-Reformation Eras

The Eighteenth Century

The Nineteenth Century

Various Christian Duties and Closure (1 Thessalonians 5:12–28)

Introduction and Overview

The Patristic Era

The Medieval Era

The Reformation and Post-Reformation Eras

The Eighteenth Century

The Nineteenth Century

2 Thessalonians

Address, Greetings, and Thanksgiving (2 Thessalonians 1:1–4)

Introduction and Overview

The Subapostolic and Patristic Eras

The Medieval Period

The Reformation and Post-Reformation Eras

The Eighteenth Century

The Nineteenth Century

Encouragement and Prayer: The Judgment of God and the Revelation of Christ (2 Thessalonians 1:5–12)

Introduction and Overview

The Apostolic Fathers and the Patristic Era

The Medieval Church

The Reformation and Post-Reformation Eras

The Eighteenth Century

The Nineteenth Century

The Day of the Lord (2 Thessalonians 2:1–12)

Introduction and Overview of 2 Thess. 2:1–12

The Advent of Christ and the “Man of Sin“ (2 Thess. 2:1–6a); Note on the Antichrist

Introduction and Overview

Note on the Antichrist

The Apostolic Fathers and the Patristic Period

The Medieval Period

The Reformation and Post-Reformation Eras

Eighteenth Century Pietism

The Nineteenth Century

“He Who Now Restrains“ and “The Lawless One“ (2 Thess. 2:6b–12)

Introduction and Overview

The Patristic Era

The Medieval Period

The Reformation and Post-Reformation Eras

The Eighteenth Century

The Nineteenth Century

Thanksgiving, Exhortation and Benediction (2 Thessalonians 2:13–17)

Introduction and Overview

The Subapostolic and Patristic Eras

The Medieval Era

The Reformation and Post-Reformation Eras

The Eighteenth Century

The Nineteenth Century

Further Prayer and Exhortation, Largely New Issues (2 Thessalonians 3:1–18)

Further Prayer (2 Thess. 3:1–5)

Overview

The Apostolic Fathers and the Patristic Period

The Medieval Era

The Reformation and Post-Reformation Eras

The Eighteenth Century

The Nineteenth Century

Exhortation and Admonition about “Idlers“ or Undisciplined People (2 Thess. 3:6–13)

Introduction and Overview

The Subapostolic and Patristic Periods

The Medieval Period

The Reformation and Post-Reformation Eras

The Eighteenth Century

The Nineteenth Century

Final Exhortations, Greetings, and Benediction (2 Thess. 3:14–18)

Introduction and Overview

The Subapostolic and Patristic Periods

The Medieval Period

The Reformation and Post-Reformation Eras

The Eighteenth Century

The Nineteenth Century

Brief Biographies

Bibliography

Index of Biblical and Jewish Texts (Canonical and Deuterocanonical Order)

Index of names

Index of Subjects

Praise for 1 & 2 Thessalonians Through the Centuries

“I can think of no person better qualified to write a reception-history commentary than Anthony Thiselton, because he knows what reception history means and how it plays out in interpretation. This commentary is a treasure trove of exegetical and theological insights gleaned from the vast and interesting array of those who not only have interpreted these important letters to the Thessalonians but have responded in prose and poetry to their major themes and ideas.”

Stanley E. Porter, President and Dean, and Professor of New Testament, McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

“With an uncanny grasp of the ‘afterlife’ of 1 and 2 Thessalonians, Anthony Thiselton demonstrates why it is crucial that we understand that we aren’t the first people to encounter these Pauline letters. For some it might have been enough simply to document centuries of encounter with these New Testament texts, but Thiselton takes us further, showing where the history of influence has been relatively stable and also where that history provokes our fresh reflection. Not surprisingly, with this foray into the emerging area of reception history, Anthony Thiselton has set a high bar for those who will follow.”

