--- title: "1 Thessalonians" canonical: "https://paulineletters.com/explore/resources/evidence-1-thessalonians" updated: "2026-09-21" license: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" source: "Pauline Letters" --- # 1 Thessalonians First Thessalonians encourages a young, pressured church with gratitude, pastoral defense, holiness, mutual encouragement, and hope for believers who have died. **Why did Paul write 1 Thessalonians, and what is debated about its setting or authorship?** The letter gives a vivid pastoral snapshot but not a complete account of every Thessalonian question. ## What remains uncertain Corinth around AD 50–51 is a strong reconstruction, after Timothy returned with news from Thessalonica during the second journey. The exact sequence of Athens, Corinth, and Timothy’s movements is reconstructed from Acts and the letter. 1 Thessalonians is widely regarded as an undisputed Pauline letter and is often considered the earliest surviving letter of Paul, written from Corinth around AD 50–51. A nearby Corinthian date: Some chronologies place the letter slightly earlier or later during Paul’s Corinthian stay while retaining the same second-journey setting. The exact year changes modestly, but the letter remains among the earliest surviving Pauline correspondence. ## Sources - Raymond E. Brown, An Introduction to the New Testament (Doubleday, 1997). Chapter 18, “First Letter to the Thessalonians,” “General Analysis of the Message”; Chapter 18, “First Letter to the Thessalonians,” “Summary of Basic Information”: “DATE” and “AUTHENTICITY”; Chapter 18, “First Letter to the Thessalonians,” “The Background” - Romans through Philemon, World English Bible (public domain). — https://ebible.org/web/ - Acts 7–28, World English Bible (public domain). — https://ebible.org/eng-web/ACT.htm - The project’s 67-row chronology, cross-referencing Acts and the letters and labeling debated dates. - Jerome Murphy-O’Connor, Paul: A Critical Life (Oxford University Press, 1996). Chapter 1, “The Chronological Framework,” “The Evidence from the Pauline Letters” and “The Evidence from the Acts of the Apostles” --- Canonical: https://paulineletters.com/explore/resources/evidence-1-thessalonians