For example, in 2 Thessalonians 3:7–10, Paul is replying to Christians who—unless it is simply that they are idle—feel that the nearness of Christ’s return removes the normal need and obligation to work. Paul, with commonsense logic (‘If any one will not work, let him not eat’), denies the inference. On another question, however, that of marriage, Paul, subjected to the same doctrinal pressures, reacts quite differently. In 1 Corinthians 7, he gives it as his considered view, after careful and balanced