not have been copied from the othro-. Thus in the Act.8 we are informed that Silas and Timothy did not join Paul until after his arrival at Corinth (Aots xviii. 5); whereas in the Epistle there is a statement which has led many 1 to affirm that Timothy joined Paul at Athens, and was sent by him from that city to Thessalonica : " Wherefore when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone; and sent Timotheus, our brother, and minister of God, and our fellow-labourer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith" ( eh. iii. 1, 2). In the Acts we are informed that Paul preached in the synagogue for three sabbaths, reasoning with the Jews (Acts xvii. 2); whereas there are references in the Epistle which have induced some to think that his residence in Thessalonica was more protracted. In the Acts we are only informed that Paul preached in the synagogue to the Jews and devout Greeks, that ill, the religious proselytes; whereas it is evident from the whole character of the Epistle that the Church was composed of Gentile converts. These differences are not contradictions, and may easily be adjusted; but they are apparent enough to demonstrate the independenoe both of the history and the Epistle.
§ 2. TBE CHURCH OF TBESSA.LOl!fICA.. Thesealonioa was a large seaport of Macedonia, situated in the form of an amphitheatre on the elope of a hill at the north-east end of the Thermaic Gulf, now called the Gulf of Salonica. It had in antiquity various names. Thus it was called Emathia and Halia. In ancient history it appears under the name Therma, so called from the hot springs in the neighbour- hood. Under this name it is mentioned in the account of the inva.eion of Xerxes, and in the history of the Peloponnesian War. We are informed that Cassander, the son of Antipater, King of Macedonia, rebuilt Therma, and called it Theesalonica, after the name of his wife, the half-sister of Alexander the Great (Strabo, vii. Frag. 24:). According to another account, leas trustworthy, it was so called by Philip, the father of Alexander, to commemorate his. victory over the Thessalonians. In the Middle Ages it appears under the contracted form Salneok; and is now known under the name Salonica. Under the Romane Thessalonica became a city of great importance. During the temporary division of Macedonia into four districts, it was the capital of the second district; and afterwards, when the Roman province of Macedonia was formed, it became the metropolis of the country, and the residence of the Roman governor. In the civil wars it sided with Augustus and Antony, and was rewarded by receiving the privileges of a free city. Strabo, who lived shortly before the Christian era, obeenea that "it has at present the largest population of any town in the dietriot" (Strabo vii. 7, 4 ). In the time of Paul, then, Thessalonica was 8 populous and flourishing town; it was chiefly inhabited by Greekl, with
• 8o Paley, Bleek, Neander, JoweU, and Ellicott. INTRODUCTION TO