Augustine of Hippo

In his own words on 2 Thessalonians

• 2 Thessalonians 1:3

  There could be no merit in men's choice of Christ, if it were not that God's grace precedes any faith or action on their part in his choosing them. This is why the apostle Paul pronounces to the Thessalonians this benediction, "The Lord make you to increase and abound in love toward one another, and toward all men." This benediction to love one another he gave us, who had also given us a law that we should love one another. Then, in the salutation addressed to the same church where some of its members possessed the disposition which he had wished them to cultivate, Paul says, "We are bound to thank God always for you, brothers. This is quite fitting, because your faith grows robustly, and your mutual charity abounds."

  On Grace and Free Will 1.18.38

• 2 Thessalonians 1:5

  Lastly, as regards Faustus' crafty insinuation, that the Old Testament misrepresents God as threatening to come with a sword which will spare neither the righteous nor the wicked, if the words were explained to the Pagan, he would perhaps disagree neither with the Old Testament nor with the New; and he might see the beauty of the parable in the Gospel, which people who pretend to be Christians either misunderstand from their blindness, or reject from their perversity. The great husbandman of the vine uses his pruning-hook differently in the fruitful and in the unfruitful branches; yet he spares neither good nor bad, pruning one and cutting off the other. There is no man so just as not to require to be tried by affliction to advance, or to establish, or to prove his virtue. Do the Manichaeans not reckon Paul as righteous, who, while confessing humbly and honestly his past sins, still gives thanks for being justified by faith in Jesus Christ? Was Paul then spared by Him whom fools misunderstand, when He says, "I will spare neither the righteous nor the sinner"? Hear the apostle himself: "Lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelation, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me. For this I besought the Lord thrice, that He would remove it from me; and He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for strength is perfected in weakness." … Paul also, besides recording his own experience, says that the afflictions and persecutions of the righteous exhibit the judgment of God. This truth is set forth at length by the Apostle Peter in the passage already quoted, where he says: "It is time that judgment should begin at the house of the Lord. And if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of those that believe not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely are saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" Peter also explains how the wicked are not spared, for they are branches broken off to be burnt; while the righteous are not spared, because their purification is to be brought to perfection. He ascribes these things to the will of Him who says in the Old Testament, I will spare neither the righteous nor the wicked; for he says: "It is better, if the will of the Spirit of God be so, that we suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing." So, when by the will of the Spirit of God men suffer for well-doing, the righteous are not spared; when they suffer for evil-doing, the wicked are not spared. In both cases it is according to the will of Him who says: I will spare neither the righteous nor the wicked; correcting the one as a son, and punishing the other as a transgressor.

  REPLY TO FAUSTUS THE MANICHAEAN 22.20

• 2 Thessalonians 1:11

  I said, "Salvation through this religion, through which alone true salvation is promised and truly promised, has never been lacking to anyone who was worthy of it, and the one to whom it was lacking was unworthy of it." I did not mean this as though anyone were worthy according to his own merits, but as the apostle says, "God's purpose in election" does not depend on deeds but is applied according to him who calls—Rebekah was told, "The elder shall serve the younger"—and he asserts that this call depends on the purpose of God. Hence Paul says, "Not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace." Similarly, he says, "We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." Concerning this call he says, "that he may consider you worthy of his calling."

  RETRACTATIONS 2.31

• 2 Thessalonians 2:2

  All this you repeat with great piety and truth, praising the happiness of those who love the coming of the Lord. But those to whom the apostle said, "Be not easily moved from your mind as if the day of the Lord were at hand," evidently loved the Lord's coming. The purpose of the doctor of the Gentiles in saying this was not to break them away from the love which burned in them. Rather, he did not want them to put their faith in those from whom they heard that the day of the Lord was at hand, lest, perhaps, when the time had passed when they thought he would come and they realized that he had not come, they might think that the other promises made to them were also false and might despair of the mercy of faith itself. Therefore, it is not the one who asserts that he is near nor the one who asserts that he is not near who loves the coming of the Lord but the one who rightly waits for him, whether he be near or far, with sincere faith, firm hope and ardent love.

  LETTERS 199.4.15

• 2 Thessalonians 2:2

  Therefore, not to know the times is something different from moral decay and the love of vice. For when the apostle Paul said, "Don't be easily shaken in your mind nor be frightened, neither by word nor by epistle as sent from us, as if the day of the Lord were at hand," he obviously did not want them to believe those who thought the coming of the Lord was already at hand. Neither, moreover, did he want them to be like the wicked servant and say, "My Lord will not be coming for a long time," and deliver themselves over to destruction by pride and immoral behavior. Thus, Paul's desire that they should not listen to false rumors about the imminent approach of the last day was consistent with his wish that they should await the coming of their Lord fully prepared and ready for the journey, with lamps burning.

