Details for Thessalonians

The paper will provide students with the exegetical tools needed to allow them to interpret and apply the meaning and message of Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians.  We will explore the contours of Paul’s letters, situating them within the world of the Greco-Roman empire and the rapid growing phenomenon of early Christianity.  This will be an exploration of history, theology and the significance of these letters for contemporary discipleship.  

Awards offering Thessalonians

This unit is offered as a part of the following awards:

• Bachelor of Contemporary Ministry

Unit Content

Curriculum Objective

The paper will provide students with the exegetical tools needed to allow them to interpret and apply the meaning and message of Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians.  We will explore the contours of Paul’s letters, situating them within the world of the Greco-Roman empire and the rapid growing phenomenon of early Christianity.  This will be an exploration of history, theology and the significance of these letters for contemporary discipleship. 

Outcomes

Students should be able to:

1.     Demonstrate a knowledge of the background, content and theological motifs of the Thessalonian correspondence.

2.     Compare and assess critical understandingof key scholarship surrounding 1 & 2 Thessalonians.

3.     Apply exegetical skills to provide sustained and extended argument on the interpretation of these two epistles

4.     Evaluate the Thessalonian correspondence as addressing contemporary issues and spiritual formation

Subject Content

1.     Features of Pauline Epistolary Literature

2.  The socio-cultural context of 1 & 2 Thessalonians

3.  Theological reflections on ethical issues in the literature

4.  Literary and hermeneutical issues in the Thessalonian correspondence

5.  Contemporary approaches and positions regarding 1 & 2 Thessalonians

6.  Using Thessalonians in the context of ministry

7.  Exegetical analysis and application of selected passages

This course may be offered in the following formats

Face-to-face or online lectures, discussion, tutorials, web-based interaction.

Please consult your course prospectus or enquire about how and when this course will be offered next at Alphacrucis College.

Assessment Methods

Book Review, Exegesis, Thematic Essay

Prescribed Text

Michael J. Gorman, Cruciformity: Paul's Narrative Spirituality of the. Cross. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001. 

Representative References

Ascough, Richard S. ‘The Thessalonian Christian Community as a Professional          Voluntary Association’. JBL 119 (2000): 311–28.

Barclay, John M. G. ‘Conflict in Thessalonica’. CBQ 55 (1993): 512–30.

Best, Earnest. 1 & 2 Thessalonians.Black's New Testament Commentary. Peabody, MA:                Hendrickson, 1995.

Bruce, F.F. 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Word Biblical Commentary vol. 45. Waco: Word Books,      1982.

Donfried, K. P. “The Cults of Thessalonica and the Thessalonian Correspondence,” NTS        31 (1985) 336–56.

Donfried, Karl P. Paul, Thessalonica, and Early Christianity. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,                            2002.

Donfried, Karl P., and I. Howard Marshall. The Theology of the Shorter Pauline Letters.        

New                York:      Cambridge University Press, 1993.

Furnish, V. P.  1 & 2 Thessalonians, Abingdon New Testament Commentaries.  Nashville:      Abingdon Press, 2007.

Green, G. L.  The Letters to the Thessalonians. Pillar New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002.

Holmes, Michael. 1 & 2 Thessalonians. The NIV Application Commentary.  Grand    Rapids: Zondervan, 1998.

Malherbe, A. J. The Letters to the Thessalonians: A New Translation with Introduction and                Commentary. Anchor       Bible Commentary 32B; New York: Doubleday, 2000.

Marshall, I. Howard. 1 and 2 Thessalonians. New Century Bible Commentary. Grand             Rapids: Eerdmans; Marshall Morgan & Scott, 1983.

McKinnish Bridges, L.  1 & 2 Thessalonians. Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary.      Georgia: Smyth & Helwys, 2008.

Richard Ascough, Paul’s Macedonian Associations: The Social Context of Philippians & 1                Thessalonians     (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen Zum Neuen Testament, 2003)

Richard, Earl J. First and Second Thessalonians. Sacra Pagina 11. Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1995.

Wanamaker, Charles A. The Epistles to the Thessalonians, New International Greek Text Commentary. Grand    Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1994.

Witherington, Ben, 1 and 2 Thessalonians: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary. Grand Rapids:   Eerdmans, 2006.