Co-Authorship
Co-Authorship
Silas and Timothy are linked with Paul in the openings of both letters, and this opens the way for the suggestion that one or other of them was responsible for one or both of the letters. If either wrote both, we have the same problem as with Paul. If Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians and one of them wrote 2 Thessalonians, we have the problem of the resemblances between the two letters, and also the fact that Paul signed 2 Thessalonians. While we know little about the exact role of an amanuensis in the first century, 24 it seems that suggestions along these lines are in danger of explaining the obscure by the more obscure.