1 Thessalonians: Author and Dating

The first letter to the Thessalonians was presumably written around AD 50. Paul wrote the letter together with his fellow workers, Silvanus and Timothy.

Acts 17–18 has information about Paul’s second missionary journey, which more or less tallies with what we read in 1 Thessalonians. It is generally accepted that Paul founded the church in Thessalonica in AD 49 and that he wrote the first letter to the Thessalonians around AD 50 from Corinth. This makes 1 Thessalonians probably the oldest of Paul’s letters that we have.

Paul wrote the letter in response to reports he had received from the church in Thessalonica. He may have received these reports from his fellow worker Timothy (1 Thessalonians 3:6). Paul mentions his fellow workers Silvanus (the Latin form of Silas) and Timothy in 1 Thessalonians 1:1 as co-authors of this letter.