Congregational Evangelism in Philippians

by Keown, Mark J.

• ISBN13: 9781606084755
• ISBN10: 1606084755
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-02-19
• Publisher: Wipf & Stock Pub

Summary

Did Paul want his congregations to pick up the ministry of evangelism or did he envisage himself and other 'specialist' proclaimers continuing the ministry of the gospel? Dr. Keown begins by outlining the contours of differing responses to this question ranging from exclusively 'specialist' evangelism to believers' full participation in evangelic mission. He then explores the question through exegetical analysis of Philippians. He argues persuasively that one essential element of the rhetorical appeal of the letter is an injunction to the believers in Philippi to continue to preach the gospel with renewed unity and in the face of pagan opposition. He suggests that Paul envisaged 'specialist proclaimers' leading the evangelical mission and equipping 'general believers' to share the gospel as one dimension of living in the world.

Author Biography

Mark J. Keown is a Presbyterian Minister and is currently Senior Lecturer in Theology (New Testament) at Laidlaw College, Auckland, New Zealand. He was converted in his early twenties and since his conversion has worked as a school teacher, evangelist, pastor and teacher. He is married to Emma, a Presbyterian Minister, and has three daughters.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xv
Acknowledgements	p. xvii
Abbreviations	p. xix
General Introduction	p. 1
The Current State of the Discussion	p. 2
Those That See the Church as Responsive in Terms of Proclamatory Evangelism	p. 3
Those That See the Church as Proactive in Terms of Proclamatory Evangelism	p. 13
Conclusion to this Discussion	p. 28
Methodology	p. 29
Assumptions	p. 34
Definitions	p. 35
Introduction to Philippians	p. 37
Initial Exegetical Issues	p. 37
The Authorship of Philippians	p. 37
The Integrity of Philippians	p. 39
Date and Place of Composition	p. 42
Genre	p. 47
Issues at Play in Philippians	p. 53
Paul's Situation	p. 54
The Situation in Philippi	p. 56
The recipients	p. 56
Intersecting dimensions of the Philippian church	p. 58
A Church Paul is Generally Pleased With	p. 58
A Church Concerned for Paul's Situation Materially and Generally	p. 59
A Church Experiencing Opposition	p. 59
A Church Experiencing a Degree of Internal Contention	p. 62
A Church With a Degree of Joylessness	p. 63
A Church that Needs Hope: The Importance of Eschatology and Encouragement in Philippians	p. 63
A Church in Need of Corrected Thinking	p. 64
The Centrality of Ethical Witness, Prayer and Financial Support for Mission in Philippians	p. 65
The Centrality of the Gospel Mission to the Texture of Philippians?	p. 66
Conclusion	p. 70
Paul's Delight at Others Proclaiming the Gospel in Rome (1:14-18a)	p. 71
Paul's Delight at Roman Christians Who Have Responded to His Imprisonment with Evangelism (1:14)	p. 73
The Brothers of 1:14: General Christians or Co-Workers?	p. 75
Paul's Delight that the Gospel is Preached Despite False Motives (1:15-18a)	p. 86
The Identity of the <$$$> ('some') of 1:15	p. 86
The Nature and Setting of the Two Groups	p. 91
The Nature of Paul's Attitude, Joy that the Gospel is Proclaimed	p. 95
The Use of <$$$> Constructions in Paul	p. 96
The Rhetorical Impact on the Philippians	p. 102
Conclusion to 1:14-18a	p. 105
Evangelistic Aspects of Contending for the Faith of the Gospel (1:27-30)	p. 107
Corporate Evangelism in Philippi ('for the Faith of the Gospel')	p. 109
The Meaning of <$$$> in 1:27	p. 109
The Meaning of <$$$> in 1:27	p. 113
The Evangelistic Context for the Suffering of 1:28-30	p. 117
Conclusion to 1:27-30	p. 123
Unified Ethical Witness and Proactive Evangelism (2:14-16a)	p. 125
Missiological Disunity in Philippi (2:14)	p. 126
