The First Christian Letters: Reading 1 and 2 Thessalonians

Paul's letters to the Thessalonians are the earliest surviving Christian documents. They are also among the most easily overlooked parts of the New Testament. What could these short, simple letters possibly have to say to a world caught in the throes of racial discord, political polarization, fears of an uncertain future, and fights over truth and false news? While Paul and his companions could not have imagined anything like the twenty-first century, their letters in the mid-first century to non-Jewish followers of Jesus in northern Greece address problems we still wrestle with today: race and ethnicity, family, ethics, an unknown future, how to respond to strangers, and more. These letters, rather than being an outdated part of Paul's collected letters, provoke us to throw ourselves into the great challenges of the modern world, to resist the temptation to repay "another person evil for evil," and to "pursue the good, both for one another and for everyone" (1 Thess 5:15). Will we read these ancient letters anew?

Author: Rafael Rodríguez
Publisher: Cascade Books
Published: 02/13/2024
Pages: 182
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.35lbs
Size: 8.00h x 5.00w x 0.36d
ISBN: 9781666748697

About the Author
Rafael Rodriguez is professor of New Testament at Johnson University (Knoxville, Tennessee). He is the author If You Call Yourself a Jew: Reappraising Paul's Letter to the Romans (2014), and co-editor of The So-Called Jew in Paul's Letter to the Romans (with Matthew Thiessen; 2016).