Smoodock's Blog

At this time I’m involved in a study of the eschatology of Paul’s epistles to the Thessalonians. Presently, I’m laying the background for what most Christians view as Paul’s testimony that Jesus wouldn’t return for thousands (perhaps tens of thousands) of years into the future. Eventually, I intend to properly investigate Paul’s words in chapter four of First Thessalonians, but for now, I’m considering the context of what comes before and after that text. The question is: does Paul really tell us that Jesus’ return was far into the future? Well, I hope that anyone who finds these studies will consider that question with me. What I’ve found in discussing the Bible with folks on the web and doing the same in a Sunday school environment (I was a Sunday school teacher for about 30 years) is folks simply believe what they’ve been told. Very few actually investigate the Scriptures and fewer still do so with the intention of letting the text say what it says. Most bring their worldview into each study they undertake.

The problem with believing Paul claimed Jesus wouldn’t return for thousands of years is that all the time statements in the text point to a first century AD fulfillment. That is, the texts clearly show Paul believed Jesus would return to that first century generation that heard Jesus say what he said and saw Jesus do what he did (cp. Matthew 23:36; 24:34). All kinds of remarks have been made and explanations offered to show this wasn’t actually true, but we’ll come to those things in their proper place, when we settle into chapter four of Paul’s first epistle.

Consider for a moment what Paul prays for in chapter 5:

And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.(1 Thessalonians 5:23)

Most translations render the final phrase: “…blameless at the coming of the Lord, Jesus Christ,” which may offer the idea that one would be blameless at the coming of Christ, whenever that might be. Nevertheless, the KJV renders it “unto the coming,” while Moffett and the CEV render it “until the coming,” and the Vulgate has: “…unimpaired, to greet the coming.” It seems to me that Paul was praying that the Thessalonians believers would be preserved body, soul and spirit **until** the coming of the Lord, and that would mean a first century AD expectation of the return of Christ. Why would I say this? Notice what Paul prayed for.

He prayed for the preservation of three parts of the believer. He prayed that their bodies would be preserved. The body is the physical body, which is destroyed at death. So, to pray for its preservation would mean Paul prayed they didn’t die until Christ returned. Paul also prayed for their soul, that is that part of man that animated the living body and kept it from existing as mere vegetable life. So, Paul prayed not for mere existence but to be able to enjoy life, physically. Finally, he prayed for their spirits to be whole. This is not the Holy Spirit, but that part of man that made him more than an animal. Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “For who among men knows the things of a man except the spirit of man within him? So also no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 2:11). Thus, Paul prayed that his brethren at Thessalonica would live to see the coming of Christ, which they expected to occur in their lifetimes—i.e. in the first century AD, not some 2000 years or more into the future. There is absolutely no context for such an idea in any of Paul’s writings.