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:
Thessalonians in the Revised Common Lectionary
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
Introduction from Gordon Fee's 2009 NICNT commentary on 1 & 2 Thessalonians
An excerpt from Gene L. Green's 2009 Pillar commentary on 1 & 2 Thessalonians
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
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
Specific passages from 1 Thessalonians
Fulcrum Articles on 1 Thessalonians
- Week 7 – Reading 1 Thessalonians 1-5
- 1 Thessalonians: Introduction to 1 Thessalonians
- 1 Thessalonians: Guide to the Commentaries
- 1 Thessalonians: Guide to Online Academic Resources
This “author” stands for those providing the resources for Fulcrum’s Reading the NT project. If you wish to contribute suggestions please email [email protected].
Thank you and your collaborators, Andrew, for a superb collection of online resources. Many will find their way to them and with them.
I’ve just added 5 new videos I’ve discovered – by Todd D. Still and Gene Green covering 1 & 2 Thessalonians.