Epistle to the Philippians facts for kids

The Epistle (or letter) to the Philippians is a short book in the New Testament. It is a letter to the church at Philippi in Macedonia from Saint Paul. It was written while Paul was in jail for telling people about Jesus.

Author

Most everyone thinks that Paul wrote what is in the book. Some think it was a single lettter, but others think that it puts together three letters into one. The letter or letters were written in Greek in about 50 to 60 A.D.

Contents

In Chapters 1 and 2 of Philippians, Paul tells the Philippians that he is about to be tried in Rome. He says he is not afraid of death,^{[Phil 1:18b–26]}. He tells the readers to be happy no matter what happens.^{[Phil 2:14–18]} He says that being in jail is helping to spread the Christian message, rather than stopping it. ^{[Phil 1:12–15]} He says that Epaphroditus is a hard worker and is a hero. The Philippian church had sent Epaphroditus to visit Paul and bring him gifts.^{[Phil 2:25–30]} Some time during his visit with Paul, Epaphroditus got sick.^{[Phil 2:26–27]} But he got better before being sent back to the Philippians.

In Chapter 3, Paul warns the Philippians about those Christians who insist that circumcision, practiced by Jews and Muslims, is necessary for salvation. He testifies that he once was a strong follower of this and other Jewish laws, but he now considers these things to be like trash compared to the gospel of Jesus. He says that being right with God comes from faith in Jesus and not by keeping religious laws.^{[Phil 3:2–10]}

In Chapter 4, Paul tells the Philippians to get along with each other.^{[Phil 4:2–3]} In the last part of the chapter, Paul thanks the Philippians for gifts they had sent him, and tells them that God will reward them for being kind to him.^{[Phil 4:15–20]}

Paul seems to feel happy in the letter and he is hopeful that he will get out of jail, and so he says he will send Timothy to the Philippians to help them,^{[Phil 2:19–23]} and thinks he will also pay them a visit.^[Phil 2:24]

Christ poem

Chapter 2 of the epistle contains a famous poem telling who Christ is and what he did to save us. Paul says we should follow this example of humble service.

Who, though he was in the form of God,

Did not regard being equal with God

Something to be grasped after.

But he emptied himself

Taking on the form of a slave,

And coming in the likeness of humans.

And being found in appearance as a human

He humbled himself

Becoming obedient unto death— even death on a cross.

Therefore God highly exalted him

And bestowed on him the name

That is above every name,

That at the name of Jesus

Every knee should bow

Of those in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth.

And every tongue should confess

That Jesus Christ is Lord

To the glory of God the Father.

—Philippians 2:5-11, translated by Bart D. Ehrman

Because of its style, scholars agree that this is an early Christian poem that was written by someone before Paul's writings, as early as the 40s AD. The Christ poem is important because it strongly suggests that there were very early Christians who understood Jesus to be a God like being who who chose to take on human form, rather than a human who was later raised to a divine status.

See also

In Spanish: Epístola a los filipenses para niños