Ancient Culture – Thanksgiving / Philippians 4

NT 400

10/21/04

Ancient Culture – Thanksgiving

Ancient Culture

• life-long process to understand the world of the Bible
• coins – amazing what you can learn from coins
• theologically – we belong to the same community (the communion of saints)
• however, still written to the specific group at a specific time
• culture themes, understandings
• example: reading a text with someone from Nigeria
• my personal background is a moving target as well
• we are interacting with people who cannot talk back to us when
• bibliography in Fee shows books with background - (Fergusson)
• Anchor Bible Dictionary (best resource)

Thank-You

• “thankless thanks” – German commentators
• Abe Malgarie – conventions of friendship, Paul is not roundabout or oblique, he is not embarrassed by money matters, draws out significance of the gift of which he and his readers have been drawn closer together
• Cicero, Aristotle – friendship definition by philosophers
• handbooks on how to write letters from ancient world
• themes (topos, topoi) – repeated over and over that cluster around a social convention like friendship
• friendship themes in Philippians
• modern scholarship – friendship
• “letter of friendship” – stretches it too far to only focus on friendship

Themes

• expression of grief from being apart from one’s friend
• not having news from a friend for a long time
• joy at being together again / receiving news
• Philippians examples - Paul expresses desire to be back with them, anxiety due to E not coming back,
• clichés –
• one soul – mia yuch
• one mind – to auto fronein
• friendship as a partnership – koina ta filwn
• mutual confidence in one another
• friends defer to one another (seek other’s interests above their own)
• share common projects – Philippians high use of words with sou-
• share dangers and afflictions (if friends suffer, you suffer)
• exchange benefits / favors – economic descriptions
• idea – friends don’t need to say “Thank You”, it would be out of place
• Lord of the Rings ending– “there cannot be any giving or receiving among us because we are brothers”
• Thanking too much could be inappropriate (shows that they want more)

Aristotle definition / levels of friendship

• highest is in shared virtue

1. exchange of benefits

2.

3. shared virtue

Cicero - treatise on friendship

• not material gain but love
• advantage is only a pleasure when it is inspired from an ardent zeal
• show of love behind action

friendship is not an isolated thing

• social relationship tied up with other social relationships
• patrons / clients
• hierarchy
• emperor is the ultimate patron
• system of patrons/clients
• clients owed patrons honor
• more honorable to be a patron than a client but it helped your honor if you had an honorable patron
• this could slip into “who gave more” analysis
• Paul wants to avoid this “who gave more” mentality
• Paul runs into problems in Corinth because he refuses to accept a gift
• perhaps maybe Paul didn’t want to look like the Philippians’ client

“self-sufficient”

• is there a disconnect with friendship and self-sufficiency
• old view – Stoic – the wise person is self-contained, rolls with punches of life so that he doesn’t need anybody
• later, becomes topic of friendship
• central topic of friendship
• friends have a measure of self-sufficiency
• Cicero – from nature than need, love rather than utility, love arises when congenial partner arrives, denies that it is due to a weakness in us, person who is self-sufficient who can then form these friendships
• Paul is not showing that he doesn’t want friendship with Philippians. Instead, he is showing that he is capable of being a friend

Paul transforms this by bringing God into the picture

• Paul never uses the word for friend or friendship
• is he avoiding it intentionally?
• another metaphor comes in – sacrifice to God
• God is the patron – he will supply your needs
• it is not up to Paul to repay, God will repay
• God is at the apex of the relationship (/\) with Paul and Philippians at the bottom

Mal Herby

• Paul uses philosophy
• shows that he is fully aware of how people talk about the subject

Wagner conclusion

• makes more sense of this passage than how I say “thank you” in our culture
• Paul interacts with culture AND transforms it!
• trying to form a culture, trying to form a people – CULTURAL ARCHITECT
• offering to God, acceptable to God and he will fill all of your needs in the glory in Christ Jesus

Paul – TRANSFORMER OF CULTURE

Interpretive Essay

· state thesis, defend from the text (exegesis)

· check findings against commentaries after paper written

· not a commentary

Philippians 4

• why does Paul wait so long to write a thank you? possibly the addition to the epistle of a small thank you letter from Paul, possibly a separate time in their relationship
• is chapter 4 hanging out on its own as much as separation theories have posed?

inclusio

• [ ]
• idea for an interpretive essay – state thesis, re-state thesis

Philippians 1 / Philippians 4

1:22 – 4:3 – partnership in the gospel

konwnia / sounkoinwnia

karpos

perisseuw

plhrow

overflowing / filled / fruit

give thanks / rejoiced in the Lord

1:3 - eucaristw

4:10 – ecarhn

beginning / first day

1:6

4:15

eschatological references

1:6 – day of Jesus Christ

1:10 – day of Christ

4:3 – book of life

4:5 – Lord is at thand

suffering

1:29

4:14

concern, initial concern, prayer, rejoice

1:19

4:10

example of Paul

1:12

4:9

CONTENTMENT

1 – Paul doesn’t know to choose living or dying (ambivalence of the will)

4 – poverty or wealth – either way it is the same

Direct address to the Philippians

1:1 – to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi…

4:15 – and you Philippians (he perks up here and addresses them)

remember – people read this letter out loud to others

Wagner additions:

Structural – greetings in the beginning and the end

Saints

Community is part of a much larger community (bigger than Philippi) – brothers with me

4:22 – those of Caesar’s household – Roman society and politics

1:13 – circumstances show finding in Roman holding (praetorian)

even people in Caesar’s own household know Jesus as Lord

overall, challenge to Lordship of one other than Jesus

Caesar is the kurios (the one to whom we put our faith for security, prosperity, etc)

Peace – repeated throughout Chapter 4, Chapter 1 (grace and peace to you)

Internal Chapter 4

• bridge to
• 1:12, 4:9
• I have learned to be content
• what are they supposed to learn from how Paul receives their gift?

IDEA – Print out the letter, put two parts side by side and make observations