Philippians — Chapter 2

Two aspects of this chapter get my attention.  First, there is the follow-through from  the last verse of Chapter 1, if not a continuation of the theme of the first chapter, where in verse 9 Paul established the focus of our faith, that our love may abound in knowledge and depth of insight.  The second important point is what scholars consider the oldest creed of the Christian community, verses 6 through 11.

What does it mean to abound in knowledge and insight?  Is it to know what it means to be united with Christ, to experience comfort from his love, to be blessed through the fellowship of the Spirit, to appropriate tenderness and compassion towards others? (v.1).

What troubles a lot of Christians are the  following verses, 2-4.  What does it mean to be like-minded?  I have heard this verse used on numerous occasions as the basis of submission toward church leadership.  People who question the leadership are insinuated from the bully pulpit as being conceited, of advancing their own agenda.  What these people need to do is “consider others better than yourself.”

Yet the real challenge of these verses needs to not only be directed toward our local church, but be a true test of how it applies to people outside the church.  It is indeed ironic that the more a church presses conformity, the more it becomes exclusive and legalistic.  Conformists may not see it in themselves because they live in an environment where everyone is “like-minded,” i.e. spiritually conceited.  When your attitude is such that you cannot love and have fellowship with Christians outside your local church, there is a serious inconsistency with verses 1 and 2.  It also does not hold up when the following verses are presented, that by “like-mindedness” Paul meant people who had the mind of Christ, as demonstrated by his life.

The Early Creed of the Church

• His divinity affirmed — “in very nature God.”
• His humanity affirmed — “made in human likeness,”  “in appearance as a man”
• Obedient unto death on a cross — distinguishes Christ from God the Father
• God has exalted him to the highest place
• With a name above very name
• That all will acknowledge that he is Lord — a name assigned to a supreme ruler

What is fascinating about these verses are that they are simple, eloquent and clear in many respects.  Yet they also demonstrate the seeds of heresy that would emerge almost as soon as the church began to grow.  Most particularly, the two phrases affirming his humanity.  Paul said he only “appeared” in human “likeness”.  Greeks had a hard time wrapping their minds around the concept of a God who would corrupt himself into a human form.  It explains, in many respects, why Islam would so easily spread in the Middle East, for Greeks and Orientals both considered divinity totally separated from humanity.  Because of this paradox, a heretical movement evolved which tried to explain this problem by stating that Jesus only appeared to be human, that the God-presence and the man Jesus were two separate entities.  This heresy was gaining so much ground that John, 30 years later, would write the gospel of John and set the record straight in the first chapter, that the Word was in the beginning, that it was God and was with God, and that the Word became flesh in the man Jesus.

John’s use of the phrase “was God and was with God” closely parallels verse 6, where Paul asserted that “being in very nature God,” he was logically not God, but that Christ chose not to grasp onto this equality, but submitted himself and became a servant (v. 7).

Verse 8 asserts how Jesus died, on a cross.  This may seem trivial, but it is an economic way of affirming the testimonies regarding his life.   And verse 9 logically assumes that he is not dead, but living in a high place of authority.

The Apostles Creed would come along later.  From the Catholic Encyclopedia is a very academic discussion of the creed.  What is interesting is an example of what is called the old Roman creed as quoted by Tertulian ( 3rd century).

(1) Believing in one God Almighty, maker of the world,
(2) and His Son, Jesus Christ,
3) born of the Virgin Mary,
4) crucified under Pontius Pilate,
(5) on the third day brought to life from the dead,
(6) received in heaven,
(7) sitting now at the right hand of the Father,
(8) will come to judge the living and the dead

Today’s Apostles Creed, as sited by the Presbyterian Church and the Church of England:

I believe in God, the Father almighty,

creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died, and was buried;

he descended into hell.

On the third day he rose again;

he ascended into heaven,

he is seated at the right hand of the Father,

and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting.

Amen.