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  • From: "John Dickson" <dicksonj AT bigpond.net.au>
  • To: "Corpus-paul" <corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Phil. 1:12-18 - opponents?
  • Date: Fri, 19 Apr 2002 14:45:32 +1000


Vince Endris wrote:

> ... I am primarily
> interested in these "opponents" of Paul. I have done much reading on this
> problem and am surprised at the lack of literature on it, and at the most
> widely accepted answers. It seems like there are a lot of writers who
> believe these to be Jewish Christians. However, to me this just can not
be
> the case. Paul rejoices in that these opponents are preaching Christ.
This
> is opposed to how he talks about Jewish Christians (even with in the same
> letter, i.e. 3:2).

Vince, the opponents may be 'Jewish Christians' but not of the type
castigated in chapter 3 - we must remember there were Jewish Christians and
there were Jewish Christians.
For what it's worth, I take it that hOI ADELFOI in 1:14ff. refers to
preaching colleagues in Rome, Ephesus, Caesarea (or wherever one wishes to
place Paul) with whom Paul is having something of a 'personal' dispute: I
suspect it has nothing to do with what we call 'theology'. Paul's comments
in 2:21 commend this reading. There, Paul speaks of men who, like Timothy,
were preaching colleagues but who, unlike Timothy, "sought their own
concerns," in the judgement of Paul. The language appears to recall 1:15-17.
Whether these 'opponents' were Jewish converts or Gentile ones, whether they
were local church preachers or part of Paul's missionary band, I think we
can not tell.
Kind regards,
John Dickson
Department of Ancient History
Macquarie University
Sydney, Australia





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