Incarceration of Paul: Impact of Prison Experiences on Christian Theology

This article discusses the impact of Paul's prison experiences on Christian theology and the three prison epistles he wrote during his incarceration. It also explores the positive letter of Philippians, the Colossians, and Philemon.

Running head: CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY
Christian Theology
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Author Note

1CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY
Incarceration of Paul:
The Plilippians, Colossians and Philemon are the prison epistles which were written by
Paul during his incarceration in Rome (Balabanski 2015). In this regard, it can be witnessed that
Paul came to Rome under the tutelage of Lord Jesus and thoroughly followed his principles. It is
worth mentioning that soon Paul’s incarceration became a symbol towards his journey of
Christianity as he made relative efforts to bring gospels to Lord Jesus to the corners of the earth
(Spiegel 2016). Paul was not hindered from the sharing the message of the Gospels in letters by
encouraging both the church and the individual to follow the principles of Jesus. It is evident that
Paul spent two years of his life in prison and therefore he welcomed all the people who visited
him and in such process preached the principles of Jesus Christ without any obstacles ((Nicklas
2016). In this regard, it can be reflected that Lord Jesus left the world and sent Paul to change the
lives of the individuals.
It is true that Paul visited many cities and Churches during the period of his
imprisonment however; the Holy Spirit that resided within him urged him to stay loyal towards
his imprisonment (Balabanski 2015). When Paul came to Jerusalem, he knew that he shall be
arrested and imprisoned by his enemies however; he believed that this suffering would be
according to the wishes of God. From the very beginning, Paul believed that the intention of the
prophecies was not to discourage him achieving his goal but to prepare him to overcome his
upcoming hardships (Spiegel 2016). Therefore, in this way, Paul’s experiences during his
incarceration have become a denotation towards his Christian journey.
Impact of prison experiences:

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It can be stated that Philippians as considered as a positive letter which was written in
order to show gratitude towards the Christians in Philippi for their financial assistance towards
the missionary work of Paul (Fuchs 2014). The Colossians was written to address the Christians
in Colossae. Philemon was however a personal letter on a runaway slave Onesimus. It is
important to mention here that the three prison epistles were truly based on the concept of
Christian theology. The Philemon was regarded as the most powerful as it addressed the
prevailing slave system during that age. However, the Philemon was the strongest among them
which described the fact that how Christians defined the concept of slavery in their perspectives
(Smit 2015). During the years in imprisonment, Paul’s experiences in prison can be emphasized
which created deep impact into his ideas (Nicklas 2016). During Paul’s second missionary
journey, he expelled a demonic spirit from a slave child and in such process the masters became
angry with Paul as they were making money from the spiritual powers of the child. He was again
arrested in Rome where he spent two years and finally beheaded by the Romans. It can be
observed that Paul has spent a period of six years in prison which created great impact into his
ideas while he was formulating the letters.

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References:
Balabanski, V., 2015. Where is Philemon? The Case for a Logical Fallacy in the Correlation of
the Data in Philemon and Colossians 1.1-2; 4.7-18. Journal for the Study of the New
Testament, 38(2), pp.131-150.
Fuchs, R., 2014. I Kneel Before the Father and Pray for You (Ephesians 3: 14): Date and
Significance of Ephesians, Part 1. European Journal of Theology, 23(1).
Nicklas, T., 2016. Ancient Christian care for prisoners: First and second centuries. Acta
Theologica, 36, pp.49-65.
Smit, P.B., 2015. Are all Voices to be heard? Considerations about Masculinity and the Right to
be heard in Philippians. Lectio Difficilior.
Spiegel, J.S., 2016. Cinematic Illustrations in Christian Theology. Journal of Religion &
Film, 6(2), p.4.