Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Paul's Letter to the Philippians and to Philemon at a Glance and with Questions for Reflection by Bart D. Ehrman Read by John Paul Middlesworth.
[00:00:12] I've been providing bullet point summaries of the books of the New Testament based on my fuller nutshell summaries, along with some questions to think about in reflecting on the books. With this post I will complete the undisputed Pauline epistles, that is the seven letters that by virtual consensus are considered to be authentically from Paul Hand by dealing with the letter to the Philippians and the only one of these letters to an individual Philemon.
[00:00:39] Again, if you want to refresh your memory on the books, they are short. Philemon is a single page and not complicated to reread. You can find my posts on them here. For Philippians the website has a link to Philippians in a Philippians, who wrote it, when and why?
[00:00:56] Philippians for further reading and the most widely discussed passage of Philippians for Philemon, the website has links to Philemon in a Nutshell, Philemon and the Morality of Slavery and Philemon for further reading at a glance Philippians the letter is written to Christians that Paul had converted in the city of Philippi in eastern Macedonia. Paul wrote the letter from prison in an undisclosed location.
[00:01:26] 2 the letter, like 2 Corinthians, may be made up of two or more letters.
[00:01:32] 3. Paul wrote in part to thank the Philippian Christians for providing him with financial support, to express his joy at how well they were doing, to urge them to maintain the unity of their congregation and to put them at ease over their messenger Epaphroditus, who had taken ill but had recovered.
[00:01:51] 4 One of the key passages in the book, the Christ poem of Philippians the second of 11, may represent a pre Pauline tradition, possibly a poem recited in praise of Christ that Paul inserted in an appropriate place in his letter.
[00:02:08] Questions for reflection Philippians Philippians is one of Paul's most joyful letters, but he is writing from prison and anticipating that he may die soon be executed.
[00:02:19] So why is he so joyful? Is there some kind of unusual psychological issue here, do you suppose?
[00:02:26] 2. What do you think is the best evidence that Philippians actually comprises two separate letters stitched together?
[00:02:33] Do you find this evidence compelling?
[00:02:35] Why or why not?
[00:02:38] 3.
[00:02:39] Paul uses the Christ poem Philippians 2, 5, 11 to argue that Christ's decision to empty himself and leave the divine realm in order to come to earth to die for others should be the model to be followed by his followers. The Philippians should not be concerned about their own welfare but the welfare of others.
[00:02:59] But the second half of the poem celebrates how God bestowed great glory on Christ for his act of sacrifice.
[00:03:06] Doesn't that incentivize selfless behavior with personal reward?
[00:03:11] Is the behavior selfless if it is undertaken for future glory?
[00:03:16] How do you explain this conundrum at a glance Philemon 1. Paul wrote this short letter from prison to a relatively wealthy Christian, Philemon about his runaway slave Onesimus, whom Paul had converted.
[00:03:32] 2 the letter is an intervention on Onesimus behalf, urging Philemon not to punish him.
[00:03:39] 3 Paul may have wanted the letter to suggest that Philemon give him Onesimus for his own service.
[00:03:46] Questions for Reflection Philemon 1. Many readers of the New Testament wonder why such a short personal letter as Philemon dealing with a very specific situation that no one else has or would ever have made it into the New Testament? Paul must have written hundreds of other letters to his churches over the years.
[00:04:06] Why would this one be included as part of Scripture?
[00:04:11] 2 Paul's letter to Philemon is often misunderstood to be an appeal to his former convert, not only to welcome his slave back without punishment, but to manumit him, that is Set him free from slavery. Do you find any indication of that in the letter? If so, what?
[00:04:29] 3 Paul wants Philemon to treat his slave Onesimus well, but he says nothing condemning the institution of slavery either here or anywhere else in his writings. Why do you suppose that is?
