Re: 2 THESS 2:2-3

Noel Maddy (ncm@biostat.hfh.edu)
Thu, 13 Nov 1997 12:39:21 +0500

Paul Dixon wrote:

> If they believed the Lord's return was "at hand" (KJ) and if they
> believed the great tribulation immediately preceded that event, then this
> was indeed cause for alarm. They would then be in the great tribulation,
> along with all the severe persecutions and martydoms associated with it.

In 1 Thess 4-5, Paul mentions the return of the Lord that believers
look forward to, and after that he mentions the day of the Lord -- the
time of tribulation. I don't want this to become a debate about
pre-/mid-/post-tribulationalism, but isn't it possible that the
Thessalonians were thinking that if they were in the tribulation that
they had missed the Lord's return? This would surely cause them to be
troubled.

Again, please don't take this as an argument on any theological point,
but just an observation on what the readers may have been thinking...

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Noel Maddy <nmaddy1@biostat.hfh.edu>