Father Callan’s Commentary on 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Please note that the verse numbering of the the translation being used by Fr. Callan differs from that of the NAB and other modern versions. Father Callan’s 1 Thess 4:12-17 corresponds to the NAB’s 1 Thess 4:13-18. I’ve included Fr. Callan’s brief summary of verses 12-17 (NAB’s 13-18) at the beginning of the post.

THE FATE OF THOSE WHO HAVE DIED

A Summary of 1 Thessalonians 4:12-17~Following the moral exhortations of the preceding section (1 Thess 4:1-11), St. Paul now takes up some of the difficulties of the Thessalonians, as reported to him by Timothy. In this present section he discusses the condition of those of the faithful who have passed on before the advent of the Messiah. The converts must not worry about their beloved dead, thinking they will not have part in the glory of the Coming Lord. They will rise as Christ rose, and indeed will meet their Saviour before the living do. After that, the living will join them and be caught up together with Christ, to be forever with Him in glory. Let these thoughts be their comfort.

12. Now we will not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them that are asleep, that you be not sorrowful, even as others who have no hope.

Now we will not have you ignorant, brethren, etc. This is a customary manner with St. Paul of introducing a subject of great importance. The Thessalonians had misunderstood the Apostle’s teaching about the Second Coming of Christ; they thought they were to live to see it in their own time. And since some among them had recently died, they were profoundly grieved, thinking their loved ones would thus never witness or share in the glories of the Parousia, St. Paul bids them not to sorrow, as if they did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, as if they were pagans. Of course, he is condemning immoderate sorrow only.

Them that are asleep. This is “a characteristic, but not original Christian designation of the dead” (McCown, in Abingdon Bible, hoc loco).

13. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again; even so them who have slept through Jesus, will God bring with him.

The reason why the Thessalonians should not give way to inordinate sorrow is that the faithful dead are to rise again, and the proof of this is to be found in the Resurrection of Christ.

The sainted dead form one mystical body with Christ, of which He is the head. And since the head is risen, the members must also rise.

If we believe means “since we believe,” as is evident from the context and from St. Paul’s teaching elsewhere, especially in 1 Cor 15. The Apostle is speaking only of the resurrection of the just, because he is consoling the Thessalonians for their dead who have died in Christ, and it is only these that shall have part in the glorious advent of the Saviour and enter into His kingdom of bliss. The unjust shall also rise, but only to be judged and die the second death.

14. For this we say unto you in the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them who have slept.

St. Paul here tells the Thessalonians that, when Christ comes, those who are living at the time shall not enjoy any precedence over those who shall have died, and this he affirms “in the word of the Lord,” i.e., as a doctrine communicated to him directly by Christ Himself.

That we who are alive, etc., i.e., those who survive, who are living at that time. The Apostle is speaking rhetorically in the first person plural, and so he is not to be understood as including himself and his companions among those who were to witness the Parousia. That he had no idea of teaching the imminent advent of Christ is clear from what he says below in 1 Thess 5:2, in 2 Thess 2:1  ff., and from the teaching of the Lord (Matt 13:32 ff.; Acts 1:6 ff.) to which he was always faithful. And this is the explanation given his teaching here by all the Greek and Latin Fathers, and after them by St. Thomas, Estius, and all the leading Catholic commentators. In fact, to imply that St. Paul was in error in this matter would be to destroy the nature of divine inspiration and Biblical inerrancy. See Decision of Biblical Commission on this subject, June 18, 1915.

15. For the Lord himself shall come down from heaven with commandment, and with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God: and the dead who are in Christ, shall rise first.

For the Lord himself, etc. As the Lord ascended visibly into heaven, so shall He appear at the end of the world (Acts 1:11).

With commandment, etc., as a general issuing orders to his troops. These expressions are to be understood figuratively, as describing the conditions and phenomena that shall accompany the Lord as He descends from heaven to call the dead to life. The Apostle is using eschatological language common among the Jews, and which was also employed by our Lord (Matt 24:30 ff.). Cf. Knabenbauer and Voste, hoc loco.

And the dead who are in Christ, etc., i.e., those who have died in union with Christ shall first rise, so as to be on an equality with those who are living, then will take place the transformation of the living saints, and this will be followed by the rapture of all with Christ, to be with Him evermore in glory (ver. 16). What a consoling doctrine for the bereaved Thessalonians 1 By the word “first” St. Paul does not mean that the resurrection of the just will precede the general resurrection (about which he is not talking), but that the resurrection of the holy dead will be prior to the transformation of the saints who are living at the time.

16. Then we who are alive, who are left, shall be taken up together with them in the clouds to meet Christ, into the air, and so shall we be always with the Lord.

