Conflict at Thessalonica
Conflict at Thessalonica

Author: Todd D. Still

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 1999-10-01

Total Pages: 345

ISBN-13: 0567421090

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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.

1 and 2 Thessalonians
1 and 2 Thessalonians

Author: Ben Witherington

Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing

Published: 2006-11-02

Total Pages: 319

ISBN-13: 0802828361

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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.

Paul's Conundrum
Paul's Conundrum

Author: Amy Karen Downey

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2011-01-01

Total Pages: 120

ISBN-13: 1725245515

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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?"

1 and 2 Thessalonians
1 and 2 Thessalonians

Author: Nijay K. Gupta

Publisher: Zondervan Academic

Published: 2019-07-23

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 0310518725

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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

A Tale of Two Churches
A Tale of Two Churches

Author: UnChan Jung

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2021-09-07

Total Pages: 330

ISBN-13: 3110742586

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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.

The Eschatology of First Thessalonians
The Eschatology of First Thessalonians

Author: David Luckensmeyer

Publisher: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht

Published: 2013-03-06

Total Pages: 478

ISBN-13: 3647539694

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David Luckensmeyer gelingt durch die Untersuchung der eschatologischen Motive ein hervorragender Zugang zum ersten Thessalonicherbrief. Er analysiert die grundlegenden Richtungen des enthaltenen Diskurses erstmalig, und verdeutlicht sowohl die Rhetorik wie auch die Briefstruktur des 1. Briefes an die Thessalonicher. Durch diese Zugangsweise lassen sich die verschiedenen eschatologischen Motive als Teil einer systematischen Aufforderung des Verfassers an eine Gemeinde verstehen, die einen Konflikt zu bestehen hat.Luckensmeyer verdeutlicht die Eschatologie als den besten hermeneutischen Schlüssel, um die systematischen Aspekte des Briefes zu interpretieren. Es besteht kein Zweifel: Eschatologische Motive sind im Überfluss vorhanden, etwa in 1,9–10; 2,13–16; 4,13–18 oder 5,1–11. Der Frage, auf welche Weise diese Motive die Absichten des Paulus in seinem Schreiben verdeutlichen, widmet sich Luckensmeyer ganz besonders. Paulus kann verständlich machen, warum die Thessalonicher im Konflikt leben und sie zugleich zu einem neuen Verständnis von Gemeinde ermutigen.Die ausführliche Bibliographie gibt einen guten Überblick über die neueste Sekundärliteratur und verschiedene Register erleichtern den Zugang.

Paul's Non-Violent Gospel
Paul's Non-Violent Gospel

Author: Jeremy Gabrielson

Publisher: James Clarke & Company

Published: 2014-08-28

Total Pages: 198

ISBN-13: 0227902750

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Rather than viewing the Apostle Paul's many references to peace and non-retaliation as generalized ethical principles drawn from Paul's background, Jeremy Gabrielson argues that peace and non-retaliation should be understood in relation to Paul's historyof being a violent persecutor of Jesus' followers. After his 'Damascus road' experience, Paul zealously announced the gospel and abandoned his violent ways. His apostolic vocation included calling and equipping assemblies of people whose common in life was ordered by a politics characterized by peaceableness. This political dimension of Paul's gospel, in continuity with the earliest evidence we possess regarding Jesus and his disciples, stands in stark contrast to the politics of both the contemporary Roman imperial power and those who would seek to replace Rome by violent means.

Forensic Language and the Day of the Lord Motif in Second Thessalonians 1 and the Effects on the Meaning of the Text
Forensic Language and the Day of the Lord Motif in Second Thessalonians 1 and the Effects on the Meaning of the Text

Author: Matthew D. Aernie

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2011-09-16

Total Pages: 251

ISBN-13: 1610974867

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In this book, Matthew Aernie argues that Paul intentionally used forensic language, allusions, and idioms throughout 2 Thessalonians 1 in order to encourage the persecuted church to remain steadfast as they waited for their vindication at the final assize. To support this thesis, Aernie suggests that such judicial language and allusions are intertextual parallels originating primarily from the Day of the Lord motif found throughout the Old Testament, and maintains that the Day of the Lord concept was understood by the author of the Thessalonian correspondence as a reference to the day when the Lord would render righteous verdicts upon those who had both obeyed and disobeyed him. Furthermore, Aernie argues that the author of 2 Thessalonians likely understood the Day of the Lord to be consummated at the Parousia of Christ, when the final court would convene. Therefore, borrowing from the judicial concept apparent in the Day of the Lord motif, Aernie concludes that the author utilized forensic language throughout 2 Thessalonians 1 to exhort the church to remain faithful amidst great opposition as they awaited their ultimate justification at God's eschatological tribunal.