The Epistles Of Paul To The Colossians And To Philemon

Wright's work on the Books of Colossians and Philemon constitutes a volume in the Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, a popular series designed to help the general Bible reader understand clearly what the text actually says and what it means, without undue reliance on scholarly technicalities.

Paul's Epistle to the Colossians merits detailed study for at least two reasons. First, it provides an unexpectedly interesting window into the character of Christianity in Asia Minor in the second half of the first century. With the information it gives about the religious tensions within which emergent Christianity was caught up, not least those between Christianity and diaspora Judaism, we begin to gain more insight into the influences and factors that shaped the transition from apostolic to subapostolic Christianity in the region. Second, Colossians represents a crucial stage in the development of Pauline theology itself. Whether it was written at the end of Paul's life or soon after his death, it indicates how Pauline theology retained its own vital character and did not die with Paul. In this volume in the celebrated New International Greek Testament Commentary, James D. G. Dunn, author of numerous well-received works on the historical origin and theological interpretation of the New Testament, provides detailed expositions of the text of Paul's letters to the Colossians and to Philemon. Dunn examines each of these letters within the context of the Jewish and Hellenistic cultures in the first century, and discusses the place of Colossians and Philemon in the relationship between the Pauline mission and the early churches that received these letters. Particular stress is also placed on the role of faith in Jesus Christ within and over against Judaism and on the counsel of these two important letters with regard to the shaping of human relationships in the community of faith.

In this volume in the celebrated New International Greek Testament Commentary series, James D. G. Dunn, author of numerous well-received works on the historical origin and theological interpretation of the New Testament, provides detailed expositions of the text of Paul s letters to the Colossians and to Philemon. Dunn examines each of these letters within the context of the Jewish and Hellenistic cultures in the first century, and he discusses the place of Colossians and Philemon in the relationship between the Pauline mission and the early churches that received these letters. He places particular stress on the role of faith in Jesus Christ within and over against Judaism and on the counsel of these two important letters with regard to the shaping of human relationships in the community of faith.

H. C. G. Moule (1841-1920), evangelical Anglican bishop and academic, was one of the foremost New Testament scholars in the Church of England in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The author of more than sixty books and pamphlets, Moule followed in the English scholar-bishop tradition of Lightfoot and Westcott.

This is a theological commentary on the Greek text; on the foundation of linguistic detail is based a doctrinal exposition. The first section of the Introduction is on the religious ideas of the epistles, and frequent allusion is made throughout the commentary to works on New Testament theology. There are special notes on many of the important theological terms such as 'knowledge', 'mystery', pleroma, as well as on linguistic points, such as the use of the reflexive pronoun. But attention is devoted also to critical and introductory matters, and this is, it is believed, the first commentary on Colossians and Philemon to discuss in some detail the theories of Professors E. J. Goodspeed and J. Knox. The commentary is documented with references to works in English, French and German, for those who wish to follow up the study in greater detail. But the aim has been to make the exposition as far as possible self-contained and intelligible to a reader with no other books before him than the New Testament in Greek and the Old Testament in English.

This trusted commentary by Jac J. Müller provides careful expositions of Philippians and Philemon that are characterized by a desire to balance the requirements of exacting scholarship and the need to relate Scripture to personal faith. In treating insightfully and comprehensively these Pauline epistles, Müller first provides essential historical and critical background to each text, including its date and place of origin, its occasion and purpose, and its style, structure, and general themes. The commentaries themselves then proceed through the texts section-by-section, making clear Paul's message both to his original audiences and to readers today. Long included in the widely acclaimed New International Commentary on the New Testament series and now available as an independent work, this volume continues to hold extraordinary value for scholars, pastors, students, and general readers alike. "This is a painstaking and helpful commentary." - The British Weekly Jac J. Müller was professor of New Testament at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. His other books explored themes in New Testament studies and church ministry.