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However, 1 Thessalonians 3:1-2 explains that Timothy and others were with Paul in Athens for a time.
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Charles Wanamaker argues that the book of Acts did not emphasize the missionaries’ movements in Greece or who

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was there in Athens with Paul. Wanamaker’s argument toward the credible historian, Luke, who while being
“carried along by the Holy Spirit” appears to be too radical based on Acts 17:15. It could be that Luke did not just

include that account. It appears Timothy and Silas rejoined Paul in Athens from Berea, but then, Timothy (because
he is mentioned as the one who brought the report to Paul concerning the church at Thessalonica [1 Thess. 3:1-2])

was sent back to Macedonia to find out how the new church maturing in Jesus. For the second time, Silas and
Timothy had to rejoin Paul in Corinth (Acts 18:5). After hearing the Lord speak to him at night in a vision, “do not

be afraid; keep on speaking . . . because I have many people in this city” (Acts 18:5, 9-10), Paul “stayed in Corinth
for a year and a half, teaching them the Word of God” (Acts 18:11). Most scholars believe that it was during that

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long stay in Corinth when Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians.

Date
First Thessalonians is understood to be the earliest of the Pauline Epistles, perhaps the first written by Paul.

Paul was hindered by divine intervention from going south into the province of Asia and north into Bithynia (Acts
16:6,7). He arrived at Troas probably in late March or early April A.D. 49. From Troas, the westernmost city in Asia

Minor, he was directed in a vision to cross the Aegean Sea into Macedonia and take the gospel there for the first
time (Acts 16:9). This was the continuation of the western movement of the gospel across Europe. Paul arrived at

the port of Neapolis after a two-day journey. Accompanying him were Silas, Timothy, and Luke. Almost
immediately they left for a single day journey to Philippi to the north.

The successful mission in Philippi lasted about two months. Leaving Timothy and Luke behind, Paul and
Silas left Philippi under pressure from the city officials and journeyed westward toward Thessalonica, a major

center about a five-day walk. In route, they followed the famous Egnatian Way which crossed Macedonia from east

to west, passing through Amphipolis and then through Apollonia (Acts 17:1) and finally arrived at Thessalonica.
There they stopped and began to share the Gospel with the Jews and Gentiles living there.
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The dating of 1 Thessalonians is approximate. Internal evidence derived from 1 Corinthians 18:12-17
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during the reign of Gallio as proconsul of Achaia approximates the date. Tenney maintains that the epistle could

have been “written in early fifties (c. 50-51).” This is a very important piece of information because Paul’s writing
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of 1 Thessalonians in Corinth was done during the reign of Gallio, the proconsul of Achaia. As a result, based on
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13 Charles A. Wanamaker, The New International Greek Testament Commentary: The Epistles to the Thessalonians, eds.
I. Howard Marshall and W. Ward Gasque (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1990), 127.
14 Tenney, The Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible, 723.

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