Can an analysis of the structure and function of 1 Thess 1-3 lead to a new reading of 1 Thessalonians? In these essays, Seyoon Kim attempts a comprehensive exposition of Paul's gospel in the epistle and adds a new observation of his doctrine of justification in 2 Thess 1-2.
In this collection of essays, Seyoon Kim analyses the structure and function of 1 Thess 1-3, which leads to a new reading of 1 Thessalonians. He devotes several essays to a comprehensive exposition of Paul's gospel for the Thessalonians by fully unfolding several summaries of the gospel in the epistle, by detecting and analysing various Son of Man sayings of Jesus that are alluded to or echoed in it, and by a thorough discussion of the unity and continuity of Paul's gospel between this early epistle and his later epistles. This exposition is augmented by a new observation of Paul's doctrine of justification in 2 Thess 1-2 and a new explanation of
τὸ κατέχον and
ὁ κατέχων (2 Thess 2:3-8).
Table of contents:
Introduction
1. The Structure and Function of 1 Thessalonians 1-3, and the Occasion and Purpose of 1 Thessalonians
2. Jesus the Son of God as the Gospel (1 Thess 1:9-10 and Rom 1:3-4)
3. The Gospel That Paul Preached to the Thessalonians:Continuity and Unity of Paul's Gospel in 1 Thessalonians and in His Later Epistles
4. Jesus' Son of Man Sayings as a Basis for Paul's Gospel of Jesus the Son of God (1 Thess 1:9-10 and Rom 1:3-4)
5. Jesus' Ransom Saying (Mark 10:45//Matt 20:28) and Eucharistic Saying (Mark 14:21-25 and parr.) Echoed in 1 Thessalonians and Other Pauline Epistles
6. The Jesus Tradition in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11
7. The Idleness of Some Thessalonians
8. The Thessalonian Church as Paul's »hope or joy or crown of boasting« (1 Thess 2:19-20): Judgment according to Works and Reward for Good Deeds, or the Structure of Paul's Doctrine of Justification
9. Is Paul Preaching a Counter-Imperial Gospel in 1 Thessalonians?
10. Paul and the Roman Empire
11. Paul's Common Paraenesis (1 Thess 4-5; Phil 2-4; and Rom 12-13), the Correspondence between Romans 1:18-32 and 12:1-2, and the Unity of Romans 12-13
12. Paul's Doctrine of Justification in 2 Thessalonians 1-2, and Its Implications for Pauline Theology and 2 Thessalonians
13. »The Restraining Thing« (τὸ κατέχον) and »the Restraining Person« (ὁ κατέχων) of »the Lawless Man« (2 Thess 2:1-12)
14. »Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God« (Rom 12:19; cf. 2 Thess 1:5-7): The Apostle Paul and
lex talionis15.
Imitatio Christi (1 Cor 11:1): How Paul Imitates Jesus Christ in Dealing with Idol Food (1 Cor 8-10)
16. Paul as an Eschatological Herald
17. Paul the Pastor: His Preaching and Ministry
18. Paul and Violence
Appendix
Jesus and the Temple
