FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THE SS ALONI ANS. 157 



CHAPTER IX. 



THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS. 



I. It is known to every reader of Scripture that the lirsl 

 epistle to the Thessalonians speaks of the coming of Christ 

 in terms which indicate an expectation of his speedy appear- 

 ance : " For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, 

 that ice 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 with a shout, with 

 the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God : and 

 the dead in Christ shall rise first : then ive ivhich are alivt 

 and remain shall be caught up together with them in the 

 clouds. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day 

 should overtake you as a thief" Chap. 4 : 15-17 ; 5 : 4. 



Whatever other construction these texts may hear, the 

 idea they leave upon the mind of an ordinary reader, is that 

 of the author of the epistle looking for the day of judgment 

 to take place in his own time, or near to it. Now the use 

 wh)ch I make of this circumstance is, to deduce from it a 

 proof that the epistle itself was not the production of a sub- 

 eequent age. Would an impostor have given this expecta- 

 tion to St. Paul, after experience had proved it to be errone- 

 ous ? or would he have put into the apostle's mouth, or, 

 which is the same thing, into writings purporting to come 

 from his hand, expressions, if not necessarily conveying, at 

 least easily interpreted to convey, an opinion which was then 

 known to be founded in mistake ? I state this as an argu- 

 ment to show that the epistle was contemporary with St 

 Paul, which is little less than to show that it actually pro- 

 ceeded from his pen. For I question whether any ancient 

 forgeries were executed in the difetime of the person whose 

 name they bear ; nor was the primitive situation of the 

 fihurch likely to give birth to such an attempt. 



