This chapter forms an introduction to both 1 Thessalonians and 2 Thessalonians. Introductory matters discussed include the city of Thessalonica, the church of Thessalonica, authorship, literary dependence of 2 Thessalonians on 1 Thessalonians, and eschatological differences between the two letters.
Poythress believes that 2 Thessalonians 1 provides support for amillennialism. He considers separately midtribulational premillennialism, post-tribulational premillennialism, and postmillennialism and its understanding of the rapture, in the light of 2 Thessalonians 1. Poythress also provides a careful reading of 2 Thessalonians 1 in the context of first-century Thessalonica.
