Argument Paper on the Book of Philippians

ARGUMENT ON THE BOOK OF PHILIPPPIANSThe book of Philippians has long been considered simply a letter of thanks for the financial gift of Philippian believers to the apostle Paul. Such a limited assumption hinders one when approaching God 's Word for insight. The letter was written not merely with the intent of thanks, though Paul 's gratitude is evident; it contains much spiritual exhortation and doctrine. Philippians also contains in it perhaps the most touching testimonies of life lived in Christ (i.e. 1:21; 2:5; 4:4-7). Throughout the text, Paul provides a disclosure of a way of life for the church as a corporate body facing an unbelieving world. This way of life is to be demonstrated in attitude and conduct, showing the body of Christ is a distinct community expressing humility in the cross. This paper, through introducing and analyzing the epistle to the Philippian church, will attempt to illuminate the reader to this way of life as it appears throughout the entire book.
AUTHOR AND DATE
No modern interpreter of repute doubts that the author of this letter is the apostle Paul. Paul identifies himself at the outset of the letter, and there is nothing to lead us to conclude that the letter was forged. It is very much Pauline in style, drawing several parallels to other books of Pauline authorship, none more than the epistle to the Romans (i.e. Phil. 1:3-7 and Rom. 1:8-11; Phil. 1:9-10 and Romans 2:18). The real question is when and where the book was written.
There have been several ideas as to where Paul was when this letter was composed. The point of origin down to three: Rome, Ephesus, or Caesarea. Ephesus is assumed to be the location from where Paul wrote this letter by many particularly because of the issue of distance. Paul apparently communicated with Philippi several times while imprisoned, which leads many to conclude that Paul must have been imprisoned close to Philippi. This view is not widely accepted, mainly because we have no evidence of Paul

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