Why does Paul exhort the Philippians to think about the list of virtues?

Explanation:

Paul presents a list of virtues and then call on the Philippians to think about these. Most likely, Paul does this because he wants the Philippians to take such virtues into account in their thinking, and thus cultivate good ethical behaviour. Interestingly, the list of virtues and characteristics that Paul lists mimics similar lists offered by Greek philosophers.³ Further, we know from other passages that it is not uncommon for Paul to motivate behaviour in accordance with the surrounding pagan culture. For example, in Romans 13:1 he commands the Romans to be subject to the pagan governing authorities. And in 1 Corinthians 5:1–2 he condemns behaviour that not even the pagans partake in.⁴ Likewise, here in Philippians 4:8 he refers to a list of virtues and characteristics that may be known from pagan sources, and exhorts the Philippians to think about these in order to cultivate right conduct. Thus, the Philippians are to think about the pagan virtues and characteristics in order to continually develop in ethical living.

Counterargument:

The list of virtues and characteristics presented by Paul are distinctly Christian. We can deduce this by the wider and immediate context of the letter. For we know from the letter that Paul emphasizes the higher citizenship of the Philippians over and above their earthly Roman status (Philippians 3:20). The notion that he would remind the Philippians that they are citizens of heaven, only to exhort them to behave like the pagans around them, is not sensible.⁵ Of course, if Paul is not offering a list of pagan virtues and characteristics in order to motivate behaviour, then one cannot argue from the fact that Paul does this in other passages to support the notion that he offers the list to motivate behaviour.

Response to counterargument:

There are two problems with this counterargument. First, it overlooks the fact that we are arguing from other passages to show that Paul sometimes uses the example of pagans to motivate behaviour. This means that the counterargument cannot rely on themes from Philippians, such as heavenly citizenship, to show that Paul would not rely on the examples of pagans to motivate behaviour. Rather, this counterargument has to show that Paul does not do this in other passages, which it fails to do. Second, that the Philippians are citizens of heaven does not imply that there are no virtues among the pagans. The fact is, God created the universe along with innate moral sensibilities. While these sensibilities are mired with sin, it is still possible to reflect on the standard of morality that is recognized by both believers and non-believers.⁶ In other words, God is the source of ideal morality. So, when pagans advocate morality, since morality is from God, it is fitting for Paul to promote ethical living through pagan sources.

Explanation:

Paul presents a list of virtues and excellencies and then uses the verb λογίζομαι (to count) to exhort the Philippians to think or to take account of such things. The verb is important because it literally means to give careful thought to a matter.⁷ In other words, Paul is exhorting the Philippians not just to think about but to think carefully over the virtues and characteristics he listed. So why would he exhort them to think carefully over the virtues and characteristics he listed? Most likely because he wants to motivate the Philippians to avoid sinful behaviour, and he knows that sin begins with the mind.⁸ That is, when our minds are filled with trivial or petty thoughts, we are apt to fall into sin, but when our minds are filled with virtues, petty thoughts are pushed aside and sin is resisted.⁹

Counterargument:

It is not clear that Paul connects the contents of the mind with resisting sin. That is, he does not say that when the mind is on trivial things, one is more likely to fall into sin, but when it is set on virtues, it can resist sin. Rather, he lists a set of virtues and characteristics and then exhorts the Philippians to carefully reflect on these. Now, we know that similar lists are found in pagan sources. So, Paul might be calling on the Philippians to perceive that the pagans have sound virtues and characteristics, so although the Philippians are persecuted by the pagans, pagan morality should not be completely abandoned.¹⁰

Response to counterargument:

Paul does not need to explicitly explain that by setting their minds on the virtues and characteristics the Philippians will resist sin. Rather, the notion that sin will be avoided by reflecting on the virtues is implied. In fact, we can detect from the immediate context that Paul has behaviour in mind, because he follows up Philippians 4:8 with Philippians 4:9 where he tells the Philippians to do whatever they have learned and received from Paul. And earlier in Philippians 3:17, Paul calls on the Philippians to imitate him, which has to do with behaving as a Christian. Of course, the virtues and characteristics listed are closely associated with behaviour. For the virtues listed include whatever is true, honourable, just, and the like. Thus, given that in Philippians 3:17 and Philippians 4:9, Paul is concerned with the Philippians’ behaviour, and that the virtues are closely associated with behaviour, when Paul exhorts the Philippians to reflect on the virtues, he likely intends for them to fill their minds such that they resist sin.

It is hard to see what the weakness of this view might be. One could argue that Paul never states why he exhorts the Philippians to think carefully about the list of virtues, and so we cannot draw any conclusions as to his intent. Still, such a weakness is only apparent, for inferring an author’s meaning is the task of biblical interpretation.

