A Letter of Paul to the Philippians
Justin Liu
Pauline Corpus, Theology 2, 2014/2015
Paper #3 : Philippians
This short paper seeks to give a brief overview of St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians by looking at it from a historical viewpoint as well as giving a literary and theological analysis. We will also apply the overall theological theme of the letter and see how it is applicable to us today.
St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians is one of Paul’s shortest but richest and most powerful letters. It is a letter of joy, of friendship, and of Thanksgiving. Historically, Philippi was a major city in the Roman province of Macedonia, in the North Eastern arm of today’s Greece. Paul’s letter is addressed to a small Christian minority in a mainly non-Christian, Gentile population. The primary economy of Philippi was agricultural and put the wealth and power in the hands of the elite land owners and the colonist farmers. This magnified the difference in status between rich and poor. Paul’s letters confirm that he experienced suffering in Philippi. The Philippians themselves also endured opposition and suffering. Although this was so, they were still generous and joyful in their affliction. This shared experience between Paul and the Philippians is at the heart of their koinonia or Gospel fellowship. They are united in Christ by their common suffering and common joy in him.
Literary analysis of the letter brings about questions whether Philippians is not a single letter but a composite of several. This is because we can observe what appears to be interruptions or shifts of focus within the letter. For example, 4:10–20 can be read as a thank-you note, 2:19–30 comprises updates on Timothy and Epaphroditus, and the “Beware of the dogs!” imperative at 3:2 seems like an interruption just when Paul is concluding the letter at 3:2. However, we can see that the main purpose of the letter is to present models for imitation, namely the imitation of Christ, but of Paul, Timothy, and Epaphroditus as well. In addition to being a letter of thanksgiving, the letter to the Philippians is also one of encouragement. Paul encourages the people by presenting his own experience, as well as Timothy’s and Epaphroditus, in encouraging them to follow the self-emptying love of Christ. While 1 Corinthians, Galatians, and Colossians are written to address specific pastoral issues, Philippians has more in common with Romans in that it reveals more deeply Paul’s sense of the universal aspects of Christian faith and life. Philippians also offers a depth of self-revelation compared to Paul’s other letters. His references to his experience are not to boast of himself but to serve to illustrate the good news of Jesus.
This letter has several key theological themes such as Christ as judge, the joy of sharing Christian life, the grace of serenity in the face of rejection and death, the incarnation, death, and exultation of Jesus, Christian discipleship in the imitation of Christ, the ongoing maturation of the Christian community and individuals, and the place of financial aid in the life of the Church. The main theological theme though, is the story of Christ. Philippians 2:6–11, Christ’s hymn, is the centerpiece of this letter. This hymn is a model of the fourth servant hymn of Isaiah 40–55. Christ Jesus, God the Father, and the universe of created beings are the three characters. We see in the story of Christ the servant’s obedience, faithfulness to God, self-sacrificial love for others and self-emptying that leads to suffering for God which brings about the final exultation. Paul seeks to use this hymn to illustrate to the Philippians that although they face many challenges, following the Lord in the life of cruciform service is to be in the true mind and disposition of Christ. When the hymn talks about Christ taking the form of a slave, the point is not the lowliness of human nature in itself but to present Jesus as the supreme model of humility. Christ’s death on the cross is the culmination and climax of His self-sacrifice and obedience. The first was His incarnation, then came His self-humbling in His human life, which led to His ultimate sacrifice for us through death. The reversal in the hymn comes when it says that “because of this, God greatly exalted him.” The Greek verb for “greatly exalt”(hyperypsoo) means in effect to “hyper-exalt”. This reversal from humiliation to exultation is connected to Isaiah’s fourth servant song, where God foretells that His suffering servant shall “be exalted and glorified exceedingly” (Isa 52:13). The hymn also writes of “those in heaven and on earth and under the earth”. This is emphasizing that Jesus’ suffering embraces the full extent of creation. The last line, “to the glory of God the Father” highlights that God freely shares His glory with the Son who is equal to Him.
In our own personal lives today, we can apply the major theological theme of Paul’s Letter to the Philippians by adopting the life of love through self-emptying service and Christian discipleship. We can see that the story of Christ is truly a great inspiration to Paul, which led him to do the things that he did. May we open ourselves to God’s grace just as Paul did so that through our common suffering and joy in Christ we may also be exalted.
