Based on meetings of Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas which were held in 1995-96. Includes bibliographical references (pages 340-362) and indexes. The epistolary and rhetorical context of 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12 / Karl P. Donfried -- The epistolary and rhetorical context of 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12 : response to Karl P. Donfried / Rudolf Hoppe -- On the background of 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12 / Traugott Holtz -- On the background of 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12 : a response to Traugott Holtz / Johan S. Vos -- 1 Thessalonian 2:1-12 : an exegetical-theological study / Otto Merk -- 1 Thessalonian 2:1-12 and the use of rhetorical criticism : a response to Otto Merk / Jeffrey A.d. Weima -- Thanksgivings in 1 Thessalonians 1-3 / Jan Lambrecht -- A structural analysis of 1 Thessalonians 4-5 / Jan Lambrecht -- On the use of elements of ancient epistolography in 1 Thessalonians / Johannes Schoon-Janßen -- The rhetoric of letters / Frank W. Hughes -- The social situations implied by rhetoric / Frank W. Hughes -- Epistolary vs. rhetorical analysis : is a synthesis possible? / Charles A. Wanamaker -- 1 Thessalonians : rhetorical flourishes and formal constraints / Edgar Krentz -- I command that this letter be read : writing as a manner of speaking / Raymond F. Collins.