The Parallels between 1 and 2 Thessalonians Against the Background of Ancient Parallel Letters and Speeches, in: Who Created Christianity? Fresh Approaches to the Relationship Between Paul and Jesus, Hg. C. Evans / A. White, Peabody 2020, 194-216:
„As the available ancient analogies demonstrate, it is not correct to say that the parallels between 1 and 2 Thessalonians must have been the result of literary dependence and cannot have been produced by one and the same author. Just as in 1 and 2 Thessalonians, in the parallel letters written by Pliny and Cicero topical, structural, and verbal agreements were a common phenomenon. Moreover, just as in 1 and 2 Thessalonians, in Pliny’s and Cicero’s parallel letters, the verbal agreement was particularly strong in the letter headings and in the letter closings.
Beyond that, like some Roman orators, Paul may have worked with pre-formed elements that he used on different occasions. Moreover, just like the Old Testament prophets Paul, may have drawn on the content and vocabulary of his long-term preaching activity. In light of the available ancient analogies, it is historically quite plausible that Paul himself produced the parallels to 1 Thessa-lonians in 2 Thessalonians, and that they are not the result of literary dependence but of human memory.
Finally, if even the famous orator Isocrates felt free to repeat the wording of earlier speeches, it is improbable that someone such as the apostle Paul, whose style was much more quotidian, would have regarded the repetition of his own words as illegitimate self-plagiarism“ (Abstract).