The effort to understand the Bible, and at the same time to be true to historic Christianity, has been more difficult than most Christians with a modicum of faithfulness have imagined. Every age interprets the Bible in a way that makes sense to the beliefs and assumptions of the time. And those beliefs and assumptions about reality, about the nature and character of the world, and about the Bible do change over time. Like everything that exists in time, they grow and mature. Everything in time is subject to seasons. Ideas and perspectives, like individual people and corporate nations or groups, mature and change with maturity over time. History is progressive because each age learns from the previous ages and adds to the knowledge and experience that precedes it.

At least this happens to a degree. This caveat is necessary because in some ways we fail to learn from our predecessors, and continue to make the same mistakes that they made. Thus, history is more of a “two steps forward, and one step back” kind of progression at best. My efforts are subject to these same ebbs and tides of history. And because I am writing at the apex of the modern age, or perhaps at the beginning of the postmodern age, my work is subject to the same difficulties. And perhaps even more so because the twenty-first century will be a pivotal century in the history of the world. What I mean by a “pivotal century” is that the world is currently on the cusp of what will likely be the most significant change since the Industrial Revolution, which has utterly changed the entire world and the ideas and assumptions of the world.

Thus, as God’s message adapts to the current age, it does so as a way to preserve the original meaning and intention of His biblical message. Each age learns more about the original situations that have given rise to the writing of the Bible than the previous ages. So, our understanding of the Bible matures over time. However, the changes of maturity do not constitute a change of character, but rather expose a deeper development of character. So, while the perspective of this study is different than previous studies of Thessalonians, it is not different in character from previous faithful treatments. Rather, I believe and hope that it will provide inspiration and clarity that will awaken contemporary people—believers and nonbelievers alike—to the reality of the truth of the Bible.