Joel B. Green, Professor of New Testament Interpretation, Fuller Theological Seminary

“This superb commentary deals with some of the earliest Christian writing we possess. The reception history exemplified here considers not simply how different readers at different times interpreted these important texts but the whole manner in which they have shaped the history and direction of the church and its thinking. This sheds immense light not only on the suppositions that we naturally bring to the themes of these texts but how we should and should not interpret Paul. All this is undertaken not only with the scholarly depth that one would expect from one of our foremost Biblical and hermeneutical scholars of our time but also with profound insight into the theological issues at stake. Of interest equally to church historians, Biblical scholars, theologians and ministers alike, it is a key resource for all who would endeavour to understand how Paul has been read and should be read. Lucid in style, this volume is not only immensely scholarly, it is also an accessible and extremely enjoyable read!”

Professor Alan J Torrance, Chair of Systematic Theology, University of St Andrews

Blackwell Bible Commentaries

Series Editors: John Sawyer, Christopher Rowland, Judith Kovacs, David M. Gunn

John Through the Centuries

Mark Edwards

Revelation Through the Centuries

Judith Kovacs & Christopher Rowland

Judges Through the Centuries

David M. Gunn

Exodus Through the Centuries

Scott M. Langston

Ecclesiastes Through the Centuries

Eric S. Christianson

Esther Through the Centuries

Jo Carruthers

Psalms Through the Centuries: Volume I

Susan Gillingham

Galatians Through the Centuries

John Riches

The Pastoral Epistles Through the Centuries

Jay Twomey

1 & 2 Thessalonians Through the Centuries

Anthony C. Thiselton

Forthcoming

Leviticus Through the Centuries

Mark Elliott

1 & 2 Samuel Through the Centuries

David M. Gunn

1 & 2 Kings Through the Centuries

Martin O’Kane

Psalms Through the Centuries: Volume II

Susan Gillingham

Song of Songs Through the Centuries

Francis Landy & Fiona Black

Isaiah Through the Centuries

John F. A. Sawyer

Jeremiah Through the Centuries

Mary Chilton Callaway

Lamentations Through the Centuries

Paul M. Joyce & Diane Lipton

Ezekiel Through the Centuries

Andrew Mein

Jonah Through the Centuries

Yvonne Sherwood

The Minor Prophets Through the Centuries

By Jin Han & Richard Coggins

Mark Through the Centuries

Christine Joynes

The Acts of the Apostles Through the Centuries

By Heidi J. Hornik & Mikeal C. Parsons

Romans Through the Centuries

Paul Fiddes

1 Corinthians Through the Centuries

Jorunn Okland

Hebrews Through the Centuries

John Lyons

James Through the Centuries

David Gowler

This edition first published 2011© 2011 Anthony C. Thiselton

Blackwell Publishing was acquired by John Wiley & Sons in February 2007. Blackwell’s publishing program has been merged with Wiley’s global Scientific, Technical, and Medical business to form Wiley-Blackwell.

Registered OfficeJohn Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, United Kingdom

Editorial Offices350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UKThe Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK

For details of our global editorial offices, for customer services, and for information about how to apply for permission to reuse the copyright material in this book please see our website at www.wiley.com/wiley-blackwell.

The right of Anthony C. Thiselton to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books.

Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book are trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publisher is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold on the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Thiselton, Anthony C.

1 & 2 Thessalonians : through the centuries / Anthony C. Thiselton.

p. cm. – (Blackwell Bbible commentaries)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4051-9682-6 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Bible. N.T. Thessalonians – Commentaries. I. Title. II. Title: First and Second Thessalonians.

BS2725.53.T45 2011

227′.8107–dc22

2010021922

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Series Editors’ Preface

The Blackwell Bible Commentaries series, the first to be devoted primarily to the reception history of the Bible, is based on the premise that how people have interpreted, and been influenced by, a sacred text like the Bible is often as interesting and historically important as what it originally meant. The series emphasizes the influence of the Bible on literature, art, music, and film, its role in the evolution of religious beliefs and practices, and its impact on social and political developments. Drawing on work in a variety of disciplines, it is designed to provide a convenient and scholarly means of access to material until now hard to find, and a much-needed resource for all those interested in the influence of the Bible on western culture.

