Fathers

1 Thessalonians 1

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Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the assembly of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We always give thanks to God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and perseverance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father. We know, brothers loved by God, that you are chosen, and that our Good News came to you not in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and with much assurance. You know what kind of men we showed ourselves to be among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all who believe in Macedonia and in Achaia. For from you the word of the Lord has been declared, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone out, so that we need not to say anything. For they themselves report concerning us what kind of a reception we had from you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead: Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.

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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 ↗