What does it mean that the peace of God surpasses all understanding?

Explanation:

When Paul says that God’s peace surpasses all understanding, he means that God’s peace surpasses the human capacity to solve problems. We can deduce that this is what Paul means because he says that the peace of God, which surpasses human understanding, will guard their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Paul thereby introduces military terminology that was familiar to the Philippians.³ To say that the peace of God acts as a guard is to suggest that it provides security and protection. The Philippians would have equated this notion of a guard that provides peace and protection with the protection given to the city of Philippi by the Romans. Still, while the Romans used all of their reasoning and understanding to guard the city of Philippi, the peace of God surpasses all of this human capacity, for it provides internal rather than external security.⁴

Counterargument:

Unfortunately, there is nothing from the context to deduce that when Paul says the peace of Christ will guard their hearts and minds, he has in mind a comparison between God’s peace and the Roman military. Rather, the context has to do with Paul’s command for them to rejoice in the Lord, to give up their anxieties through prayer. By rejoicing and praying to God, the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard their hearts and minds. It is entirely possible that Paul is saying that when the Philippians are discontent or filled with anxiety, if they rejoice and pray to God, God’s incomprehensible peace will keep them from straying away from Christ. This interpretation is consistent with the terminology of God’s peace acting as a guard, and it fits with the immediate context.

Response to counterargument:

The immediate context may not suggest that Paul has military imagery in mind. Still, the recipients of his letter lived in the city of Philippi, which was a Roman colony. As a Roman colony, the Philippians would have been proud of their Roman heritage and the fact that the Roman military could be used to protect and guard them. In fact, Paul uses the same verb (to guard) that he uses in Philippians 4:7 in 2 Corinthians 11:32 where he says the governor was guarding the city in order to seize Paul. Since the verb to guard carries military connotations, and the Philippians were guarded by the Roman military, Paul likely has the connection between protection from Rome, and protection from the peace of God, in mind.

Explanation:

When Paul says that the peace of God surpasses all understanding, we ought to consider his meaning based on what precedes. That is, we ought to understand Paul in light of Philippians 4:6, where he tells the Philippians not to be anxious about anything, but to bring their requests to God in prayer.⁵ The notions of anxiety and bringing requests to God in prayer suggest facing difficulties and having trouble working things out. That is, we get anxious when we have a hard time determining, based on our human reasoning, how our future might go. With this notion of anxiety in mind, we can see what Paul means when he says that God’s peace surpasses all understanding. That is, likely he is saying that when we rely on our human reasoning to solve our difficulties, this process often leads to more anxiety and stress. Instead, we ought to bring our anxieties to God, for his peace is superior to our reasoning capacities.⁶

Counterargument:

While it might be that we ought to use what precedes to understand what it means that God’s peace surpasses all understanding, this does not imply that Paul means that God’s peace surpasses the human’s reasoning capacity. That is, it may just as well imply that God’s peace is incomprehensible. We can deduce this because anxiety is very uncomfortable to endure. Still, Paul says that if you give your anxieties to God, God’s peace, which surpassing all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds. In other words, while experiencing anxiety is uncomfortable, experiencing God’s peace is incomprehensible, so bring your anxieties to God in prayer.

Response to counterargument:

While it might be that experiencing God’s peace is a relief compared to experiencing anxiety, Paul seems to have a deeper point in mind. That is, Paul is calling on the Philippians to entrust their plans, anxieties, and cares to God, not for the temporal relief of experiencing God’s incomprehensible peace but because we consider God in our planning, we acknowledge God’s sovereign power and control. And by acknowledging God’s sovereign power and control, we experience God’s peace, which transcends our capacity to determine our future. Of course, experiencing God’s peace is a relief, but that’s because it takes us beyond out natural reasoning capacities.

The weakness of this view is that it is not the natural meaning of the phrase which surpasses all understanding. If Paul wanted us to see that God’s peace is more powerful than our human reasoning capacity, he could have been more specific. On the face of it, that God’s peace surpasses human reasoning simply means that God’s peace is incomprehensible.

