1 Thessalonians wrap up

What did we learn? 1 Thessalonians is probably the oldest book of the New Testament and the first available letter of Paul. There is not much scholarly dispute that it is written by Paul, possibly in the early 50's CE. It is written to the church in Thessaloniki, Greece, which apparently was started by Paul, Silas, and Timothy. They had left the area and Paul was not able to go back for some time. He became anxious about whether the church was keeping the faith, and sent Timothy to check up on them. Timothy came back to Paul with a positive report. In spite of persecution, they were still active believers. It is said that they originally started out as idol worshippers, which would make them gentiles. Paul considered their success his crown of glory.

The author does not claim this letter is inspired or the word of god. There is no mention of specific Old Testament people, places, or events, in this letter. There are no Old Testament quotes. The only New testament people mentioned are Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Jesus. The New Testament places mentioned are Judea, Macedonia, Achaia, and Philippi. There are no New Testament events mentioned except travel and/or persecution in the mentioned areas. The specific persecutions mentioned were being insulted, forbidden from preaching the gospel to gentiles, and being run out of town.

There is no mention of Jesus's birth, life, miracles, or teachings. There is no mention of his trial, crucifixion or burial. He is in heaven, having been raised from the dead. He will come back to earth. Satan is mentioned as stopping Paul from doing what he wants. He is also called the tempter who might have led the Thessalonians astray.

In this letter, the author accuses the Jews of killing Jesus, just as they killed the prophets. In the gospels we see that the Romans were the actual executioners of Jesus. The only way we see Jews killing anyone in the New Testament is by stoning. They never seemed to get in trouble with the authorities for that. Which makes me wonder, if they could do that, why didn't they stone Jesus? Also, it is very difficult to find any prophets who were killed by the Jews anywhere in the bible. In the New Testament, John the baptist might count, maybe Stephen also. In 1 Kings 19:10, Elijah tells god that his (unnamed) prophets have been put to death with the sword. That's the only mention I could find in the Old Testament.

Paul also mentions that he gave the Thessalonians instructions, by the authority of Jesus, on how to live as children of god. These instructions included avoiding certain sexual behaviors which sound like he could be obliquely referring to homosexuality. He does encourage self control and not taking advantage of others, which I guess is good in this oddly worded passage. They are also told to mind their own business and work with their hands. Significantly, in my mind, they aren't told to spread the gospel. How often are any people in the NT, besides the apostles, told to spread the gospel? I'm having trouble thinking of any.

Faithfulness and obedience to Paul's message is stressed in this letter. The message is one of eternal life for believers, when Jesus comes back. On a surprise date, the archangel will announce Jesus  and god's trumpet will sound. The dead in christ will literally rise up into the air, then the living believers will follow and meet them in the clouds. Believers should be expecting this to happen in their lifetime so they will be ready. Unbelievers will be caught unaware. Believers don't need to grieve the death of other beloved believers, they will see them again. Not like non believers, they have no hope. (Erg.)

1 Thessalonians part four

We are at chapter four verse 13. Paul is telling the Thessalonians about people who have "fallen asleep" which a euphemism for died. He doesn't want the Thessalonians to grieve about those people who have died "like the rest of men who have no hope." (Is false hope a good thing?) Paul believes "that Jesus died and rose again" and that one day he will bring the dead back with him. Well, not all the dead. Just the ones who "fell asleep in him." In other words, only Jesus believers. So, should the Thessalonians grieve for those who died and didn't believe?

By the way, grieving is normal and very human. It also occurs in the animal kingdom. Pretending that people don't actually die, but live on, prevents people from learning valuable coping skills. Tragedies happen. Death happens every day. We will all die. Everyone we love will die, some before us. We need to talk about how to deal with it in non harmful ways.

Next Paul tells the Thessalonians that the dead in christ will rise before the living, at the command of the archangel and the trumpet call of god. When he says rise, he literally means rise up into the air. After the dead begin to rise, the living believers..."we who are alive and left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the lord in the air. And we will be with the lord forever." Very dramatic. What happens to the rest of the people, the dead and the living? Anyway, it never happened, did it?

