Category:Philippians (text)

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The Letter of Paul to the Philippians (see Online Text) is a New Testament document.

Overview

Philippi was an important city in Greece. Paul himself had established the Christian community in that city.

The imprisonment was an opportunity to spread the Gospel.

Paul repeats his usual binitarian address to the Father (THEOS) and the Son (KYRIOS) [Phil 1:2], but then he says:

“Jesus Christ... though he was in the form of God,

did not regard [this] equality with God

as something to be exploited,

but emptied himself,

taking the form of a slave.

Being born in human likeness.

And being found in human form,

he humbled himself

and became obedient to the point of death,

even death on a cross,

Therefore God also highly exalted him

and gave him the name

that is above every name,

so that at the name of Jesus

every knee should bend,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue should confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord

to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil 2:5-11).

The Christological Hymn: Jesus, the faithful “son of God,” opposed to the unfaithful son: Adam. Jesus shares with Adam the “form,” the divine “image” of God (Gen 1:26-28), but unlike Adam, Jesus did not tried to seize God-like status (Gen 3:5), but took the form of slave in obedience to the Father (cf. 1 Cor 15:21-23.45-49; Rom 5:12-19).

Both Adam and Jesus are "Son of God." See Luke: "Adam, son of God" (3:38)

1 Corinthians -- "The first man Adam became a living being" the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven (15:45-48).

See Genesis -- "God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them" (1:26) -- "And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 Out of the ground the LORD God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. " (2:8-9) -- "And the LORD God commanded the man, "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die." (2:16-17) -- "Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman ... "You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (3:1-5) -- "Then the LORD God said, "See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever", therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life" (3:22-24).

1 Cor. 15:21–22, 45–9 -- "For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; 22 for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ (21-22) -- "It is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living being"; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the physical, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven." (15:45-49)

Romans 5:12-19 -- 12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned-- 13 sin was indeed in the world before the law, but sin is not reckoned when there is no law. 14 Yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man's trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many. 16 And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification. 17 If, because of the one man's trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. 18 Therefore just as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man's act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. 19 For just as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.

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After his experience in Jerusalem the reference to “circumcision” is far more polemical. He refers to his (Christian) adversaries of “dogs,” “evil workers,” “those who mutilate the flesh.” (Phil 3:2). He boasts his Jewish credentials but he also claims that he “now regards them as rubbish.” (3:8). [Compare Rom 9-11, where the attitude of Paul toward non-Christian Jews is less polemical.)