Direct Appeals for Missiological Endeavour Including Evangelism (2:15-16a)	p. 128
An Appeal for Blameless Ethical Witness in Unbelieving Philippi (2:15)	p. 128
Hold Forth the Word of Life to this Generation (2:16a)	p. 135
The Relationship of the Participle to the Previous	p. 135
The Meaning of <$$$>	p. 136
The Question of Context	p. 139
The Meaning of <$$$>	p. 140
Conclusion to 2:16a	p. 145
Conclusion to 2:14-16a	p. 146
The Evangelistic Content of the Examples of Timothy and Epaphroditus (2:19-30)	p. 148
The Positive Example of the Co-Worker Timothy (2:19-23)	p. 151
The Positive Example of the 'Apostle' Epaphroditus (2:25-30)	p. 158
Evangelism and the Five-Fold Appellaton Concerning Epaphroditus	p. 161
Brother <$$$>	p. 162
Co-Worker <$$$>	p. 162
Fellow-Soldier <$$$>	p. 168
Apostle <$$$>	p. 170
Apostle in Ephesians 4:11-16	p. 177
Conclusions to Apostle	p. 183
Minister <$$$> to My Needs (<$$$>)	p. 184
Conclusion to Epaphroditus	p. 185
Conclusion to 2:19-30	p. 186
Evangelistic Disunity in the Philippian Church (4:1-3)	p. 187
A Call to Steadfastness (4:1)	p. 188
Paul's Appeal to Correct Mission-Disunity in Philippi (4:2-3)	p. 189
The Nature of the Involvement of Euodia and Syntyche in the Gospel Mission	p. 193
The Nature of the Problem	p. 203
The Implications of the Reference to Co-Workers	p. 205
Conclusion to 4:2-3	p. 205
Thanksgiving for the Philippian Involvement in Evangelistic Mission (1:3-7)	p. 206
The Content of 'Your Fellowship in the Gospel' (1:5)	p. 208
The Meaning of <$$$> in 1:5	p. 208
Paul's Use <$$$> in 1:5	p. 210
Paul's Use of <$$$> in 1:5	p. 211
Synthesis: Paul Use of <$$$> in 1:5	p. 211
Conclusion to 1:5	p. 215
The Content of <$$$> in 1:6	p. 216
The Good Work of Redemption	p. 217
The Good Work of the Philippian Involvement in the Gospel	p. 218
Parallelism in the Structure of 1:5-7	p. 221
Conclusion to 1:6	p. 223
The Content of <$$$> in 1:7	p. 224
Preliminary Exegetical Questions	p. 224
The Nature of Grace in 1:7	p. 227
Salvation Grace	p. 228
Suffering Grace	p. 229
Giving Grace	p. 229
Mission Grace	p. 229
Conclusion to 1:7	p. 230
Conclusion to 1:5-7	p. 231
Imitation and Proclamation (4:9)	p. 233
The Evangelistic Content of the Appeal for Emulation (4:9)	p. 235
Proclamation in Other References to Imitation in the Pauline Epistles	p. 243
1 Corinthians 11:1	p. 243
1 Thessalonians 1:6-8	p. 250
1 Thessalonians 2:14-16	p. 260
Conclusion to Other References	p. 266
Conclusion to 4:9	p. 266
Conclusion and Implications	p. 268
Conclusions	p. 268
Congregational Evangelism in Philippians	p. 268
Philippians 1:14-18A	p. 269
Philippians 1:27-30	p. 269
Philippians 2:14-16A	p. 270
Philippians 2:19-30	p. 271
Philippians 4:2-3	p. 271
Philippians 1:5-7	p. 272
Philippians 4:9	p. 272
The Broader Question: Congregational Evangelism in the Pauline Epistles?	p. 274
Implications for Practice	p. 279
Limitations and Future Research	p. 280
The Connection Between Evangelism and the Military Metaphor in Paul	p. 282
Military Metaphor and Paul's Ministry	p. 282
Military Metaphor and the Gospel Ministry of Others	p. 285
Ephesians 6 and Evangelism	p. 286
Your Feet Fitted with the Readiness that Comes from the Gospel of Peace (Eph 6:15)	p. 288
The Sword of the Spirit, Which is the Word of God (6:17)	p. 292
Conclusion	p. 296
The Connection Between Evangelism and the Athletic Metaphor in Paul	p. 297
Evangelistic Nuances to the 'Christ-Hymn' (Phil 2:5-11)	p. 301
Assumptions Concerning the Christ-Hymn	p. 301
The Evangelistic Framework and Dimensions of the Christ-Example	p. 303
Mission Dimensions of the Christ-Hymn	p. 304
The <$$$> Clause of 2:10: Result and Purpose	p. 307
The Evangelistic Nuance of <$$$>	p. 309
Conclusion	p. 311
Bibliography	p. 312
Scripture Index	p. 333
Modern Authors Index	p. 353
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