In week four of our study, we look at the letters to Philemon and the Philippians. Philemon is essentially a private letter intended to be read aloud, forcing Philemon to do Paul’s bidding, as it would show a lack of social grace to refuse. We have no idea what the issue was between Philemon and Onesimus, but we do know the historic church has used this letter to justify slavery. The letter to the Philippians is the second of Paul’s ‘prison letters’, and gives insight into the organizing structure, and early hymnody and theology of the first Christian communities, long before the four Gospels set the standard Christian narrative of Jesus and his closest followers.

Join this five week study with video & written supplement, as we look at the history and cultural make-up of some of the earliest Christian communities outside of Jerusalem, and explore early theology through the Letters of Paul.