First Thessalonians is one of the most discussed books of the New Testament. This volume by today's top Thessalonians scholars introduces readers to the current scholarly debate on Paul's earliest letter, discussing the difficult challenges that 1 Thessalonians poses to modern readers and explaining the various methods now being used to interpret this important New Testament letter.
This book is the rhetorical approach to 1 Thessalonians, particularly on funeral orations. Though many scholars have interpreted 1 Thessalonians in light of a thematic perspective, mirror reading, and epistolary approach, the author asserts that Paul employs elements of epideictic funerary oratory to persuade his audience. Encountering the growing persecution, sufferings, and even death of members, the believers of Thessalonica needed encouragement. As a rhetorical strategist, Paul needed effective methods to answer these problems, which he did so with Greco-Roman funeral orations. Moreover, this book delves into the funerary language with the paradoxical concepts Paul uses to illustrate topoi and the purpose of funeral oration in 1 Thessalonians. Consequently, this book proves these ideas by showing how funeral orations shed light on the whole of 1 Thessalonians in the exordium (1 Thess 1:2-3), the narratio (1:4--3:10), the consolation and exhortation (4:1--5:15), and peroratio with prayer (5:16-28).
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.
In this collection of essays, Seyoon Kim analyses the structure and function of 1 Thess 1-3, which leads to a new reading of 1 Thessalonians. He devotes several essays to a comprehensive exposition of Paul's gospel for the Thessalonians by fully unfolding several summaries of the gospel in the epistle, by detecting and analysing various Son of Man sayings of Jesus that are alluded to or echoed in it, and by a thorough discussion of the unity and continuity of Paul's gospel between this early epistle and his later epistles. This exposition is augmented by a new observation of Paul's doctrine of justification in 2 Thess 1-2 and a new explanation of to katέχov and o katέχwv (2 Thess 2:3-8).
This book concentrates on major Pauline themes and on I Thessalonians in its cultural and religious context, as well as exploring other major issues, especially with reference to chronology and Judaism. The question of Paul's Jewishness is therefore raised with a new urgency. What kind of a Jew was Paul? Why do we find so many coherences between his language and thought with that of the Community of the Renewed Covenant (i.e. the Essenes)? One of the essays, 'Paul and Qumran', suggests that the Dead Sea Scrolls offer valuable clues to understanding Pauline language and thought. If, in fact, there was contact between Paul and the Essenes, where would it have taken place? If such meetings were held, possibly, in the Essene Quarter of Jerusalem, is there a connection between that area and the location of the earliest Christians in Jerusalem? And what kind of Christians were they and how did they impact on the Apostle's missionary activity? In connection with this discussion of Paul and Judaism, a number of challenges are offered to the so-called 'New Perspective on Paul', especially in the work of E.P. Sanders and James D. G. Dunn, to suggest that a closer study of the Dead Sea Scrolls raises serious questions about the appropriateness of their interpretation of both Judaism and Paul, as well as opening new perspectives that will necessitate not only the rethinking of second temple Judaism, but also the origins of earliest Christianity and the relationship between them.
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
1 Thessalonians provides a fascinating glimpse into the origins and social life of the Christ group in the ancient Roman city of Thessalonike, while 2 Thessalonians reveals how the community developed at a somewhat later time. This guide narrates the story of the founding of the group by considering the social and cultural contexts, the literary form, the rhetorical strategies, the theologies, and the reception of the two canonical letters. While centering on the texts of 1 and 2 Thessalonians themselves, Ascough draws widely on literary and archaeological data, giving particular attention to typical group behaviours among small, unofficial associations in the Greek and Roman period. The first four chapters focus on 1 Thessalonians, from the initial formation of the Christ group out of a small association of artisans through to how members negotiated various sorts of relationships: with Paul and his companions, with outsiders in Thessalonike and beyond, and especially with fellow believers within the group itself. The final two chapters turn attention to the shifting circumstances that required a second letter to be written, with its focus on disorder and disruption of social practices and theological beliefs. The epilogue briefly surveys Christianity at Thessalonike beyond the 1st century. This guide presents an overview of the historical development of the Christ group at Thessalonike. Moving beyond treating the canonical letters as simple repositories of theological opinions, Ascough demonstrates how 1 and 2 Thessalonians reveal ordinary life in ancient Roman cities. In so doing, he invites readers to enter the world of one of the many fascinating communities of Christ believers in the 1st century of the Common Era.
