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This book addresses an important issue in Thessalonian research that has hitherto received inadequate scholarly attention: the conflict relations between Christians and non-Christians in Thessalonica. By engaging in careful exegesis of pertinent texts and by drawing upon ancient literary parallels and the social-scientific study of deviance and conflict, Still is able to spell out in some detail the specifics and the dynamics of Paul's and his Thessalonian converts' clash with outsiders. In this study, he shows that the conflict (thlipsis) in Thessalonica was rather complex-having varied origins, multiple causes, and mixed effects. As a result, this work not only provides a nuanced analysis of the conflict in Thessalonica, but also demonstrates that the Thessalonian correspondence can be best read when insider and outsider interaction is kept clearly in view.
Paul's two letters to the Thessalonians stand as some of the very earliest Christian documents, yet they appear well into Paul's missionary career, giving them a unique context well worth exploring. In this first full-scale socio-rhetorical commentary on 1 and 2 Thessalonians, Ben Witherington gleans fresh insight from reading Paul's text in the light of rhetorical concerns and patterns, early Jewish theology, and the first-century historical situation in Macedonia. Witherington's distinctive socio-rhetorical approach helps unearth insights that would otherwise remain hidden using only form criticism, epistolary categories, and traditional criticism. Witherington details Thessalonica's place as the "metropolis" of Macedonia, and he carefully unpacks the social situation of Paul and his recipients. Scholars will appreciate the careful analysis and rhetorical insights contained here, while Witherington's clear prose and sensitivity to Paul's ideas make this work ideal for all who desire a useful, readable commentary on 1 and 2 Thessalonians.
James R. Harrison investigates the collision between Paul's eschatological gospel and the Julio-Claudian conception of rule. The ruler's propaganda, with its claim about the 'eternal rule' of the imperial house over its subjects, embodied in idolatry of power that conflicted with Paul's proclamation of the reign of the risen Son of God over his world. This ideological conflict is examined in 1 and 2 Thessalonians and in Romans, exploring how Paul's eschatology intersected with the imperial cult in the Greek East and in the Latin West. A wide selection of evidence - literary, documentary, numismatic, iconographic, archeological - unveils the 'symbolic universe' of the Julio-Claudian rulers. This construction of social and cosmic reality stood at odds with the eschatological denouement of world history, which, in Paul's view, culminated in the arrival of God's new creation upon Christ's return as Lord of all. Paul exalted the Body of Christ over Nero's 'body of state', transferring to the risen and ascended Jesus many of the ruler's titles and to the Body of Christ many of the ruler's functions. Thus, for Paul, Christ's reign challenged the values of Roman society and transformed its hierarchical social relations through the Spirit.
Paul is a polarizing figure in biblical history. He was stubborn. He was opinionated. He was an obstinate man. Many women distrust him because some of the language in today's world appears to be misogynistic and advocating for the suppression of women. Others accuse him of being in favor of slavery. However, it is to his own Jewish people that Paul creates the most antipathy and the most divisiveness. Was Paul an anti-Semite? Was Paul a self-hating Jew? Was Paul misunderstood and wrongly accused? This is the debate that has been raging for almost two millennia. Paul's Conundrum seeks to answer these questions through an analysis of his two most controversial passages--1 Thessalonians 2:13-16 and Romans 9:1-5. Amy Downey has sought to reconcile these passages through a conservative, evangelical approach that not only considers the Jewish man Paul, but also Paul the Apostle of Messiah Jesus. Downey considers the historical setting of the two passages, analyzes the exegesis of the passages in question, and seeks to respond to three separate but unique theological controversies that arise out of these letters. Hopefully by the end of this book, the reader will be left with only one question: "Just how far was Paul willing to go to realize the salvation of the Jewish people?"
The study of Paul's Thessalonian letters is enjoying fresh interest today. These texts are considered by many to be amongst the earliest extant Christian documents. They are included in conversations about early Jewish and Christian apocalypticism. New insights are coming from examination of the religious, socio-cultural, and political contexts of Roman Thessalonica. And, looking back, these letters have played an important role in the development of Christian eschatology. This volumes serves as an up-to-date guide to these academic discussions and debates and much more. This volume on 1 and 2 Thessalonians in the Zondervan Critical Introductions to the New Testament series offers a volume-length engagement with subjects that normally only receive short treatments in biblical commentaries or in New Testament Introductions. This volume addresses: Authorship Date Audience Socio-Historical Context Genre Purpose Integrity Textual History Greek Style Structure Argument Other Critical Issues Main Interpretive Issues Reception into the Canon Selected History of Interpretation Bibliography
Though a majority of commentators have admitted or naturally assumed that there were many divergences amongst the Pauline churches, many tend to concentrate on similarities more than dissimilarities (contra John M. G. Barclay; Craig de Vos). Especially, the previous scholarly treatments of divergences in the Pauline churches have shed little light on certain areas of study, in particular the early Christians’ socio-economic status. The thesis, therefore, underlines the conspicuous differences between the Thessalonian and Corinthian congregations concerning their socio-economic compositions, social relationships, and further social identities, while extrapolating certain circles of causality between them through socio-economic and social-scientific criticism. This study concludes Paul’s teachings of grace, community, and ethics were manifested and modified in different communities in different ways because of these different socio-economic contexts.