Until quite recently this whole dimension was for the most part neglected by biblical scholars. The goal of a commentary was primarily if not exclusively to get behind the centuries of accumulated Christian and Jewish tradition to one single meaning, normally identified with the author’s original intention.

The most important and distinctive feature of the Blackwell Commentaries is that they will present readers with many different interpretations of each text, in such a way as to heighten their awareness of what a text, especially a sacred text, can mean and what it can do, what it has meant and what it has done, in the many contexts in which it operates.

The Blackwell Bible Commentaries will consider patristic, rabbinic (where relevant), and medieval exegesis as well as insights from various types of modern criticism, acquainting readers with a wide variety of interpretative techniques. As part of the history of interpretation, questions of source, date, authorship, and other historical-critical and archaeological issues will be discussed, but since these are covered extensively in existing commentaries, such references will be brief, serving to point readers in the direction of readily accessible literature where they can be followed up.

Original to this series is the consideration of the reception history of specific biblical books arranged in commentary format. The chapter-by-chapter arrangement ensures that the biblical text is always central to the discussion. Given the wide influence of the Bible and the richly varied appropriation of each biblical book, it is a difficult question which interpretations to include. While each volume will have its own distinctive point of view, the guiding principle for the series as a whole is that readers should be given a representative sampling of material from different ages, with emphasis on interpretations that have been especially influential or historically significant. Though commentators will have their preferences among the different interpretations, the material will be presented in such a way that readers can make up their own minds on the value, morality, and validity of particular interpretations.

The series encourages readers to consider how the biblical text has been interpreted down the ages and seeks to open their eyes to different uses of the Bible in contemporary culture. The aim is to write a series of scholarly commentaries that draw on all the insights of modern research to illustrate the rich interpretative potential of each biblical book.

John SawyerChristopher RowlandJudith KovacsDavid M. Gunn

Acknowledgments

Many people deserve special thanks for their part in making this project possible. The two New Testament editors of this series, Professor Chris Rowland of Oxford University and Professor Judith Kovacs of Virginia University gave me useful advice on how to reduce an original total of nearly 150,000 words to about 125,000 words. Professor Kovacs also helped to familiarize me with the “premillennial” and “rapture” approaches to the text, mainly in the United States.

Facilities for continued teaching and research, virtually until the age of 75, were granted generously by Professor Sir Colin Campbell, then Vice Chancellor of the University of Nottingham, and by Professor Alan Ford, now Dean of the Faculty of Arts. I thank them and my wife Rosemary for their encouragement and support for this sixteenth book. I wish particularly to thank Mrs. Karen Woodward, my ever patient and competent secretary, for typing the whole manuscript throughout. She and Rosemary have also performed the marvelous work of proofreading the text. Ms. Lucy Boon, Production Editor of Wiley-Blackwell, has also given helpful advice on the production of the book, for which I thank her.

For the use of the illustrations or images of three Apocalypses, I thank the Master and Fellows of Trinity College Cambridge, for their kind permission to use The Trinity College Apocalypse; I thank the Librarian of the Lambeth Palace Library, London and the good offices of Mrs. Clare Brown for permission to use The Lambeth Apocalypse; and the Staatsbibliothek Bamberg, Lucerne for kind permission to use The Bamberg Apocalypse. I am also glad to acknowledge the kind permission of Cambridge University Press to quote from Pelagius’s Expositions Thirteen Epistles of St. Paul, ed J. Armitage Robinson (1926); of Holy Cross Orthodox Press, Brookline, MA to quote from Theodoret’s Commentary on the Letters of St. Paul (2001); of The Medieval Institute, Western Michigan University, to quote from Second Thessalonians: Two Early Medieval Apocalyptic Commentaries: The Commentaries of Haimo of Auxerre and Thietland of Einsiedeln, intro. and tr. Steven R. Cartwright and Kevin L. Hughes (2001); of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishing of Wheaton, IL, to quote extracts from John Calvin, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, ed. Alastair McGrath and J. I. Packer (1999); of Lutterworth Press, to quote from John Calvin, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, tr. Henry Beveridge (1957); and of Mr. Tom De Vries of Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, to quote from Ben Witherington III, I and 2 Thessalonians (2006). Other quotations are shorter, or taken from older sources now out of copyright, including J.-P. Migne (ed.), Patrologia Latina.

