This socio-historical study makes an original contribution to the field of empire-critical New Testament scholarship by critically evaluating the significance of the Roman imperial context as a background to II Thessalonians. It also asks to what extent the author is being 'counter-imperial' in this letter. The study employs a combination of historical reconstruction and careful exegesis in order to establish the context behind the letter. There are two main aspects of this situation which are addressed: the problem of persecution and the eschatological issue. For each of these issues the significance of the Roman imperial context is critically examined. The study begins by examining evidence for the city of Thessalonica's relationship with Rome in the first century AD with a particular focus on the imperial cult. For each of the issues a detailed exegesis of the relevant passages from both Thessalonian letters is given and from the internal evidence a description of the situation is made. Then, where appropriate and where possible, a synthesis of the internal and external evidence is given. In each case the resulting analysis of the apparent problem demonstrates the significance of the Roman imperial context for an understanding of the situation behind the letter. The study makes a positive contribution to the study of 2 Thessalonians by giving an in-depth treatment of the letter in its imperial context. In the process of answering the important question about 2 Thessalonians and the Roman imperial order it also contributes in other ways to the understanding of 2 Thessalonians: to the exegesis of a wide range of passages, to the question of the letter's authenticity and to the question of the letter's relationship to both 1 Thessalonians and the book of Acts.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:684915 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Taylor, Jonathan P. |
| Publisher | University of Bristol |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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