Explanation:

Paul commands the Philippians not to be anxious but to pray to God with thankfulness. By so doing, the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard their hearts and minds in Christ. When Paul says that the peace of God surpasses all understanding, he means that the peace of God is beyond human comprehension. We can detect this is his meaning because he says that the peace of God transcends all νοῦς, which means understanding.¹⁰ Thus, Paul is saying that God’s peace transcends what the mind can understand, which is to say that God’s peace is incomprehensible.

Counterargument:

The term νοῦς can be used to refer to the faculty of the mind, or understanding.¹¹ Thus, Paul could be saying that human understanding can only get one so far, while the peace of God transcends this faculty in terms of working things out.¹² That is to say, imagine a human is trying to work out his anxieties and he relies solely on the faculty of the human understanding to do so. Given the frailty of the human mind, the human may never resolve his anxieties. On the other hand, by bringing everything to God in prayer, God’s peace, which exceeds the capacity of the human faculty of understanding, will guard the heart and mind in Jesus Christ.

Response to counterargument:

This view has it that according to Paul, humans have a faculty, that is, the mind/understanding, and that humans cannot dispel anxieties by utilizing this faculty. On the other hand, God’s peace is able to dispel anxieties, and therefore his peace surpasses the capacity of the human faculty of understanding. The problem here is that in this section, Paul does not suggest that the Philippians are trying to work things out and failing. That is, Paul does not say, Stop trying to work out your problems with your understanding and pray instead, because God’s peace surpasses your understanding. Rather, Paul commands the Philippians to pray, with the result that such prayer will lead to the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding. Given that Paul says nothing about the inferiority of the human faculty of νοῦς to resolve anxieties, more likely he is simply saying that the peace of God cannot be grasped by the νοῦς.

Explanation:

Paul commands the Philippians to pray to God (Philippians 4:6), explaining that the result of such prayer is that the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard their hearts and minds in Christ (Philippians 4:7). When we consider the historical context of the Philippians, we can deduce that the peace of God surpassing understanding means that his peace is incomprehensible. To say it another way, God’s peace is beyond the capacity of our intellect because we experience it in completely unexpected situations. Now, we know that Paul is writing to the Philippians from prison (Philippians 1:13), where he undoubtedly suffers. Further, he calls on the Philippians to follow his example, implying that suffering awaits them too (Philippians 3:17). Also, we know there is some strife in the believing community at Philippi (Philippians 4:2). All of this implies that the Philippians face difficulties ahead. Still, Paul commands them to bring their anxieties to God in pray, for then they will experience the impossible.¹³ That is, in the face of trial and adversity, they will experience the overwhelming peace of God. That the Philippians will experience the peace of God in impossible situations implies that the peace of God surpasses the capacity of the human mind to grasp.

Counterargument:

The historical context is not as specific as this argument contends. That is, Paul is not addressing the specific difficulties faced by the situation of the Philippians by exhorting them to pray. Rather, he is teaching them general rules for Christian living, which include bringing one’s anxieties to God in prayer, with thanksgiving. Thus, Paul is not implying that while the Philippians face an assortment of difficulties, through prayer, they will experience the incomprehensible peace of God. Of course, if Paul is not addressing the Philippians’ context, then one cannot use the historical context to argue that the peace of God surpassing understanding, means that the peace of God is beyond human comprehension.

Response to counterargument:

Even if Paul is not addressing the Philippians' immediate historical context, he is still addressing the general context of all Christians. And by addressing the general context of all Christians, he is saying that the peace of God is beyond human understanding in that it will be experienced in impossible situations. Facing anxiety and difficulty is a situation all Christians will endure from time to time. And when these bring their cares to God, God’s peace will envelop the believer even in the most impossible situations.

The weakness of this view is that if God’s peace is incomprehensible, then it seems we cannot even describe it. That is, if God’s peace literally transcends the human capacity of understanding, then it would be impossible to understand when God’s peace has come upon us. And if it is impossible to understand when God’s peace has come upon us, it is impossible to know that God’s peace results from bringing our anxieties to God in prayer. Of course, Paul might mean not that God’s peace is literally incomprehensible but that it is great beyond description.