1 Thessalonians
The First Epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians, usually
referred to simply as First Thessalonians and often written 1
Thessalonians, is a book from the New Testament of the
Christian Bible.
The first letter to the Thessalonians was likely the first of
Paul's letters, probably written by the end of A.D. 52[1],
making it, so far as is now known, the oldest extant Christian
document...
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thes-a-lo'-ni-anz
I. IMPORTANCE OF THE EPISTLE
II. CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE FOUNDING OF THE CHURCH
1. Luke's Narrative in Acts
2. Confirmation of Luke's Narrative in the Epistle
III. CONDITIONS IN THE THESSALONIAN CHURCH AS INDICATED IN
THE LETTER
IV. ANALYSIS WIENER, ORIGIN OF THE PENTATEUCH THE EPISTLE
1. Paul's Past and Present Relations with the Thessalonians
and His Love for Them
2. Exhortations against Vice, and Comfort and Warning in
View of the Coming of Christ
V. DOCTRINAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE EPISTLE
VI. THE EPISTLE'S REVELATIONS OF PAUL'S CHARACTERISTICS
LITERATURE
I. The Importance of the Epistle.
The letter is especially important as a witness to the
content of the earliest Gospel, on account of its date and
its well-nigh unchallenged authenticity. According to
Harnack it was written in the year 48 AD; according to Zahn,
in the year 53. It is likely that these two dates represent
the extreme limits. We are thus justified in saying with
confidence that we have before us a document that could not
have been written more than 24 years, and may very easily
have been written but 19 years, after the ascension of our
Lord. This is a fact of great interest in view of the
contention that the Jesus of the four Gospels is a product
of the legend-making propensity of devout souls in the
latter part of the 1st century. When we remember that Paul
was converted more than 14 years before the writing of the
Epistles, and that he tells us that his conversion was of
such an overwhelming nature as to impel him in a straight
course from which he never varied, and when we note that at
the end of 14 years Peter and John, having fully heard the
gospel which he preached, had no corrections to offer (Gal
1:11 through 2:10, especially 2:6-10), we see that the view
of Christ and His message given in this Epistle traces
itself back into the very presence of the most intimate
friends of Jesus. It is not meant by this that the words of
Paul or the forms of his teaching are reproductions of
things Jesus said in the days of His flesh, but rather that
the conception which is embodied in the Epistle of the
person of Christ and of His relation to the Father, and of
His relation also to the church and to human destiny, is
rooted in Christ's own self-revelation.
II. Circumstances of the Founding of the Church.
1. Luke's Narrative in Acts:
For the founding of the church we have two sources...
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was written by the apostle Paul at Corinth, a few months
after he had founded the church at Thessalonica, at the
close of the year A.D. 62 or the beginning of 53. The
Epistles to the Thessalonians, then (for the second followed
the first after no long interval), are the earliest of St.
Paul's writings --perhaps the earliest written records of
Christianity. It is interesting, therefore, to compare the
Thessalonian epistles with the later letters, and to note
the points of These differences are mainly
1. In the general style of these earlier letters
there is greater simplicity and less exuberance of language.
2. The antagonism to St. Paul is not the same. Here
the opposition comes from Jews. A period of five years
changes the aspect of the controversy. The opponents of St.
Paul are then no longer Jews so much as Judaizing
Christians.
3. Many of the distinctive doctrines of Christianity
were yet not evolved and distinctly enunciated till the
needs of the Church drew them out into prominence at a later
date. It has often been observed, for instance, that there
is in the Epistles to the Thessalonians no mention of the
characteristic contrast of "faith and works;" that the word
"justification" does not once occur; that the idea of dying
with Christ and living with Christ, so frequent in St.
Paul's later writings, is absent in these. In the Epistles
to the Thessalonians, the gospel preached is that of the
coming of Christ, rather than of the cross of Christ. The
occasion of this epistle was as follows: St. Paul had twice
attempted to re-visit Thessalonica, and both times had been
disappointed. Thus prevented from seeing them in person, he
had sent Timothy to inquire and report to him as to their
condition. 1Th 3:1-6 Timothy returned with more favorable
tidings, reporting not only their progress in Christian
faith and practice, but also their strong attachment to
their old teacher. 1Th 3:6-10 The First Epistle to the
Thessalonians is the outpouring of the apostle's gratitude
on receiving this welcome news. At the same time there
report of Timothy was not unmixed with alloy. There were
certain features in the condition of the Thessalonian church
which called for St. Paul's interference and to which he
addresses himself in his letter.
1. The very intensity of their Christian faith,
dwelling too exclusively on the day of the Lord's coming,
had been attended with evil consequences. On the other hand,
a theoretical difficulty had been felt. Certain members of
the church had died, and there was great anxiety lest they
should be excluded from any share in the glories of the
Lord's advent. ch. 1Th 4:13-18
2. The Thessalonians needed consolation and
encouragement under persecution. ch. 1Th 2:14; 3:2-4
3. An unhealthy state of feeling with regard to
spiritual gifts was manifesting itself. ch. 1Th 6:19,20
4. There was the danger of relapsing into their old
heathen profligacy. ch. 1Th 4:4-8 Yet notwithstanding all
these drawbacks, the condition of the Thessalonian church
was highly satisfactory, and the most cordial relations
existed between St. Paul and his converts there. This
honorable distinction it shares with the other great church
of Macedonia, that of Philippi. The epistle is rather
practical than doctrinal. The external evidence in favor of
the genuineness of the First Epistle to the Thessalonians is
chiefly negative, but this is important enough. There is no
trace that it was ever disputed at any age or in any section
of the Church, or even by any individual till the present
century. Toward the close of the second century from
Irenaeus downward. we find this epistle directly quoted and
ascribed to Paul. The evidence derived from the character of
the epistle itself is so strong that it may fairly be called
irresistible.
