We come now to the heart of the letter, where Paul attempts to put right some wrong ideas about the Parousia (see Introduction). How Paul learned about the problem we are not told. In 3:11 he speaks of having heard a report that some in the church were idle. If this report were more recent than the one brought by Timothy, it might have included the issues dealt with in this section (see Introduction on The Sequence of the Letters). This is one of the most difficult passages of the NT to interpret, largely because it presupposes Paul’s oral teaching (cf. v. 5 “don’t you remember,” v. 6 “you know”), which gave his Thessalonian readers the key to unlock its meaning. That key now being lost, his later readers must approach the passage with caution. Augustine’s comment in The City of God is app…