ABSTRACT
If, for the purposes of this chapter, asceticism is defined as a negative response to a dominant culture,1 then the situation that lies behind Paul’s letter to the Philippians is indeed ascetic. As usual, Paul does not tell us all we would like to know, but the basic fact is clear. The Apostle (although he chooses not so to identify himself in the letter) has been arrested by a Roman official on some charge-which would have been brought against him by private citizens and whose successful prosecution carried a penalty of death. At the time he writes the letter, Paul does not know what the result of the trial will be. The desperate ambiguity of life or death explicitly permeates the first section of the letter and must infiltrate every topic Paul addresses; however, some commentators seem to think Paul was on a Sunday outing while he wrote.
