And should "gospel" in the last sentence be capitalized?
Paul seems to be writing his first letter to the Thessalonians largely to encourage the community (Malina 48) which has undergone persecution for its faith (1 Thess 2:14). The people are in particular need of encouragement regarding some members who have died (4:13). Whether these deaths were the result of the persecution is unclear, but whatever their cause, they have become a real source of unrest for the Thessalonians. Their grief is more than just the natural grief that one experiences over the loss of a loved one. I will argue that there is something about these deaths that is potentially shattering to the community’s new faith (Nicholl 48), and that Paul is offering more than just stock words of consolation. He responds by doing what Paul does best: preaching his gospel.
Yeah, it's due tomorrow and that's pretty much all I've got so far!
2007-03-22 14:06:01 · 5 answers · asked by Heron By The Sea 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I don't think gospel needs capitalized. Sounds interesting (in a good way). How long does it have to be? Good luck/God bless, He worked miracles for my math exam.
2007-03-22 14:14:39 · answer #1 · answered by hazydaze 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Paul is explaining that persecution of members will be done by the same people for the same reasons as he and others had persecuted followers of Christ.
Look at verse twenty: 20, For ye are our glory and joy.
This appears to be the end a first message and in the next verse the beginning of another message. It is up to learned folks to discern this as two separate "letters or notes".
The next verse states Paul is sending his fellow servant Timotheus in his place.
Now you see a new subject being brought up. Just as if you and I were discussing different but related things via snail mail.
In the first letter(note) Paul discusses persecution.
In the second letter Paul says he is sending them a teacher to help them overcome obstacles they are facing. You and I know that God sends teachers as we need them. Here this is being done.
Paul reminds them to "Keep the Faith". Temptation is going to be knocking but this will pass as did the previous afflictions they had suffered and gone through already.
Paul then states that he is sending Timotheus to comfort them in their distress and affliction as they had given Paul et al charity.
So you may see this as two separate notes or one whole. Try not to read into something that which is not there or try to use another writing to surmise, here in Thessalonians it may not be applicable.
This is not exactly Gospel. This is exhortation and encouragement along with a letter of introduction so to speak in the first two divisions of this letter by Paul.
2007-03-22 15:04:46 · answer #2 · answered by cordsoforion 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is the passage of Scripture where the doctrine referred to as the "rapture" of the church is derived. The word "rapture" doesn't appear in the English, but the idea comes from the Latin translation of the Greek word "harpazo" used in verse 17 and translated "caught up" in the KJV, NASB and the NIV.
The original word means to be "snatched away", or to be suddenly and forcifully caught up. An example is when Elijah was snatched away by a fiery chariot and taken into heaven (II Kings 2:11), or in Acts 8:39,40 when the Spirit of the Lord "snatched Philip away" from the Ethiopian eunuch and he found himself at Azotus.
The teaching of the passage was to encourage the Thessalonians that even though some had died, those who had died in the faith would be the first to be united with the Lord in resurrected bodies at the Coming of the Lord. As it says, "The dead in Christ shall rise first." That is, when Jesus comes, He will bring with Him the spirits of those who died in the Lord, and "with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God" their bodies will be resurrected and united with their spirits in glorified bodies like the glorified resurrected body of the Lord Jesus Christ. Immediately afterwards, everyone in Christ who remains alive at the Coming of the Lord will be "caught up"; that is, their spirits will be swept up to be with the Lord, and their bodies will be transformed into glorified resurrected bodies "in the blink of an eye" (see I Corinthians 15:51,52); and thus all believers will "ever be with the Lord".
2007-03-22 14:49:10 · answer #3 · answered by wefmeister 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yay for procrastination! *does own essay on the liberation of India*
2007-03-22 14:08:28 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Not sure about your in text citations. Are they placed correctly.
2007-03-22 14:12:55 · answer #5 · answered by Desperado 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