The Knowledge of Christ Jesus My Lord: The High Christology of Philippians 3:7-11Employing the traditional tools of historical-critical methodology as well as a selected mix of techniques from newer literary criticism, this book provides a close analysis of the syntactic and semantic content of Phil 3:7-11 in its immediate and broader context, concluding that this passage represents a very high christological statement on the part of Paul, and discusses some of the implications of these findings in regard to the interpretation of Phil 2:5-11, the wisdom ambience of the letters of Paul, and relevance for modern christologies. In Philippians 3:7-11, Paul makes a very strong statement about how much Christ Jesus means to him. This study seeks to demonstrate how the passage within its context gives expression to a high christological statement which is frequently disregarded in treatments of Pauline christology. Chapter One presents a concise summary of the history of exegesis of Phil 3:7-11 and identifies the elements present within that history which indicated the desirability of a more in-depth treatment. Chapter Two focuses on the entire letter to the Philippians as the context of interpretation of Phil 3:7-11, beginning with a discussion of the methodology employed in the remainder of the work. Chapter Three focuses on Phil 3:7-11, first considering the textual variants within these verses, then describing in detail the relation of the complex sentence consisting of vv. 8-11. Chapters Four and Five deal with those issues of semantics in vv. 8-11 which require more extensive treatment. Chapter Six returns to a consideration of the meaning of knowledge of Christ, concluding with a consideration of the results of this study for current discussions of New Testament Christology. |
Contents
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS | 11 |
INTRODUCTION | 11 |
ORIGIN OF THE EXPRESSION KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST | 20 |
CHAPTER TWO THE TEXT OF PHILIPPIANS AS THE CON | 67 |
The Narrative World of Phil | 73 |
ARGUMENTATION AND STRUCTURE IN PHIL | 88 |
CONCLUSION | 132 |
THE RELATION OF V 7 TO VV 811 | 140 |
Particular vs Universal | 212 |
THE MEANING OF AIKAIOZYNH IN THE CONTEXT | 221 |
711 FOCUS | 239 |
THE MEANING OF ΚΟΙΝΩΝΙΑ ΠΑΘΗΜΑΤΩΝ ΑΥΤΟΥ | 245 |
The Nature of the Sufferings of Christ | 256 |
THE MEANING OF ΣΥΜΜΟΡΦΙΖΟΜΕΝΟΣ | 264 |
ATTAINING THE RESURRECTION | 275 |
CHAPTER SIX THE KNOWLEDGE | 287 |
B Expansion and Augmentation in vv 811 Visàvis v 7 | 149 |
SYNTACTIC RELATIONS AND TEMPORAL PERSPEC | 163 |
B The Infinitive Construction vv 1011 | 170 |
The Relation of the Two Purpose Constructions | 189 |
711 FOCUS | 191 |
KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST AND DIVINE WISDOM | 293 |
THEOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS | 321 |
343 | |
359 | |
Common terms and phrases
Albert Debrunner Ambrosiaster aorist appears argues argumentation aspect asserts attitude Augustine biblical Bultmann chiastic structure Christ Jesus Christ's resurrection Christian christology circumcision commentary commentators connection considers context contrast Corinthians death Deden described Dibelius discussion divine Dupont E.P. Sanders epistle eschatological exegesis exhortation expression faith Forestell gain Christ genitive glory Gnosis gnostic God's gospel Hawthorne Hellenistic hymn Ibid interpretation iva clause Jewish Jewish Christian Judaism Karl Barth knowing Christ knowledge of Christ kovovía Lambrecht letter likewise Lohmeyer Lord main verb meaning mystery mystery religions mysticism Nonetheless NPNF NRSV O'Brien opponents participial construction passage Paul Paul's Pauline Paulus perspective Philipperbriefe Philippi Philippians polemic power of Christ's present Räisänen reference regard relation relationship resurrection and participation righteousness salvation Sanders Schenk scholars seems semantic sense sharing Silva Spirit sufferings of Christ suggests syntactic Testament Theology things verb wisdom Ziesler αὐτοῦ καὶ