One of the uplifting letters by the Apostle Paul is that of the Philippians. Paul didn’t seem to have the same struggles with this church that he had with some others.
This is a letter that is worth studying to understand the early church. A good resource is Gordon Fee’s Philippians, a part of the IVP New Testament Commentary series. Fee is one of the most respect New Testament scholar.
Philippians is one of the prison epistles but we don’t know which prison. Although two of the options are Ephesus and Antioch, Fee prefers Rome.
The reason that Fee is so good as a commentator is that he is able to bridge the gap between the academy and the church. While he is able to tackle the scholarly issues, his commentary is accessible. Scholars and laypeople can both benefit from this commentary.
If you are interested in the New Testament, specifically Paul’s letters, I recommend Philippians. If you want more you can get Fee’s longer commentary in the NICNT series.
