Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Preliminary Material / John T. Fitzgerald -- Introduction / John T. Fitzgerald -- Friendship, Frankness and Flattery / David Konstan -- Frank Speech, Flattery, and Friendship in Philodemus / Clarence E. Glad -- Plutarch to Prince Philopappus on how to tell a Flatterer from a Friend / Troels Engberg-Pedersen -- Philipians, Especially Chapter 4, as a \'Letter of Friendship\': Observations on a Checkered History of Scholarship / John Reumann -- The function of Friendship Language in Philippians 4: 10-20 / Ken L. Berry -- Paul's Self-Sufficiency (Philippians 4:11) / Abraham J. Malherbe -- Philippians in the Light of Some Ancient Discussions of Friendship / John T. Fitzgerald -- Пapphσia in the Pauline Epistles / David E. Fredrickson -- Пapphσia in Acts / S. C. Winter -- Holding on to Confidence: Пapphσia in Hebrews / C. Alan and S.J. MγγChell -- Пapphσia in the Johannine Corpus / William Klassen -- Index of Ancient Authors and Texts / John T. Fitzgerald -- Index of Modern Scholars / John T. Fitzgerald.

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This volume deals with the topics of friendship, flattery, and frankness of speech in the Greco-Roman world. The three topics were often related, with candor or frank criticism viewed as the trait that distinguished the true friend from the flatterer. The book's eleven essays are divided into three parts. The first part introduces the volume and discusses the three topics in the thought of Philodemus and Plutarch. Part two deals with Paul's use of friendship language in his correspondence with the Church at Philippi. Part three examines the concept of frankness (parrhesia) in Paul, Luke-Acts, Hebrews, and the Johannine corpus. The volume will be particularly useful to NT Scholars, classicists, and modern theologians and ethicists who are interested in the theory and practice of friendship in antiquity.