THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS
[Sidenote: The Author.]
The genuineness of this Epistle is now admitted by critics of very
different schools of thought, including some extreme rationalists.
About A.D. 110 St. Polycarp, in his letter to the Philippians, speaks
of the letters which they had received from "the blessed and glorious
Paul." Although he seems to refer to a number of letters, we may be
sure that this letter was among that number. Otherwise it would not
have been so universally regarded as genuine during the 2nd century.
It is in Marcion's canon, in the _Muratorian Fragment_, the Peshitta
Syriac and Old Latin versions. It is also quoted in the letter of the
Churches of Lyons and Vienne, in the Epistle of Diognetus, and by
Irenaeus and Clement of Alexandria. It was rejected by Baur and others
on various grounds. It was urged (1) that the doctrine of Christ's
self-surrender or "self-emptying" in Phil. ii. 7 is derived from the
Valentinian Gnostics of the 2nd century, who taught that the Spirit
"Sophia" fell from the "fulness" of divine spirits in heaven to the
"emptiness" of the lower world. This objection is too fantastic to
deserve serious refutation. It is, in fact, little more than a play
upon words. It was urged (2) that in Phil. ii. 7 the manhood of Christ
is said to have come into existence at the incarnation, whereas in 1
Cor. xv. 47-49 it is said to have existed in heaven before the
incarnation. This idea rests on a false interpretation; in 1 Cor. xv.
Christ is called "of heaven" {189} because His manhood became heavenly
at His ascension. It was urged (3) that in Phil. iii. 6 the writer
says that he had been, "as touching the righteousness which is in the
Law, found blameless," whereas St. Paul in Rom. vii. speaks of his
revolt against the Law. But it seems that in Phil. iii. St. Paul is
laying stress rather on his external privileges and external
conformity, while in Rom. vii. he speaks of what is inward and secret.
It was urged (4) that the mention of "bishops" (or rather _episkopoi_)
and "deacons" in Phil. i. 1 shows that the Epistle was not written in
the apostolic age. But there is nothing to make it impossible that
such offices did exist at that period, and there is much evidence in
favour of them. Christians who are attached to the historical form of
Church government will now note with interest that, since the
genuineness of this Epistle has been practically demonstrated, some
writers have suggested that these words do not refer to special
ecclesiastical offices![1]
[Sidenote: To whom written.]
Philippi was named after Philip, King of Macedon, in the 4th century
B.C. It was in Eastern Macedonia, on a steep hill at the edge of a
plain; its seaport, Neapolis, was about eight miles distant. It was on
the Egnatian road, the great high-road which connected the Aegean and
the Adriatic seas, and therefore connected Asia with Europe. It was
made into a Roman colony, with the title _Colonia Augusta Julia
Philippensium_, after the victory of Antony and Octavian over Brutus
and Cassius. Its new name was, therefore, a memorial of the murdered
but avenged Julius Caesar. St. Paul brought Christianity to Philippi
early in A.D. 50, during his second missionary journey. St. Paul's
first visit here is described in Acts xvi. 12-40, and it has a special
interest as the story of the apostle's first preaching in a European
town. The Jews had no synagogue, only a spot by the river-side in the
suburbs, where a few met together on the sabbath. His first convert
was Lydia of Thyatira, who was a seller of purple-dyed {190} goods; her
house became the centre of the Philippian Church. The imprisonment of
St. Paul and St. Silas in consequence of St. Paul's exorcising a
heathen slave-girl who professed to be inspired, is one of the most
dramatic incidents in Acts. When St. Paul was released he left the
town, but returned there, in all probability, in A.D. 55, on his third
journey while travelling to Corinth. In A.D. 56 he was there once
more, and the last Easter before his imprisonment was spent with these
beloved converts (Acts xx. 6).
The Christians of Philippi were pre-eminent in the affections of St.
Paul. He calls them, like the Thessalonians, his "joy and crown" (iv.
1), and they alone of his children had the privilege of ministering to
his personal necessities.
[Sidenote: Where and when written.]
It may be regarded as almost certain that St. Paul wrote this Epistle
in Rome. He was a prisoner, as we see in Phil. i. 7, 13, 14, 17. He
sends greeting from those of Caesar's household (iv. 22). The first
and last chapters imply that he is in the midst of an active Church,
and that he is the centre to which messengers come and from which they
go. This accords with the apostle's treatment at Rome. One phrase,
however, has been thought to suggest Caesarea rather than Rome. It is
"the whole praetorium" (i. 13). This might mean the praetorium or
palace of Herod Agrippa II. at Caesarea, but it is possible that it has
quite a different meaning. It may either be the imperial guard or the
supreme imperial court before which St. Paul had to be judged. The
latter interpretation is that suggested by the great historian Mommsen,
and seems to be the most satisfactory explanation.
The meaning of the phrase has an important bearing upon the date of the
Epistle. If it was not written at Caesarea, it must have been written
at Rome between A.D. 59 and A.D. 61. But the critics who are agreed
that it was composed at Rome, are divided as to the place which it
occupies among the Epistles which St. Paul wrote during his
imprisonment. Some {191} place it first, because the vigorous style,
and many of the phrases, suggest that it was written not very long
after Romans. Others, with greater probability, place it last among
the Epistles of the captivity. For even if it was written first among
those Epistles, it was written more than three years after Romans. And
the Epistle contains several indications of being written late in the
captivity. If "praetorium" means the imperial guard, some time would
have to elapse before such a large body of men could know much about
St. Paul; and if it means the imperial court, the verse implies that he
had already appeared before his judges. Phil. ii. 24 shows that he was
expecting a speedy decision on his case. Epaphroditus, probably not
the Colossian Epaphras who was with St. Paul at Rome (Col. iv. 12), had
come as a delegate from the Philippians, bringing their alms to the
apostle (ii. 25; iv. 18). After his arrival in Rome he was ill and
homesick, and now he is returning to Philippi bearing this letter of
thanks. This all seems to imply that Philippians was written a
considerable time after the apostle's imprisonment began, and we can
therefore reasonably place it after Colossians and Ephesians, and date
it early in A.D. 61.
