Thessalonians, Epistles to

Two books in the New Testament. They were originally letters that Paul wrote to the Thessalonians while he was in Corinth during his first visit to Europe around A.D. 50. His work in Thessalonica is described in Acts 17. Paul wanted to return to Thessalonica but was unable to do so (1 Thes. 2:18). He therefore sent Timothy to cheer the converts and bring him word of how they were doing. Paul wrote the first epistle as a result of his thankfulness on Timothy’s return.