Most New Testament scholars believe Paul wrote this letter from Corinth, most of the letter has personal information, with only the last two chapters teaching things about what Christians are to believe. Paul's main goal is to encourage and reassure the Christians there. Paul tells them to go on working quietly while waiting in hope for the return of Christ. Paul also teaches that the dead will be resurrected prior to those still living, and both groups will greet the Lord (Jesus) in the air. These verses are often read at funerals of Christians to comfort their families.
Unlike later Pauline epistles, 1 Thessalonians does not focus on faith or questions of Jewish–Gentile relations, things that are covered in all his other letters. Many scholars see this as an indication that this letter was written before the Epistle to the Galatians, where Paul's teaching on these matters were given.
Second Epistle to the Thessalonians
The Second Epistle to the Thessalonians is the fifty-third book in the Christian Bible, and the fourteenth in the New Testament.
This book is believed to a letter from the Apostle Paul to a church in Thessalonica a part of ancient Greece. Thessalonica was the second city in Europe where Paul taught and left a Christian church. After the first letter was sent, probably soon, some of the Thessalonians were not sure that those who had died would share in the Second Coming of Jesus. This letter was written to answer this concern.
Many believe it was written around 51–52 AD, shortly after the First Epistle. Others think a date of around 80–115 AD is more likely. These are scholars who say that the second letter is quite different from the First Epistle to the Thessalonians and may have been written by someone else. Those who believe Paul wrote "Second Thessalonians" also note how Paul signed it himself: "I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, which is how I write in every letter.".
The first part of the letter praises this church for keeping their faith even though others were against them.
The letter has a whole chapter mainly about the Second Coming of Christ. Someone had told the Thessalonians that Christ had already returned. Paul says this is not true. (chapter 2, verses 1 to 12), He tells the Thessalonians that a great tribulation (time of trouble) must occur before Christ's return. Since this has not yet happened, Christ cannot have returned yet. He then gives thanks that his readers were chosen by God for salvation and saved by His grace through faith, and so would not be deceived by false teachings. (Chapter 2, verses 13 and14)
The letter then tells the Thessalonian church to stand firm in their faith, and to "keep away from every brother who leads an unruly(evil) life and not according to the tradition which you received from us... do not associate (stay) with him, so that he will be put to shame. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother" (Chapter 3, verses 6,7, 14 and 15).
A passage from this book reading "For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat", (Chapter 3, verse 10), was later adapted by Vladimir Lenin as an rule of the Soviet Union, "He who does not work, neither shall he eat" .
Christian groups who work with poor people sometimes also use the verse to help people to help themselves instead of just taking help from others. They try to help them find a job instead of just giving them food.
First Epistle to Timothy
The First Epistle to the Timothy is the fifty-fourth book in the Christian Bible, and the fifteenth in the New Testament.
This book is believed to a letter from the Apostle Paul to Timothy. It is one of three letters in the New Testament of the Bible that are called the Pastoral Epistles, along with Second Timothy and Titus. These letters are called "pastoral", because the are sent to persons who are pastors of Christian churches.Timothy was a pastor in Ephesus (Chapter 1, verse 3). The letter gives advice on the organization of the Church and how the leaders in it should act. They are also told to be faithful to the truth even though all around them were false ideas.
For many years Paul was a mentor to Timothy. Timothy is first mentioned in chapter 16 of the Book of Acts. His mother Eunice, and his grandmother, Lois, are mentioned in 2 Timothy Chapter 1, verse 5. All that we know of his father is that he was a Greek, not a Jew.
Paul's second visit to Lystra, a city in Asia Minor is when Timothy first met Paul; (). Paul not only brought Timothy into the faith but he was Timothy’s main mentor in Christian leadership (). They preached and started churches together. Timothy would have received his authority to preach in churches directly from Paul who of course was the greater known and accepted of the two and an apostle.
The most important things in the letter are the use of The Law (), warnings against false teachings, instructions for prayer (), roles of women in the church, qualifications for leaders of the church (), and the treatment of widows, elders, masters, youth, and church members in general. The verse about women teaching, Chapter 2,verse 12 is much talked about in churches that do or do not allow women to be pastors. There are many different ideas about what this verse means.
Second Epistle to Timothy
The Second Epistle to the Timothy is the fifty-fifth book in the Christian Bible, and the sixteenth in the New Testament.
This book is believed to a letter from the Apostle Paul to Timothy. It is thought to be the last letter Paul wrote before his death although some think is was written by one of Paul's followers some time after his death.
In the letter, Paul tells Timothy not to have a "spirit of fear" and not to "be ashamed to talk openly about our Lord (Jesus)" (Chapter 1, verses 7 and 8). He also tells Timothy to come to visit him before winter, and to bring Mark with him (cf. "Philippians" Chapter 2, verse 22). He thought that "the time of his death was at hand" (Chapter 4 ,verse 6), and he tells his "son Timothy" to work hard and be strong in the face of false teachings, and to be faithful in all the duties of his office of pastor (Chapter 4, verses 1 to 5), knowing that he would someday stand before the Judge of the living and the dead (God).
Paul thinks he will soon be killed and talks about that. In Chapter 4, verses 6 to 8 he writes "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course(race), I have kept the faith: in the future there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing."
Frederick Soddy
Frederick Soddy was a Nobel Prize winning English chemist and physicist.
He graduated from Merton College, Oxford with a degree in chemistry. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1921.
His work on the theory of how atoms worked was very important. He proved, amongst other things, the existence of isotopes and how radioactivity causes changes in atoms. Throughout his career he worked closely with another important atomic physicist, Ernest Rutherford.
Epistle to Titus
The Epistle to Titus is the fifty-sixth book in the Christian Bible, and the seventeenth in the New Testament. This book is believed to a letter from the Apostle Paul to Titus. Titus was a pastor and church leader. The letter tells what church leaders should be like and lists their duties. These leaders are called elders and bishops. This letter is one of three "Pastoral epistles" since it was sent to a pastor and is mainly about pastors.