Reading first Thessalonians as a consolatory letter in light of Seneca and ancient handbooks on letter-writing

Journal article

Neil, Bronwen. (2016). Reading first Thessalonians as a consolatory letter in light of Seneca and ancient handbooks on letter-writing. New Testament Studies. 62(1), pp. 31 - 48. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0028688515000351

Authors	Neil, Bronwen
Abstract	In his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul addressed the occasion of deaths among Christians with stock arguments of the consolatory genre, without using the typical epistolary structure associated with consolation in ancient handbooks of letter-writing. It is demonstrated that three of Seneca the Younger's letters also employed stock arguments of consolation, but did not follow the usual structure for a letter of consolation. Using Seneca's letters as a test case for what constituted pagan ideas of consolation, we highlight some compelling reasons for reading First Thessalonians as a letter of consolation, a reading that offers some new insights into the passage on the right Christian attitude towards death in 1 Thess 4.13–5.11.
Keywords	consolation; eschatology; New Testament; Seneca; Paul;  Thessalonians; letters; epistolary handbooks
Year	2016
Journal	New Testament Studies
Journal citation	62 (1), pp. 31 - 48
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
ISSN	0028-6885
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)	https://doi.org/10.1017/S0028688515000351
Scopus EID	2-s2.0-84950296069
Page range	31 - 48
Research Group	Centre for Biblical and Early Christian Studies
Publisher's version	File Access Level Controlled
Place of publication	United Kingdom

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