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Book of Philippians

Chapters

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Author and Date

Author, Date and Place of Writing

The early church was unanimous in its testimony that Philippians was written by the apostle Paul (see ). Internally the letter reveals the stamp of genuineness. The many personal references of the author fit what we know of Paul from other NT books.

It is evident that Paul wrote the letter from prison (see ). Some have argued that this imprisonment took place in Ephesus, perhaps c. a.d. 53-55; others put it in Caesarea c. 57-59. Best evidence, however, favors Rome as the place of origin and the date as c. 61. This fits well with the account of Paul's house arrest in . When he wrote Philippians, he was not in the Mamertine dungeon as he was when he wrote 2 Timothy. He was in his own rented house, where for two years he was free to impart the gospel to all who came to him.

Purpose
Paul's primary purpose in writing this letter was to thank the Philippians for the gift they had sent him upon learning of his detention at Rome (; ). However, he makes use of this occasion to fulfill several other desires:

  1. (1) to report on his own circumstances (; );
  2. (2) to encourage the Philippians to stand firm in the face of persecution and rejoice regardless of circumstances (; );
  3. (3) to exhort them to humility and unity (; );
  4. (4) to commend Timothy and Epaphroditus to the Philippian church (); and
  5. (5) to warn the Philippians against the Judaizers (legalists) and antinomians (libertines) among them (Phil ch. 3).

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