Our reader remembers the passage in the first Epistle to the Thessalonians, in which St. Paul spoke of the coming of Christ:
“This we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven,... and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.—But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.” (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17; 5:4)
It should seem that the Thessalonians, or some however amongst them, had from this passage conceived an opinion (and that not very unnaturally) that the coming of Christ was to take place instantly, ὃτι ενέστηκεν;1 and that this persuasion had produced, as it well might, much agitation in the church. The apostle therefore now writes, amongst other purposes, to quiet this alarm, and to rectify the misconstruction that had been put upon his words:—
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Author: William Paley
Keywords: Meeting the Lord, Authenticity, Forgery, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, First Thessalonians, Second Thessalonians, Paul's Letters
Bible reference(s): 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, 1 Thessalonians 5:4, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2
Source: Horae Paulinae (London: The Religious Tract Society, 1850).
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.