Philippians: From People to Letter

Theological Studies, Sept, 2002 by Joseph Plevnik

By Peter Oakes. Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series, vol. 110. New York: Cambridge University, 2001. Pp. xv 231. $59.95.

This book is not a commentary on, but a study of, Paul's letter to the Philippians from a sociological composition of the city of Philippi at the time of Paul. Oakes first builds a model of the social makeup both of the city and of the Church, modifying Bruce Malina's model of the preindustrial city and making it fit the Greco-Roman city. This hypothetical model gives the proportion of citizens and noncitizens, free and slaves, Romans and Greeks, elite Roman land owners and commuting peasant farmers, service providers and villagers from the adjacent countryside. According to the model, 40% of the Philippians were Romans, the rest were Greeks.

Since, according to the model, the majority of the faithful in Philippi were poor and dependent on the rich and powerful, O. investigates the theme of suffering incurred by conversion, and the theme of unity in Philippians. And he investigates how Philippians 2:6-11 and 3:20-21 would sound to the Roman believers in Philippi. What did they hear from the imperial background when Paul talked about Christ's Lordship, about his being a Savior, or about the home country (politeuma)?

O.'s supposition that the suffering was due basically to a loss of customers, job, patron, etc., is plausible. His point that the suffering was economic rather than penal is well taken. But Paul s relating the sufferings of believers to the suffering of Christ or his own sufferings occurs in other Pauline letters (cf. Rom 8:31-39; 2 Cor 1:5-7; Gal 5:24) and is thus not necessarily indicative of a special predicament of the Philippians.

Less convincing is O.'s suggestion that in Philippians 3:20-2:1 the reader would see a parallel between Christ's transformation of the bodies of the faithful and the emperor's trying to elevate the people's attitude. Nor is a comparison between the emperor and Christ in 2:6-11 very obvious. Would the Greek Philippians see it that way?

The strength of O.'s book lies in the social analysis of Philippi and in the explanation of the kind of suffering the Christians experienced. Its weakness is the asserted parallels between Christ and the Roman Emperor.

JOSEPH PLEVNIK, S.J.
Regis College, Toronto