Who Wrote This Book: The author of 1 & 2 Thessalonians is Paul. He also mentioned that Silas and Timothy were co-senders of these letters, a fact that may indicate Paul's care to present the missionaries as a united band.
Date of Writing: Most scholars today date 1 Thessalonians to a.d. 49–51, early in Paul's 18-month stay in Corinth during his second missionary journey (Acts 18:1–18).
Written To: Paul was ministering to pagan Gentiles and Jews. Thessalonians was written from the letters Paul wrote to the people of that area.
Why It Was Written: The most prominent theme in 1 Thessalonians is the second coming of Jesus. It is mentioned in every chapter of the book (1:10; 2:19–20; 3:13; 4:13–18; 5:1–11, 23–24). At Jesus' future coming, the dead in Christ will rise and will be caught up along with the living to meet the Lord in the air (4:15–17). Unbelievers will be subject to his wrath, but Christians will be delivered from this, inheriting salvation instead (1:10; 5:2–4, 9–10). Those who are destined to participate as saints (lit., “holy ones”) in the second coming must be holy and blameless (3:11–4:8; 5:23), and God, who is faithful, will produce holiness in the lives of those whom he calls (5:24).
Paul wrote both of the Thessalonians’ Epistles to correct gross misapprehension and misrepresentation of his preaching about death and its aftermath (eschatology). Silas and Timothy have returned from Thessalonica with news of some problems that needed urgent attention
Purpose of the letter: After further troubles Paul was forced to leave Berea. Leaving Silas and Timothy behind, he went to Athens where his ministry made little impact. He then went to Corinth, by which time he was somewhat dejected. After visiting the new churches in Macedonia, Silas and Timothy came to Paul in Corinth. They brought word of the new church in Thessalonica, pointing out its weaknesses, but reported that the new believers were standing firm. Paul was overjoyed and wrote to the believers affirming their progress in the faith while seeking to correct some of the problems that had emerged.
Part of the difficulty Paul faced was the slander directed toward him by the strong Jewish community in the town. They sought to align Paul with the many wandering preachers who prayed off the gullible for a living. Thus Paul writes to refute these slanders. The believers in Thessalonica were also under pressure from elements of the secular society. He therefore writes to encourage his friends to stand firm in their trials.
On the theological front there was some confusion concerning the second coming of Christ. The members of the Thessalonians’ church thought that the second coming was imminent, yet some of their number had died. Did this mean that those who had died will miss out on the coming day of glory? Some believers had given up their job to wait for the coming day and were now busybodies and idlers. There was also some speculation over the date of Christ's return, a further issue that Paul had to deal with.
The enthusiasm of some of the church leaders was wearing thin and so Paul touched on the issue of respect for those over us in the Lord. He also was aware of sexual immorality in the church, and so addressed this issue as well.
