Reviewed by:

• The Price of Partnership in the Letter of Paul to the Philippians: “Make My Joy Complete” by Mark A. Jennings
• Christoph Stenschke

It is often argued that Paul’s letter to the Philippians has no single clear purpose. In addition, for many students, the letter is a loose compilation of several letters or letter fragments. The present monograph challenges these widespread notions and argues instead that there is evidence that Paul [End Page 404] wrote the letter with the sole purpose of persuading the readers to maintain their partnership with him and his mission of proclaiming the gospel to Jews and gentiles. He urges the Philippians to be steadfast in their commitment to his particular version of the gospel of Christ:

With the exception of a few ancillary matters, almost every element is directed by this view. He exhorted them to persevere in this by dispelling any doubts as to the legitimacy of his apostleship, pointing to the inauthenticity of competing gospel missions, drawing on reciprocal mutuality, and giving prominence to the eschatological promise of their continued fidelity . . . Paul writes to urge the church in Philippi to partake in his gospel mission from the first day until the last

(4).

After a brief statement of the thesis and methodological reflections (1–8), Jennings sets the scene for interpreting the letter in view of its current discussion (9–28), including the integrity of the letter, whether it is a friendship-letter or a family-letter, Paul’s imprisonment and the date of the letter, the theme of disunity and unity, the nature of the gospel and of Paul’s mission, the emphasis on perseverance and the significance of the Philippians’ gift.

In the main section of his study, Jennings moves in seven chapters through the entire letter (29–177) and presents the following overall interpretation of the letter. As the exordium to the entire letter, Philippians 1:1–11 offers a summary of Paul’s view of the Philippians’ fellowship with him in his mission. Philippians 1:12–26, as the narratio, provides the hermeneutical key for understanding the severance that Paul establishes between himself, his loyal partners and his opponents. In Philippians 1:18a, Paul is not affirming the theological position of his rivals, but he emphasises that their disposition towards him indicates that they are at odds with the gospel message itself. In the propositio (2:1–18) and the heart of the letter, the probatio (2:12–18), Paul’s attention to unity is not aimed at potential fractures within the Philippian church, but directed towards their corporate unity with him. The pattern of Christ (2:5–11), the dichotomy between faithful and apostate Israel (2:12–16a) and his own posture of sacrificial giving (2:16b–18) serve as evidence in support of the propositio. Following the Greco-Roman rhetorical convention, Paul then introduces Epaphroditus, Timothy and himself as examples (2:19–4:1). According to Jennings, Paul delays addressing the Philippians’ gift squarely until he had established the proper context for understanding it [End Page 405] (4:2–20). The Philippians’ support is portrayed as a sanctified, righteous fruit that authenticates their faith and demonstrates their fidelity to him and his gospel mission (7).

In the different sections of the letter, Jennings sees Paul addressing three matters: Firstly, the Philippians and Paul had entered into an agreement regarding his apostolic mission (at least in Paul’s presentation!). Because he is certain that it is eschatologically beneficial for both him and the Philippians to preserve their partnership in advancing the gospel mission, mutuality and reciprocity are recurrent themes. Conversely, it is eschatologically perilous for the church to separate from Paul.

Secondly, Paul offers “proofs” that simultaneously affirm the superiority of his apostolic mission and repudiate the claims of his antagonists. Paul’s opponents feature not only in the passages where they are explicitly mentioned (1:15–17, 27–28; 2:14–16; 3:2, 12–16, 18–19), but the threat...

审核人：

• 保罗给腓立比人的信中的合伙人价格：马克·詹宁斯（Mark A. Jennings）的“使我的喜悦完成”
• 克里斯托夫·斯滕切克

经常有人争辩说，保罗给腓立比人的信没有明确的目的。另外，对于许多学生而言，该字母是几个字母或字母片段的松散汇编。本专着对这些广泛的观念提出了质疑，相反，有证据表明保罗[End Page 404]写这封信的唯一目的是说服读者与他保持伙伴关系，以及他向犹太人和外邦人宣讲福音的使命。他敦促腓立比人坚定不移地致力于自己特定版本的基督福音：

除了一些辅助事项外，几乎每个要素都受此观点的指导。他敦促他们坚持不懈地努力，消除对使徒身份合法性的任何怀疑，指出相互竞争的福音任务是不真实的，利用相互的互惠互利，并强调他们继续忠贞的末世论承诺。。。保罗写信敦促腓立比教会从第一天到最后一天都参加他的福音宣教

（4）。

在简短陈述论文和方法论思想之后（1–8），詹宁斯根据当前的讨论（9–28），为解释这封信奠定了基础，包括信的完整性，是否是友谊信。或写给家人的信，保罗的监禁和书信的日期，不团结和团结的主题，福音的性质和保罗的使命，强调坚忍和腓立比人的恩赐的意义。

在他的研究的主要部分，詹宁斯在整封信（29-177）中的七个章节中进行了介绍，并提出了对该信的以下总体解释。腓立比书1：1-11作为整封信的讲义，概述了保罗对腓立比人与他的团契相交的看法。腓立比书1：12-26作为叙述，为理解保罗在他自己，他的忠实伙伴和他的对手之间建立的断绝关系提供了解释学上的关键。在腓立比书1：18a中，保罗没有肯定对手的神学立场，但他强调，他们对他的性情表明他们与福音信息本身不一致。在命题（2：1–18）和书信的中心，见解（2：12-18），保罗对团结的关注不是针对腓立比教会内部潜在的分裂，而是针对他们与他的公司统一。基督的榜样（2：5-11），忠实的和背叛的以色列之间的二分法（2：12-16a）和他自己的奉献姿势（2：16b-18）是支持该主张的证据。按照希腊罗马的修辞惯例，保罗随后介绍了以弗所书，提摩太和他本人为例（2：19–4：1）。根据詹宁斯的说法，保罗推迟了对菲利普人的礼物的直截了当的处理，直到他为理解它提供了适当的背景为止[结束405页]（4：2–20）。腓立比人的支持被描绘成圣洁，公义的果子，可以证明他们的信仰，并向他和他的福音使命表现忠实（7）。

在这封信的不同部分中，詹宁斯认为保罗要解决三个问题：首先，腓立比人和保罗就他的使徒使命达成了协议（至少在保罗的演讲中！）。因为他确信与他和腓立比人保持在推进福音使命方面的伙伴关系在生物学上有利于人类，所以互惠互利是经常出现的主题。相反，从教会的角度讲，教会与保罗分开是危险的。

其次，保罗提供了“证明”，同时证实了使徒使命的优越性，并否定了反对者的主张。保罗的对手不仅在明显提及的段落中表现出来（1：15–17、27–28； 2：14–16； 3：2、12–16、18-19），而且还有威胁...