Summarizing as an aid to reading

When making an outline of a book, what questions should you ask?   For Paul's letters in particular, and for other books generally, you should be looking for the background information that will help you to make better sense of its themes.  You may want to remember the acronym ‘AROMA’ for this:  Who were the book’s Author/s and Recipient/s.  What Occasion or events prompted its writing?  And in this situation, what Message did it carry?   The fifth letter is for Anything Else you find interesting.

There are two other key things to say here:  Firstly, you will probably benefit from reading the book straight through in one sitting, even two or three times if that's what what it takes to get a sense of continuity about it in your mind.  Secondly, you're wanting an overview, at least to start with, so if you don't understand a section, just put a big question mark in your outline and move on.  The other parts may help you to understand it when you come back.

(Here's one I prepared earlier…)

One of the shortest books in the New Testament is a letter from Paul to a friend, Philemon, concerning a mutual aquaintance, Onesimus.  Its size and simplicity make it a good first choice as an example, and it can be found just before the book of Hebrews in the New Testament, or online here. In the Bible I am using as I write this, it fits on a single page.

The first thing to do is find a quiet place and read Philemon from start to finish — more than once if you need to — to get an overall feel for the book.  Consciously ignore its title, subheadings, and chapter and verse numbers, as well as any study notes or cross-references your Bible may contain.  These are only aids to reading, and not part of the letter itself.  Do not ignore footnotes, however!  They alert you to important translation issues.

Now, notice that the letter is in four obvious sections:  (1) An addressing paragraph that identifies who it is from and to, (2) a prayer and thanksgiving for the recipient, (3) the content of the letter, and finally (4) a short conclusion in which a couple of unrelated items are added.  This is the normal basic structure of one of Paul's letters.

Read it through more closely now, with a pen and paper handy, and try to fill out the AROMA acronym that I mentioned above:  What does the letter tell you about its author, recipients, occasion and message (and does anything else catch your attention)?  You may want to take a few minutes and work out your answers before you compare them with mine:

Author

Paul and Timothy (v.1).  Paul has been in custody for a while now (v.10,12)

Recipients

Philemon and several others, including a house church (v.2).  Paul considers Philemon a fellow worker (v.1,17).

Occasion

A slave called Onesimus, who was owned by Philemon before running away, has later become a Christian and a friend of Paul’s.  Paul is sending a letter about him to Philemon, regarding his return.

Message

Paul requests that Onesimus be received "no longer as a slave; but better than a slave; as a dear brother" (v.16), and insists that Philemon charge to his own account any wrong Onesimus may previously have done (v.18). Paul believes that accepting Onesimus back is what Philemon ought to do anyway, but wants him to do so on the basis of love (v.8- 9), not begrudgingly (v.14). 

Anything else?

Two interesting issues strike me (you may find more): (1) What is the nature of the authority that Paul refers to, and the debt of gratitude that Philemon owes him? — how does this affect Paul’s interceding on Onesimus’ behalf? (v.8, 19)  (2) What are Paul and Philemon's attitudes to slavery?  Paul does not explicitly condemn slavery as a social institution (though perhaps a personal letter is not the place to expect this in any case).  We can observe, however, that his request entirely disregards the established and assumed class separation between slaves and free citizens — on which Roman society was economically dependent — and he expects Onesimus to be received not as a slave, but as a brother (v.16), just as Paul himself would be received (v.17).

On reading through, it should be evident that an understanding of the practice of slavery in the Roman Empire (eg. the status and treatment of its tens of millions of slaves, the penalities for fugitive slaves, and the economic and social implications of this class division in society), will enable a better understanding of Philemon.  Books on Roman history, and commentaries on Philemon in particular, will address this.

We are now in a position to outline the letter in detail:

1. Addressing — vv.1-3
2. Prayer and thanksgiving — vv. 4-7
3. Paul's plea on Onesimus’ behalf — vv.8-21
1. Freely receive him back as a dear brother — vv.8-16
2. Receive him as you would receive me — vv.17-21
4. Closing remarks — vv.22-25

The argument in Philemon is fairly straightforward, and you should by now be able to state it in a single short sentence.  It only has one topic section in between its opening and its conclusion.  The ability to outline a book is a basic skill if you want to get any kind of understanding of the Bible.  And fortunately, 90% of it requires no more specialized knowledge than this (and a bit of common sense in knowing when to go and look things up).  We'll next look at Philippians, a letter of Paul's to a church in Philippi (in ancient Macedonia, now the Balkans), which in many ways is similar to Philemon, but runs for several chapters.

Paul’s letter to a Christian community in the city of Philippi is around four times as long as his letter to Philemon, and has several obvious topical divisions in its message, which, like Philemon, is very personal in its tone and subject. 

Once again, read quickly through and note the main divisions. You'll probably notice the following divisions, though they could all be named differently:

1. Addressing — 1:1-2
2. Prayer and Thanksgiving — 1:3-11
3. Body of letter — 1:12-2:18
4. Digression, re: Timothy and Epaphroditus — 2:19-3:0
5. Body of letter continues — 3:1-4:9
6. Thanks and farewell — 4:10-23

Now, consider the background questions that we raised above with the AROMA acronym.  (Again, feel free to read through and try to find these for yourself.)

Author

Paul ('and Timothy' in v.1:1, though Paul writes in the first person)

Recipients

The letter is addressed to the entire church in Philippi, specifically including its leaders (v.1).  They have been Paul’s partners in ministry (v.1:5, 4:3), and he regards them with esteem (eg. 3:15-16, but note the tone throughout), affection (1:7, 4:1), and gratitude (4:10ff).

Occasion

Paul is in custody (1:12-14), and though he hopes to be free again soon he does not know how or when this will happen (v.2:23-24).  He is sending Epaphroditus (who presumably will carry the letter) to Philippi.  Epaphroditus had brought some gifts or support from the church there to Paul in prison (4:10-19), before falling seriously ill (2:25- 30).

Message

Paul is writing to reassure them that he is going well in spite of anything that has happened (or may yet happen) to him (1:12-25; 2:17,24).  He wants them to excel in character and progress (throughout, see the outline below), partly so that he in turn will be encouraged by their own steadfastness (1:29; 2:2,16).  Paul is also expressing his gratitude for Epaphroditus’ visit (and the gift he brought from Philippi), and assuring the Philippians that he had recovered from his illness.  A major theme throughout is that peace and joy are natural characteristics of their spiritual lives, though they are still to be consciously chosen and guarded (eg. 1:18- 26; 3:1; 4:4-7).

Anything else?

Philippians contains some of the most memorable and uplifting passages in the New Testament (eg. 1:9-11,21-24; 2:5-11; 3:7-11,13-14; 4:4- 9).  This is what you would expect of a book that was written to encourage and inspire, rather than specifically to teach or correct, as most of the longer NT books were.  Like Philemon, it says more about Paul's spirituality than his theology (though the two are intertwined).  Interesting questions include:  (1) how exactly were others 'stirring up' trouble for Paul in 1:17?  (2) How does Paul relate his confidence in the Philippians’ spiritual growth with his encouragements and exhortations to that end (evidently it's not a question of having one or the other)?  (3) How do cases like Epaphroditus relate to Paul’s experience and teaching elsewhere on healing? 

So now, as above, we can outline the book in some detail, and see its bigger picture.  Notice, for example, that the passage on Jesus’ nature in 2:6-11 is not there simply for its own sake, but to support v.4, where Paul is urging servanthood and humility.  Jesus is given as the ultimate example of this.  This itself is twice related back to Paul’s joy in knowing that they are strong and growing (v.2:2,17) even though he can't be with them (v.1:27).  That's why this section follows a section where he’s telling them that he’s OK in spite of being in prison.  Every part has a context that helps you to understand more of its meaning.

If you've tried to summarize the book before reading further, I hope you've found three major sections, which I've emphasized below:

1. Addressing — 1:1-2
2. Prayer, thanks and encouragement — 1:3-11
3. Paul's hardships are and will be working out for good — 1:12-26
1. Others are speaking more boldly about Jesus because of his example — 1:12-14
2. Even if some have wrong motives, at least it's happening — 1:15-18
3. Even though Paul wants to live, for their sake, either life or death will be great — 1:18-26
4. Authentic, godly conduct — 1:27-2:18
• This is a complex passage, weaving several themes together (unity and humility, resilience in the face of opposition, obedience and holiness, and Paul’s consequent joy and encouragment), and encapsulating them in the example of Jesus’ incarnation
5. Digression concerning Timothy and Epaphroditus (their integrity, example and forthcoming trips to Philippi) — 2:19-30
6. Making progress — 3:1-4:9
1. Forget legalistic righteousness (been there, done that), rather press on in knowing God himself — 3:1-16
2. Follow Paul’s own example of this — 3:17-4:1
3. Pursue peace with each other, with God and in yourself — 4:2-9
7. Thanks for their gifts — 4:10-20
8. Farewell — 4:21-23

If you have found the above examples to be instructive, you might now wish to try a few books for yourself.  My suggestions would be 1 Timothy, Colossians or James for something short, and 2 Corinthians, Luke or Acts for something longer.  Relatively complex books like Romans or Revelation should be left until you better understand the others (eg. read Galatians before Romans, and find a commentary or bible handbook to refer to when you get stuck).