  the epistle of paul to the philippians, usually referred to simply as philippians, is the eleventh book in the new testament. paul visited philippi for the first time on his second missionary journey (49â51 ad). it was the first congregation in europe. biblical scholars are in general agreement that it was written by st. paul to the church of philippi, an early center of christianity in greece around 62 ad.harris, stephen l., understanding the bible. palo alto: mayfield. 1985. ==historical background== the historical background of philippians is traditionally gathered from two main primary new testament sources: (1) informative internal data from the letter itself and (2) related information garnered from the rest of the new testament canon. in the latter's case, this would specifically include the acts of the apostles, and other related pauline epistles.frederick f. bruce, 1989, philippians, nibc, nt series, edited by w. ward gasque (peabody, mass.: hendrickson), 4. other primary information is derived from external historical sources related to the chronological connections between paul's association with philippi, its political and economical setting, and its social and religio-philosophical context as well.wayne jackson, 1987, the book of philippians: a grammatical and practical study (abilene, tex.: quality publications), 13â17. according to the document itself, the philippians had sent epaphroditus, their envoy ("messenger [apostolon] and minister [leitourgon]" phil 2:25), with contributions as an expression of their "partnership" and "concern" to meet the needs of paul (, , and ). during the execution of his responsibilities of travel to deliver their "gift" (), epaphroditus contracted some life-threatening debilitating illness (esthenese, cf. ). at some point he recovers. it is at this time, whether premeditated or due to an extended stay with the apostle various internal matters are revealed to paul on the part of epaphroditus (, , , , , and ). upon epaphroditus' return to health, paul sends word to the philippians through epaphroditus of his upcoming sentence in rome and of his optimism in the face of death (1:18b-26), along with exhortations to imitate his capacity to rejoice in the lord despite one's circumstances (2:14â18). moreover, paul sends counsel regarding spiritual adversaries among the philippian
Ancient_Philippi Canonical_epistles Christianity_in_Roman_Macedonia New_Testament_books Pauline-related_books Prison_writings