Fathers

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What the Fathers say

1 Thessalonians 1:5

Eastern Fathers

Theophylact of Ohrid

From this, he says, your election is evident, that God glorified the preaching among you. For we did not simply preach, but there were also signs, because God was pleased that you should believe as chosen by Him and foreordained. That is, in signs that served for the benefit of well-minded people and for the punishment of ill-minded ones. Or in spiritual wisdom, and not worldly; or in that the Holy Spirit was given to those who believed. That is, in afflictions and sufferings. …

Commentary on 1 Thessalonians ↗

Western Saints

Thomas Aquinas

What is said in Ezekiel (3:26) would seem to contradict this: "And I will make your tongue cleave to the roof of your mouth, so that you shall be dumb." To counter this Paul first calls to mind how powerfully he preached to them; secondly, he calls upon their own witness with the words: "you know..." Powerfully, because he came not in loftiness of speech, but in power: "And my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power" (1 Cor. 2:4). …

Commentary on 1 Thessalonians ↗