Then we who are alive, etc. St. Paul repeats with emphasis the thought of verse 14. He seems to say plainly that those saints who are alive at the time of the Parousia will not die, but will be transformed and taken, together with the righteous dead already raised to life, into glory with Christ. The Greek Fathers and many modern  interpreters so understand the Apostle; and this interpretation agrees with the correct reading and meaning of 1 Cor 15:51, on which see commentary in vol. 1 of this series. To be consistent, we should explain “we who are alive” here as in verse 14, that is, as referring, not to St. Paul and his companions then living when the Apostle was writing nor to others then living with whom he compares those then dead, but to those just who will be living when the Lord comes in glory. Hence follows the conclusion that the righteous who are alive at the Second Coming of Christ to judge the world will pass to glory without dying, and this is what the Apostle was referring to in 2 Cor 5:4. For further argument and a consideration of the opposing opinion on this subject, see vol. 1 of this series, on 1 Cor 15:51. Note: Ive appended Fr. Callan’s comments on 1 Cor 15:51 to the end of this post.

Shall be taken up together with them, etc. As Jesus ascended into heaven enveloped in a cloud (Acts 1:9), and as He shall come again “in the clouds of heaven” (Matt 24:30), so the just at the end of the world shall be transported by supernatural power beyond the clouds to meet the Lord in His regal majesty, and with Him to enter into glory for evermore.

17. Wherefore, comfort ye one another with these words.

In view of the consoling words he has just written (ver. 13-16), St. Paul bids his readers to take heart and be comforted in the loss of their dear ones.

Note: I here reproduce Fr. Callan’s comments on 1 Cor 15:51~Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall all indeed rise again: but we shall not all be changed.

Coming now to describe the way the dead shall rise at the end of the world, the Apostle first solves a difficulty that might arise out of the preceding verse, namely, if our corruptible bodies cannot inherit incorruptible life, what about the just who will be living when Christ appears on the last day? In reply the Apostle says: I tell you a mystery, i.e., a truth of revelation, which human means could not discover (1 Thess 4:14). What is this mystery? It is that the just who are living at the Second Coming of Christ shall not die, but shall be suddenly changed from their corruptible to an incorruptible and glorious state.

This interpretation is (a) according to the best reading of the second part of this verse; (b) it is in harmony with the context, verses 50 and 52, and with the whole drift of St. Paul’s argument; (c) it agrees with the explanation of the same doctrine given by St. Paul elsewhere (1 Thess 4:15-17; 2 Cor 5:1-9; 2 Tim 4:1), and with the teaching of St. Peter on the subject (1 Peter 4:5); (d) it alone gives to mystery the proper and obvious meaning of that term; (e) it finds approval in the words of the Creed, “He shall come to judge the living and the dead”; (f) it has the support of practically all the Greek Fathers, and of all modern exegetes.

There is no “mystery” in St. Paul’s mind about the dead, good or bad, rising again. Neither is there any sense in: We shall not all be changed of this verse, and “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,” etc., of the following verse. In fact, we shall not be changed here is in direct contradiction with the words, we shall be changed of the next verse.

The reading, therefore, of the second part of this verse, which is found in our version, in the Codex Bezae, and in the Vulgate, and which was commonly accepted by all the Latin Fathers and Latin versions from the time of Tertullian, must be rejected as erroneous for the reasons given above. The Council of Trent, in making the Vulgate the official version of the Church, was well aware that it contained some wrong readings; but when these are of minor importance, or can receive a correct interpretation from other parallel passages of Scripture, as in the present instance, there is no difficulty. Moreover, the Council approved of all the parts of the original Vulgate, “as they were wont to be read in the Catholic Church”; but the East never read this verse as it is in the Vulgate. “If the Vulgate in the present passage were interpreted to mean that all the just without exception are to rise from the dead at the last day, it would not merely contradict the inspired text and the Creeds, but would be hopelessly at variance with itself” (Lattey, in Westm. Ver.).

The reading, therefore, of the second part of this verse which is adopted by all modern scholars, Catholic and non-Catholic, and which has the support of the Greek MSS. B E K L P, of practically all cursives, and of most versions, is: “We shall not all sleep (die), but we shall all be changed.” A rival reading of  א C F G and of the cursive no. 17, if read without punctuation, might have the same meaning, thus:  “we shall all sleep (die) not but we shall all be changed.” Generally, however, this reading is understood to agree with that of the Vulgate, and is given as follows: “We shall all sleep (die), but we shall not all be changed.”

While it is practically certain that the reading of this verse which we have adopted is the only correct one, it must be admitted that the Vulgate reading, taken by itself, can receive an orthodox explanation. Thus, we shall all indeed rise again may be taken to refer to mankind as a whole, without including the few that will be alive at the end (cf. Titus 1:12, 13; Heb 9:27). In like manner, the words, we shall not all be changed can mean that all the dead shall not be glorified.

It is objected against the above interpretation (a) that verse 22 of this chapter, Rom 5:12, and Heb 9:27 seem to say that all men must die; (b) that St. Paul seemed to expect to be still alive when Christ would come. Answer: (a) Even though all men do not actually die, still there is in them all the liability to death, but the penalty can be taken away by God (St. Thomas, Summa, 1a 2ae, qu. 81, a. 3, ad 3). (b) St. Paul did not really believe or mean to teach that the end of the world was at hand in his time. Doubtless he had no revelation on this subject. If here he associates himself with those who are to be alive at the last day, he elsewhere (1 Cor 6:14; 2 Cor 4:14) speaks of being among those who are to be raised up from the dead at that time. Hence he seems to have been uncertain about the time of the Lord’s coming.