The Good Word
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The beasts have an advantage over us when it comes to suffering. They breathe and bleed as we do, but their suffering is physical, not spiritual. It’s confined to the moment. An animal can feel as much physical pain as we do, but it doesn’t live in fear of pain. Whatever else it might port, an animal doesn’t carry the burden of the future on its back.
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The study of 1 Thessalonians offered here is in the form of a traditional commentary, although secondary scholarship is engaged more intermittently than would be the case in a commentary published in a regular print series. This is the fourth entry in the online commentary on 1 Thessalonians.
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My father was the most amiable of men. I used to laugh at him in conversation with guests. He’d say to one uncle, "Yes, you’re right." A moment later, he would say to another, of a quite contrary opinion, "I can’t disagree with that." If I later challenged him on how he could agree with both of two opposed opinions, he say, "That’s a good point, Son."
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In the first entry in the 1 Thessalonians Bible Junkies Commentary I began by looking at introductory matters, which were comprised of comments on the nature of a Greco-Roman letter, and the background of Paul’s activity in Thessalonica, that we know primarily from Acts of the Apostles and partially from Paul’s letters.
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Can you still say the Pledge of Allegiance? Can you recall the wording of the Boy Scout Oath, or the Girl Scout? Can you recite an Act of Contrition?
Whether we understood it at the time, in childhood we committed these avowals to memory as a way of preparing for adulthood. The Pledge of Allegiance reminded us that being American came with responsibilities. The oaths of scouts insisted that life be about honor and duty. Hopefully we’ve kept these promises of youth, but, knowing how...
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In the first entry in the 1 Thessalonians Bible Junkies Commentary I began by looking at introductory matters, which were comprised of comments on the nature of a Greco-Roman letter, and the background of Paul’s activity in Thessalonica, that we know primarily from Acts of the Apostles and partially from Paul’s letters. In this entry, I want to give a basic overview of the content found in the whole letter and then begin commenting on the letter itself more specifically.