Paul's First Letter

#65: “Paul’s First Letter” by Brendon Wahlberg
The New Testament contains thirteen letters that are traditionally thought to be written by the Apostle Paul. However, scholars generally agree that Paul did not write all of them. For example, the great majority agree that the Pastoral letters, 1 and 2 Timothy, and Titus, were not written by Paul. Instead, later authors probably wrote in his name to give their letters and beliefs more authority. (Hebrews is another letter that Paul probably did not write, and his authorship was in doubt even in ancient times.) Then there are the letters that scholars are evenly divided about. Ephesians, Colossians, and 2 Thessalonians may have been written by Paul, but many scholars are not sure. Scholars agree that seven letters were almost certainly written by Paul. These are 1 Thessalonians, Philippians, Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, and Philemon. People arrive at this list by analyzing the similar or contrasting style, vocabulary, structure, and religious ideas of each letter while taking into account what is also known about Paul from the Book of Acts and other sources.
If you take this list of seven letters as the ones Paul really wrote, you can then ask, which letter was first? Of course, scholars have a consensus opinion about this, too. It is agreed that 1 Thessalonians is the oldest letter written by Paul that ended up in the New Testament. In fact, scholars agree that 1 Thessalonians in the oldest book in the whole New Testament. This letter was probably written around 51-53CE. Everything else came later – all four Gospels, Acts, Revelation, Paul’s other letters, and the non-Pauline letters – all later.
Think about that for a moment. In 52CE, Jesus’ crucifixion was about twenty-two years in the past. The public could not hear him speak or teach any more. Christianity was spreading around the Mediterranean and winning converts among Gentile nations, but there was no New Testament to read. A new convert in the busy port city of Thessalonica, in Macedonia, in 52CE, would have no Gospel of John, no Letter to the Romans, no Book of Revelation. This convert might well have never seen a Jewish scroll like Isaiah or Psalms either. The convert only knows that a travelling missionary named Paul came through Thessalonica about a year earlier, and started a small congregation among the people of the city, introducing them to a new version of the old Jewish religion, which could now include Gentiles. But maybe there was nothing from Paul that was written down, and the convert had to hear about the new faith through word of mouth. Maybe the convert had friends among the new, small gathering of the “Followers of the Way”, or “Christians” as they were eventually called in far away Antioch. The convert joins them, and around that same time, a letter arrives from the group’s founder Paul, who is writing from down south in Greek Corinth, where he has another congregation.
The letter is important to the group in Thessalonica. It is something they can hold onto, read from, and share. It addresses their fears and confusions and corrects their misconceptions. It tells them how they should be living. When Paul was there among them, he told them to expect the end of the world. The new convert is excited and uncertain about many things. But now there is a letter to reassure him or her. The letter is now the only written document in the city that contains Paul’s teachings about the new faith. The letter, along with the group’s memories of Paul’s verbal teaching, is all they have. One little letter, which only takes up about three pages in a modern Bible, was their whole scripture. No wonder they saved and copied it, so that we still have the text of it today.
Now, imagine that you are this new convert, who has been listening to the group leader read the letter to everyone (Paul commanded in the letter that this should be done (1 Thess 5:27)). This exercise allows us to put ourselves in the place of someone who has only 1 Thessalonians to go on. What does it say inside it? What can you learn about the Way? Once you have heard the letter, what concept of Christianity do you have? If your whole Bible was that one three-page letter, what would you know? What would you believe?
The letter begins with greetings to your small church from Paul and his coworkers, Silvanus and Timothy. Together, they visited your city a year ago. Paul had wanted to return, but could not. So he sent Timothy alone for a brief return visit, to check on whether your group had stayed faithful or fallen apart (3:5). Timothy was reassured by what he saw, and reported back to Paul, and so Paul’s letter is full of relief that things are still okay.
Paul greets you in the name of the God you now share. This is God, the Father of us all (1:3), who loves us and has chosen us (1:4). This God is true and living, unlike the false, nonliving idols you used to venerate. Now you serve this God (1:9). But God is not the only one you should worship. God has a Son (1:10), Jesus Christ (Jesus the anointed), who is also called the Lord (1:1). Jesus died, killed by some Jews in the small Roman Province of Judea (2:15), but God raised him from the dead (1:10). There is also something called the Holy Spirit, which helped Paul and his friends bring his message to your group a year ago, giving their words the power to win converts (1:5). God gives this Holy Spirit to you as well (4:8). Everybody in the group has this Holy Spirit. As a result, your group accepted Paul’s message as the word of God himself (2:13), not as mere human words. Since then, your group has been imitating Paul, his friends, and the Lord, trying to be a good example to others (1:6).
