ChandraRama

http://earlychristianwritings.com/1thessalonians.html

Why Thessalonians are dated to pre 66 AD?

Burton Mack writes of 1 Thess. 2:14-16 in his Who Wrote the New Testament? (p. 113): "The person who made this change was interested in directing Paul's apocalyptic preachments against those who opposed the Christian mission and did so by inserting a small unit aimed specifically at the Jews who 'killed Jesus' and 'drove us out,' for which reason 'God's wrath has overtaken them at last.' Nothing in all of Paul's letters comes close to such a pronouncement (Pearson 1971). The idea seriously tarnishes the inclusive logic of the Christ myth, and it presupposes the logic of Mark's passion narrative which, as we shall see, runs counter to that of the Christ myth. And since, according to this addition, it was the Jews upon whom God's wrath had (already) fallen, the reference must surely be to the destruction of the temple in 70 C.E., an event that Paul did not live to see."

Udo Schnelle comments on the same passage (The History and Theology, p. 48):

"I Thess. 2.14-16 has often been regarded as a post-Pauline interpolation. The following arguments have been based on the content: (1) the contradiction between Romans 9-11 and 1 Thess. 2.14-16. (2) The references to what has happened to Jews as a model for a Gentile Christian church. (3) There were no extensive persecutions of Christians by Jews in Palestine prior to the first Jewish war. (4) The use of the concept of imitation in 1 Thessalonians 2.14 is singular. (5) The aorist eftasen (has overtaken) refers to the destruction of Jerusalem. "
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You take out a passage which says it is a post 66AD document and call that as a post pauline interpolation, and then date the document to 50-60CE.. Looks very fishy to me.

Chris Weimer

Interpolations are standard. If I edit a copy of Res Gestae and add a line about Nero, does that invalidate the entire work? The overall style is Pauline.

Although I myself would date I Thessalonians as Pauline, I wouldn't do the same for the second. So to be clear, you ought to differentiate between the two, instead of lumping them together.

ChandraRama

But what makes the rest of Thassalonians as pre 66?

Why this 2:14-16 has to be interpolation?

Toto

The usual way of dating 1 Thessalonians has been to compare it to Acts. If Acts represents a real timeline, it can be dated by the reference to a few historical figures, mainly Gallio. Acts describes Paul visiting Thessalonia and being harrassed and leaving, and it is assumed that the letter was written at some point after this, which would place it in the 50's.

In addition, the letter discusses the second coming of Christ as imminent, which is felt to be a characteristic of the early Christian movement.

But these are fairly weak indicators.

ChandraRama

A little off-track

I keep reading in the epistles that the Christians are harrassed by Jews. Is there any extra-bibilical references to the harrassment of Christians by Jews in Palestine and other Roman cities?

Toto

There are Jewish references to expelling heretics that are often taken to refer to Jewish actions against Christians. But otherwise there are no references to any harrassment of Christians by Jews.

Chris Weimer

However, there's no real evidence for Christians being called Christians at the time. There's no reason to expect Jews to expel Christians specifically. Moreover, the entire Christian tradition, especially in John, assumes expulsion of Christians from the synagogues, even placing it back to Jesus himself.

ChandraRama

If Acts itself be fictional, how can we use that to date Thasalonians?

While I accept the imminent arrival of Christ as a characteristic of early christian movement, that does not mean all the documents that talk about imminent arrival of Christ as belonging to early christian movement.

ChandraRama

After raising this question, I went to search for such harrassments of Christians by Jews. Calling them heretics start only after the Bar Kochba insurrection. Because Nazarenes did not participate in the Bar Kochba insurrection claiming that Bar Kochba is not their messiah, they refused to participate in the war.