Commentary on 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

Most scholars, myself included, believe that 1 Thessalonians is Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy’s first writing to any ecclesial community (with Paul being the lead author). This letter was probably written between 49 and 51 CE, about 20 years after Jesus’s death and resurrection. As Paul’s first letter, it shows he is still navigating language to describe his understanding of the Messiah Jesus. Thus, between verses 2, 8, and 9 of chapter 2, Paul uses the phrase euangellion tou theou—“the gospel of God”—three times. Most of us preach the gospel of Jesus and have never thought about “the gospel of God.”

In the classroom, I highlight the phrase “the gospel of God” to begin a discussion on the scholarly question of whether Paul’s writings are more theocentric or Christocentric. However, in the context of 1 Thessalonians, another dilemma that demands Paul’s attention is the issue of the emergence of a goddess-centric concept.

The Thessalonian community of Jesus-followers probably arose out of a combination of Greco-Roman artisans and “pagans” who were former God-fearers. There were people who honored the God of Israel while still holding onto their pagan gods. However, they came to believe in Jesus through Paul’s preaching and wrestled with giving up their gods.¹ Many were probably experiencing some sort of persecution, which Paul discusses in 1:6; 3:3; and 3:7. However, the question is whether all of the Thessalonians were turning away from their gods (or goddesses) as they were following Jesus.

In our focus passage, Paul’s use of maternal metaphors has confused scholars for a number of years. This imagery plays a key role in understanding goddess-centric language.² In his conversation with the Thessalonians, Paul argues that he is also the infant receiving from the Thessalonians whatever they are willing to give to the ministry. Further, in the next thought, Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy are the singular wet nurse who nourishes the Thessalonians as well. The entirety of this metaphor relates to goddess theology brilliantly.

Paul’s use of nēpioi in combination with proclaiming himself, Silvanus, and Timothy—three men—as one singular nursing mother (trophos) symbolizes the Thessalonian women’s devotion to goddesses Eileithyia, Artemis, and Hera. Scholar Florence Morgan Gillman³ argues that Paul had to contend with his female converts who still held to their goddess devotion since they were important for childbearing women.

Further, Monya Stubbs notes in her commentary that scholars estimate that about 30 percent of infants died in their first year of life in the first century.⁴ Most likely, Paul had to co-opt the language of the goddess in order to circumscribe the highly patriarchal ideas of God the Father and Jesus the Son being central to the gospel. However, the material realities of living in the first century probably outweighed Paul’s rhetoric. Considering the fragility of infant life, the care provided by a nurse was essential to its existence.

Additionally, mothers who were already devoted to goddesses probably hedged their bets on a combination of goddess worship and worship of Jesus as the Christ. Gillman argues for the possibility that women carried representative amulets of the kourotrophic (female figurines pictured with infant) goddesses, such as the one cited and linked below.⁵

While not trying to make a one-to-one correspondence, I do want to compare Paul’s maternal metaphor as goddess-centric to some contemporary pastors’ views of “heresy” in the Black church. One example is the recent viral video of Reformed Baptist pastor Joel Webbon, who claimed that Black Christians should abandon Black churches for white churches in order to hear the “true gospel” and be “truly saved.” Webbon believes that the Black church is evil because of its particular cultural practices of extemporaneous worship, prayer, and ecstatic expressions of Spirit. What Webbon does not consider are the ways that white churches’ supremacy and moral superiority are equally heretical.

It seems to me that Paul could be acting similarly. What is wrong with women followers of goddesses syncretizing that worship with worship of Jesus? Women followers of Eileithyia, Artemis, and Hera are the ones with the traumatic experiences of childbirth and death. Similarly, Black mothers die in childbirth at higher rates than other mothers in society. Additionally, Black Christians experience microaggressions, racism, and death as a result of white supremacy in both church and society. These are factors that Webbon would not address. Shouldn’t Black Christians be able to invoke the memory of our ancestors who experienced similar issues even as we ask Jesus to walk with us through our trials and tribulations?

While not a one-to-one correspondence, I think it is important to recognize and take seriously that many people practice their Christianity in a variety of ways. Just as the women followers in Thessaloniki may have synthesized goddess worship with Jesus worship, Black Christians synthesize elements of Christianity with African traditional religion as well. These ideas should not be considered heretical but cultural amalgamations that occur when cultures come together.

Notes

1. Erin M. Heim, Nijay K. Gupta, and Scot McKnight, “Topics Related to Pauline Studies,” in The State of Pauline Studies (Baker Academic, 2024).
2. Space does not allow me to discuss the intricacies of the manuscripts, textual issues, and translations regarding the Greek words pioi and nēpioi in 1 Thessalonians 2:7. I would just note that I follow Jeffery Weima, who argues that a proper translation of 1 Thessalonians 2:7–8 should be the following: “Though we might have made demands as apostles of Christ, rather we were infants among you. Like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children, so deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.” Jeffrey A. D. Weima, “‘But We Became Infants Among You’: The Case for Nepioi in 1 Thessalonians 2:7,” New Testament Studies 46, no. 4 (2000): 547.
3. Florence Morgan Gillman, “Paul, His Nurse Metaphor (1 Thessalonians 2:7), and the Thessalonian Women Who Turned Against Their Idols,” The Catholic Biblical Quarterly 84, no. 2 (2022), 279–294. https://doi.org/10.1353/cbq.2022.0047.
4. See Monya Stubbs, “1 Thessalonians,” in The Women’s Bible Commentary: Revised and Expanded Edition. ed. Carol A. Newsom, Sharon H. Ringe, and Jacqueline E. Lapsley (SPCK, 2014), https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/merceru/detail.action?docID=1717457.
5. This photo shows Artemis as a nursing mother: “File: Artemis Kourotrophos, terracotta, 430-400 BC,” Wikimedia Commons, accessed August 29, 2026, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Artemis_Kourotrophos,_terracotta,_430-400_BC,_AM_Brauron,_Bram31.jpg.