1 Thessalonians Intro
Intro
About Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians
Thessalonica was a large city in Macedonia. Macedonia included the north part of the country that we call Greece. It also included part of the country that we call North Macedonia. Thessalonica was an important port. Roads from several different directions joined there. So people could travel easily to Thessalonica. It is still an important city today.
Paul went to Thessalonica to teach the people there about Jesus Christ. He stayed there for only a short time, perhaps only a few weeks. Two other men, called Silas and Timothy, went there with him. As a result of what Paul taught them, some Jews at Thessalonica believed in Christ. Many other people who were not Jews (Gentiles) also believed. But the Jews who refused to believe Christ caused a lot of trouble for Paul and his friends. Paul had to leave the city at night. Paul and his friends went to Berea, which was a city about 50 miles west from Thessalonica. See Acts 17:1-15.
Paul taught the people at Berea too. Then he travelled to Athens, a city in the south part of Greece. #1:0 Athens is a city that was in the country called Achaia. Today, Athens is the capital city of Greece. But Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea. Paul waited at Athens for them to come to him there. See Acts 17:15. Paul was sorry that he had not had enough time at Thessalonica. He wanted to teach the new believers there a lot more about Christ, but he could not go himself. See 1 Thessalonians 2:17-18. So he sent Timothy to go on his behalf. See 1 Thessalonians 3:1-3.
While Timothy went back to Thessalonica, Paul travelled to Corinth (Acts 18:1). The city of Corinth was also in the south part of Greece. After that, Silas and Timothy arrived in Corinth (Acts 18:5). Then Timothy told Paul the news about the Christians at Thessalonica. Paul was very happy to know that they were continuing to believe Christ. He wrote this letter to them from Corinth.
Paul, together with Silas and Timothy, wrote this letter in the year AD 50 or AD 51. That was about 20 years after Jesus died. So this letter may be the first of Paul's letters that we have in the Bible. Paul wrote it only a few months after he had first taught the Christian message at Thessalonica. So he was writing to people who had been Christians for only a short time.
Paul tells them that he always thinks about them. He wants very much to visit them again. See 1 Thessalonians 2—3.
Paul also teaches them about how they should do good, right things, to make God happy.
In 1 Thessalonians 4—5, he teaches them about Jesus' return to the earth.
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