|
| Christian news worldwide |
 Home |
 Archives |
 Subscriptions |
 Adverts |
 Find a church |
 About us |
 Contact us |
 Site Map |
 PrintableVersion IVP New Testament Commentary Series - PhilippiansPhilippians: The IVP New Testament Commentary Series A good commentary has several things to achieve: to capture the Scripture's meaning then; to identify the timeless theological truths and unchanging general principles which framed that original meaning; to apply those truths and principles accurately and helpfully to today; and to present the whole in an accessible and readable fashion. Gordon Fee's commentary on Philippians does all these things. Philippi saw the first European church. From what Acts 16 tells us of the church at Philippi, its make-up (including businesswoman Lydia, a slave-girl and the Roman gaoler) reflected a socio-economic range that is not so dissimilar to that found in urban churches centres today. Affectionate, full of memorable passages, Philippians is one of Paul's best-loved letters. But it is also one of his least understood. In an excellent introduction, Fee sets the epistle in its first-century context and argues cogently against the pastiche hypothesis that regards elements of the letter as being unconnected. In Fee's estimate, in both language and content, the letter hangs together as a whole. Fee suggests that central to the letter is the three-way bond between Christ, the Philippians and Paul. Christ is the third party in every Christian relationship - a relationship that determines the quality of all others. Thus Paul's friendship with the Philippians is clearly predicated on their mutual participation and partnership in the gospel. Everything turns to gospel, the common ground on which he and the Philippians stand. Thus Fee regards Philippians as having as its singular focus the exhortation to know Christ - to live in relationship with him, to share in his sufferings and be conformed to his likeness - 'to live cruciform'. Paul's expressions of friendship and moral exhortation further this purpose, as do the celebrated paradigmatic narratives of Christ and Paul in chapters 2 and 3. Fee shows how both those narratives urge upon Christians a cruciform way of looking at and living out their present existence in the midst of opposition. Paul's assault upon the cancer of ambition and self-importance that afflicts so much of today's church, falls naturally and powerfully into place within this overall theme and speaks eloquently to our own time. Fee's insightful overview and detailed analysis of Philippians is presented in a clear format. The style and expression of his writing is eminently accessible. It will suit pastors, leaders, teachers and Bible students. It is relatively short as commentaries go (a fuller commentary by Fee was published by Eerdmans in 1995), and, as a result, its review of alternatives is somewhat prescriptive. Much less room is given to the representation, evaluation and footnoting of alternative scholarly opinion than is to be found in, say, Alec Motyer's BST study of Philippians. Scriptural cross-references are also relatively few. In this sense, Fee's commentary might be accused of being a little one-dimensional. But that criticism does not detract from its evident value. Charles Dobbie,
|
|
