The Letter to the Philippians penned by Polycarp of Smyrna is sometimes dismissed as an example of a proof-texting moralism, indicative of the post-apostolic church’s fall from the heights of Pauline Christianity. Read on its own terms, this complex exhortatory letter reveals a vigorous, pastorally sensitive effort to integrate both behavioural and theological aspects of ‘righteousness’ as Polycarp seeks to maintain the stability and integrity of the Philippian congregation.
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2.
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3.
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4.
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5.
B. Dehandschutter , ‘Polycarp’s Epistle to the Philippians: An Early Example of “Reception”’, in J.-M. Sevrin (ed.), The New Testament in Early Christianity ( Leuven: Leuven University Press and Peeters , 1989), 275-291.
6.
P. Hartog , Polycarp and the New Testament: The Occasion, Rhetoric, Theme, and Unity of the Epistle to the Philippians and its Allusions to New Testament Literature (WUNT 2.134; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck , 2002).
7.
P. N. Harrison , Polycarp’s Two Epistles to the Philippians ( Cambridge: Cambridge University Press , 1936).
8.
A. C. Headlam , ‘The Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians’ , Church Quarterly Review141 No. 281 (1945), 1-25 .
9.
M. W. Holmes , ‘Polycarp’s Letter to the Philippians and the Writings that Later Formed the New Testament’, in A. Gregory and C. M. Tuckett (eds.), The Reception of the New Testament in the Apostolic Fathers ( Oxford: OUP , 2005).
10.
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11.
H. O. Maier , ‘Purity and Danger in Polycarp’s Epistle to the Philippians: The Sin of Valens in Social Perspective’ , Journal of Early Christian Studies1 (1993), 229-247 .
12.
P. Meinhold , ‘Polykarpos’, Pauly-Wissowa , Real-encyclopädie21.2 (1952), 1662-1693 .
13.
H. Paulsen, Die Briefe des Ignatius von Antiochia und der Brief des Polykarp von Smyrna, 2nd edn (HNT 18; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1985).
14.
W. R. Schoedel , Polycarp, Martyrdom of Polycarp, Fragments of Papias (The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 5; Camden, NJ: Nelson , 1967).
15.
W. R. Schoedel , ‘Polycarp of Smyrna and Ignatius of Antioch’ , ANRWII.27.1 (1993), 272-358 .
16.
P. Steinmetz , ‘Polykarp von Smyrna über die Gerechtigkeit’ , Hermes100 (1972), 63-75 .
