1 and 2 Thessalonians (Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament)

Publisher's Description

These early epistles show how Paul created his characteristic communication strategy: sending letters by a trusted representative, in order to strengthen his disciples and provide answers for new questions. The mostly Gentile church of Thessalonica lived among people who mocked the gospel teachings of monotheism, personal purity, and the resurrection of the body. Paul writes that God had indeed selected the believers to be his people and in time he would vindicate them before the world. Shogren uses exegetcal and rhetorical insights and Jewish and Greco-Roman background to bring out the meaning of the letters. He underscores Paul's work as church-planter and pastor, a man who consciously set himself forth as an example to believers. According to Shogren, the apostle still stands as a model for those who wish to proclaim God's Word in God's way.

376 Pages
Published November 2012

About the Author

Gary Shogren (PhD, Kings College, Aberdeen) was raised in small-town New England (Rhode Island) in a family that had roots back to the founding of the colony in the 1600s. He grew up in the Baptist church and came to believe in Christ at the age of 6. However, when he was a teenager, a series of experiences led him to a deeper walk with God and a sense that God was calling him into ministry. After a number of years of education (culminating with a PhD in New Testament from Kings College, Aberdeen, Scotland) he served as a pastor and then as a professor. He has been a NT professor for 24 years. In 1998 he and his family moved to Costa Rica to learn Spanish, so that he could teach at ESEPA Bible College and Seminary in San Jose, Costa Rica. He has written a number of articles and several books, including articles in the Anchor Bible Dictionary, Novum Testamentum, and Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels; a Greek grammar textbook; Running in Circles, a guide for counseling drug addicts; and a commentary on 1-2 Thessalonians. He is married to Karen and has four grown children. See Gary's blog at justinofnablus.com

About the Editor

Clinton E. Arnold, author of Powers of Darkness: Principalities and Powers in Paul's Letters, earned his PhD at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, and has done post-doctoral work at Eberhard-Karls-Universitat Tubingen in Germany. He is currently associate professor of New Testament at the Talbot School of Theology in La Mirada, California.

About the ZECNT Series

Designed for the pastor and Bible teacher, the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament brings together commentary features rarely gathered together in one volume. Written by notable evangelical scholars, each volume treats the literary context and structure of the passage in the original Greek, and each author provides an original translation based on the literary structure. The series consistently provides the main point, verse-by-verse commentary, and theology in application in each section of every commentary. Critical scholarship informs each step but does not dominate the commentary, allowing readers to concentrate on the biblical author’s message as it unfolds. While primarily designed for those with a basic knowledge of biblical Greek, all who strive to understand and teach the New Testament will find these books beneficial. The ZECNT series covers the entire New Testament in twenty volumes; Clinton E. Arnold serves as general editor.