Ever had your email hacked? Or had someone log in to your Facebook and post stupid updates? Then you know how annoying it is when someone pretends to be you. The worst part is trying to convince your grandma that it wasn't actually you that sent her the link to that super creepy you-know-what site.

Sorry, Nana.

But back in the first century, everyone was doing this kind of thing.

See, 2 Thessalonians is what biblical scholars call "disputed letter." That just means that we're not sure if Paul actually wrote it. Maybe it was him…or maybe it was some random Christian guy who picked up pen and parchment and pretended to be Paul. Hey, at least he didn't try to open a credit card in Paul's name.

Today, we would call this identity theft…and then call the FBI. But, people living in the first century did it all the time. In fact, 2 Thessalonians is one of seven letters in the Bible written by a faux Paul. After all, who cares what Demetrius from Athens thinks of Jesus? Paul's got all the hard won prestige and apostolic authority, so why not ride his coattails…all the way to Bible.

That's not to say that because 2 Thessalonians is phony, it's not awesomesauce in its own right. The pretend Paul has some pretty good thoughts of his own—we really like his take on the infamous "man of sin." But just remember, this imposter has good intentions: encouraging Christians and spreading hope and love.

That Nigerian prince who keeps emailing you? Not so much.

P.S. 1 Thessalonians is actually the oldest piece of writing in the New Testament. It was put down about 20 years after Jesus died, which means it pre-dates even the gospels. (Take that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.)

Here we have a couple of seriously old letters written to a bunch of people who died nearly two thousand years ago. Snore fest, right?

Sure, if you consider the impending apocalypse a snore fest…

Oh, have we got your attention now? Excellent.

1 and 2 Thessalonians are really all about a group of unpopular kids getting ready for a massive end-of-the-world party—a party the in-crowd wouldn't be invited to. See, the early Christians believed that Jesus ascended into Heaven. But they also had the sneaking suspicion that he wouldn't be able to resist the itch to come back one more time and right all the wrongs in the world (specifically all the wrongs done to Christians).

Pretty much every book in the New Testament mentions the return of Jesus in some way. And, like The Return of the King or The Return of the Jedi, it gave people hope…because it was gonna be awesome. 1 Thessalonians is the earliest recorded history about what these bullied Christians believed was gonna happen. Basically:

• Jesus would float down from the sky with angels and trumpets. Whoa.
• He'd scoop up all the believers into Heaven. Double whoa.
• And he'd smite the wicked and pour out his wrath on them. Take that, bullies!

Although Christians were already sporting their "Let's Get Ready to Rapture" t-shirts, this end of the world party never came. Eventually, the poor picked-on Christians took over control of the Roman Empire. They watched their social stock rise, while the bullies went the other way.

Today, most Christians don't worry too much about the end of the world. Apparently when you're in charge, this apocalypse stuff can wait another millennia or two.