Anthony C. ThiseltonUniversity of Nottingham

Abbreviations

ANFThe Ante-Nicene Fathers: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers Down to AD 325, ed. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, rev. A. Cleveland Coxe. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1956–62 [1885–96].CCSLCorpus Christianorum, Series LatinaFCFathers of the ChurchLCCLibrary of Christian Classics, vols. 1–26, gen. eds. John Baillie, John T. McNeill, and Henry P. Van Dusen. London: SCM, 1953–69. Vols. 20 and 25 published Philadelphia: Westminster, 1960.NPNF1A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, 1st series, ed. Philip Schaff. 14 vols. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1886–9.NPNF2A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, 2nd series, ed. Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. 14 vols. Edinburgh: T&T Clark.PGPatrologiae cursus completus: Series Graeca, ed. Jacques-Paul Migne. Paris: Garnier, 1857–66. (Popularly known as Patrologia Graeca.)PLPatrologiae cursus completus: Series Latina, ed. Jacques-Paul Migne. Paris: Garnier, 1844–65. (Popularly known as Patrologia Latina.)

Introduction

The Aims of Reception History

The aim of this commentary

The Preface to the series explains that reception history shows not only how people have interpreted a text (in this case 1 and 2 Thessalonians), but also how the text (Thessalonians) has influenced readers. The history of reception therefore examines interpretation of the two epistles in a number of historical periods or “through the centuries.” But it also shows how writers respond under the influence of the text. It becomes an interdisciplinary study, because the text is “received” not only by commentators and Christian theologians, but also by those known for their literary work, including poetry, hymns, philosophy, music, and art. The writer who in effect founded reception history, Hans Robert Jauss, describes it as socially formative. It becomes a resource for cultural study. The Bible shapes ideas and practices, yet these ideas and practices shape how the Bible is interpreted, and its role in practical life.

The study thus provides multiple perspectives on the text. It is like being given a stereoscopic vision, or what Mikhail Bakhtin called a “polyphonic” vision of the text. Since modern biblical studies tends to concentrate only on the relatively recent conclusions of biblical criticism, this commentary, like others in the series, offers a distinctive resource for studying 1 and 2 Thessalonians. Even the vast commentary of 754 pages by Beda Rigaux, Saint Paul: Les Épîtres aux Thessaloniciens (1956), concentrates on exegesis or interpretation, while it has virtually nothing on reception history, except passing references to interpreters of earlier years. This applies even more to more recent standard commentaries, for example, those by Ernest Best (1972), F. F. Bruce (1982), Abraham J. Malherbe (2000), and others. Even Ben Witherington (2006), who takes a new approach, restricts much of his attention to rhetorical criticism, as well as to modern interpretation. There is relatively little engagement with precritical interpretation.

The founder of reception history: Hans Robert Jauss

The main founder of reception history was Hans Robert Jauss (1921–97). In 1944 he began studies in Prague, and in 1948 at Heidelberg. Hans-Georg Gadamer (1900–2002) had a special influence on his thought. He specialized in the romance literature of the Middle Ages. In 1966 Jauss shared in founding the University of Constance as a center of interdisciplinary research, which included a professorial research team of five. He gave his inaugural lecture on literary history in 1967, which largely founded the principles of reception history. It is available in his programmatic book, Toward an Aesthetic of Reception (1982). Influences on this include: (1) Hans-Georg Gadamer, his teacher at Heidelberg, on the history of effects (Wirkungsgeschichte), or (as Luz suggests) the history of influences; (2) reader-response theory in Wolfgang Iser and others, who focus attention on the active role of readers in making the potential of a text actual (see Thiselton, New Horizons in Hermeneutics, 516–57); and (3) the theory of paradigm change, which suggests a switch between the dominant models that influence a discipline, but without fully discarding previous models. He also considers many other writers on literature, including Roman Ingarden, and Paul Ricoeur. (For a convenient summary, see Holub, , 1–52; Parris, ; Thiselton, , 316–25.)