The Apostle Paul's Letter To The Church Of Philippi

Introduction to Philippians With possibly fourteen of the twenty-seven books in the New Testament, and no less than seven attributed to him, the Apostle Paul of Tarsus undoubtedly altered and continues to alter the course of Christianity. Through his extensive mission work, preaching, and letter writing, Paul has left behind an immense legacy that few people in history can compare to. To this day, some two thousand years later, Paul and his writings are extensively researched, discussed, and debated across all of Christianity and much of the non-Christian world. For most practicing Christians, Paul’s teachings from his letters hold extreme weight and significance in their attempt to follow the teachings and life of Jesus in conjunction with the Bible. One such writing of Paul’s that was canonized into the Bible is his letter to the church at

Although, the context and short history of the church of Philippi is of equal and, if not, greater importance than the social context in relation to Paul’s letter, as it is very common to forget that the Philippian church is just about ten years old or less at the time that Paul penned Philippians. It is widely accepted that Paul visited Philippi and founded the church there around AD 49 or 50, according to the timeline in Acts. (Acts 16) Depending on which theory one subsribes to, the church at Philippi is at most ten to twelve years old if one believes Paul wrote the letter in Rome, and at the least five or six years old if one believes that Paul wrote the letter while in Ephesus. Keeping in mind that the Philippi church is fledgling, just as Christianity at the time, is paramount to understanding the significance of the Philippian church and this letter. Per the account in Acts 16, Paul arrived in Philippians around AD 49 or 50 following a vision of a Macedonian man pleading for Paul to preach in