1 Thessalonians: Introduction to 1 Thessalonians

Basic Orientation to the Letter

Who wrote the letter?

Although described as Paul's letter, the letter identifies three authors in its opening - Paul, Silvanus (probably Silas from Acts) and Timothy - and regularly uses the first person plural rather than singular of the author.

When was it written?

The letter is generally seen as an early - perhaps even the earliest - letter from Paul in the canon, written in the early 50s.

Introduction from the Zondervan NIV Study Bible

Introducing the First Letter to the Thessalonians - Resources

Biblical Theologians

Mark Allan Powell has resources based on his Introducing the New Testament (Baker 2009)

 

His page on 1 Thessalonians has various resources for students and teachers including the following PDFs:

Evangelical Reminders

The Jews and God’s Wrath

Faith, Love, and Hope

Kissing Christians

Good Grief

Caught Up in the Clouds

Thessalonians in the Revised Common Lectionary

Bibliography: 1 Thessalonians

Todd D. Still, co-author of Thinking Through Paul, talks about what prompted Paul to write 1 Thessalonians

Here he discusses whether Paul thought Jesus would return sooner rather than later

In this video he explains Paul's instructions regarding the "unruly" in the Thessalonian church.

Gene Green, co-author of The New Testament in Antiquity, explores why Paul teaches about the end times in 1 & 2 Thessalonians

Here Green explains why 1 & 2 Thessalonians include so much about work

Bibledex video on 1 Thessalonians from University of Nottingham with Anthony Thiselton, Andrew Talbert and Matthew Malcolm. 

Introduction from Jeffrey A.D. Weima's 2014 commentary on 1 & 2 Thessalonians in the Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament series

Download (PDF, 1.59MB)

Introduction from Gordon Fee's 2009 NICNT commentary on 1 & 2 Thessalonians

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An excerpt from Gene L. Green's 2009 Pillar commentary on 1 & 2 Thessalonians

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Biblical Training Website

This website has a number of helpful introductory resources including

Dr Robert Stein's New Testament Survey series on

1 Thessalonians (12 mins)

 

Dr Craig Blomberg's Introduction the New Testament: Romans to Revelation series on

Thessalonians (44 mins)

Thessalonians Part 2 (53 mins)

 

Dr Bill Mounce's New Testament: Its Structure, Content and Theology series on

Acts 15.36-18.22 and 1 & 2 Thessalonians (1 hr 24 mins)

 

 

 

Luther Seminary's Enter the Bible Website

This has resources on 1 Thessalonians by Matt Skinner including

Summary

Outline

Background

Introductory Issues

Theological Themes

On the right hand side of the page are various further resources including short commentaries on key texts and 3 short videos.

The Text This Week Website

This has resources relating to

1 Thessalonians as a whole

Specific passages from 1 Thessalonians

 

Fulcrum Articles on 1 Thessalonians

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