LA CONVERSIONE AL «DIO VIVENTE E VERO» (1 TS 1,9B). TRA ESEGESI PAOLINA E IMPLICAZIONI TEOLOGICHE PER LA VITA CRISTIANA

Abstract

Conversion to the “living and true God” (1 Thes 1:9b). Between Pauline Exegesis and theological Implications for Christian Life. Tra esegesi Paolina e implicazioni teologiche per la vita cristiana. The conversion of the Thessalonians implies a missionary movement, an itinerary of faith, having as its starting point the abandonment of idolatrous worship, of false divinities, without life and without reality, and as its point of arrival the worship of God, alive and true, the relationship with the only God, eliminating everything else. A point of doctrine, preached by the Apostles, was the triumphal return of Jesus from heaven for the final judgment. Paul, in a few words, indicates here the main elements of Christian doctrine: one true God, his Son Jesus Christ, his divine sonship, his redeeming death, resurrection from the dead and his second coming as supreme judge, a Christology clearly specified in an eschatological sense; one will observe the beautiful contrast between the living and true God, and the simulacra or idols of false gods, and the grandiose goal of the Christian man which is to serve the living and true God in loving expectation of the coming of Christ from heaven, who has saved us from the damnation that will be struck on that day against the unbelievers, and as he was resurrected from the dead by divine virtue, so he will resurrect our bodies to make us completely blessed with him in his kingdom. His preaching was not purely theoretical, but rather fundamental and practical truths, which impressed a new orientation on the existence of Christians. Conversion to the living and true God required a change in the direction of life, transforming one’s life into worship of the living and true God. The need to actualize, for the believer, who must be on God’s side and perceive that he will never be left alone and that God will accompany him on the path of authentic testimony in today’s existential reality. In the daily experience of ecclesial life, the need for a great renewal and a profound transformation occurs which, radically changing the exterior and the interior, makes Christian existence symphonic, lived in the light of Christ’s message of salvation.