1st Thessalonians

I have a lot of expectation for this book, as it is widely regarded as the first composed of Paul's epistles, and plan to approach it with an eye out for ideas that seem not yet fully-formed.  Perhaps it will yield some insight into Paul's thought process, as well as his theology.

1:1 Working from that assumption, it is worth noting that Paul's salutation does not differ significantly from that of Colossians, written perhaps 30 years later.  His messages of grace of peace thus appear as constants, and one could look to them as a framework for his theology.  Maybe.

1:2-5 likewise, the main difference in his introductory comments is that he has met the Thessalonians in person, and does not seem to have met the Colossians at the time of the writing.

1:6-10 Paul seems less confident than in later writings, and seems to spend a lot of time flattering his audience, and . . .

2:1-12 trying to establish his own credibility.  Either he is gearing up for some serious reprimanding, or he is less secure in his relationship with the Thessalonians than with the Colossians--all the more remarkable considering his personal establishment of the congregation there.

2:16 One wonders what wrath Paul could be referring to.  If the dating were different, I would assume he meant the fall of Jerusalem to Roman armies in 70 C.E., but 1st Thess. seems to predate that.

3:1-4 Another possibility occurs to me, that Paul is really worried about the congregation, due to some intense persecution, and the primary purpose of this letter is just to encourage them.  In which case, I would expect little in the way of theological explication.

3:10 This is the closest he has come to anything resembling admonishment: that he wants to strengthen whatever may be lacking in their faith. 

4:4 Now we get to the dirt: he urges them to be in control of their bodies, and free from lust.  Much different than the lofty, mental focus of Colossians--at least the first 3 chapters.

4:15 Now this is interesting.  It is certainly revealing that this early work contains such a strong emphasis on physical resurrection.  I would be curious to look back and see how much weight this arguably less noble idea gets in his more mature works.

5:6 And this cry for watchfulness, this warning of "sudden destruction", could also be expected to get less page time thirty years later.

5:8 Perhaps a seminal form of the more developed thought found in Ephesians at least 20 years later.

5:23 Paul speaks of spirit and soul as though they are different things . . . or is it just poetic stylizing?

The part of this that I find most compelling is the mention of resurrection in the last half of the 4th chapter, not only because it's the only real theology going on here, but also because it is so blatantly pandering, and so conspicuously absent in some later letters.  It seems altogether likely that messages of impending and sudden destruction would lose their weight after thirty years, and also that as Paul aged he shifted his focus to more noble/lofty things.