Holy Fable Volume Three : The Epistles and the Apocalypse Undistorted by Faith by Robert M. Price

Author:Robert M. Price [Price, Robert M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mindvendor
Published: 2018-06-15T03:00:00+00:00

21 The First Epistle to the Thessalonians Can the Dead Fly?

Gospel Greetings Some think this letter is the earliest of Paul’s epistles, while others dismiss it as a pseudepigraph. I will operate here on the former assumption in order to see what sense can be made of the text that way, though I will note the anomalies that led F.C. Baur and others to deny Pauline authenticity. For instance, what are we to make of the lack of the typical Pauline salutation? Usually Paul packs in various anticipations of themes to be discussed in the body of the letter. On the one hand, the terse salutation (characteristic of ancient letters) might attest that 1 Thessalonians is an early product, written before Paul had hit upon the device of making the salutation into a miniature letter in and of itself. On the other, it may denote the clumsiness of a pasticheur, rushing to get down to business and simulating only those features of a Pauline epistle that had caught his attention. At any rate, the short salutation “Grace to you and peace” is a theological play on the standard Greek salutation, chairē, “rejoice,” making it instead charis, “grace.” “Peace” is the standard Jewish greeting, shalom (cf., John 20:19, 21, 26).

Defensive Posture After praising the Thessalonians, recent converts, Paul goes on to offer a defense, apparently against accusations made against him by some who sought to budge the Thessalonians from their new faith. Had they been taken in by a charlatan? There was no shortage of them in the ancient world. To this, Paul offers a three-pronged apologia. First, he appeals to what Calvin called the “effectual call.” Paul knows his readers are among the elect because his preached message “connected” with them when they heard it (1:4-5; 2:13; cf., 1 Cor. 1:22-24).

Second, there is Paul’s blameless conduct (1:5b; 2:3-12). His defense is strikingly reminiscent of the words of Dio Chrysostom as he contrasts his own role as a philosopher with that of popular Cynic preachers whom he accuses of ulterior motives, flattery (or, alternatively, scathing abuse of their hearers)242 and reluctance to engage with the real-life problems for which their hearers sought guidance.

But to find a man who with purity and without guile speaks with a philosopher’s boldness, not for the sake of glory, nor making false pretensions for the sake of gain, but who stands ready out of good will and concern for his fellowman, if need be, to submit to ridicule and the uproar of the mob – to find such a man is not easy, but rather the good fortune of a very lucky city, so great is the dearth of noble, independent souls, and such the abundance of flatterers, charlatans and sophists. In my own case I feel I have chosen that role, not of my own volition, but by the will of some deity.243

Third, he commends the Thessalonians for having endured the same sort of persecution from their idol-worshipping countrymen (1:6) that, first, Jesus, then Paul and his colleagues received from Jews back in Judea (2:14-16).

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