Why did Paul write 1 Timothy?

A:There seems to be a fundamental disparity between the teachings of 1 and 2 Thessalonians, which is why so many scholars think that if First Thessalonians was written by Paul, then 2 Thessalonians could not have been.

Paul thought the end was coming in his own lifetime and that Jesus would return without warning, and in 1 Thessalonians assured his readers that this would be the case. The author of 2 Thessalonians argued that the end would not come right away, and that certain things would happen first, to warn Christians that Jesus was returning.

As with any pseudepigraphical work, we can not assume that the intended audience really were the Christians of Thessalonica, rather that the author sought to associate this letter with the first letter to the Thessalonians. He wanted to correct what he thought were theological errors in Paul's epistle, particularly the assumption that Jesus would return before Paul had died. Since Paul was already dead, this no doubt created a serious problem for the Christian Church once Paul's letter began to be circulated and studied by Christians everywhere. He could not openly dispute Paul, so forged a letter that would show that Paul had not really intended to say that Jesus would come like a "thief in the night," when people least expect it, nor that his return was imminent.