1 Thessalonians as Test Case

Introduction

Raymond E. Brown, in his Introduction to the New Testament, claims that "1 Thess has at times been neglected because it does not treat the great Pauline theme of justification by faith apart from works of the Law." I agree that 1 Thess does not treat what has become the standard Protestant/evangelical reading of Paul, but this is strong evidence that the standard reading is defective. I hope to show that 1 Thess is in line with the Gospel Beyond Belief. Therefore, we will get a glimpse as to the relative importance of Jesus' resurrection over against the importance of his crucifixion in early Christianity.

Paul's Summary in 1:9-10

Paul summarizes the Thessalonians state thus: You turned to God from idols, to serve a God living and true, and to wait for his Son from the heavens, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, the one delivering us from the coming wrath." The first thing to notice about this passage is that the relevant descriptions of Jesus are (1) resurrection (not crucifixion) and (2) delivering from coming wrath (we are not told this is done by the crucifixion). The question is how does Jesus deliver us from the coming wrath? The standard interpretation claims that it is the crucifixion that seals the deal. However, if this were the case we would have expected a past tense verb in 1:10 (the one who delivered us from the coming wrath).

The Importance of Resurrection

Also, the rest of the letter speaks against the standard reading. The alternative manner in which Jesus delivers is primarily by raising from the dead and making resurrection possible for his followers. This is perhaps why Paul emphasizes that God is "living" in 1:9 (as opposed to dead idols?).

The first crucial passage is 4:13-18, where we are told that Jesus "died and rose again" (4:14), and this is the foundation for the "hope" (4:13) of future resurrection. I singled out the word "hope" from 4:13 because the very same word is used to describe salvation in 5:8: "and for a helmet the hope of salvation". This is clearly future and so cannot refer to the crucifixion which would have been past tense for Paul.

The second crucial passage is 5:9-10: "For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him." The standard reading would put all the weight of their interpretation on the words "died for us" and so read this passage as one that exalts the crucifixion. However, as Morna Hooker has pointed out, the words "live with him" totally undermine the standard reading. Jesus died, yes, one has to die to rise again, but it is the rising again that is the important factor in this passage. The reason Jesus died is to rise again, so that he can conquer death for those who are slaves to sin/death. The salvation that is obtained is life after death on account of Jesus' resurrection NOT forgiveness of sin on account of Jesus' crucifixion.

Theological Upshot

One is struck by the absence of "forgiveness" in 1 Thessalonians. Sure, forgiveness is taken for granted by Paul, but the salvation goes well beyond the mere verdict of forgiveness.