Abstract
This compact commentary on the Thessalonian correspondence provides a careful and measured guide to these two Pauline letters. Gupta understands the message of 1 Thessalonians as centring on the theme of hope, which depicts ‘a targeted faith, anticipatory faith’ (p. 1). Gupta sees 2 Thessalonians as the continuation of the same story (p. 24). In this second letter Paul is seen as taking on the role of a comforter, speaking to those facing persecution (p. 25). Furthermore, it is noted that chapter two of the letter constitutes the main teaching section, responding to those who have come to believe that the Day of the Lord has already arrived. The closing section of the introduction (pp. 30–7) is devoted to the question of the authorship of 2 Thessalonians. Gupta declares himself to be ‘agnostic’, however, that is not ‘agnostic’ in regard to stating a position. His agnosticism is expressed in the following terms: ‘I have lost confidence that we have the tools and samples sufficient to render a judgment “not written by Paul” on texts like 2 Thessalonians and Colossians’ (p. 36). While not disagreeing with his conclusion about the authorship of 2 Thessalonians, the strategy of removing only the option ‘not written by Paul’ does strike one as perhaps being somewhat imbalanced, and this approach is unlikely to receive agreement from those who have questioned the authorship of certain Pauline letters. While the evidence is limited, taking the discussion off the table altogether does not appear the best way to resolve such scholarly issues. In fact, in fairness to Gupta, he does not do that himself. He actually discusses some of the most important pieces of evidence (pp. 30–5). So in some ways his statement comes across more as a rhetorical strategy, than an actual practice.
The verse-by-verse comments are what one would expect from a commentary of this style and level of detail. The focus is on the flow of the argument in each subsection, with particular attention given to the key theological ideas in these two letters. Gupta has produced a study of the English text that is readable and sure-footed. This commentary is excellent at providing an overview of both letters, in a manner that is both accessible while still introducing key interpretive issues. This commentary would be of great value to study-groups or to those wishing to gain a deeper knowledge of these two Pauline writings.