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The first epistle to the Thessalonians was the first of all
Paul's epistles. It was in all probability written
from Corinth,
where he abode a "long time" (Acts 18:11, 18), early
in the
period of his residence there, about the end of A.D.
52.
The occasion of its being written was the return of
Timotheus
from Macedonia, bearing tidings from Thessalonica
regarding the
state of the church there (Acts 18:1-5; 1 Thess.
3:6). While, on
the whole, the report of Timothy was encouraging, it
also showed
that divers errors and misunderstandings regarding
the tenor of
Paul's teaching had crept in amongst them. He
addresses them in
this letter with the view of correcting these
errors, and
especially for the purpose of exhorting them to
purity of life,
reminding them that their sanctification was the
great end
desired by God regarding them.
The subscription erroneously states that this
epistle was
written from Athens.
The second epistle to the Thessalonians was probably
also
written from Corinth, and not many months after the
first.
The occasion of the writing of this epistle was the
arrival of
tidings that the tenor of the first epistle had been
misunderstood, especially with reference to the
second advent of
Christ. The Thessalonians had embraced the idea that
Paul had
taught that "the day of Christ was at hand", that
Christ's
coming was just about to happen. This error is
corrected
(2:1-12), and the apostle prophetically announces
what first
must take place. "The apostasy" was first to arise.
Various
explanations of this expression have been given, but
that which
is most satisfactory refers it to the Church of
Rome.
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FIRST EPISTLE. Authenticity. Ignatius, ad Polycarp 1,
Ephesians 10, says "pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians
5:17); so Polycarp, and Philippians 4. This epistle is in
the Muratorian Canon, that of Marcion, and Laodicea, A.D.
364. Irenaeus (adv. Haer. 5:6, section 1) quotes 1
Thessalonians 5:23; Clement of Alexandria (Paed. 1:88)
quotes 1 Thessalonians 2:7; Tertullian (de Resurr. Carnis
24) quotes 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10; 1 Thessalonians 5:1;
Caius in Eusebius (Ecclesiastes Hist.) vi. 20, Origen
(contra Celsus 3), also confirm it. Tertullian quotes this
epistle 20 times.
AIM. After imprisonment and scourging at Philippi,
Paul (1 Thessalonians 2:2) passed on to Thessalonica. (See
THESSALONICA.) With Silas (Acts 16:3; Acts 17:1-9; Acts
17:14) and Timotheus he founded the church there (1
Thessalonians 1:1; 1 Thessalonians 3:1-6; 2 Thessalonians
1:1). The Jews rejected the gospel when preached for three
successive sabbaths; a few however "believed, and consorted
with Paul and Silas, and of the devout (i.e. proselytes to
Judaism) Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women
not a few." Amidst trials (1 Thessalonians 1:6; 1
Thessalonians 2:13) from their own countrymen and from the
Jews (1 Thessalonians 2:14-16) the converts "received the
word with joy of the Holy Spirit."
His stay at Thessalonica was probably longer than
the three weeks recorded in Acts 17:2, for some time is
implied in his labouring there for support (1 Thessalonians
2:9; 2 Thessalonians 3:8), in his receiving supplies there
more than once from Philippi (Philemon 4:16), in his
receiving many converts from the Gentiles (1 Thessalonians
1:9, and, according to the Alexandrinus manuscript of Acts
17:4, though not the Sinaiticus and Vaticanus manuscripts,
"of the devout (and) of the Greeks a great multitude"), and
in his appointing ministers. He probably (compare Acts
13:46; Acts 18:6-7; Acts 19:8-9) preached first to the Jews;
then, when they rejected the message, to the Gentiles.
Thenceforth he held the church assemblies in the house of
Jason (Acts 17:5), his "kinsman" (Romans 16:21). His tender
love and gentleness, like that of "a nurse cherishing
children," disinterestedness, devotion even unto death, and
zeal for individual souls, beautifully appear in 1
Thessalonians 1:5; 1 Thessalonians 2:1-11.
He laboured here with his own hands to further the
gospel by giving an example to the idle. Contributions from
Philippi also helped him at, Thessalonica (Philemon 4:15-
16). Christ's coming and kingdom were his chief topic (1
Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 2:12; 1 Thessalonians
2:19; 1 Thessalonians 3:13; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1
Thessalonians 5:1-11; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24), that the
Thessalonians should walk worthy of it (1 Thessalonians
4:1). It is an undesigned coincidence confirming the
authenticity of the history and of the epistles that the
very charge which Jason's assailants brought against the
brethren was "these do contrary to the decrees of Caesar,
saying that there is another king, one Jesus" (Acts 17:5-9).
So in Jesus' own case they perverted His doctrine of His
coming kingdom into a charge of treason against Caesar. So
also the doctrine of the resurrection is prominent both in
Luke's history (Acts 17:3) and in Paul's independent epistle
(1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-16)...
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