LETTERS FROM PRISON

LETTERS FROM PRISON

PHILIPPIANS = reveals an unusual warmth and friendliness; Paul urges cooperation among Christians for the benefit of all believers.

COLOSSIANS = possibly the work of a Pauline disciple; reveals and advanced Christology; Jesus is identified with the cosmic power and wisdom of the universe.

LETTERS FROM PRISON

PHILEMON = Paul’s only surviving personal letter; he accepts the Greco-Roman institution of slavery, but calls for the equality of all social classes in Christian love.

Note: Slavery was not motivated by racism in Paul’s day and age as it was during the history of slavery in the United States.

PHILIPPIANS
Key Themes
1. Renunciation of Merit (3:4-8)

2. Identification with Christ through

faith (3:9-11)

3. Relentless concentration on reaching the goal of eternal life (3:12-16)

4. Imitation of Christian leaders who have set their minds on heavenly things (3:17-21)

COLOSSIANS

PURPOSE:

to refute false teachings

to correct the misinterpretation of what appears to be a Christian astrology cult

Christ is SUPREME and ALL-SUFFICIENT for salvation

COLOSSIANS

Key theme: WHO IS CHRIST?

1. Christ is supreme; Christ possesses the same divine power God used to create the universe.

2. Christians who experience Christ’s indwelling presence harmonize their lives with the cosmic unity He embodies; they are "initiated" into Christ’s mystery cult.

COLOSSIAN’S CHRISTOLOGY

Key theme = many scholars find the Christology (descriptions and interpretation of Christ) more advanced than other Pauline ideas about Christ

Key ideas:

1. Christ is the course of cosmic unity

2. Jesus as the mediator of all creation (1:15-20) = creation hymn

COLOSSIAN’S CHRISTOLOGY

Key ideas

3. The mystical initiation into Christ; Christian’s baptism represents a vicarious experience of Christ’s death and resurrection (2:12, 20; 3:1)

4. Obligation of initiation; Christians must lead exceptionally pure and upright lives…the indwelling presence of Christ

PHILEMON
Reading Guide

Opening 1-3

Thanksgiving 4-7

Main Body 8-20

the appeal for Onesimus 8-14

no longer as a slave 15-20

Travel Plans 21-22

Closing(with mutual greetings) 23-25

DIFFERENCES IN EPHESIANS
Did Paul write it?
1. VOCABULARY: 90 words are used not found elsewhere in Paul’s letters.

2. LITERARY STYLE: longer sentences vs. Paul’s more direct style.

3. CHURCH: post-apostolic period; church is a universal collective vs. a single congregation (see Col. 1:27 for comparison.

DIFFERENCES IN EPHESIANS
Did Paul write it?
4. THEOLOGY:

A) Ephesians lacks key Pauline doctrines such as JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH and the nearness of the PAROUSIA.

B) Ephesians presents a different view of Christ’s sacred mystery; the mystery is the union of Jew and Gentile in one Church (Eph.3:6).

DIFFERENCES IN EPHESIANS
Did Paul Write it?
5. TIME WRITTEN: the letter reflects a time in church history much later than Paul’s time = post-apostolic

a) Eph.2:20, 3:5 = apostles belong to the past, not author’s time

b) Eph.2:11-22 = Gentile acceptance in Christ is a fact, not controversy.

c) Judaizers are no longer a problem

EPHESIANS
Reading Guide

Salutation = 1:1-2

Thanksgiving/prayer = 1:3-23

Message of Rescue & Release

The work of Christ = 2:1-10
The work of the Church = 2:11-22
The work of Paul = 3:1-13

EPHESIANS
Reading Guide

Exhortations: Union with Christ

Christ as cosmic conqueror = 4:8-16
Implications for life = 4:17 - 5:20
Exhortations to household duties = 5:21-6:9
Final exhortations, travel plans, Benediction = 6:10-24

THE PASTORALS
Letters to Timothy & Titus

Case against Pauline authorship

1. 1 & 2 Timothy & Titus DO NOT appear in early lists of Paul’s canonical works.

