James Hampton Kirkland visited Italy, Paris, and London. Kirkland was appointed Professor of Latin at Vanderbilt University in 1886. Two of his colleagues were Baskervill and Smith, his former professors at Wofford. Another colleague was Milton W. Humphreys, a Confederate veteran who also received a PhD from the University of Leipzig. Two more colleagues had also studied at the University of Leipzig: Waller Deering and Alexander R. Hohlfeld. He edited the works of Horace, a Roman lyric poet in a collection entitled "Horace: Satires and Epistles", which he published in 1893. Meanwhile, Kirkland was appointed as chancellor in 1893. He was only thirty-three
Authorship of the Pauline epistles similarities are seen as subtle enough to make imitation an unnecessary hypothesis. Udo Schnelle argued that 2 Thessalonians was significantly different in style from the undisputed epistles, characterizing it as whole and narrow, rather than as a lively and abrupt discussion on a range of issues. Moreover, Alfred Loisy argued that it reflected knowledge of the synoptic gospels, which, according to the current scholarly consensus, had not been written when Paul wrote his epistles. Bart D. Ehrman viewed the insistence of genuineness within the letter and the strong condemnation of forgery at its start as ploys commonly used by forgers.