While you serve God, you are to wait for the Lord Jesus to return from Heaven, where he is now, in order to rescue you from God’s wrath that is coming (1:10). Paul has called his message “good news” (1:5), and you agree that being rescued from wrath is good news for you. What do you and your new group mean to these missionaries? Why do Paul and his friends care so much about you? Apparently, your group is their pride and joy (2:19-20). When the Lord returns, the only achievements that will matter to God are works such as converting people like you! Paul calls your group his “brothers” again and again in the letter. You are like family to him.
When Paul visited a year ago, he showed your group how to live properly (4:1). Now, in his letter, he reiterates these guidelines. These are important rules – Paul says they are God’s will (4:3). Rule One (4:3) is: no fornication! This means, control your own body, people (4:4). Don’t be full of lustful passion like your neighbors who do not know God (4:5). Especially do not take sexual advantage of fellow members of the congregation (4:6), because you have all been called together by God to be “Holy”, which seems to mean the same as being pure (4:7). Rule Two (4:9) is: love each other. (Except, see rule number one for certain restrictions.) Rule Three (4:11) is: live quietly, and mind your own business. Rule Four (4:11-12) is: have a job so you can support yourself and not rely on others. You think you can live with these rules. In fact, God seems to be pretty sensible about these things.
Later on in the letter, Paul has some more rules to live by (5:12-22). These things also seem to make sense. Show respect for the leaders of the congregation, for the work they do. Have peace between the members of the group. Tell each other to keep working. Help the weak ones. Don’t ever be evil. If somebody is evil to you, don’t repay them in kind. Instead try to do good to everyone. Always rejoice, give thanks, and pray. This all sounds good. And why should you do all of these things? Because the Lord Jesus is coming back, and when he does, you will need to be blameless (5:23). Paul is satisfied with how well your congregation is doing so far (4:1), but he wants you all to do more and more of the right things. This is all because of what Paul says is coming in the future.
When Jesus returns, it will be like this… Something called an archangel will call out, there will be a sound like the blast of a horn, and Jesus will descend from Heaven. At the same time, your group will be lifted up to meet him in the clouds. After that, you will all be with the Lord forever (4:16-18). Jesus died for you so that you can live with him (5:10). This will be your salvation, because if you are not included, you are in for destruction and wrath from God (5:3,9).
You know that some people in your group have been worrying about exactly when Jesus will return. Also, a few of the oldest people have died during these past few months, and what if that means they won’t be included in this salvation, just because they died a little too early? Paul probably heard about your worries from Timothy, and it is Paul’s goal to “restore whatever is lacking in your faith” (3:10). So now, in the letter, Paul has made sure to address those concerns. Jesus will return, he says, at an unexpected time (5:2). But as long as you keep on track spiritually, you will be ready. The ready person is “awake”, “sober”, a “child of the light and the day”, “faithful”, “loving”, and “hoping”. This is in contrast to those who are “of the night”, “of darkness”, and “drunk” (5:4-10). And as for those who have died, Jesus will be sure to raise them from the dead so that they can be included along with you and the rest of your group (4:14-16). So, there you go. It’s all good…as long as you are good.
It has been interesting to look at Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians as if it was the only book of the Bible that we had. If indeed this was Paul’s earliest letter, then for some people, that must have been the situation. When you look at the letter from this perspective, you nevertheless see that the basics of Christianity are all there. You can find the trinity, the second coming, the promise of eternal life, ethical instructions about how to live in peace and holiness as a community, and a description of the end times. Our imaginary convert would, in fact, have a pretty good understanding of Christianity from 1 Thessalonians alone!
There isn’t much in there about Jesus, however. The gospels, written later, reveal just how much was remembered about Jesus, his life, and his teachings: quite a lot, in fact. But for Paul, little of that was important enough to include in his letters. Paul seems to have wanted to stick to the bare bones – Jesus was God’s Son who died for all of us so that we might have eternal life. Jesus was raised from the dead by God, and he will return to us from Heaven. In the meantime, God has called us to live according to his will. What more do you need to know?