2. The Pastorals reflect conditions that prevailed long after Paul’s day.

3. The letters lack key Pauline doctrines about faith, the Parousia, and the Spirit.

THE PASTORALS
Letters to Timothy & Titus

The case against Pauline authorship

4. The writing style is "flat" and contains 306 words NOT found in Paul’s unquestioned letters.

5. The Pastorals assume a church organizaton far more developed than in Paul’s time; they were probably written in the early 2nd century.

1 TIMOTHY

KEY TOPICS:

1. Erroneous doctrines:

maybe Gentile Christians mixing Greco-Roman religions and philosophies with Christianity
maybe Jewish legalists calling for a return to the Law and Mosaic traditions

1 TIMOTHY

KEY TOPICS:

2. Ordering the Christian congregation

qualifications for Church officers (3:1-23)
Church, rather than the "indwelling spirit," is the "pillar of truth"
negative portrayal of women (2:8-15); compare 1 Cor.11:5; 2 Tim.3:6-8)

1 TIMOTHY

KEY TOPICS:

2. Ordering the Christian congregation

Christian leaders should support political leaders (2:1-3)
rich should share (6:17-19)
passion for wealth is evil (6:9-10)
heretics = "pompous ignoramus"

2 TIMOTHY

2 Timothy is closest to Paul in style, but is clearly the work of "the Pastor."

KEY TOPIC = Erroneous teachings

the Pastor does not refute the heretics with logical argument; he calls them names and lists their vices (3:1-6, 13; 4:3-4)

insults women (3:6-8)

false teachings indicate the END TIME (4:1-8; 3:1-9)

TITUS

KEY TOPICS:

1. Qualifications for the Christian ministry

Elders and Bishops should be pillars of the community and exhibit high moral standards (1:5-9)
Church leaders should soundly rebuke false teachings (1:9-16)

TITUS

KEY TOPICS:

2. Christian behavior in an ungodly world

Christians must live exemplary lives of obedience and submission to government authority (3:1)
All Christians are to behave in a way that publicly reflects well on their religion (2:1-10)
Christians must preserve an ethically pure community until Christ returns (2:13-14)

PAUL’S LASTING INFLUENCE
1. Christianity’s first great interpreter of Christ

2. Defines God in Christian terms

3. Interprets the role of Jesus

4. Justification by faith

5. Old Adam/New Christ apocalypticism

PAUL’S LASTING INFLUENCE

6. Salvation through faith

7. God & Christ relationship

8. Eschatology & ontological dualism

REVIEW OF PAUL’S LETTERS
Letter

1 & 2 Thessalonians =

1 & 2 Corinthians =

Key Theme

the ESKATON is near; PAROUSIA = 2nd Coming of Christ

call for CHRISTIAN UNITY

REVIEW OF PAUL’S LETTERS
Letter

Galatians & Romans

Key Theme

Justification by faith; defines Christianity’s relationship to Judaism

REVIEW OF PAUL’S LETTERS
Letter

Philippians

Key Theme

Prison letter - Jesus is opposite of disobedient Adam; cooperation among Christians; definite Pauline authorship

REVIEW OF PAUL’S LETTERS
Letter

Philemon

Key Theme

Paul’s only personal letter about Onesimus, a Christian slave; a prison letter; definite Pauline authorship

REVIEW OF PAUL’S LETTERS
Letter

Colossians

Key Theme

the supremacy and all-sufficiency of Christ; more complex Christology casts doubt on Pauline authorship

REVIEW OF PAUL’S LETTERS
Letters

Ephesians

Key Theme

God’s universal plan of salvation for Jew and Gentile; warfare against evil; Pauline authorship is doubtful; a prison letter

REVIEW OF PAUL’S LETTERS
Letters

1 & 2 Timothy & Titus

"the Pastorals" - written by an anonymous disciple of Paul

Key Theme

define Christian belief and behavior; outline Church organization; stamp out heretical views