Bible (New Testament): English Standard Version

Philippians is Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi, a city in Macedonia (northern Greece) that had been transformed into a Roman veterans’ colony during the reign of Augustus Caesar. Like the Corinthian correspondence, Philippians presents itself as having a co-author along with Paul (in this case, his protégé Timothy). Paul had founded the church in Philippi during his earlier missionary journeys, and he writes the letter of Philippians back to them during a period of imprisonment. The occasion for the letter appears to have been a visit from Epaphroditus, whom the Philippians sent to comfort and encourage Paul (Phil 2:25-30; 4:18), and Philippians is Paul’s response.

The epistle is warm and encouraging, seeking to inspire the Philippians to live out their Christian faith with courage and grace during difficult circumstances. It exhorts the Christians of Philippi not to focus on their sufferings but on the issues of ultimate importance revealed in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and to maintain a positive attitude from that perspective: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice” (Phil 4:4). As is customary for Paul, he also addresses some concerns about their communal life as a church, and in this case he appears to have heard that there is grumbling and dissension among them: “Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit […]” (Phil 2:2-3; also 2:14; 4:2). This leads Paul to encourage them to follow his example of humble service and to emulate Jesus’s self-sacrificial lifestyle. He does this by writing a poetic reflection on Jesus’s identity, which many scholars believe is a quotation of an early Christian hymn (Phil 2:5-11). If so, this Christological hymn likely represents the earliest piece of Christian liturgy (structured order of worship) that still exists.

Colossians attributes itself to both Paul and Timothy, and it is directed to the church in Colossae, a city in central Asia Minor. Although Paul does not seem to have visited Colossae personally, he has an indirect connection to the church there because it was founded by Epaphras, one of the ministry workers from Paul’s circle. Colossians is one of Paul’s prison epistles, having been written during his incarceration in Rome. The occasion for the epistle to the Colossians appears to be that Epaphras himself has been relaying a report of the Colossians’ faith to the imprisoned apostle.

Colossians, though shorter than Romans, has a similar structure, with the first half of the letter concerned with an exposition of certain broad themes of Christian theology and the second half with practical instructions. Both Colossians and Romans were written to Christian communities Paul had not yet met in person, so these letters are less concerned with the details of local church issues than are the letters to churches with which Paul is more intimately acquainted. The theology which Paul communicates in the opening chapters places a primary focus on the supremacy of Jesus Christ. He articulates Jesus’s identity in ways that would guide later Christian reflection on the nature of his divinity: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. […] For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell […]” (Col 1:15, 19). He also includes some warnings about false teachings coming from people who advocated the mandatory practice of the Old Testament law (an issue he dealt with in Galatians), and others who were promoting speculative theologies about angelic spiritual powers (Col 1:16; 2:15). His practical counsels for Christian life are like what one finds in his other epistles, encouraging Christians to adopt their identity in Christ as a “new self,” and to grow into that identity rather than continuing in their old patterns of sinful living.

The epistle of 1 Thessalonians is sent from Paul, Silvanus (Silas), and Timothy, and it represents one of Paul’s earliest writings. Paul and his team had planted a church in the northern Greek city of Thessalonica before a riot forced them out (Acts 17:1-9). Paul made his way south, into the region of Greece called Achaia, but he worried about the Thessalonian church and sent Timothy back to check on them. Timothy’s report of their conditions provides the occasion for this letter, as Paul writes to tell them of his joy at hearing that they have stood strong despite facing opposition (1 Thess 3:6).

Along with encouraging them to remain faithful, Paul adds some of his customary practical counsel, making it clear that Christians are to conduct themselves with moral uprightness: “For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness” (1 Thess 4:7). He also takes time to answer some questions that may have been on the minds of the Thessalonians. Since they had only received limited instruction while Paul was there in person, he takes the opportunity now to clear up any possible misconceptions regarding the Christian doctrines of the second coming of Christ and the resurrection of the dead on the last day. Many early Christians were hoping for the second coming to happen in their lifetime, so they may have been confused about what might happen to those Christians who died before Jesus returned. Paul’s answer has become a standard portion of Christian liturgy, often used in funerals: “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first” (1 Thess 4:16). Paul concludes by encouraging the Thessalonians to live in light of the coming return of Christ, urging them to follow a simple set of principles: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess 5:16-18).

Second Thessalonians, attributed to Paul, Silvanus (Silas), and Timothy, appears to have been written shortly after 1 Thessalonians, in response to a misunderstanding that had developed in the church at Thessalonica. It may have been prompted by 1 Thessalonians itself, or by other teachers who had expanded on Paul’s instruction in that letter. In any case, the church evidently feared that they may have already missed some of the crucial events of the end times: “[Do not] be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, that the day of the Lord has come” (2 Thess 2:2). The nature of the misunderstanding either appears to be that they thought that the second coming had already somehow taken place, or that God’s day of judgment had already happened. In either case, the fact that they remained in their previous context, subject to continual persecution, would be a disheartening one as it would imply that the promised end-times restoration was powerless to change their difficult circumstances. Paul assures them that those events have not yet taken place and gives them several hints of events that will necessarily precede the end times. Among these are the coming of the “man of lawlessness” (2 Thess 2:3), an antichrist figure. Paul encourages them to stand firm in the meantime, holding to what they have been taught and continuing to rejoice in God’s salvation even in the face of a hostile society.