Paul seems to be writing his first letter to the Thessalonians largely to encourage the community1 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[2], and that Paul is offering more than just stock words of consolation.  He responds by doing what Paul does best – preaching his gospel.  In this paper I will also discuss the nature of this gospel that Paul preaches in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.

The problem of death in the Thessalonian community

            Paul believed that Christ’s return was imminent.  This can be evidenced by 1 Thess  4:15, where he says that “...we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord...”  Paul thinks that Jesus will come in his own lifetime.  The time in which he was living was therefore unique in world history.  He was living in that critical time period between the ascension and the return of Christ, and part of his role as an apostle was to instruct the members of his churches on how they should live as Christians during this crucial era[3].

            We can get a sense of the unique age the Thessalonians felt they were living in by the fact that they were taken aback by deaths in their community.  Did they think that no one would die before the coming of the Lord?  If so, why did they think that?  In Romans 6:23 Paul says that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Is it possible that the Thessalonians misunderstood Paul’s message and felt betrayed when some of their members had died?  Some scholars think this may indeed be the case[4]. 

            If the Thessalonians believed that they would all be alive at the time of the Lord’s coming, then what were they to make of the fact that some of their fellow believers had died?  Some of them may have started to wonder whether they themselves would be alive long enough to witness the return of Christ.  They may have even begun to doubt whether Christ would return at all.  They apparently were unaware of the teaching that the dead would rise, and so they thought that those who had died had missed the chance to participate in the parousia[5].  Such thoughts could have led them to such despair that it weakened their resolve to withstand the persecutions[6].  We can therefore see why it is vital for Paul to address this issue clearly and forcefully. 

            Paul responds to their concerns by explaining that the dead will have no disadvantage because they will be raised from the dead in order to experience the parousia.  Paul refers to the dead as those who have “fallen asleep.”  While this was a common euphemism for the dead, Paul probably chose these words on purpose, to reinforce the idea that the dead will wake up.  In fact, one of the purposes of the sounds of the trumpet and the archangel’s call might be to wake up the dead, who are seen as sleeping.

Could the Thessalonians really not have known that the dead would rise?

            Paul approaches the subject of those who have died by saying, “we do not want you to be uninformed” (1 Thess 4:13).  Colin Nicholl argues that when Paul uses this phrase, he is introducing new information that he had not previously taught.  Furthermore, throughout his discourses, Paul frequently alludes to his recipients’ knowledge when it is applicable.  Since in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, he makes no mention of the reader’s prior knowledge, it can be argued that he is giving them new information here[7].

            Some scholars argue that Paul could not have neglected to teach the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, because this teaching is so inextricably tied to his teaching on the resurrection of Christ[8].  But Nicholl argues that it is quite possible that Paul did not mention the future resurrection of the dead when he first preached to the Thessalonians.  He points out that Paul mentions the resurrection of Christ without any allusion to the resurrection of the dead in such passages as Romans 4:24-5; 8:34 and Galatians 1:1[9].  One also must keep in mind that Paul’s stay in Thessalonica was apparently brief (see 1 Thess 2:17) and since he felt that Christ’s coming was imminent, it is not impossible to think that he may have neglected to teach about the fate of the dead at the parousia[10].

            Is it possible that when Paul was preaching in Thessalonica that he himself did not believe in the resurrection of the dead?  Nicholl does not think so.  It is absurd to think that Paul had not encountered the problem of death among Christians and come to terms with it prior to his mission in Thessalonica.  Furthermore, as a Pharisee, Paul would have held to the belief in the resurrection of the dead.  There is no reason to believe that he stopped believing in this for a time, only to adopt the belief again later[11].

Those who have no hope

            Paul says that he does not want the Thessalonians to “grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thess 4:13).  Who are those who have no hope?  Ascough argues that it refers only to those Gentiles who did not believe in an afterlife, and he points out that some Gentiles did have hope of an afterlife.  Some of the tombstones in the ancient Roman empire referred to the hope of a reunion with the deceased.  Some were buried with items that the dead were believed to need for their afterlife existence.  So, it is argued that Paul cannot be talking about all pagans here, but specifically those who do not believe in an afterlife[12].