  LETTERS 199.1.2

• 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4

  No one can doubt that Paul is here speaking of Antichrist, telling us that the day of judgment (which he calls the day of the Lord) will not come without the prior coming of a figure whom he calls the Apostate, meaning, of course, an apostate from the Lord God. And if this appellation can rightly be attached to all the ungodly, how much more to him! There is, however, some uncertainty about the "temple" in which he is to take his seat. Is it the ruins of the temple built by King Solomon, or actually in a church? For the apostle would not say "the temple of God" if he meant the temple of some idol or demon. For that reason some people would have it that Antichrist means here not the leader himself but what we may call his whole body, the multitude, that is, of those who belong to him, together with himself, their leader.… For myself I am much astonished at the great presumption of those who venture such guesses.

  City of God 20.19.2

• 2 Thessalonians 2:4

  "He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: `This will be he who is called Antichrist,' exalting himself," as the apostle says, "above all that is called God, and that is worshipped." The Lord, declaring that this same it is that will seek his own glory, not the glory of the Father, says to the Jews: "I am come in my Father's name, and ye have not received me; another will come in his own name, him ye will receive." He intimated that they would receive Antichrist, who will seek the glory of his own name, puffed up, not solid; and therefore not stable, but assuredly ruinous. But our Lord Jesus Christ has shown us a great example of humility.

  TRACTATES ON JOHN 29.8

• 2 Thessalonians 2:6

  Then as for the words, "And now ye know what withholdeth," i.e., ye know what hindrance or cause of delay there is, "that he might be revealed in his own time;" they show that he was unwilling to make an explicit statement, because he said that they knew. And thus we who have not their knowledge wish and are not able even with pains to understand what the apostle referred to, especially as his meaning is made still more obscure by what he adds. For what does he mean by "For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now holdeth, let him hold until he be taken out of the way: and then shall the wicked be revealed?" I frankly confess I do not know what he means. I will nevertheless mention such conjectures as I have heard or read. Some think that the Apostle Paul referred to the Roman empire, and that he was unwilling to use language more explicit, lest he should incur the calumnious charge of wishing ill to the empire which it was hoped would be eternal; so that in saying, "For the mystery of iniquity doth already work," he alluded to Nero, whose deeds already seemed to be as the deeds of Antichrist. And hence some suppose that he shall rise again and be Antichrist. Others, again, suppose that he is not even dead, but that he was concealed that he might be supposed to have been killed, and that he now lives in concealment in the vigor of that same age which he had reached when he was believed to have perished, and will live until he is revealed in his own time and restored to his kingdom. But I wonder that men can be so audacious in their conjectures. However, it is not absurd to believe that these words of the apostle, "Only he who now holdeth, let him hold until he be taken out of the way," refer to the Roman empire, as if it were said, "Only he who now reigneth, let him reign until he be taken out of the way." "And then shall the wicked be revealed:" no one doubts that this means Antichrist. But others think that the words, "Ye know what withholdeth," and "The mystery of iniquity worketh," refer only to the wicked and the hypocrites who are in the Church, until they reach a number so great as to furnish Antichrist with a great people, and that this is the mystery of iniquity, because it seems hidden...

  The City of God, Book 20

• 2 Thessalonians 2:7

  But others think that the words, "Ye know what withholdeth," and "The mystery of iniquity worketh," refer only to the wicked and the hypocrites who are in the Church, until they reach a number so great as to furnish Antichrist with a great people, and that this is the mystery of iniquity, because it seems hidden; also that the apostle is exhorting the faithful tenaciously to hold the faith they hold when he says, "Only he who now holdeth, let him hold until he be taken out of the way," that is, until the mystery of iniquity which now is hidden departs from the Church. For they suppose that it is to this same mystery John alludes when in his epistle he says, "Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us." As therefore there went out from the Church many heretics, whom John calls "many antichrists," at that time prior to the end, and which John calls "the last time," so in the end they shall go out who do not belong to Christ, but to that last Antichrist, and then he shall be revealed.

  The City of God, Book 20

• 2 Thessalonians 2:8

  Or if by this fire coming down out of heaven and consuming them, John meant that blow wherewith Christ in His coming is to strike those persecutors of the Church whom He shall then find alive upon earth, when He shall kill Antichrist with the breath of His mouth, then even this is not the last judgment of the wicked; but the last judgment is that which they shall suffer when the bodily resurrection has taken place.

