Paul's Letters
to Thessaloniki
Arch of Galerius
Dionysos Mosaic
Slave Relief
(for Philippians)
  Other Sites
in Thessaloniki
Alexander Statue
Asklepius Bust
 Most High God Dedication
Osiris Sculpture
Papyrus Finds

The content on this website is maintained by Robert Myallis, a student at Luther Seminary. 

The photos were taken by Emily Myallis, also a student at Luther Seminary. 

This website and travel to Greece was made possible by a grant from the Fund for Theological Education, which provides grants to assist the education and formation of Christian  leaders from numerous denominations.

Bible quotes are taken from the New Revised Standard Version, unless cites otherwise.

The above photo of Greece comes from NASA; The icon of Saint Paul comes from George Mitrevski's website. 

 

 

Dionysos Mosaic

This mosaic depicts the arrival of Dionysos, the god of wine. Dionysos is also associated with the harvest.

How is this Dionysos Mosaic significant for understanding the world of Paul?

In Thessaloniki, Dionysos worship was popular. As the Museum indicated, "one of the three main tribes was named Dionysias; one of the residential quarters was named Phallus, a name alluding to the phallophoriai (ceremonies in which a model of a phallus was carried around as a substitute for Dionysos)."

Dioynsos worship used wine and often cultivated in orgies. For more on Dionysos and worship, see Dionysos Tablet in Corinth.

How does Paul confront his culture?

In the midst of Paul's letter to the Thessalonians, he condemns sexual immorality:

For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality (lit: porn); that each one of you know how to control your own body in holiness and honor, not with lustful passion, like the gentiles who do not know God; (1st Letter to the Thessalonians, chapter 4:3-5)

Paul's problem was not merely sex but the prostitution and sexual worship that permeated his day.

First, elsewhere in Paul's letters, Paul does not discourage sexual relations between husband and wife (1 Corinthians, chapter 7).

Second, the word Paul uses in his letter to the Thessalonians here is NOT sex (or even fornication) but rather p-o-r-n-i-a. This covers a range of actions including prostitution. (Martin Luther's original German translation even used the word prostitution here). Prostitution was not nearly as taboo then as it is today. At Corinth, for example, the temple of Aphrodite had 1,000 temple prostitutes!

Third, Thessaloniki was into pagan worship. A lot of these rituals involved alcohol and sex. In Dionysian worship, sex involved a loss of control, a complete domination of one by one's passions. (Again, see  Dionysos Tablet in Corinth. for more information; or do a google search!) Perhaps this why Paul here admonishes them to have control.

At some level, this passage of Paul could be seen as oppressive; another condemnation of sex. However, if understood properly, this verse actually gives freedom. Paul does not want anyone to think that the Christian God needs us to have sex to have communion with God. Paul also does not want people to be overcome by their own lusts, trapped in addictions.

sources:
info on thessaloniki: Tambasco, Anthony. In the Day of Paul: The Social World and Teaching of the Apostle. Paulist Press: New York, 1991.
info on prostitutes: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/greece/corinth.htm
info on greek words: Bauer, Walter. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. ed. by Danker, Arndt, Gingrich, 3rd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000, available through Bible Works.