Paul can not tell the Thessalonian when this will happen because god wants it to be a surprise. He wants to catch people off guard, when they think they are safe. Then boom! Destruction. No escape. Nice god. No worries, the Thessalonians won't be caught off guard, like those who sleep peacefully at night and don't expect intruders. No, the Thessalonians are like fully awake people in the day time, alert and self controlled.

The Thessalonians will be ready for Jesus's coming by "putting on faith and love as a breastplate and the hope of salvation as a helmet." There's a war coming. They need armor. God did not "appoint them to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through Jesus." He died for the believers, the dead and the living ones. They will all get to live together with him. Good for them. I'll pass.

Next Paul tells them how to police each other. They were to respect the hard workers who are over them in the lord. These are not everyday hard workers but ones who have been given authority over the church in Thessaloniki. This passage is talking about church work, not everyday living work. The respect has not necessarily been earned. They are also to "warn the idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, and be patient with everyone." This is in the context of the church. It is god's will that they are always joyful, thankful, and prayerful, no matter what.

Finally the Thessalonians are told not to put out the spirit's fire, not to treat prophecies with contempt, test everything, and avoid every kind of evil. The letter ends with a kind of blessing. May god grant the Thessalonians sanctification and blamelessness of spirit, soul, and body, and he can do it. (What is the difference between a spirit and a soul?) Paul asks the Thessalonians to pray for his entourage and to greet all the bothers with a holy kiss. The letter is to be read aloud.

Next the wrap up.

1 Thessalonians part three

We are at chapter two verse 17. Paul, Silas, and Timothy, had to leave the Thessalonians. They wanted to go back very badly but Satan stopped them. Hmm. How do they know it was Satan and not humans? They are truly sad about that because the Thessalonians are the glorious crown they will wear in the presence of Jesus, when he comes. They make Paul and company look good. Too bad Jesus never came.

Paul got impatient (What, he didn't trust god's timing?) and sent Timothy back to Thessaloniki without him. Timothy was to bolster their faith, so they wouldn't be unsettled by the persecution they were going through. It was inevitable that they would be treated that way, as they had been told the first time Paul visited them. We are not told exactly what these persecutions entailed, physical, economic, or social harm, or a combination. Paul knew beforehand that it would happen, probably because he had seen the same results of his teaching elsewhere. He was worried that the Thessalonians would lose faith in what he taught them. Then his efforts would have been in vain. Their trials were blamed on "the tempter" tempting them.

Timothy returned back to Paul with a good report. The Thessalonians still like Paul and would like to see him again. Whew! They haven't given up their faith. Praise the lord! Paul and company are going to keep earnestly praying for the Thessalonians. One day they will get back and "supply what is lacking" in the Thessalonians' faith. What does that mean? What are they lacking? Paul is hoping god clears the way for another visit. In the meantime, he wants god to make their love increase and strengthen their hearts, so they will be ready when Jesus comes. Too bad he never came.

We are now at chapter four. Paul says he instructed the Thessalonians on how to live to please god, and they are doing it. But they've got to do it more. After all their instructions came by the authority of the lord Jesus. That's how we can know that their instructions were crap. Paul, Silas, and Timothy, never met Jesus, except in visions. Their authority is purely on their say so. The Thessalonians fell for it, hook line, and sinker. They get to tell the Thessalonians what god's will is and how are the Thessalonians to disagree? They never had any personal revelation of Jesus.

What did Paul say was god's will? Avoiding sexual immorality, controlling their bodies and not indulging in passionate lust "like the heathen who do not know god." The Thessalonian should not wrong his brother or take advantage of his brother, regarding this matter. Is Paul talking of same sex relations? It's hard to tell. It's obviously about some kind of sexual purity standards. Those who don't follow the standards have been warned that the lord will punish them.

Paul says he doesn't need to preach to the Thessalonians about brotherly love, because god seems to have already taught them how to love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. The brothers are clearly other christ believers. If god could teach them brotherly love without Paul's help, couldn't he have taught them other things as well. Why does god need Paul to spread his message?

