1 thessalonians: introduction - thessalonica and its christian community

The City of Thessalonica

Thessalonica (Thessaloniki, Θεσσαλονίκη) had been in existence as a city for about 350 years before the arrival of Paul and his companions. Its importance was assured by its presence on the Roman-built Via Egnatia, the key east-west highway through the region, combined with its Roman-built harbour on the north Aegean Sea. By the mid-first century C.E., the city had been designated a "free city," free from taxation and free to administer its own affairs, and was the "metropolis" (literally, "mother city") and capital of the senatorial province of Macedonia.

This status both reflected and sustained a strong Roman orientation in an otherwise Greek (or better, Macedonian) city. Thessalonica had a proud Macedonian heritage that included such luminaries as Alexander the Great and Aristotle, and this heritage remained strong in spite of the devastating Roman defeat of Macedonia in 168 B.C.E. Although Macedonian royalist sentiments remained in some quarters, Thessalonica officially aligned itself with Rome in important ways in the centuries after this defeat, and its Roman economic and political status grew out of this alignment. Indeed, pro-Roman sentiments abounded during this period: inscriptions and documents attest to Rome's benefaction and Thessalonica's reciprocal acts of gratitude and devotion. Several official inscriptions specifically honour the "Roman benefactors" and the "goddess Rome," and refer to a civic cult in devotion to Rome. Closely related to this, a thriving imperial cult operated in the city, especially focused on Augustus as the first important Roman benefactor.

Religious devotion was strong in first century Thessalonica. In addition to the civic and imperial cults, there is evidence of several others, including worship of the Cabiri, Dionysus, and various Egyptian deities. A Jewish presence is affirmed by the account in Acts 17 and can be assumed by later attestations of several Jewish synagogues in the city.

Much more remains to be discovered about ancient Thessalonica, but archaeological excavation is sporadic and limited due to the presence of the modern city on top of the ancient one.

Christians in Thessalonica

As described in the previous post, the Christian message first came to Thessalonica during a Pauline missionary journey through Macedonica and Achaia, probably around 50 C.E. Acts describes Paul, Silas, and Timothy arriving in Thessalonica where Paul spent three sabbaths at the local Jewish synagogue attempting to persuade the Thessalonian Jews to believe his message about Jesus as the Christ, crucified and risen. These three sabbaths produced the following adherents to Paul's message: some Jews, a large number of God-fearing Greeks, and a few prominent women. However, there was some intense opposition by some influential members of the Jewish community, and these sparked a general riot that led to a manhunt for Paul and Silas. They were not found, but their host, a man named Jason, was brought before the city officials with the following accusation: Jason was harboring men who have "caused trouble all over the world" and are "defying Caesar's decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus" (17:6-7). The pro-Roman city officials responded to this civil disturbance and perceived royalist threat by making Jason and others pay a fine or security of some sort, perhaps guaranteeing the missionaries' removal from the city, and Paul and Silas (and Timothy) were secreted away from Thessalonica that night.

1 Thessalonians describes Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy arriving in Thessalonica and being welcomed positively by Gentile converts, those who "turned to God from idols" (1:9). This ministry took place in the face of intense opposition from the Thessalonians' "own countrymen" (2:14). No mention is made of how long the missionaries were in Thessalonica: it was long enough to establish a practice of manual labour and a pattern of life and teaching which the Thessalonian believers could follow (also cf. Phil 4:16), but it was short enough that Paul could afterwards be quite concerned about the strength of their faith in the face of opposition. After this undisclosed period of time, something apparently rather drastic happened to separate the missionaries from the Thessalonian community.

Several questions arise out of a comparison of these accounts, one of which stands out for the present topic: What was the composition of the Christian community in Thessalonica? Was the Christian community comprised mostly of Jews and Jewish sympathizers, or was it mostly Gentile converts from Greco-Roman religious backgrounds? Acts appears to affirm the first, and 1 Thessalonians the second. One's answer to this question influences one's answer to other questions, from the more historical (e.g. was the Thessalonian community more akin to an association or a synagogue?) to the more directly exegetical (e.g. how much can one assume the Thessalonians knew of the Jewish Scriptures?).

Before I address the differences in the two accounts, it is helpful to trace out the extent of similarity between them. As noted in the previous post, in general terms the two accounts fit well within a pioneering Macedonian-Achaian mission by Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, a mission in which they experienced opposition in Thessalonica culminating in a drastic separation from the Thessalonian Christians. Two other similarities are also worth noting regarding the missionary message: a marked emphasis on Jesus as the Christ, crucified and risen, as the heart of Paul's proclamation and instruction; and a comparison or contrast in Paul's teaching between Jesus and Caesar, particularly in their royal or imperial status. One might say these were characteristic of Paul's message generally and so there is little significance in their parallel presence in these accounts. However, it is remarkable that when the author of Acts attempted to characterize in brief terms Paul's message in Thessalonica and the reason for the opposition there, he did so using themes which are particularly prominent in 1 Thessalonians and even at times described by Paul as characterizing his initial teaching in the city: Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection as the heart of his message (e.g. 1:10; 4:14; 5:10); the use of imperial language and motifs in describing Jesus and the Christian message (e.g. 1:5; 2:2, 4, 8-9, 19; 3:13; 5:3, 23); and Jesus' royal status primarily in eschatological terms (e.g. 1:10; 2:12, 19; 3:13; 4:15-16; 5:1-3, 23). The full significance of these themes in 1 Thessalonians will come out more in my commentary.

In light of this degree of correspondence between the accounts in general terms and some significant details, and in view of the intentional selectivity of Acts in its historical-theological agenda, as well as the unspoken assumptions of Paul in writing to a community familiar with its own history, I would suggest that a certain measure of historical harmonization is warranted. The selective nature of both Acts and 1 Thessalonians suggests the likelihood of gaps in both accounts; the degree of correspondence between Acts and 1 Thessalonians suggests a generally reliable remembrance of the same event by both. So how to account for the differences noted above?

On the one hand, there is nothing in the Acts account that negates a fairly substantial Gentile ministry by the missionaries in Thessalonica. The mention of synagogue discussion on "three sabbaths" does not indicate either what the missionaries were doing during the week or how long they may have stayed in Thessalonica after that period of time. On the other hand, there is nothing in the Thessalonian account that negates an initial Jewish presence or even an ongoing small minority of Jews in the community. For that matter, the account of the situation in 1 Thessalonians makes possible a small initial Jewish presence that succumbed to external opposition and left the community before the letter was written. Thus, I would suggest that there was a minor Jewish presence in the Thessalonian community, at least initially (as in Acts), but that the majority were Gentiles converted from other religious backgrounds, by the time of writing possibly exclusively so (as in 1 Thessalonians).

Images courtesy of www.HolyLandPhotos.org.

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