Letter to the Philippians

work by Polycarp

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July 1, 2026

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The Letter of Paul to the Philippians is the eleventh book of the New Testament. Written by St. Paul the Apostle around 62 CE from prison, it was addressed to the Christian congregation he founded in Philippi.1

St. Polycarp, a 2nd-century bishop of Smyrna and Apostolic Father, wrote his own Letter to the Philippians. This work combated heretical groups, particularly Gnostics, by refuting their claims about Christ's Incarnation and Resurrection. Polycarp's letter also emphasized the authority of St. Paul, influencing early Christian theology and biblical interpretation.234

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St. Polycarp
By his major writing, The Letter to the Philippians, and by his widespread moral authority, Polycarp combated various heretical sects, including certain gnostic groups that claimed religious salvation exclusively through their arcane spiritual knowledge. Polycarp’s Letter to the Philippians contains a classic formulation in which he refutes the gnostics’…
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By his major writing, The Letter to the Philippians, and by his widespread moral authority, Polycarp combated various heretical sects, including certain gnostic groups that claimed religious salvation exclusively through their arcane spiritual knowledge. Polycarp’s Letter to the Philippians contains a classic formulation in which he refutes the gnostics’…
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patristic literature
The Apostolic Fathers
…for his martyrdom, the related Letter to the Philippians by Polycarp of Smyrna (died c. 156 or 168), and the narrative report of Polycarp’s martyrdom; some fragmentary accounts of the origins of the Gospels by Papias (flourished late 1st or early 2nd century), bishop of Hierapolis in Phrygia, Asia Minor;…
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…for his martyrdom, the related Letter to the Philippians by Polycarp of Smyrna (died c. 156 or 168), and the narrative report of Polycarp’s martyrdom; some fragmentary accounts of the origins of the Gospels by Papias (flourished late 1st or early 2nd century), bishop of Hierapolis in Phrygia, Asia Minor;…
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