14 - A building that still stands

Summary

Our final task is to consider the significance of this understanding of Christ and the Christian life for today. There are two aspects to the question.

On the one hand, our aim so far has been to elucidate the thought of the letter to the Philippians as a single document. In the previous chapter we have argued for the coherence of the thinking in Philippians with that expressed in Paul's other letters. But what is the distinctive contribution of Philippians to our understanding of the Christian faith? Suppose that Philippians was missing from the canon: would we be significantly the poorer? If we as Christians regard the Scriptures as being providentially gathered together for our benefit in the church, what is the importance of Philippians within the canon?

On the other hand, we want to know whether we as Christians today can still live in the same theological ‘building’. In discussing this question I proceed on the basis that, if we are in the same situation as the original readers, what is said to them will also apply to us, but if our situation is different the message may need reapplication.

We shall attempt to look at both sides of this question simultaneously as we consider a number of areas where the thought of Philippians may be regarded as in some ways distinctive and also applicable to today.