            However, Seyoon Kim argues that “those who have no hope” refers to all nonbelievers, even those who hope for an afterlife.  According to Kim’s interpretation, the nonbelievers have no hope because they are destined for destruction.  Some of them may indeed hope for an afterlife, but their hope is in vain, because the wrath of God will overtake them, since they have not availed themselves to the salvation of Christ[13].

The Word of the Lord

            Paul says in 4:15 that what he is now teaching is the “word of the Lord.”  What does this mean?  Is Paul referring to a revelation that the risen Lord gave to him personally?  Could he be recalling a traditional saying of Jesus?  Or might he be referring to a prophecy from the Hebrew Scriptures?  Various scholars have argued for each of these possibilities.

            Seyoon Kim argues that the “word of the Lord” probably refers to a saying of Jesus, and not a personal revelation to Paul.  He argues that Paul refers to four sayings of Jesus in 1 Thess 5:1-11, and that it is therefore not implausible that 4:13-18 would refer to some sayings of Jesus, since these passages are connected[14].  Besides 1 Thess 4:15, the appeal to the word of the Lord by Paul is found only in 1 Corinthians 7:10-11 and 9:14[15].  And in these verses, it is evidently a saying of the earthly Jesus[16].  We have no evidence that Paul ever uses this phrase to describe a personal revelation from Christ.  In fact, Kim argues that at no time does Paul ever appeal to a prophecy that he himself received.  He does however appeal to sayings of Jesus while he was on earth.  In the case of 1 Corinthians 7:12, 25, Paul confesses that he has no teaching of the Lord on the subjects he is addressing, and he therefore resorts to offering his own opinion on the matters.  This supports the view that Paul was not in the custom of seeking prophetic inspiration on such matters[17].  Therefore, it seems unlikely that the “word of the Lord”in 1 Thess 4:15 is one which Paul received through a personal prophecy.

            Colin Nicholl also believes that the “word of the Lord” derives from a saying of Jesus, in particular, one that did not get preserved in either the Synoptic Gospels, or John.  Some scholars feel that Paul is alluding to sayings that are preserved in the Gospels, but Nicholl argues that all of the candidates for such sayings have too many differences with the Pauline passage.  In particular, none of the verses suggested by other scholars refer to the teaching that the dead will rise before being caught up in the clouds to meet Jesus.  It makes no sense that Paul would refer to a saying of Jesus if that saying did not contain this most crucial point which he is trying to make[18].

            We may further ask what part of 1 Thess 4:13-18 constitutes the “word of the Lord.”  One possibility is that verse 15b is the “word” since it follows immediately after 15a, which states, “for this we declare to you by the word of the Lord...”  Therefore, the phrase in 15b, “that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died” is that “word.”  According to this view, verses 16-17 are Paul’s expounding on that word[19]. 

            The other possibility is that verses 16-17 are the “word” and verse 15b is an introduction in Paul’s own words of that teaching.  This is the view favored by Nicholl.  He makes a compelling argument based on the vocabulary and style of the verses in question.  It seems that verses 16-17 contain some vocabulary that are uncharacteristic for Paul, whereas verse 15b is quite typical of Paul’s own writing[20].

The Jewish background of 1 Thess 4:13-18

            Paul has a Pharisaic background and was trained in Jewish theology.  Jesus was, of course, a Jew, and he too drew on Jewish tradition for his teachings.  The apocalyptic teachings of Jesus and Paul are part of a larger tradition of Jewish apocalyptic teachings that were in the process of developing for a few hundred years before their time.  We can see some definite Jewish elements in 1 Thess 4:13-18.

            By the time of Paul, Jewish tradition had developed a view that the world was divided up into three time periods: this world, the days of the Messiah, and the future world[21].  If Paul adopted this scheme, he saw himself as living in the days of the Messiah, awaiting that future world, in which death would finally be defeated and the final judgment would take place[22].  According to older Jewish traditions, this interim time period - the days of the Messiah - was to last forty years.  Schoeps argues that Paul, like Aqiba and Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, would have believed that this period could last no more than forty years.  The “Day of the Lord” of the Hebrew prophets, Paul interprets as that day when Jesus will return, and this day will come suddenly, “like a thief in the night” (1 Thess 5:2).  The cry of command, the archangel’s call, and the sound of God’s trumpet in 1 Thess 4:16 are all known features in Jewish apocalyptic literature.  And it is in these Jewish traditions that the resurrection of the dead is believed to occur alongside these events[23].  The second benediction of the Eighteen Benedictions of Jewish tradition affirms that God raises the dead.  The purpose of this raising of the dead was for the final judgment, as indicated in Daniel 12:2, as well as in Enoch.  Josephus also explains that the resurrection was for the purpose of final judgment according to certain sects of Judaism in the first century[24].  Paul is well within Jewish tradition therefore when he teaches that the resurrection of the dead will be accompanied by a final judgment. 

