Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T00:10:55.457Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

6 - Philippians and Philemon

from Part II - The Pauline Letter Collection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 June 2020

By
Douglas A. Campbell
Edited by
Bruce W. Longenecker
Bruce W. Longenecker
Affiliation:
Baylor University, Texas
Get access

Summary

Comparing the letters to the Philippians and to Philemon brings to light important aspects of Paul’s thought and practice – in particular, how certain key theological commitments are practically enacted when they encounter situational differences. Capturing a sense of what Paul is doing in these letters is best done by grasping what the problems were that he was addressing and considering how the letters deploy a set of rhetorical strategies to resolve those problems. The specific contextualized instantiation of Jesus-like relationships in Colossae is clearly different from its instantiation in Philippi; but the underlying strategy of mobilizing a story of Jesus (both conceptually by letter, as well as directly and personally through a disciple or envoy) remains the same. Paul clearly believes that Jesus, rightly understood and rightly followed, makes a difference to the basic issue that tends to concern all communities, namely, how people relate to one another.

Keywords

PhilemonPhilippiansColossaeslaveryChrist hymn
Type
Chapter
Information
The New Cambridge Companion to St. Paul , pp. 119 - 134
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Further Reading

Barclay, John M. G. Colossians and Philemon. New Testament Guides. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997.Google Scholar
Bauckham, Richard. “Paul’s Christology of Divine Identity.” In Jesus and the God of Israel, 182–232. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2008.Google Scholar
Campbell, Douglas. Framing Paul: An Epistolary Biography. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2014.Google Scholar
Campbell, Douglas. Paul: An Apostle’s Journey. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2018.Google Scholar
Glancy, Jennifer A. Slavery in Early Christianity. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002; Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 2006.Google Scholar
Gordley, Matthew E. New Testament Christological Hymn: Exploring Texts, Contexts, and Significance. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2018.Google Scholar
Graves, David E. “What Is the Madder with Lydia’s Purple? A Re-examination of the Purpurarii in Thyatira and Philippi.” Near East Archaeological Society Bulletin 62 (2017): 3–28.Google Scholar
Hays, Richard B. “The Story of God’s Son: The Identity of Jesus in the Letters of Paul.” In Seeking the Identity of Jesus: A Pilgrimage, edited by Hays, Richard B. and Gaventa, Beverly Roberts, 180–199. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2008.Google Scholar
Lampe, Peter. “Keine ‘Sklavenflucht’ des Onesimus,” Zeitschrift für die Neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 76 (1985): 135–137.Google Scholar
Malina, Bruce J. The New Testament World: Insights from Cultural Anthropology. 3rd ed. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2001.Google Scholar
Millar, Fergus. “Condemnation to Hard Labour in the Roman Empire, from the Julio-Claudians to Constantine.” In Rome, the Greek World, and the East: Government, Society, and Culture in the Roman Empire, edited by Cotton, Hannah M. and Rogers, Guy M., 120–150. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2004.Google Scholar
Petersen, Norman. Rediscovering Paul: Philemon and the Sociology of Paul’s Narrative World. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1985.Google Scholar
Richards, E. Randolph. Paul and First-Century Letter Writing: Secretaries, Composition and Collection. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2004.Google Scholar
Scott, James C. Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1990.Google Scholar
Wright, N. T. “Jesus Christ Is Lord: Philippians 2.5–11.” In Climax of the Covenant: Christ and the Law in Pauline Theology, 56–98. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1992.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×