Difference between revisions of "Epistle to the Philippians"

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The '''''Epistle to the Philippians''''' is a letter, generally accepted to be written by the Apostle Paul around 62 CE to the church of Philippi, Greece. The letter is mostly a personal correspondence where Paul implores to the Philippians to remain adherents to his beliefs.
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{{Book
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| Title            = Epistle to the Philippians
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| SortTitle        = Philippians, Epistle to the
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| Image            = Codex Sinaiticus - Philippians.jpg
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| ImageDescription = Philippians in the [[Codex Sinaiticus]], c. 350 CE.
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| Author          = {{BookAuthor|Paul the Apostle}}
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| PublishedYear    =
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| PublishedMonth  =
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| PublishedDay    =
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| Type            = {{BookType|Ancient writing}}
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| Genre            = {{BookGenre|Epistle}}
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| Themes          = {{MediaTheme|Religion}}
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| AgeGroup        = Adult
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}}
  
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==Status==
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I have several translations of this book from various bibles, and have read it.
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The '''Epistle to the Philippians''', often written as simply, '''Philippians''', is the eleventh book of the [[New Testament]]. It is a letter written by [[Paul the Apostle]] in ancient Greek around 62 CE to the church of Philippi in Greece. The letter is mostly a personal correspondence where Paul implores to the Philippians to remain adherents to his version Christianity. This letter is in the public domain.
 +
 
 +
==Personal==
 +
{{BookStatus
 +
| Own      = Several translations.
 +
| Read    = NIV translation.
 +
| Finished = 2016‎-05-09.
 +
}}
 +
 
 +
I read this letter to increase my understanding of Christianity.
 +
 
 +
==Authorship and Dating==
 +
It is generally accepted by historians that Philippians was written by [[Paul the Apostle]] around 62 CE.
 +
 
 +
There are no known original manuscripts. The oldest fragment is Papyrus 46 dated to around 175-225 CE.
  
 
==Review==
 
==Review==
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{{BookRating|1}}
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===Good===
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* Nothing.
 +
 +
===Bad===
 
* Much of the letter is the author whining or spouting pious platitudes. There is very little substance here.
 
* Much of the letter is the author whining or spouting pious platitudes. There is very little substance here.
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* The author writes that he is "in chains for Christ (1:13)," which would indicate being locked up in a dungeon, but he's still able to write and send letters to his friends, and even embellish his situation by saying he is in chains, and his captors allow it. This is a type of house arrest that most criminals could only dream of!
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* The author writes that he is "in chains for Christ (1:13)," which would indicate being locked up in a dungeon, but he's still able to write and send letters to his friends, and even describe as being "in chains." Most criminals could only dream of having captors that either allow this, or are too incompetent to prevent him from sending such letters.
 
* By warning of others preaching a different gospel (1:15-17) a mere three decades after Jesus' death, the author is weakening the case that we have reliable accounts.
 
* By warning of others preaching a different gospel (1:15-17) a mere three decades after Jesus' death, the author is weakening the case that we have reliable accounts.
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* The letter tells the readers to stand firm in one belief without fear, so that those who oppose you will see it as a sign that your beliefs are correct (1:27-28). This is the logic of a crazy person. All zealots stand fast without fear, but this is not a sign that their beliefs are correct.
 
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* The author stresses the importance of all of Christ's believers to be of one mind (2:2) and not complaining or arguing (2:14). Again, this is terrible advice. Everyone makes mistakes and gets things wrong from time to time. How can you ever fix your mistakes if you force others to believe the same as you?
 
 
* The author is sending mixed messages "we who put no confidence in the flesh, though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more (3:3-4)."
 
