MATL - Thessalonians Reflections

 Prompt: Reflect on the major theological theme within Thessalonians I.

The theology of Paul, as we learned last week, resides largely in communicating with the early Christian communities about how to come into and grow within the existing covenant between God and the Jewish people. That is, Paul wrote not as a revolutionary founder of a new religion, but rather as a prophet or teacher explaining the fulfillment of a traditional teaching and the evolution and fullness of the Jewish faith.  Keeping this in mind, then, contemporary readers of Paul’s letters are challenged to refrain from overly evangelizing Paul’s works while still evaluating and examining the materials for applicability in the contemporary world.

In the First Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians, Paul deals with two major theological issues. The first touches on the status of the Thessalonian believers within the covenant of God, and the second deals with a concept of apocalyptic eschatology (Kugler & Hartin, 430.)  The significance of these theological themes in the world behind the text likely reside in the efforts of Paul to build a community different and distinct from the surrounding gentile communities. When examining the world in front of the text, the themes provide an enduring continuity and relevance to the contemporary Christian community, and also provide some comfort and perspective on the concept of salvation and resurrection to an audience still waiting for the second coming of Christ.

When considering the theology of covenant, Paul uses deliberate and thoughtful language in greeting and identifying his audience.  As noted in the lecture, using words such as “beloved” and “chosen” are specific to the conversation of Covenant, and clearly reflect Paul’s intent to remind the Thessalonian community of their participation as part of God’s people, regardless of their ethnic backgrounds. This significance was significant to the world behind the text, again as noted in the lecture, because it likely explains the circumstances of the Thessalonians and why Paul felt compelled to write a letter in the first place.  By differentiating themselves from their surrounding communities, the Thessalonian community likely experienced social prejudice, pressure, or even punitive actions.  It is interesting to consider these conditions perhaps inspired the Gospel writers- particularly Mark- to narrate the necessity of suffering and service as a path of discipleship.   The importance of including all gentiles into the covenant with God within the world behind the text also presents interesting parallels to the efforts of the Ancient Israelites to form and discern their identity as a distinct and innovative people among the Mesopotamian cultures.  In a contemporary setting, readers take comfort knowing they too can enter into the covenant with God, and that there is an all-encompassing message of salvation envisioned by Paul.

The second major theological theme in this letter is about the concept of resurrection and salvation.  Within the work, Paul’s purpose is straightforward.  The concern for those members of the Thessalonian community who died must have been extremely frightening in a mindset where the second coming was considered imminent. (Horrell, 2075.) Paul offers comfort and assurance that God will acknowledge and save all of his people, even those who die while waiting for Christ.

The text emphasizes the practicality of Paul’s work.  Therefore, it is unreasonable to examine his letter as a metaphorical exploration of the second coming of Christ- indeed, it seems reasonable that Paul expected a living, breathing Christ to return, just as he rose from the dead.  However, just as Paul “was not aware that he was starting a literary movement…that would be authoritative for Christian believers through the centuries,” (Kulger/Hartin, 430) it is possible that Paul’s work speaks to a more metaphorical interpretation than he intended.  Specifically, the apocalyptic eschatology as explained by the text, wherein Paul embraces an idea that “(c)hristians live between these two poles” of the time between the first coming of Jesus and his return (Kulger/Hartin, 431.) Paul teaches his church to live in a way that readies the believers for the return of Christ, which they considered imminent. Now, two thousand years later, contemporary Christians are still waiting for the return of Christ. This might feel discouraging without the comfort of Paul’s words, reminding readers across generations that the time and hour of Christ’s return are unknown and unknowable, but that the continued good works of people to follow Jesus are necessary.  More deeply, contemporary readers may see an unintended metaphor in Paul’s writing.  That Paul believed Christ would physically return is undeniable. However, when one examines Paul’s own words, “For we now live, if you continue to stand firm in the Lord,” (Thessalonians 3:8) and his ongoing encouragement of the people to live like Christ and receive salvation without any physical resurrection of Christ occurring before their death, the power of hindsight may permit a reader to speculate. There is an enduring truth to Paul’s words that do go deeper than his intent. It is, perhaps, part of the mystical quality of the Bible, that the intent of the authors so often transcends time, culture, and language.  There is a theological case here that Paul’s advice and comfort is sound, but that the second coming of Christ occurs within each of us, daily, as we strive to live our lives according to Jesus’ teachings. It is through Jesus we found salvation of ourselves, even in the face of persecution and discouragement. Like the Thessalonians, we toil and sweat deeply on our journey, so that God- like Paul- may rejoice that we remained faithful in the absence of Christ among us, and trusted in his message.