The Early Christians: Christians, Jews or Both?

Reading Acts allows us to benefit from the chronological anchors mentioned throughout the text. For example, in 1905 a French excavation team discovered an inscription at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi containing a letter from Emperor Claudius that mentions Gallio, the proconsul of Achaia. This inscription contained information that historians could correlate with other well-established facts about the reign of Claudius, allowing scholars to date Gallio’s governorship to approximately 51-52 CE. By using this chronological anchor, we can then establish the approximate time for the trial of Paul before Gallio.  Fixing this date in the book of Acts also helps with dating the letters Paul wrote at that time. For example, Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians together with Silvanus and Timothy (1 Thess. 1:1). In the letter, Paul states that Timothy has just returned from Thessalonica with his report (1 Thess. 3:6). When we look back at Acts, we can see that Corinth is the first place within that book when Paul, Silvanus and Timothy reunite after Timothy’s mission in Thessalonica (Acts 18:5). This strongly suggests that Paul wrote his letter to the Thessalonians from Corinth at the end of his second journey, in around 50-51 CE.

Here is a visual of what I mean:

Gallio Inscription

(Discovered 1905)

          │

          ▼

Gallio serves as

Proconsul of Achaia

(c. 51–52 CE)

          │

          ▼

Paul appears before

Gallio in Acts 18

          │

          ▼

Acts places Paul in

Corinth with Silvanus

and Timothy (Acts 18:5)

          │

          ▼

1 Thessalonians

mentions Paul,

Silvanus, and Timothy

together (1 Thess. 1:1)

          │

          ▼

Timothy has just

returned from

Thessalonica

(1 Thess. 3:6)

          │

          ▼

Therefore:

1 Thessalonians was

likely written from Corinth (c. 50–51 CE)