  City of God 20.12

• 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10

  Thus it is that what is obscure in the words of the apostle has given rise to various conjectures. Yet, of one thing there is no doubt, namely, that Paul meant Christ will not come to judge the living and the dead until after his adversary, Antichrist, has come to seduce the souls of the dead. And, of course, the fact that those souls are to be seduced is already a part of God's hidden judgment.… There seems to be some ambiguity in the expression "pretended signs and wonders." It may be that Satan is to deceive men's senses by means of phantasms, in which they imagine they see wonders which are nonexistent. Or perhaps true miracles will lead into deception those who ought to believe that miracles can be done only by God but who mistakenly ascribe them to the devil's power, particularly at a time when Satan is to be given unheard-of power.… What the devil does is done with his own wicked and malign purpose, but it is permitted by God's just judgment so "that all may be judged who have not believed the truth but have preferred wickedness." Thus it comes about that judgments both precede and follow the deception. Those who are deceived are antecedently judged by these judgments of God, covertly just and justly covert, by which he has never ceased to judge even since the first sin of his rational creature. Those are deceived and subsequently judged in a last and overt judgment by Christ Jesus, who is to be the great judge of all judges as he was the victim of the most unjust of all judgments.

  City of God 20.19.4

• 2 Thessalonians 2:11

  We can recount many other events clearly showing that from a hidden judgment of God comes perversity of heart, with the result that refusal to hear the truth leads to commission of sin, and this sin is also punishment for preceding sin. For to believe a lie and not believe the truth is indeed sin, but it comes from the blindness of heart which by a hidden but just judgment of God is also punishment for sin. We see this also in what the apostle says to the Thessalonians, "For they have not received the love of truth, that they might be saved. Therefore God sends them a misleading influence that they may believe falsehood."

  AGAINST JULIAN 5.3.12

• 2 Thessalonians 3:1

  With this in mind, dearly beloved, let us always look forward with longing toward our everlasting joy. Let us always pray for fortitude in our temporal labors and trials. Let us offer prayers for one another. Let my prayers be offered for you, and yours for me. And, brothers, do not think that you need my prayers, but that I have no need of yours. We have mutual need of one another's prayers, for those reciprocal prayers are enkindled by charity and—like a sacrifice offered on the altar of piety—are fragrant and pleasing to the Lord. If the apostles used to ask for prayers on their own behalf, how much more does it behoove me to do so? For I am far from being their equal, although I long to follow their footsteps as closely as possible. But I have neither the wisdom to know nor the rashness to say what progress I have made.

  SERMONS 13.10

• 2 Thessalonians 3:1

  He also says to the Thessalonians, "For the rest, brothers, pray for us that the word of the Lord may run and may be glorified even as among you; that we may be delivered from troublesome and evil men, for not all men have faith." How else could the word of God run and be glorified except by the conversion to the faith of those to whom it is preached, when Paul says to present believers, "Even as among you"? Surely he knows that this is accomplished by him to whom he wishes prayer to be made that this may be so, and also that he may be delivered through their prayers from troublesome and evil men. It is for this reason that he adds, "For not all men have faith," as if to say, "The word of God will not be glorified among all, even though you are praying" because those who were likely to believe were the ones "who were ordained to life everlasting," predestined "to the adoption of children through Jesus Christ to himself" and chosen "in him before the foundation of the world." No one is so unlearned, so carnal, so slow of wit as not to see that God does what he commands us to ask him to do.

  LETTERS 217.7.27

• 2 Thessalonians 3:2

  Then, therefore, they afterwards marveled at the fact that they saw him ascending and they rejoiced that he went up to heaven, for the precedence of the Head is the hope of the members. Moreover, they heard the angelic message, "men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up to heaven? This Jesus … shall come in the same way as you have seen him going up to heaven." What is the significance of "he will come in the same way"? He will come in that same form, so that the Scripture may be fulfilled, "They shall look upon him whom they have pierced." He shall come to men; he shall come as a Man; but he shall come as the God-Man. He shall come as true God and true Man to make men like God. He has ascended as Judge of heaven; he has expressed himself as Herald of heaven. Let us stand justified so that we may not fear the judgment that is to come. As a matter of fact, he did ascend; those who announced it to us witnessed it. The people who did not see it believed; still some incredulous persons mocked, "for not all have faith."

  Sermons 265.1

• 2 Thessalonians 3:2

  For a man swollen with pride in comparison to another might say, "My faith distinguishes me," or "my justice" or whatever. It is to prevent such ideas that the good teacher asks, "But what do you have that you have not received?" Did you not receive it from him who chose to distinguish you from another? It was he who chose to give you what another did not receive. "But if you have received, why do you glory as if you had not received it?" Now I ask, is the apostle concerned here with anything else than that "He who glories should glory in the Lord"? But nothing is so contrary to this sentiment than for anyone to glory in his own merits as if he and not the grace of God were responsible for them. I refer to that grace that distinguishes the good from the wicked, not one which is common to the good and the wicked. On this premise the grace by which we are living and rational creatures, and thus distinguished from beasts, would be enmeshed in nature. The grace by which the beautiful are distinguished from the ugly, or the intelligent from the stupid, is a grace that perceives nature. But that person whose pride the apostle was trying to restrain was not puffing himself up in comparison to the beasts, nor in comparison to the gifts of nature that might exist even in the worst of men. Rather, he was puffed up because he attributed some good thing which pertained to the morally good life to himself and not to God. Thus, he deserved to hear the rebuke, "For who distinguishes you? Or what do you have that you have not received?" For though the ability to possess faith belongs to our nature, is that also true of the actual possession of faith? "For not all men have faith," although all men have the possibility of having faith.