            Other Jewish teachings may likewise help us to understand Paul’s teachings in 1 Thess 4:13-18.  For example, it may seem peculiar to us today to say that Jesus will appear in the sky, but it makes perfect sense in the context of Jewish beliefs about the Divine.  In Mesopotamian thinking, the deity lived in the heavens above the earthly temple.  If one wanted to get to the deity, he or she had to get through an opening in the firmament.  It makes sense then that Jesus would appear in the sky at the point of this opening.  This means that Paul likely believed that the appearance of the Lord Jesus would take place in none other than Jerusalem, at the site of the holy Temple, since that is where God was enthroned in the heavens above.  There is evidence in the New Testament that this is indeed what the early Christians believed.  Acts 1:2-9 describes how Jesus ascended to heaven through this opening in the sky above Jerusalem.  This belief is also shown in Acts 7:56, Revelation 8:3, 9:13, and 14:18[25].

Was the idea of the parousia modeled after Hellenistic parousias?

            Erik Peterson made a case that the parousia of Jesus was envisioned like a Hellenistic parousia, which was a ceremonious meeting between a royal figure and the people of a city.  The people would go out to meet the honored guest to welcome him, and then bring him into their city.  Much of this argument rests on the term apantesis (meet).  The word is used in 1 Thess 4:17 to describe the meeting of the believers with the Lord in the air.  According to Peterson this word is a technical term to describe those Hellenistic meetings between the people of a city and the royal visitor.  It is used in this regard in numerous Greek sources.  The arrival of the visitor was referred to as his parousia, and this word is used for Jesus as well in 1 Thess 4:15[26].

            However, Joseph Plevnik argues against the view that Paul patterned the description of the coming of the Lord after Hellenistic parousias.  The description in 1 Thess 4:16-17 has parallels in the Jewish tradition of God’s meeting with the people at Mount Sinai.  Both events contain the blast of trumpets and the cloud, and in both, The Lord descends while the people ascend to meet[27].

            Whether or not Paul derived his teachings on this matter from the Hellenistic tradition or the Jewish tradition, it is hard to deny how the teaching would have sounded to the Gentile Thessalonians.  They would have been familiar with the Hellenistic parousias and when they heard the description of 1 Thess 4:13-18, with its reference to apantesis, parousia, and Kyrios (which was used as an imperial title), they would have most likely conceived of the meeting in this way[28].

            If 1 Thess 4:13-18 describes a meeting of a similar nature to the Hellenistic meetings, then this might shed light on one important issue of the passage.  There is a debate among scholars about the direction of movement after the meeting.  Some, like Joseph Plevnik, argue that after the meeting of the saints with the Lord, they then proceed to heaven[29].  But others, such as Colin Nicholl, argue that the direction of their movement is toward the earth after the initial meeting.  This argument is based on the fact that after the Hellenistic parousias, the honored guest is then taken back to the city of the people who went out to meet them.  In the case of the meeting with the Lord, the “city” would be the earth[30]. 

Conclusion

            The Thessalonians risked becoming like those who had no hope, when they faced the death of some of their members.  They were uninformed about the resurrection of the dead, and they therefore feared that their fellow Christians would not be able to share in the final victory when Christ returned.  Paul uses his letter to encourage them by informing them of the crucial teaching that just as Christ was raised, so those who have died in Christ will also be raised.  Both the living and the dead in Christ will thus be able to participate in the final victory.  He instructs them to “encourage one another with these words” (4:18).  These words indeed must have been a source of comfort for the next generation of Thessalonians after Paul and his whole generation eventually passed away without the coming of the Lord.  For now they understood that those who died would one day awaken and go up to meet the Lord in the air.