Abstract:It is a commonly held assumption in the study of 1 Thessalonians that the community to which Paul was writing consisted of former pagans and not Jews, proselytes, or God-fearers. This assumption rests on two notions: (1) the idea that 1:9 ("turned from idols") presupposes former polytheism; and (2) the absence of OT quotations signals an audience unacquainted with the Jewish Scriptures. This article aims to challenge both of these ideas as determinative of audience composition and open up the possibility that Paul was writing to a Thessalonian community that included a significant number of former God-fearers, once God-fearer is understood properly to include people who at one time revered Israel's God without having renounced pagan gods.

中文翻译：

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帖撒罗尼迦信徒，以前的“异教徒”或“敬畏上帝的人”？：挑战顽固的共识

摘要：在对帖撒罗尼迦前书的研究中，普遍认为保罗所写的社区由前异教徒组成，而不是犹太人、改信者或敬畏上帝的人。这个假设基于两个概念：（1）1:9（“从偶像转向”）的想法以以前的多神论为前提；(2) 没有旧约引用表明听众不熟悉犹太圣经。这篇文章的目的是挑战这两种观点，因为它们决定了观众的构成，并打开了保罗写信给一个包括大量前敬畏上帝者的帖撒罗尼迦社区的可能性，一旦敬畏上帝的人被正确理解为包括那些在曾一度尊崇以色列的上帝，却没有放弃异教的神。