The pseudepigraphal letters to the Thessalonians

Marlene Crüsemann examines the Thessalonian letters in the context of Jewish-Christian social history; building upon her analysis of 1 Thessalonians, Crüsemann comes to the conclusion that it is post-apostolic epistolary communication, and questions whether it is a letter of Paul and indeed whether it is an early letter.

This analysis in turn adds weight to the traditional thesis that the letter is somewhat out of place and may be a later work by another author.

Crüsemann subsequently illustrates that 2 Thessalonians, by contrast, revokes the far-reaching social separation from Judaism that characterises 1 Thessalonians, and thus aims socio-historically for a solidarity with the entire Jewish people.