2 Thess. i. 6–10.
Editorial footnote · Against Heresies, Book 4, Preface or unspecified section · Original source
Testimonia — Early Christian Bible Commentary
2 Thessalonians 1
1Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the assembly of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3We are bound to always give thanks to God for you, brothers, even as it is appropriate, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of each and every one of you toward one another abounds,
4so that we ourselves boast about you in the assemblies of God for your perseverance and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions which you endure.
5This is an obvious sign of the righteous judgment of God, to the end that you may be counted worthy of God’s Kingdom, for which you also suffer.
6For it is a righteous thing with God to repay affliction to those who afflict you,
7and to give relief to you who are afflicted with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire,
8punishing those who don’t know God, and to those who don’t obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus,
9who will pay the penalty: eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might,
10when he comes in that day to be glorified in his saints and to be admired among all those who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.
11To this end we also pray always for you that our God may count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire of goodness and work of faith with power,
12that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Early Christian texts and source notes
2 Thess. i. 6–8.
Editorial footnote · Against Heresies, Book 4, Preface or unspecified section · Original source
2 Thess. i. 9, 10.
Editorial footnote · Against Heresies, Book 4, Preface or unspecified section · Original source
Isa. xi. 4; 2 Thess. i. 9.
Editorial footnote · The City of God, THE CITY OF GOD. / BOOK EIGHTEENTH. / ARGUMENT. / 53. Of the hidden time of the final persecution. · Original source
Truly Jesus Himself shall extinguish by His presence that last persecution which is to be made by Antichrist. For so it is written, that "He shall slay him with the breath of His mouth, and empty him with the brightness of His presence." It is customary to ask, When shall that be? But this is quite unreasonable. For had it been profitable for us to know this, by whom could it better have been told than by God Himself, the Master, when the disciples questioned Him? For they were not silent when with Him, but inquired of Him, saying, "Lord, wilt Thou at this time present the kingdom to Israel, or when?" But He said, "It is not for you to know the times, which the Father hath put in His own power." When they got that answer, they had not at all questioned Him about the hour, or day, or year, but about the time. In vain, then, do we attempt to compute definitely the years that may remain to this world, when we may hear from the mouth of the Truth that it is not for us to know this. Yet some have said that four hundred, some five hundred, others a thousand years, may be completed from the ascension of the Lord up to His final coming. But to point out how each of them supports his own opinion would take too long, and is not necessary; for indeed they use human conjectures, and bring forward nothing certain from the authority of the canonical Scriptures. But on this subject He puts aside the figures of the calculators, and orders silence, who says, "It is not for you to know the times, which the Father hath put in His own power."
Source passage · edition’s verse reference · The City of God, THE CITY OF GOD. / BOOK EIGHTEENTH. / ARGUMENT. / 53. Of the hidden time of the final persecution. · Original source