Outline

I. Key topics/themes

1. Philippians: an uncommonly warm Pauline letter
2. Philemon: an implicit acceptance of slavery while stressing that Christian unity supercedes social class

II. Introduction

1. The four captivity letters
1. Philippians
2. Philemon
3. Colossians
4. Ephesians

2. Widespread doubt about authenticity of Colossians and Ephesians

III. Place of origin

1. Traditional view: Rome
2. Some modern scholars: Ephesus
3. Other modern scholars: Caesarea

IV. Letter to the Philippians

1. Church founded during Paul's first tour of Greece
2. The only church from which Paul would accept financial support
3. Letter reveals Paul's characteristic quick changes of mood
4. Some hold Philippians to be a composite letter
5. Gives clues to early Christian beliefs about Jesus' nature
6. Organization
7. The significance of Paul's imprisonment (1:12-30)
1. A new opportunity to witness for Christ
2. Paul's competitors attempt to use Paul's imprisonment to their own advantage
3. Paul torn between wishing to live for the sake of his friends and leaving this world to "be with Christ"

8. The hymn to Christ (2:6-11)
1. May be pre-Pauline material Paul imported into letter
2. Traditionally used in Christian theology to support doctrines of Trinity and Jesus' prehuman existence
3. May actually be contrast between the ways Adam and Christ related to God
4. Adam's disobedience brings shame
5. Jesus' obedience brings glory and exaltation
6. Christians should imitate Christ

9. Recommendations of Timothy and Epaphroditus (2:19-3:1a)
1. Timothy: Paul's trusted associate; coauthor of Philippians
2. Epaphroditus; messenger from Philippi; helped Paul while in prison

10. Attacking advocates of circumcision (3:1b-4:9)
1. May have originated as part of a separate letter
2. Portrays Judaizers as "dogs" who practice "mutilation"
3. Paul's rejection of the significance of his own outstanding Jewish heritage

V. Letter to Philemon

1. Paul's only surviving private correspondence
2. Addressed to Philemon and his family, patrons of a house church, probably in Colossae
3. An appeal for the good treatment of Philemon's runaway slave Onesimus
4. Paul hints at the need to liberate Onesimus
5. Paul expresses hope that he will be released from prison soon
6. The question of slavery
1. Paul's implicit acceptance of the institution of slavery
2. The Hebrew Bible's attempts to regulate slavery
3. Slavery inconsistent with the New Testament principles of Christian freedom and human worth
4. Paul's letters used by both pro and anti-slavery advocates in American history

VI. Paul's lasting influence

1. Paul recognized as chief among the missionary apostles after his death
2. Paul's letters collected and designated Scripture by mid-second century C.E.
3. Paul's accomplishments
1. Paul's impressive legacy as an itinerant missionary
2. A string of churches throughout Asia Minor, Macedonia, and Achaia
3. Paul's voluminous correspondence

4. Paul--Christianity's first great interpreter of Christianity
5. A review of significant themes in Paul's theology

VII. Summary

1. This only a brief survey of Paul's thought
2. Paul a monument to orthodoxy (correct teaching) to later Church leaders
3. Other New Testament books written in his name after his death
4. The influence of Paul's beliefs on the Protestant Reformation in Europe
5. The contemporary significance of Paul for modern Christendom