Bible Studies: Analysis of Paul's Prison Epistle Books

Paul wrote letters meant to be shared with all new churches, but while Paul was writing the letter to the Church of Ephesus, Romans incarcerated him restricting him to a jail cell for the spreading the word of the Gospel.

Paul's letters to the church, also known as epistles, are considered some of the most important documents in the New Testament. Paul's writings continue to shape and forge church even today. His letters were written in some of the darkest, most intense moments of Paul's life, but they also celebrate the grace, love, and life changing power of Jesus. Paul's journey in faith is shown in raw, unapologetic honesty, and inspires Christians to maintain a forward momentum, and to run the race Paul speaks so passionately about in Hebrews 12:1. Paul is able to write with both confidence and humility as he writes about the Christian journey.

The book of Ephesians is one of Paul’s many New Testament letters, or epistles, to the Christian church still in its infancy. At the time of its writing, Paul is in Rome, imprisoned for championing the purposes of Christ and growing the church. We see numerous occurrences where Paul, being a man of little concern for the status quo, is either imprisoned or fleeing capture by Jewish or Roman officials for usurping the latter (Acts 19: 23-41). The date of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is dated 60-61A.D., depending on differing research. While this is certainly one of his epistles known as the “prison letters”, Ephesians was penned prior to Paul’s first roman

The Apostle Paul wrote the book of Colossians to the church in Colossae. It was thought that Paul completed this epistle from Rome while he was arrested, between A.D. 60 and 62, unable to travel to Colossae to help them.1 Paul wrote Colossians primarily to respond to a particular problem. The main concerns involved in Paul’s epistle were the misconstrued doctrine of Christ, and the misinterpretation of how this doctrine affected and influenced being a follower of Christ.

Christianity was still quite young at the time Paul wrote to Philemon and was faced with much opposition. The Church existed as local bodies of believers, meeting primarily in homes because there were no church buildings for worship. Persecution of the Church was prevalent and their survival depended heavily on dependence on one another and unity. Many misconceptions and even blatant lies

Ephesians is a letter written by the Apostle Paul during his imprisonment in Rome. This is the same Paul who had previously persecuted the church. He is not writing to a particular church body, rather his intended audience was various churches in the surrounding vicinity of Ephesus. To encourage

Philippians is a letter written by Paul when he was in jail. It is unknown where he was in jail at. The letter is written to the people of Philippi who have helped support Paul in his early journeys and church planting missions. Paul addresses suffering, unity, and having joy in Christ. Paul also includes a well know Christ hymn.

Philippians The book of Philippians deals with praise, confidence and rejoicing. The book of Philippians was a letter written in prison by Paul in 62 A.D. The key personalities are the Apostle Paul, Timothy, Epaphroditus, Euodia, and Syntyche ( Philippians). Paul is known for his prison epistles ( letter written in jail) there are four and Paul had written Philippians last.

Pauls letters were written when he was imprisoned and he wrote these letters about 62 AD. When Paul was imprisoned Epaphroditus who was a servant and carrying the information to the Phillipian church. He put his life at stake just to get the messages to Paul. During this time, Paul was on the front lines of the battlefield sitting inside the Roman prison. (Phil. 2:25 - 30).

Place (where was it written and where was it received) – Many scholars believe that Paul was in Corinth nearing the end of his third missionary journey when the letter was composed (Powell, 258). Paul traveled from Ephesus to Corinth where he remained for three months allowing time for the composition of the epistle (NRSV, 2007). The letter was received by an unidentified Christian church in or near Rome.

Paul wanted to keep pressing west and therefore only occasionally had the opportunity to revisit his churches. He tried to keep up his converts’ spirits, answer their questions, and resolve their problems by letter. Fortunately, after his death one of his followers collected some of the letters, edited them and published them. His letters are some of the earliest Christian documents that we have. His letters became part of the New Testament of the Bible.

The letters that survived became part of the bible. Paul's writings are important because they provide good advice for how christians should live their daily life. While preparing for a missionary trip to Spain, he was imprisoned in Caesarea by the Jews for two years, but that didn't stop him. After he was released, he traveled again and was imprisoned for another two years for preaching in Rome.

In A.D. 27, Apostles Matthew recorded a sermon that Jesus had once delivered. The sermon was called, “The Sermon on the Mount”, this letter was teachings of Jesus. In this sermon he spoke from his heart to always follow the Ten Commandments. Jesus did not present this sermon in a synagogue like teachers and prophets would do instead, he would preach in the open air. This sermon is known to be one of the most famous sermons Jesus has ever given.

Our source of knowledge of the apostolic work of Paul comes first from the Book of Acts. The epistles written by Paul serve to further our knowledge of his mission. These letters were written to churches that he had founded or churches that were known to him. Luke’s account of Paul introduces us to the basic facts about this important biblical figure. A more complete understanding of Paul’s journeys can be gleaned from his letters. These epistles were written almost at the time they occurred and they comprise some of the earliest works contained in the New Testament.

During the time the letter was written, most believe that Paul was in a prison in Rome. He wrote three letters at around the same time. One letter was to the Colossians; one letter was to Philemon, whose slave, Onesimus, had recently run away; the final letter was to the church that Paul had started in Ephesus. The messenger that carried the letters to the church of Colossae most likely passed through the sea port and great city at Ephesus. Working in Ephesus for at least two years, Paul expanded the reach of the Gospel to the entire