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Article
Peer-Review Record

Prefigurative Peace in Philippians

Religions 2024, 15(8), 944; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15080944
by Peter-Ben Smit 1,2,3
Reviewer 2: Anonymous
Reviewer 3:
Reviewer 4: Anonymous
Religions 2024, 15(8), 944; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15080944
Submission received: 19 March 2024 / Revised: 29 June 2024 / Accepted: 30 June 2024 / Published: 5 August 2024
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Trends in Pauline Research: Philippians)

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The proposed article makes a meaningful contribution in understanding the concept of peace within an eschatological framework. It especially provides insight in the relationship of the realized and unrealized, the ideal and real, and the absent and present dimensions of peace in Paul.

The way in which the discourse on peace in Paul is related to the prefigurative politics model is interesting, however, a bit more motivation is needed why this module is chosen and/or how it is applied. Using contemporary models to interpret ancient texts may be anachronistic and should hermeneutically be accounted for.

There is good use of sources, but engagement with some of the newer commentaries on Philippians may benefit the article, such as Holloway (2017, Hermeneia), Keown's (2017,EEC) 2 volume commentary and Guthrie's (2023, ZECNT) commentary on Philippians.

Author Response

Reviewer 1 requested especially the inclusion of additional secondary literature, specifically: ‘Holloway (2017, Hermeneia), Keown's (2017,EEC) 2 volume commentary and Guthrie's (2023, ZECNT) commentary on Philippians,’ which was done mostly, albeit with limited gains in exegetical insight.

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The argument of the essay is clear and compelling. The main point is that  Paul’s use of the concept "peace" points both to a future eschatological  reality and to the present prefiguring performance of that reality in the ecclesial community. Consequently, the new world already accomplished in Christ and anticipated in its full actualization has profound implications for the church as an alternative  social order. as a reference to a social order. The practices and values of the Christian community suggest a way of life different from the ethos of the Roman Empire and the Pax Romana. 

Two things could be clarified. What, for Paul, does the "presence of Christ" really mean? Also, what is Paul's vision of "the good life," which is more than reconciliation and the absence of hostilities?

Comments on the Quality of English Language

The language and grammar is basically correct and readable. There are couple of sentence fragments and an excessive use of commas.

Author Response

Reviewer 2 requested clarification regarding what the ‘presence of Christ’ and the ‘good life’ meant; this is clarified in the article by stressing that it are the practices of the community as Paul describes them in Phil. 4:1-9 that provide the content of both Christ’s presence and Paul’s view of the good life.

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Your article is a well-crafted discussion on Paul's use of peace in Philippians. The way in which you discuss the general use of peace throughout the Pauline corpus, and then identify how Paul uses it both similarly and differently in the letter in order to prepare for your discussion on prefigurative politics is complex in its simplicity, yet prepares well for the main aim and focus of your article. Moving to the section on prefigurative politics as a lens through understanding Paul's use, adds a further dimension to current discussions of Paul's use that have identified the eschatological nature of the term and how it is meant to be understood in the letter, and thereby, how potentially was understood by the original hearers. It also offers a valuable for understanding the tension of the eschatological now that is present in the letter to the Philippians, and that requires the Philippian church to live in such a way as if the future kingdom of God is present in their current context. Consequently, this article offers an important contribution for understanding the literary, political and hermeneutical intent of Paul's discussion.

Line 179 is missing a semi-colon after the final bracket after the Greek text.

f/n 2 and f/n 43 require a final full stop. 

f/n 4 The title should read The Time that Remains..."

There appears to be inconsistency of font across a number of footnotes, but this may be a consequence of the way review copy has uploaded in the system.

Author Response

Reviewer 3 offered a number of corrections on the level of syntax and spelling, which have been incorporated gratefully.

Reviewer 4 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Footnote 2 needs proofreading.

Line 60 needs proofreading.

Author Response

Reviewer 4 offered two suggestions for proofreading, which have been followed up on.

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