Living and Dying Well in Philippians : A Comparative Analysis of Ancient Sources

What does it mean to flourish? This is one of the bedrock questions of human existence. Gregory Lamb addresses this seminally important question from the ancient perspectives of living and dying well and through Paul''s puzzling maxim in Philippians 1:21.

The contemporary bifurcation of living and dying and the aversion of death are largely absent in ancient conceptions of human flourishing. Gregory Lamb bridges this gap by combining living and dying well as the twin facets of flourishing and by comparing the often-competing conceptions of flourishing within salient ancient sources (up to 100 CE). Beginning with Paul''s concept of flourishing in Philippians, and then comparing/contrasting popular Greco-Roman, Egyptian, and Second Temple Jewish views, the volume advocates a "kaleidoscopic" reading of Paul that attunes to the complex diversity and Sitze im Leben of the Philippians. The author argues that Philippians is central to Paul''s presentation of flourishing as a Christocentric, cruciform life, and that despite the competing conceptions of living and dying well in the cultures around him, Paul, nonetheless, stands in stark contrast to them.