Gide. I'm Gary Stevens.

And welcome to the second series of the History in the Bible podcast.

More of the history in more of the books in all the Bibles.

Here is a bonus to my episode 2.54, Paul's second mission to the Greeks.

In that show, I discussed Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians.

This minisode is an extract from My Show 2.26,

Christianity's earliest witness, published in August 2018.

A pagan visits the Jesus Club in Thessalonica.

Here is the pagan's reaction to Paul's letter.

The scene is the city of Thessalonica.

Today it is the second largest city in Greece.

Thessalonica was the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia and a prosperous trading hub,

bestriding a major east-west highway.

About four days journey from Corinth or Athens, 10 days from Jerusalem and 17 days from Rome.

The city is a favourite of the Romans,

enjoying freedom from taxation and unfettered self-governance.

The only Roman troops in the city are the governors' dozen or so bodyguards.

You could not ask for a better place to live in the early Roman Empire than Thessaloniga.

The year is 52.

Jesus was crucified two decades ago.

In that time his followers have been active in the Eastern Mediterranean, spreading the good news about this amazing man.

They have established little clubs in cities throughout the Greek-speaking East.

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