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1 Thessalonians 1 · a question people ask

"how you turned to God from idols" (1:9). What idols were they?

In the text

The letter doesn't say. Here is the verse whole: "For they themselves report concerning us what kind of a reception we had from you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God," (1:9). These notes say nothing of the readers' city or its worship beyond the letter's words, and apply the idols of 1:9 to no religion, practice or person today.

The verses

“For they themselves report concerning us what kind of a reception we had from you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God,”
1 Thessalonians 1:9 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of 1 Thessalonians 1

1 Thessalonians 1: An example to all who believe

1 Thessalonians 1 says the readers "became imitators of us and of the Lord" (1:6), and then "an example to all who believe" (1:7), and "from you the word of the Lord has been declared" (1:8). Behind declared is a verb the New Testament has only here; Strong's gives its sense as "resound (be generally reported)".

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Last reviewed October 8, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions