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Begin Typing VigilThe Christians of Thessalonika were mainly Greeks by birth and training (1:9, 2:14), who had been won over from paganism by the efforts of Paul, Silvanus, and Timotheus. The mission had only lasted for a month or two. After preaching for three weeks in the local synagogue, the evangelists continued their work till they were prematurely driven from the city by the intrigues of the local Jews. They left a vigorous church behind them, however, and the central position of Thessalonika upon the Via Egnatia at the head of the Thermaic gulf presented excellent opportunities for the diffusion of the new faith (1:7-8, 4:10).
His primary reason for writing to the Christians of Thessalonika was anxiety on their behalf. It was the first community of any importance which he had been able to found in Europe; and the exemplary character, the exceptional opportunities, and the influence of its members had already produced a wide impression on the surrounding district. To this Paul alludes (1:7-8) with a pardonable touch of hyperbole (compare Romans 1:8, Philippians 1:13). From no church was he torn with such evident reluctance. But the urgent claim of the church on his solicitude was the suffering to which it had been exposed even during his stay, and especially since he had left. Concerned for his friends’ stability, and unable to return in person, he had dispatched Timotheus, as the younger of his companions, from Athens in order to rally and confirm their faith. Meanwhile events had driven him from Athens across to Corinth (1:7-8), where Timotheus brought him the glad tidings (a real gospel—note the rare use of εὐαγγελισαμένου in 3:6) of the Thessalonians’ affection and constancy. He at once proceeds to send this informal letter, written (1) out of warm personal affection, which he rejoices to find returned, and (2) in order to convey instructions upon some points of Christian belief and conduct.
The former (1) consideration emerges in a series of allusions to malignant suspicions of his conduct, especially of the purity of his motives and methods, circulated by local outsiders (2:3f, 18 etc.). This does not mean that he had reproached himself with having appeared to leave his friends in the lurch; such cannot be the entire explanation of the phrases. A self-defence of this kind would be sadly post factum. The language undoubtedly implies that insinuations to his discredit were current in Thessalonika; they struck at the church through the apostle; and because the peace and faith of the Thessalonian Christians were so intimately bound up with confidence in his integrity, he vindicates their trust by showing how, in an age in which impostors, religious, medical, and philosophical, flourished by crooked methods, he had not worked for mercenary ends, nor set up high pretensions, nor made exacting demands on his followers, nor left them meanly in the lurch. He appeals to his record in Thessalonika, and shows that his absence was neither voluntary nor equivalent to a slackening of his interest or affection. Such malicious calumnies, circulated mainly or at least primarily by the Jews, Paul further meets by unbaring his very heart. He reveals his throbbing interest in the church (2:8, 3:6, 10), tells them of the joy and pride their loyalty afforded him (see the praise of other Macedonians in Philippians 4:1), and expands previous oral admonitions (2:12, 4:1-2, 6, 10-12) in a series of written counsels.
(2) The second and supplementary part of the letter, passing from this personal and apologetic aspect, warns them against such perils as (περὶ ἁγιασμοῦ, 4:3-8) sensuality, (περὶ φιλαδελφίας, 4:9f) selfishness, and noisy indolence, due as much to a misapprehension of their faith as to pagan surroundings. The occurrence of some deaths had raised uncertainties about the Lord’s Second coming, and Paul briefly handles this with reference to the dead (4:13-18 περὶ τῶν κοιμωμένων), who are declared not to have forfeited their place in the messianic realm of the age to come; and to the living (5:1-11 περὶ τῶν χρόνων καὶ τῶν καιρῶν), who are exhorted to moral alertness in view of this great event, which may be expected at any moment (5:3), as well as to an ethical steadiness unaffected by unsettling expectations of the end. This need of mutual exhortation (5:11) naturally leads to a word on subordination and obedience to the local church authorities (5:12f), and with some general counsels the letter ends. While it would be actually put into the hands of the local leaders (5:12), it was addressed, and was to be read, to all the members of the church, not to any exclusive section of them (5:27). Apparently it did its work, so far as Paul’s character was concerned.
The letters attributed to Paul can be found on this timeline. This collection includes Paul's authentic episltes as well as the disputed writings.