Next, Paul tells the Thessalonians to "lead a quiet life, mind your own business, and work with your hands." That way they will earn the respect of outsiders and not be dependant on anyone. Wait. They are not to preach the gospel to their neighbors? It just occurred to me, most of the New Testament letters don't even encourage the readers to spread the gospel. The readers are just passive and obedient recipients of the message, a message that needs reinforcing and policing by Paul and his cohorts.

Till next time.

1 Thessalonians part two

We are at chapter two verse one. Paul, Silas, and Timothy had previously visited Thessaloniki. They thought their visit was a success, not like in Philippi, where they experienced non specific suffering and had been insulted. With god's help they dared to share the gospel with the Thessalonians, in spite of strong opposition. They weren't trying to trick the Thessalonians and their motives were pure, according to them. They spoke "as men approved by god," according to them. And everyone had to take their word for it. They claim to be trying to please god not men, but how in the world could anyone know for sure if they were telling the truth? Plus, why did god need them to spread the message? Why didn't he just tell the people himself? Why does god rely on an imperfect delivery system to get his word out? Think of all the people in the world who never heard the gospel. Are they all doomed? If they are not, then why does the message need spreading?

The author goes on to say they didn't use flattery, cover up greed, or look for praise. God is their witness. Some witness, he's mute. The three of them worked hard for their own support and did not expect anything from the Thessalonians. They shared what they had, as well as preached the gospel. The sharing part is commendable. The Thessalonians (and the mute god) were witnesses of how holy, righteous and blameless the three were among the believers. Are they supposed to be tooting their own horn? Also, we don't have the Thessalonians' side of the story. Plus, how did they treat nonbelievers?

The three treated the Thessalonians like a father treats his own children. Since they were actually adults, I wonder how they felt about that. They urged the Thessalonians to live lives worthy of god, whose spokesmen they were. What proof did the Thessalonians have besides their say so? The three were so pleased when their message was received as the word of god and not the word of men. Of course they were. The believers in Thessaloniki then became imitators of the christ believing churches in Judea. Then the believers in Thessaloniki began to experience the same persecution from their own countrymen that the believers in Judea received from the Jews. How bad was this persecution? Did they hurt them, or just ridicule them? We are not told.

Those Jews who treated believers in Judea badly are said to be the people who "killed the lord Jesus and the prophets" and also drove the three of them out. This is confusing to me, because weren't those  believers also Jews? And what do the prophets have to do with it? Weren't the prophets also Jews? Also, this unfortunate passage has been used to support antisemitism throughout the ages, and it's not done being ugly. The author says these same Jews "displease god and are hostile to all men." They deliberately try to keep Paul, Timothy and Silas from speaking to the gentiles so they can be saved. In other words, those Jews don't want salvation for the non Jews. "In this way they heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of god has come upon them at last." Wow. So kind, loving, and christ like of Paul.

The Thessalonians  had to take the author's word for all this, without  proof. What Judean Jews were going to travel across the Mediterranean to Greece to set the record straight? They could basically spin any story they wanted, who would be the wiser?

Till next time.

1 Thessalonians, introduction

You can read about the 1st letter to the Thessalonians at the embedded link. This is generally considered to be a genuine Pauline letter, except for a couple of passages that appear to have been added. It is possibly Paul's first letter, maybe making it the oldest and first book of the New Testament, circa 52 CE.

The letter opens with a greeting from Paul, Silas, and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians. The church would have been in the city of Thessaloniki, currently the capital of Greek Macedonia. There is the usual prayers and flattery in the greeting. The author knows the church there was chosen by god because the gospel came to them with power and deep conviction. They felt the holy spirit, it had to be true.

Paul, Silas, and Timothy had live with the Thessalonian church, who learned to imitate them, "in spite of severe suffering." This very early days of the church what kind of suffering were they experiencing? It doesn't say yet. Nevertheless, the Thessalonians welcomed the message with joy and "became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia." Their faith in god became known everywhere and others tell the story of how the Thessalonians "turned from idols to serve the one true god and to wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead-- Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath." I'm guessing the suffering may have been a direct economic consequence of the Thessalonians giving up idol worship.

So, the Thessalonians were waiting for Jesus to come back and save them. I don't think that worked out for them.

Till next time.