Explanation:

Paul presents a list of virtues and excellencies and then exhorts the Philippians to think about these things. So why should the Philippians think about the list of virtues and excellencies? Most likely, Paul wants the Philippians to see that although they are separate from the world, they are not to abandon worldly culture entirely.¹⁶ We can deduce that this is Paul’s meaning because the list of virtues he presents can be found in the writings of ancient secular thinkers. For example, the terms are the same terms used by the Stoic philosophers, by Plato in the Republic, and by Aristotle in the Nicomachean Ethics.¹⁷ We might even say that Paul is using the language of Hellenistic moralism in this section.¹⁸ Given that he uses language that is closely associated with secular Greek philosophers and then calls on the Philippians to think about these things, we can deduce that he is suggesting that there are some good things about the worldly culture that are not to be abandoned.¹⁹

Counterargument:

There are two problems with this argument. First, it is not clear that the list Paul presents reflects Hellenistic moralism. That is, it is more likely that Paul presents a list of distinctly Christian virtues, and it just so happens that many secular thinkers also found value in such virtues.²⁰ We know that things such as truth, honour, justice, and purity find their source in God, so thinking about truth, honour, justice, and purity is a distinctly Christian activity. Of course, since these virtues are objectively good, and God created humans with faculties that are able to discern, at least in some small part, what is good, it’s no surprise that secular philosophers would extol things such as truth, honour, justice, and purity.

Second, even if Paul does connect with the Philippians by exhorting them to think about a list of virtues that are typically found in secular writings, this does not mean that his intent is for them to see that secular culture is not all bad. The fact is, there is nothing from the context to suggest that the Philippians had an unhealthy view of secular culture. Rather, the context has to do with right Christian conduct (Philippians 3:17–21), and as an astute evangelist, Paul utilizes thought patterns to which the Philippians could relate to encourage such conduct. In other words, given that the Philippians were a Roman colony, they were likely familiar with secular philosophers, so Paul utilizes the content of secular philosophy to motivate right Christian behaviour. This is far more likely, given the context, than that Paul wants to teach the Philippians not to reject all worldly culture.

Response to counterargument:

The problem with this counterargument is that there is strong evidence to suppose that the list of virtues is not distinctly Christian.²¹ In fact, the list would readily be presented and accepted by many people in Paul’s time. For example, the Stoic philosopher Cleanthes offers a list of virtues similar to the one presented by Paul when he defines the good.²² Further, we know that Plato, Aristotle, Dio Chrysostom, Plutarch, and others all offered and extolled virtue lists similar to Paul’s.²³ Thus, while it might be that Paul offers the list to motivate right Christian behaviour, as the above counterargument holds, it is not accurate to suggest that the list of virtues is distinctly Christian, if that implies that these lists never appear in the work of secular thinkers.

Explanation:

In order to understand why Paul exhorts the Philippians to think about the virtues he lists, it is important to understand the historical context. Most likely the Philippian church faced some persecution from their fellow citizens in Philippi.²⁴ Paul knows that they face such opposition, and he is worried that this will lead them to reject their culture wholesale. This is a problem because he knows that God created the universe and there is much good for believers to affirm in the cultures in which they live.²⁵ Thus, Paul presents the list of virtues and exhorts the Philippians to think about them, in order to show them that the wider culture cannot be rejected wholesale.²⁶

Counterargument:

There are two problems with this argument. First, it gives us no evidence to think that the Philippians faced persecution. Rather, this view simply asserts that the Philippians faced persecution, and then from this, it draws conclusions about Paul’s intended meaning. Of course, if Paul’s meaning is coloured by the fact that the Philippians face persecution, it would be good to point out why we should take it that in fact, the Philippians are being persecuted. Second, even if the Philippians do face persecution, when we determine an author’s meaning, we have to rely on both the historical and literary context. According to the historical context, the Philippians may be persecuted, but there is nothing from the literary context to support that the Philippians need to be exhorted not to reject secular culture. Rather, Paul has been encouraging the Philippians to right Christian behaviour (Philippians 2:3–5; Philippians 3:17–21) and virtues such as truth, justice, honour, and the like are universal qualities that reflect God’s perfect character. Thus, whether one is secular or Christian, reflecting on the virtues listed ought to lead to right conduct, which seems to be Paul’s point.

The weakness of this view is that it confuses Paul’s method with his intent. Paul’s intent is to exhort the Philippians to right Christian behaviour, and the method he uses for doing this is to utilize the virtue lists of Greek philosophers. That Paul utilizes such a method shows that there are aspects of secular culture worth contemplating, but this is not Paul’s intent. Paul’s intent is to encourage good Christian conduct. Of course, our task as exegetes is to determine an author’s meaning, not the implications of his method.