Philippians: From People to Letter
A
case-study in modelling the social make-up of an early Christian
community, including estimated figures for the various social groups in
the model. A case-study in how such modelling can make an impact on the
exegesis of a text. The result is a proposal for reading Philippians as a
call for unity under economic suffering. In particular, the story of
Christ in Philippians 2.6-11 is read as a reinforcement of this call in
the specifically Roman context of Philippi. The book begins with a
discussion of archaeological and literary evidence about the development
of the Roman colony of Philippi. It also includes discussion of the
likely effects of suffering among various social groups in the church,
exploration of Paul's and Christ's roles as models for the Philippians,
and comparison of Paul's language about Christ with Imperial ideology.
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