The Theme and Structure of Philippians

Among exegetes, Philippians has been sort of a "Rubik's Cube" of the Pauline literature. Many times it has been twisted, turned, and rearranged as scholars have attempted to make the best sense they could of it. They have sensed that the book has no central theme systematically developed in a logical argument throughout the epistle. "Since the early days of historical critical research, exegetes have had difficulty finding any main theme or a line of argument in Philippians." While there have been exceptions, this difficulty has generated three responses among interpreters. With the exception of Lohmeyer, most interpretations of the epistle can be categorized as follows. First, many commentators hold that because of the emotional and hortatory nature of the letter, no central idea or inner logical coherence is really necessary. Being a personal and friendly letter, Paul skips from one subject to another as various topics come to mind. To anyone reading this epistle as a familiar letter of Paul to a greatly beloved church, intended to inform them concerning his own circumstances, to thank them for their generous care for him, and to give such counsel as his knowledge of their condition might suggest, its informal and unsystematic character and its abrupt transitions from one theme to another will appear entirely natural.