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  • From: "Sheila E. McGinn, Ph.D." <smcginn AT jcu.edu>
  • To: Corpus-paul <corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Philemon
  • Date: Sat, 18 May 2002 18:55:26 -0400


David Inglis wrote:

> ... I believe that the evidence is clear that Ephesians, Colossians, and
> Philemon were all
> written at about the same
> time, and were all taken to their various destinations by Onesimus and
> Tychicus as part of the
> same 'mail run'.

David, perhaps you are presently more interested in the Phil. issues, but
this claim is what got
my attention. I do not agree that Col and Phlm were written "at about the
same time" and
delivered "as part of the same 'mail run.'" I find the theologies of these
letters almost
diametrically opposite to each other. I have argued this case more fully
elsewhere but, in brief,
I think that if you compare the treatment of slaves/slavery and lordship
(esp. that of Christ), it
becomes quite plausible that Col is a pseudonymous letter intended as a
_replacement_ of Phlm. In
addition, the theology of baptism presented in Col (and Eph) is contrary to
that of Romans 6
(where we are buried with Christ but our resurrection is most definitely a
future hope) -- which
you recognize to be from roughly the same time as Phil, whether before or
after is irrelevant to
this particular point -- and the eschatology of Col (and Eph) is a fully
realized eschatology,
whereas Paul's view (from his earliest letter, 1 Thess, through his last
ones, Phil & Rom) is
consistently a futuristic one (e.g., Col 1:13 v. Phil 3:20-21). Given the
consensus on the
pseudonymity of Eph at least, and prob. Col as well, you might moderate your
claims somewhat about
how "clear" the evidence is on these issues. SEMcGinn




  • Philemon, Sheila E. McGinn, Ph.D., 05/18/2002
    • <Possible follow-up(s)>
    • Re: Philemon, David Inglis, 05/23/2002

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