[Sidenote: Character and Contents.]
With the exception of 2 Corinthians, this is the most personal and
intimate of St. Paul's writings. In both he lays bare his heart. But
the tone of the two Epistles is absolutely different. In 2 Corinthians
he writes as a man who has been bitterly injured; he asserts his claims
to fickle believers whose ears have been charmed by his unscrupulous
opponents. In Philippians we chiefly observe a note of frank and
loving confidence; buffeted by the world, the apostle finds refreshment
in the affection of his friends at Philippi.
After a salutation to all the "saints" at Philippi, including
especially the _episkopoi_ and deacons, the apostle speaks of the joy
which he feels in praying for them, and begs of God that their love may
abound, and that they may approve the things {192} that are excellent,
being filled with the fruits of righteousness (i. 1-11).
Then St. Paul tells how his captivity has been a means of spreading the
gospel in the praetorium and elsewhere. Even the malicious activity of
his opponents has been a means of proclaiming Christ, and with true
grandeur of soul the apostle rejoices in the fact. So far as he is
concerned, death would be a more attractive prospect than life, for
death would mean admission into the presence of Christ, but for the
sake of the Philippians he is glad to live. With wonderful
cheerfulness he says that he is glad if his blood is to be offered like
a libation poured over the living sacrifice of the souls and bodies
which the Philippians offer to God (ii. 17). Before he speaks of this
libation of his blood he makes a tender appeal to his converts to
imitate the lowliness of Jesus Christ. He puts into the language of
theology the story of the incarnation which his friend St. Luke draws
with an artist's pen in the first two chapters of his Gospel. He
speaks to them of "the mind" of Christ Jesus, whose life on earth was
self-sacrifice in detail. Christ had before the incarnation the "form"
or essential attributes of God, but He did not set any store on His
equality with God, as though it were a prize,[2] but stripped Himself
in self-surrender, and took the "form" or nature of a bond-servant. He
looked like men as they actually are, and if men recognized His outward
"fashion," they would only have taken Him for a man. And then He made
Himself obedient to God up to His very death, and that the death of the
cross. This was followed by His exaltation, and worship is now paid to
Him in His glorified humanity (ii. 1-11).
In ii. 19 St. Paul returns to personal matters concerning Timothy and
Epaphroditus; then he seems on the point of concluding the Epistle
(iii. 1). But he suddenly breaks into {193} an abrupt and passionate
warning against the Judaizers. The passage almost looks as if it were
a page from the Epistle to the Galatians. The Judaizers are called
"dogs," and as their circumcision was no longer the sign of a covenant
with God, the apostle calls it a mere outward mutilation of the flesh
(iii. 2). It is unlikely that Jewish influences were potent at
Philippi. The explanation of this passage appears to be that the
apostle, before completing his letter, learnt of some new and
successful plot of the Judaizers at Rome or elsewhere. Nervously
dreading lest they should invade his beloved Philippian Church, he
speaks with great severity of these conspirators. The conclusion of
the chapter is apparently directed against the licence of certain
Gentile converts. These seem to have been "enemies of the cross of
Christ" in the looseness of their lives rather than in the corruptness
of their creed. It is difficult in this case, as in that of the
Judaizers, to know whether these errors already existed at Philippi or
not. The passage concludes with an exhortation to steadfastness (iii.
2-iv. 1).
Two women, Euodia and Syntyche, are exhorted to be "of the same mind."
A true yokefellow of the apostle, possibly Epaphroditus, and a certain
Clement, possibly the Clement who was afterwards Bishop of Rome, are
exhorted to try to bring about their reconciliation. All are exhorted
to rejoice in the Lord, and are told that the peace of God, which
passeth understanding, shall stand sentinel over their hearts and
thoughts. Before returning again to personal matters and thanking the
Philippians for their gifts, St. Paul urges them to follow whatsoever
is true and lovely. His language here seems to consecrate all that was
permanently valuable in the sayings of the Greek philosophers. It
recalls to us the words of the ancient Church historian, Socrates: "The
beautiful, wherever it may be, is the property of truth."
{194}
ANALYSIS
Salutation, thanksgiving, prayer (i. 1-11).
The position of affairs at Rome. His imprisonment has stimulated the
preaching of the gospel; his own feelings are divided between the
desire for death and a willingness to live for their sakes; an
exhortation to boldness (i. 12-30).
An exhortation to imitate the humility of Christ, who took the form of
man and was willing to die, and was after this abasement exalted above
every created being (ii. 1-11).
An exhortation to obedience, quietness, purity, mission and
commendation of Timothy and Epaphroditus; farewell (ii. 12-iii. 1).
Strong warning against Judaism, enforced by his own example; against
claim to perfection, also enforced by his own example; against
Antinomian licence as unworthy of "citizens of heaven", exhortation to
steadfastness (iii. 2-iv. 1).
Advice to Euodia, Syntyche, and others; exhortation to think of all
things true and lovely (iv. 2-9).
The apostle expresses his joy at the spirit shown by the offerings sent
to him from Philippi. Doxology. Salutation (iv. 10-23).
[1] So E. Haupt, _Die Gefangenschaftsbriefe_, p. 3.
[2] The Greek is ordinarily translated as "a prize to be grasped," but
it seems quite possible to translate the passage, "He considered not
equality with God to involve a process of grasping."
{195}