IfiS EORM PAULIKiE. 



II. Our epistle concludes with a direction that it should 

 be publicly read in the church to which it was addressed : 

 " I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all 

 the holy brethren." The existence of this clause in the 

 body of the epistle is an evidence of its authenticity ; because 

 to produce a letter purporting to have been publicly read in 

 the church of Thessalonica, when no such letter in truth 

 had been read or heard of in that church, would be to pro- 

 duce an imposture destructive of itself. At least, it seems 

 unlikely that the author of an imposture Avould voluntarily 

 and even officiously afford a handle to so plain an objection 

 Either the epistle was publicly read in the church of Thes- 

 salonica during St. Paul's lifetime, or it was not. If it was, 

 10 publication could be more authentic, no species of notori- 

 ;ty more unquestionable, no method of preserving the integ- 

 rity of the copy more secure. If it was not, the clause we 

 jroduce would remain a standing condemnation of the for- 

 gery, and one would suppose, an invincible impediment to 

 its success. 



If we connect this article with the preceding, we shall 

 perceive that they combine into one strong proof of the gen- 

 uineness of the epistle. The preceding article carries up the 

 date of the epistle to the time of St. Paul ; the prepcnt 

 article fixes the publication of it to the church of TLu.^sa- 

 lonica. Either therefore the church of Thessalonica was 

 imposed upon by a false epistle, which in St. Paul's life- 

 time they received and read pubhcly as his, carrying on a 

 communication with him all the while, and the epistle refer- 

 ring to the continuance of that communication ; or other 

 Christian churches, in the same lifetime of the apostle, re- 

 ceived an epistle purporting to have been publicly read in 

 the church of Thessalonica, which nevertheless had not been 

 heard of in that church ; or lastly, the conclusion remains, 

 that the epistle now in our hands is genuine. 



III. Between our epistle and the history the accordancj 

 in many points is circumstantial and complete. The historj 



