Insight from 1 Thessalonians 1<\/p>\n
The first letter to the Thessalonians is, in some ways, a five-chapter sigh of relief. It was written after Paul learned that the church in Thessalonica had not, as he feared, died from neglect. The church planting process in Thessalonica had been greatly short-circuited. Nothing, it seems, had gone according to plan. Yet, against all odds, the church was still in existence. More than that, it was thriving. With this news ringing in his ears, Paul began his letter. Tom Kelby, Darkness and Light: A Study of 1 and 2 Thessalonians (Webster, WI: Hands to the Plow, 2009), 12.<\/p>\n
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How do you begin a letter such as this\u2014a letter to a church from which you\u2019ve been \u201ctorn away\u201d (1 Thessalonians 2:17)\u2014a letter to a church that, perhaps, felt that they had been neglected by you to some extent\u2014a letter to a church that was, against all earthly odds, surviving in the midst of great suffering? You begin by affirming your love for the church. Paul writes, if it can be described in this way, gently here. This is evidenced by the fact that he does not, unlike his usual custom, mention the fact that he is an apostle in the introduction to this letter.<\/p>\n
“Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.” 1 Thessalonians 1:1<\/p>\n
This may be because this letter did not demand the sort of weight the apostolic label would have put on the letter. It was not written to refute false teaching or false teachers in the church (i.e., Galatians and Colossians), it was not written to a church that the author had never visited (i.e., Romans), it was not written to confront immorality within the church (i.e, 1 Corinthians), and it was not written so that it might be circulated among many churches (i.e., Ephesians). Rather, this letter was written to affirm Paul\u2019s love for the church in this one city, to explain why the church had been seemingly neglected, and to comfort, strengthen, and guide the church with much-needed teaching. There simply was no need, it appears, for Paul to remind the church of his apostolic calling.<\/p>\n
This letter also differs from the majority of Paul\u2019s other letters in that it doesn\u2019t read as if it is solely from Paul. The letter reads as if Silas and Timothy (the other names mentioned in the introduction) actually played a vital role in its composition. Granted, other letters also begin with a list of names alongside of Paul\u2019s. But the letters to the Thessalonians appear to be different. Notice the prevalence of the pronoun \u201cwe\u201d in this letter and the relatively few occurrences of the word \u201cI\u201d. This does not mean that the letter was co-authored by Paul, Silas, and Timothy. It was clearly authored by Paul. Rather, it seems to indicate that the words written by Paul here were truly shared\u2014in a real and deep sense\u2014by his entire team. While the words are his alone, he was not writing alone. Tom Kelby, Darkness and Light: A Study of 1 and 2 Thessalonians (Webster, WI: Hands to the Plow, 2009), 22.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_crdt_document":""},"class_list":["post-4680","reading-plan","type-reading-plan","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/om\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reading-plan\/4680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/om\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reading-plan"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/om\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/reading-plan"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/om\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}