Philippians

“Philippians” Carson & Moo pp. 498-515

After a brief survey of the contents of Philippians, Carson & Moo discuss the authorship of the book. Except for the passage in chapter 2 verses 5-11 the letter is almost uniformly ascribed to Paul. The remaining seven verses appear to be an insertion, possibly by Paul, of a text existing at the time of composition, possibly an early hymn. p. 500 “In an earlier day this was often taken as a solemn doctrinal pronouncement of the apostle and made the basis for kenotic theories of the incarnation. In more recent times close attention has been given to its form, and it is now widely agreed that we should see it both as poetry and as liturgy - in short, as a hymn.”

The book was written while Paul was a prisoner, traditionally assumed to be in Rome. Carson and Moo discuss other possibilities but still tend to consider Rome as the location of composition, probably about 61-62. The letter is occasional in nature. Paul writes to reassure the Philippians of the well-being of Epaphroditus. He also wishes to acknowledge the gift they had sent him and to thank them for their prayers. Paul also commends Timothy to the Philippians.

The letter, which has no significant textual questions, was adopted into the canon quite early without dispute. In recent study scholars have investigated the unity of the letter, looking for unifying features. There have also been attempts to identify Paul’s opponents and the kind of opposition he faced.

Philippians shows us a great deal about bringing encouragement to others in their faith and action. We can know that God works in his communities as they are knit together in Christ.