Argument Paper on the Book of Philippians
Essay title: Argument Paper on the Book of Philippians
ARGUMENT ON THE BOOK OF PHILIPPPIANSThe book of Philippians has long been considered simply a letter of thanks for the financial gift of Philippian believers to the apostle Paul. Such a limited assumption hinders one when approaching God’s Word for insight. The letter was written not merely with the intent of thanks, though Paul’s gratitude is evident; it contains much spiritual exhortation and doctrine. Philippians also contains in it perhaps the most touching testimonies of life lived in Christ (i.e. 1:21; 2:5; 4:4-7). Throughout the text, Paul provides a disclosure of a way of life for the church as a corporate body facing an unbelieving world. This way of life is to be demonstrated in attitude and conduct, showing the body of Christ is a distinct community expressing humility in the cross. This paper, through introducing and analyzing the epistle to the Philippian church, will attempt to illuminate the reader to this way of life as it appears throughout the entire book.
AUTHOR AND DATE
No modern interpreter of repute doubts that the author of this letter is the apostle Paul. Paul identifies himself at the outset of the letter, and there is nothing to lead us to conclude that the letter was forged. It is very much Pauline in style, drawing several parallels to other books of Pauline authorship, none more than the epistle to the Romans (i.e. Phil. 1:3-7 and Rom. 1:8-11; Phil. 1:9-10 and Romans 2:18). The real question is when and where the book was written.
There have been several ideas as to where Paul was when this letter was composed. The point of origin down to three: Rome, Ephesus, or Caesarea. Ephesus is assumed to be the location from where Paul wrote this letter by many particularly because of the issue of distance. Paul apparently communicated with Philippi several times while imprisoned, which leads many to conclude that Paul must have been imprisoned close to Philippi. This view is not widely accepted, mainly because we have no evidence of Paul being imprisoned there. Caesarea is often considered the location of writing because of the strict military supervision mentioned in 1:13. Acts records that Paul was imprisoned there for some time (cf. Acts 23). It is argued that Caesarea would have provided this strict atmosphere whereas the atmosphere in Rome would have provided more freedom of movement for Paul. Also, the praetorian guard mentioned in 1:13 is considered to refer to the guards at the palace of Herod at Caesarea. There are several arguments against this view. One would be the lack of certainty in praetorian referring to the guards at Caesarea only. Another would be the reference in 1:19-26 to Paul’s life hanging in the balance. Being a Roman citizen by birth, Paul could appeal to Rome in the event of an execution sentence. Upon such an appeal, he would have to appear in Rome. Considering the imminence of his possible execution, we would have to conclude that he was already in Rome. The traditional view that he was imprisoned in Rome is the most logical and coincides best with the information given us in Scripture. Though there is nothing absolutely conclusive, this author takes Rome as the location from where the letter was written, during his first imprisonment there (cir. 60-62 AD). It seems most likely that