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    The Epistle to the Thessalonians
    The Epistle to the Thessalonians
    The Epistle to the Thessalonians
    Ebook578 pages6 hours

    The Epistle to the Thessalonians

    By Charles A. Wanamaker

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    About this ebook

    The letters of Paul to the newly founded Christian community at Thessalonica hold a special place within the Christian tradition as possibly the earliest extant Christian writings. They are also of special interest not only for their theological value but for their sociological context. Among the communities established by Paul, the church at Thessalonica appears to have been the only one to have suffered serious external oppression. These two important epistles, then, speak uniquely to contemporary Christians living in a society often ideologically, if not politically, opposed to Christian faith.

    In this innovative commentary Charles A. Wanamaker incorporates what may be called a social science approach to the study of 1 and 2 Thessalonians, taking into full account the social context that gave rise to Paul’s correspondence. While Wanamaker in no way ignores traditional historical-critical, linguistic, literary, and theological approaches to writing a commentary -- in fact, at several points he makes a significant contribution to the questions raised by traditional exegesis -- at the same time he goes beyond previous commentaries on the Thessalonian correspondence by taking seriously the social dimensions both of Christianity at Thessalonica and of the texts of 1 and 2 Thessalonians themselves. In blending traditional exegetical methods with this newer approach, Wanamaker seeks to understand Pauline Christianity at Thessalonica as a socio-religious movement in the first-century Greco-Roman world and attempts to grasp the social character and functions of Paul’s letters within this context.

    A significant and original addition to the literature on 1 and 2 Thessalonians, this commentary will be valuable to scholars, pastors, and students alike.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherEerdmans
    Release dateJun 1, 2013
    ISBN9781467423151
    The Epistle to the Thessalonians
    Author

    Charles A. Wanamaker

    Associate professor in the department of religious studies and director of postgraduate studies at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. He received his doctorate in New Testament studies at the University of Durham under C. K. Barrett.

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    Reviews for The Epistle to the Thessalonians

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    • 4/5
      Wanamaker's Thessalonians is an unusually critical volume in the NIGTC series. Although he maintains the authenticity of 2 Thessalonians, he unapologetically embraces form and redaction-critical assessments of the text. He does go to lengths to refute more extreme positions like Trilling. One of Wanamaker's stranger conclusions is about the origin of Satan, on which he says “probably came from the cosmic dualism of Zoroastrianism in the Persian period, taken over by Judaism toe explain the existence of evil and sin in the world...” (p. 122).

      The commentary is quite readable and it's length manageable for teaching. Wanamaker is sensitive to social-scientific concerns and is well-read on recent developments at the time of his writing. This was a good volume for Greek analysis but I will probably look into others in the future as a go-to teaching-exegetical commentary.
    • 3/5
      A competent and helpful commentary. It does not stand out in the NIGTC as much as other volumes I have consulted have. I would place Wanamaker together with Bruce but behind Marshall.Wanamaker thinks that 1Th should actually be 2Th, and that 2Th should actually be 1Th--the order we have it is mixed up. I didn't
    • 5/5
      Wanamaker offers both a thorough treatment of the text and a rich dialogue with contemporary scholarship. The commentary is strong on grammatical, historical, and cultural insights, although demonstrates little literary awareness. Wanamaker provides a generally conservative perspective. He does, however, argue (compellingly) for the chronological priority of 2nd Thessalonians over first. While some supplementation is necessary, the work – overall – is an invaluable resource. A-

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