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During the month of November and again on the third Sunday of Advent, many Christian churches will use sections from the First Letter to the Thessalonians as their “Epistle for the Sunday.” This significant letter, hard to find tucked away among the shorter writings of the apostle Paul, is the earliest Christian writing in the New Testament. It is the first attempt to give advice to a Christian community in the form of a pastoral letter.
Paul preached in Thessalonica sometime during the spring or summer of 50 C.E., but he encountered hostility and had to leave prematurely. Acts 17:5–9 says that this hostility was inspired by members of the Jewish community, but Paul does not confirm that in his letter. He indicates, however, that his stay in Thessalonica was brief and beset by tribulations (1 Thessalonians 1:6), and he is worried lest the congregation he founded might not have survived (1 Thessalonians 3:5). Therefore Paul sent his fellow missionary Timothy to Thessalonica (1 Thessalonians 3:1–3); as soon as Timothy came back with good news (1 Thessalonians 3:6), he wrote the letter to the Thessalonians that is now in the New Testament.
What kind of questions are discussed in this letter? Two concerns stand out. The first is the relationship of the apostle to the congregation. Did the apostle establish his authority with the usual demonstrations of power? Did he perform impressive miracles? Did he ask for the legitimate rewards of money? Did he underline his legitimacy in a show of persuasive words? Surprisingly, in his recapitulation of his missionary activity (1 Thessalonians 2:1–7), Paul states that he has not done any of these things, nor has he established a relationship with the new congregation that allowed him to be in command. Rather, he and his associates had been “gentle, like a wet-nurse to her own children” (1 Thessalonians 2:7). Paul and his associates had not only given the Thessalonians the message of the gospel, they had surrendered their own selves, working with their hands day and night in order not to burden anyone (1 Thessalonians 2:8–9). Paul had admonished them like a father counsels his children (1 Thessalonians 2:11–12). In following verses (1 Thessalonians 2:17–20), the imagery is paradoxically reversed, as Paul describes himself and his associates as “orphans” since they wanted to be united again.
These verses establish a relationship of the apostles to their churches that is radically opposed to any hierarchical concept of church leadership. The responsibility of the new churches does not justify any authoritarian structures. It liberates the new converts and gives them the right to be equals—they themselves now carry on the work of the apostles by becoming agents of the new message (1 Thessalonians 1:8). If the apostles had been the founders, they are now nothing but the congregations’ orphaned children.
The second concern of the letter is the future (1 Thessalonians 4:13–5:11). New Testament scholars speak of “eschatology,” the doctrine of the final coming of the Savior. These last chapters of the oldest writing of the New Testament have often been understood as the biblical foundation of eschatological doctrine. Is there a “second coming” and is there a resurrection of the dead? Paul is not at all concerned with such doctrines. He does not argue that the dead will rise at the second coming of Christ; that is taken for granted. Rather, he talks about the timing of the resurrection of the dead: Will those who have died share in the festive celebration of the arrival of the Savior? In ancient Greece the cemeteries were built outside the city, along the streets that led into the city. When Christ returns, he will be preceded by a herald and a trumpeter who will announce his coming on those streets like the arrival of a visiting emperor or other dignitary. The dead will hear the trumpet and the call; they will rise first, and then they will go out “together with us who are still alive” (1 Thessalonians 4:17) to meet the Lord—in the clouds, to be sure, because Christ will arrive from heaven rather than on some chariot from Rome. The dead and those who are alive will all be together in that festive meeting. That is the point. Whether dead or alive, nobody will be disadvantaged. What matters is that all will be united.
The verses that follow (1 Thessalonians 5:1–11) are even further removed from our usual understanding of eschatological doctrine. The addressees of the letter are supposed to know the “times and the seasons” of the future events (1 Thessalonians 5:1). Such knowledge, however, implies that they know nothing, because the “day of the Lord comes like the thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2). The ones who will be surprised are those who say there is “peace and security” (1 Thessalonians 5:3). These terms characterize the political propaganda of imperial Rome, which 017successfully, sold its program to all people under its rule: Peace and security guaranteed by the exercise of military power.
Against this hierarchically structured security system, Paul describes the new community in terms that are reminiscent of the Dead Sea Scrolls: “You are not in darkness…you are already children of light and children of the day” (1 Thessalonians 5:4–5). This makes the coming of a dramatic future event, the “day of the lord,” irrelevant. The present time is already the time of salvation, active in the faith, love and hope of the new community. These same virtues of faith, love and hope are also the weapons with which to fight against the false sense of peace and security that the military power of the empire seeks to establish. But they are even more than that: They are virtues for life in the present time and not for some Imaginary future event such as the second coming of Christ.
During the month of November and again on the third Sunday of Advent, many Christian churches will use sections from the First Letter to the Thessalonians as their “Epistle for the Sunday.” This significant letter, hard to find tucked away among the shorter writings of the apostle Paul, is the earliest Christian writing in the New Testament. It is the first attempt to give advice to a Christian community in the form of a pastoral letter. Paul preached in Thessalonica sometime during the spring or summer of 50 C.E., but he encountered hostility and had to leave prematurely. Acts […]
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