At a Glance
1 Thessalonians at a Glance
Acts records Paul reasoning in the synagogue at Thessalonica for three Sabbath days before a mob drove him out (Acts 17:2; Acts 17:5–10). He soon wrote this warm, personal letter to the young church he had left behind.
- Author. Paul, with Silvanus (Silas) and Timothy (1 Thessalonians 1:1).
- Date. About AD 50–51, from Corinth, soon after Timothy came back with news from Thessalonica (1 Thessalonians 3:6; Acts 18:1–5). It is among the earliest of Paul's letters.
- Written To. The church at Thessalonica, a leading city of Macedonia in northern Greece. Many of its members had been idol worshippers (1 Thessalonians 1:9).
- Setting. The believers suffered at the hands of their own countrymen (1 Thessalonians 2:14). Paul had sent Timothy from Athens to strengthen them (1 Thessalonians 3:1–2). Some in the church had since died, and the rest did not know what that meant for them (1 Thessalonians 4:13).
- Key Verse. to wait for his Son from heaven (1 Thessalonians 1:10).
- Key Word or Theme. The coming of the Lord. Every chapter speaks of it near its close (1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 2:19; 1 Thessalonians 3:13; 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17; 1 Thessalonians 5:23).
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Further reading
For Deeper Study
- Be ReadyAmazon Warren W. WiersbeA warm, practical study of both Thessalonian letters with the Lord's return in view, by a premillennial Bible teacher.
- First and Second ThessaloniansAmazon Charles C. RyrieA short, clear commentary in the Everyman's Bible Commentary series from a dispensational, pretribulational scholar.
- Exploring 1 & 2 ThessaloniansAmazon John PhillipsA readable expository walk through both letters from a dispensational, premillennial writer.
- Foxe's Book of MartyrsAmazon John FoxeThe classic Protestant record of those who died for the faith, from the early church to the English Reformation.
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The Bible is sixty-six books written by about forty men over some fifteen hundred years, yet it tells one story of God's redemption from creation to the new earth, and its center is Jesus Christ.
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