  ON THE PREDESTINATION OF THE SAINTS 1.5.10

• 2 Thessalonians 3:8

  Unless any one have the boldness to imagine or to affirm, that the Apostle Paul attained not to the perfection of those who left all and followed Christ, seeing that, in order not to become a burden to any of those to whom he preached the gospel, he worked with his own hands for his support: wherein we find rather the fulfillment of his own words, "I labored more abundantly than they all;" and to which he added, "yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me:" to make it manifest that this also was to be imputed to the grace of God, that both with mind and body he was able to labor so much more abundantly than they all, that he neither ceased from preaching the gospel, nor drew, like them, his present support out of the gospel; while he was sowing it much more widely and fruitfully through multitudes of nations where the name of Christ had never previously been proclaimed. Whereby he showed that living, that is, deriving their subsistence, by the gospel, was not imposed on the apostles as a necessity, but conferred on them as a power.

  TRACTATES ON JOHN 122.3

• 2 Thessalonians 3:8

  Of course, there are those who misunderstand the same apostle when he writes, "He who was apt to steal, let him steal no longer; but let him labor, doing good with his hands, that he may have something to give to one who has need." For, when he is ordering such persons to work so efficiently with their hands that they will also have something to bestow on others, his misinterpreters believe that he is going counter to the instruction which the Lord gives when he says, "Look at the birds of the air: they do not sow, or reap, or gather into barns.… Consider the lilies of the field: They neither toil nor spin." Paul does not seem to have imitated the birds of the air and lilies of the field. He has repeatedly said of himself that he was working with his own hands so as not to burden anyone, and it is written of him that he joined with Aquila because of the similarity of their handicraft, so that they might work together to maintain a livelihood. From these and other such passages of the Scripture it is clear enough that our Lord does not reprove a man for procuring these things in the usual manner.

  SERMON ON THE MOUNT 2.17.57

• 2 Thessalonians 3:10

  In the first place, we must prove that the blessed apostle Paul wished the servants of God to perform manual labor which would merit a great spiritual reward, and to do this without seeking food and clothing from anybody but to procure these commodities for themselves by their own work. Secondly, we must show that those gospel precepts by which some monks justify not only laziness but even arrogance are not contrary to the direction and example of the apostle. Let us examine the statements made by the apostle prior to this one: "If any man will not work, neither let him eat," and the statements which follow it, so that the meaning which St. Paul intended may be gathered from the setting of the passage. What can be said in reply to this, since, indeed, by his own example he taught what he commanded, lest later someone might be permitted to interpret this with a view to his will and not his charity. For, the Lord had directed that apostle, as preacher of the gospel, as soldier of Christ, as planter of the vineyard, as shepherd of the flock, to live by the Gospel; nevertheless, St. Paul did not accept the payment due him in order to give example to those who wished to exact unmerited compensation.

  On the Work of Monks 3.4

• 2 Thessalonians 3:15

  Here it is as though doves are quarreling together. The apostle said, "If anyone fails to obey our word by this letter, mark that person and do not mix with him." There's the quarrel. But notice how it's a quarrel of doves, not of wolves. He immediately added, "And do not regard him as an enemy, but rebuke him as a brother." A dove is loving even when it is beating; a wolf hates even when it is being charming.

  SERMONS 64.3

• 2 Thessalonians 3:15

  It is true that some take the phrase "from your midst" to mean that each one is to expel the wickedness out of oneself in order to be good. But, no matter how it is interpreted, whether that the wicked in the church are checked by the severity of excommunication or whether each one by self-blame and self-discipline drives wickedness out of himself, there can be no misunderstanding of the teaching of the apostle in the passage of Scripture just quoted: we are to refrain from association with brothers who are accused of any of the vices mentioned above, that is, with those who are notoriously scandalous. With what intention and with what charity this merciful severity is to be administered is evidenced not only by his statement, "that his spirit may be saved in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ," but appears elsewhere even more clearly where he says, "if anyone does not obey our word by this letter, note that man and do not associate with him, that he may be put to shame. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother."

  FAITH AND WORKS 2-3