2 Thessalonians

This portion of Al-Kitab takes its name from people to whom it was originally written–followers of ‘Isa al-Masih who lived in the city of Thessalonica. Thessalonica is now called Thessaloniki and is located in Greece. The apostle Paul (pbuh) spent a few weeks there before he was forced to leave (see Acts 17:10-15). He wrote this second letter for several reasons. The Thessalonians were severely persecuted and he wanted to give them encouragement and comfort. Secondly, there were false teachers who were leading them to believe that ‘Isa al-Masih had already come back. Paul (pbuh) wrote to correct this false notion. Some of those who believed the error had lost hope and become careless and lazy about life. Paul (pbuh) taught that if ‘Isa al-Masih really had returned, Dajjal (Antichrist) would also have been revealed. So Paul (pbuh) gave advice on how to live in hope of the return of al-Masih. The believers needed to take action to correct the bad effects of the false teaching. This is why Paul (pbuh) wrote that if anyone does not work, he should not eat.

 

Go to Chapter One