Redescribing the Thessalonians’ ‘Mission’ in Light of Graeco-Roman Associations

Abstract

1 Thessalonians 1.2-10 is generally understood to be making reference to the Thessalonians participating in missionary activity in which they proclaim the salvific message of Christ. Read this way, the text presumes that the Thessalonians have evangelized areas even before the Paul party arrived. That a newly constituted group of artisans would undertake such an aggressive program seems unlikely. The rhetoric of the passage is better understood in light of the practice of associations in proclaiming honours for their gods and their founders and benefactors, the news about which spread via networks of traders, artisans, and other travelers throughout the provinces of Macedonia and Achaia.

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