This short Pauline epistle has long fascinated scholars, especially the so-called “Christ Hymn” (2:6-11), offering the possibility that Paul embedded here a piece of liturgy or tradition from earliest Christianity (or Paul proves himself here a poet as well as a theologian). More recently, attention has turned to Paul’s shaping of Christian identity, his attitude towards his own Jewish identity and his pre-Christ past, and how he teaches the Philippians to navigate their life together in a potentially hostile context. Exegetical and theological wisdom is widely available in existing commentaries.
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