Paul and The Pauline Letters: Philippians

Translations with commentary of Paul's Letter to the Philippians and his Letter to Philemon. The letters are approached methodologically, with attention to historical and cultural contexts.

In Philippians John Reumann offers both classical approaches and new methods of understanding this New Testament book. With fresh commentary on the social world and rhetorical criticism, and a special focus on the contributions of the Philippian house churches to Paul's work and early Christian mission, Reumann clarifies Paul's attitudes toward and interactions with the Philippians." "Departing from traditional readings of Philippians in light of Acts, Reumann allows Paul to speak in his own right. His three letters from Ephesus shed new light on relationships, and we come to see how he approves some aspects of the dominant "culture of friendship" in Greco-Roman Philippi while disapproving others. He seeks to help the Philippians discern how to be citizens of the heavenly kingdom and also Caesar's state, though there is an undercurrent of "Christ vs. Caesar.

The letters to the Philippian and Galatian congregations illustrate well the passion and intensity of the writing of the apostle Paul.Philippians is perhaps Paul's warmest letter,affirming the already close relationship between the Philippians and Paul with the language of partnership,joy,ans humility.Galatians,on the other hand,reveals frutration and lacks the expression of thanksgiving typically found near the beginning of Paul's letters.Although Paul presumes a relationship of trust and respect with the Philippians,the tone of Galatians suggests that he thinks he may already have lost this community to as erroneous vision of the gospel-a perspective that was not really the gospel at all.

Contents: Introduction -- Text and Commentary: I. Introductory section (1:1-11) -- II. News and instruction (1:12-2:30) -- III. Digression: Warning against false teachings with Paul's experience and life as a model to follow (3:1-21) -- IV. Exhortation to harmony and joy (4:1-9) -- V. Gratitude expressed for the Philippians' generosity (4:10-20) -- Conclusion (4:21-23)

A commentary on the letters to the Philippians and Philemon.

Includes indexes of Subjects and Greek words

This commentary by respected New Testament scholar Gordon D. Fee is a scholarly yet thoroughly readable study of Paul's letter to the suffering community of believers in Philippi.

In this addition to the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture, Dennis Hamm explores the significance of Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon and the enduring relevance of these letters to the life and mission of the church. Based on solid scholarship yet readily accessible, this book is enriched with pastoral reflections and applications and includes sidebars on the living tradition and biblical background.

Rhetorical criticism seeks to understand and comment on the way texts function in their social and cultural contexts. Paul A. Holloway puts Paul's letter in the context of ancient theories and literary practices of "consolation" and argues that Paul wrote to the Philippians in order to console them. He shows that the letter has a unified overall strategy and provides a convincing account of Paul's argument.

This volume discusses the development of disunity in the Philippian church as the occasion for Paul's response in his letter. The first part of the book examines references and allusions to strife among the Philippians and tension between them and Paul. It demonstrates the pervasiveness of the theme of disunity in most sections of the letter. The second part correlates these findings with sections of the letter dealing with the Philippians' financial support for Paul. It treats such topics as Paul's attitude to money and the sociological composition of the church. The book's aim is to draw attention to social and non-theological aspects of the Philippian situation, and make a contribution to a more theological study of Philippians.

With a broad basis in the ancient sources, this work demonstrates the influence in Philippi of the Roman environment on the self-understanding of the earliest congregation there. The Philippean Jesus-believers, on account of their supporting the apostle Paul, clashed with the Roman authorities in the course of their missionary activity.

This book examines Paul's letter to the Philippians against the social background of the colony at Philippi. After an extensive survey of Roman social values, Professor Hellerman agues that the cursus honorum, the formalized sequence of public offices that marked out the prescribed social pilgrimage for aspiring senatorial aristocrats in Rome (and which was replicated in miniature in municipalities and in voluntary associations), forms the background against which Paul has framed his picture of Jesus in the great Christ hymn in Philippians 2. In marked contrast to the values of the dominant culture, Paul portrays Jesus descending what the author describes as a cursus pudorum ("course of ignominies"). The passage has thus been intentionally framed to subvert Roman cursus ideology and, by extension, to redefine the manner in which honor and power were to be utilized among the Christians at Philippi.

Illumining the Jewish context of early Christian mission, this study through close exegesis of Paul's letter to the Philippians reveals the crucial place of the mission of the church in Paul's thought.

This essential study examines Paul's letter to the Philippians in its ancient Jewish context, making a convincing case that Paul expected churches to continue the work of spreading the gospel.

Chapter 6: The reception of the Four Gospels at Philippi -- Philippi and the Christian community at Philippi -- Images of Peter from Paul's writings -- The arrival of the Gospels at Philippi -- Concluding reflections