Brendan Everton

REL 223

Blog Post Group 3

In 1 Thessalonians Luke Paul’s letter alludes to the people that he converted. Unlike Luke’s depiction of Paul they are not the Religious leaders of the towns. Luke gave the impression that Paul was able to demand the respect of these religious leaders and even get them to convert to Christianity. It is through his letters we realize that this is simply not possible.

Paul also speaks of those who have turned from the worship of an idol to god. This is of course referring to gentiles or those who believe in multiple gods. Paul’s community of converts based on this line was made up of non-Jews. Paul’s community then was a group of Christians shortly after Jesus’s that have recently persecuted and now may be in hiding or exile from those forces. “but though we had already suffered and been shamefully mistreated at Philippi” (2:2). Paul’s group, by this account, lived in Philippi and now is in hide out in Thessalonica. It is this persecution that Paul uses to judge the peoples faith and their commitment to the Jesus movement; “And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit” (1:6). Paul judges the people of Thessalonica on the faith and it is confirmed by the fact that they are able to keep their faith through such persecution. This means that they have truly understood the meaning of god’s word.