The epistles of Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians have been referred to as Paul’s “Perfection Epistles.” They are often considered to be the “mature epistles” that are based upon the “Preparatory Epistles” such as the two Thessalonian letters, Romans, the two Corinthian letters, and Galatians. Of this list, 1Thessalonians is usually thought to be Paul’s first letter.
When we are told that the Thessalonian letters are a preparatory teaching for deeper and more mature truths set forth in later letters, we have a tendency to read them exactly that way. We will not see these as the deep truths and mature writings of Paul that they really are. Our mindset will cause us to miss the richness of each word and phrase that the apostle penned in these two letters.
This then, was the motivation behind this work. For most of my years as a believer, I have not appreciated these letters on the same plane as Paul’s prison epistles. The Thessalonian letters though, are indeed teaching us the deep things of God and are most definitely mature letters.
The evidence suggesting that the Thessalonian letters were written early is weak at best. The internal scriptural support of this claim doesn’t ring true. In order to say Paul penned 1Thessalonians while he was at Corinth soon after he left Berea and Athens is like trying to fit a round peg in a square hole. This should never be the case with Scripture. On the other hand, there are numerous suggestions from a variety of scriptures which support that both letters were written very late in Paul’s career.
The late R.B.Withers used a quote from Dr. Bullinger that I’d like to use in closing. He writes: “As Dr. Bullinger originally pointed out, there are no Church Epistles beyond those two to Thessalonica because there is no higher truth to be taught. There is nothing further for churches as such. What further things Paul had to say were to individual believers, to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. His final message to churches was an appeal for discipline and prayer for peace and grace. It reads like a close of a treatise, and that is precisely what it is. To attempt to lead from it to Romans or 1Corinthians, as if in a sequence, involves an absurdity.”
Ted McDivitt