* The author is sending mixed messages "we who put no confidence in the flesh, though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more (3:3-4)."
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* It seems as though expecting payment, while pretending to not expect payment, all the while saying God blesses the giver, has always been an aspect of religion (4:17-19).
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* It seems the transparent scam of accepting money, while pretending to not want any, all the while saying God blesses the giver (4:17-19), has been an aspect of Christianity from the start!.
 +
 
 +
===Ugly===
 +
* The letter tells the readers to stand firm in one belief without fear, so that those who oppose you will see it as a sign that your beliefs are correct (1:27-28), but every zealot of every religion stands fast without fear. Refusing to consider that your beliefs may be wrong is not a sign that they are correct, but a sign of willful ignorance.
 +
* The author stresses the importance of all of Christ's believers to be of one mind (1:27, 2:2) without complaining or arguing (2:14). This is terrible advice. Everyone makes mistakes and gets things wrong from time to time. How can you ever fix your mistakes if you force others to believe the same as you? Furthermore, this leaves the religious vulnerable to being taken over by authoritarians. A major reason for the rampant abuse in churches stems from this mentality that you should never question clergy.
  
 
==Links==
 
==Links==
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* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistle_to_the_Philippians en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistle_to_the_Philippians] - Wikipedia.
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{{Link|Wikipedia|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistle_to_the_Philippians}}
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{{Link|GoodReads|https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17730833-philippians}}
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{{Link|ProjectGutenberg|https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/8050}}
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{{Link|LibriVox|https://librivox.org/group/360}}
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* [https://librivox.org/group/220 librivox.org/group/220] - LibriVox - American Standard Version.
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* [https://librivox.org/group/383 librivox.org/group/383] - LibriVox - World English Translation.
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* [https://librivox.org/group/364 librivox.org/group/364] - LibriVox - Weymouth New Testament.
  
  
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[[Category: Books]]
 
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[[Category: Ancient Writing]]
 
 
[[Category: Religion]]
 
[[Category: Religion]]
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[[Category: Books I've Read]]
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[[Category: Christianity]]
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[[Category: Public Domain]]

Latest revision as of 15:18, 12 December 2023

Epistle to the Philippians

Codex Sinaiticus - Philippians.jpg

Philippians in the Codex Sinaiticus, c. 350 CE.
Author Paul the Apostle
Type Ancient writing
Genre Epistle
Themes Religion
Age Group Adult


The Epistle to the Philippians, often written as simply, Philippians, is the eleventh book of the New Testament. It is a letter written by Paul the Apostle in ancient Greek around 62 CE to the church of Philippi in Greece. The letter is mostly a personal correspondence where Paul implores to the Philippians to remain adherents to his version Christianity. This letter is in the public domain.

Personal

Own?Several translations.
Read?NIV translation.
Finished2016‎-05-09.

I read this letter to increase my understanding of Christianity.

Authorship and Dating

It is generally accepted by historians that Philippians was written by Paul the Apostle around 62 CE.

There are no known original manuscripts. The oldest fragment is Papyrus 46 dated to around 175-225 CE.

Review

Overall:

Rating-1.svg

Good

  • Nothing.

Bad

  • Much of the letter is the author whining or spouting pious platitudes. There is very little substance here.
  • The author writes that he is "in chains for Christ (1:13)," which would indicate being locked up in a dungeon, but he's still able to write and send letters to his friends, and even describe as being "in chains." Most criminals could only dream of having captors that either allow this, or are too incompetent to prevent him from sending such letters.
  • By warning of others preaching a different gospel (1:15-17) a mere three decades after Jesus' death, the author is weakening the case that we have reliable accounts.
  • The author is sending mixed messages "we who put no confidence in the flesh, though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more (3:3-4)."
  • It seems the transparent scam of accepting money, while pretending to not want any, all the while saying God blesses the giver (4:17-19), has been an aspect of Christianity from the start!.

Ugly

  • The letter tells the readers to stand firm in one belief without fear, so that those who oppose you will see it as a sign that your beliefs are correct (1:27-28), but every zealot of every religion stands fast without fear. Refusing to consider that your beliefs may be wrong is not a sign that they are correct, but a sign of willful ignorance.
  • The author stresses the importance of all of Christ's believers to be of one mind (1:27, 2:2) without complaining or arguing (2:14). This is terrible advice. Everyone makes mistakes and gets things wrong from time to time. How can you ever fix your mistakes if you force others to believe the same as you? Furthermore, this leaves the religious vulnerable to being taken over by authoritarians. A major reason for the rampant abuse in churches stems from this mentality that you should never question clergy.

Links

Link-Wikipedia.png  Link-GoodReads.png  Link-ProjectGutenberg.png  Link-LibriVox.png 

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