04_Peters_copiaaa_67-84 28/04/15 12:15 Pagina 71 CROWNS IN 1 THESSALONIANS, PHILIPPIANS, AND 1 CORINTHIANS 71 for their generosity toward all believers in Macedonia and by assur- ing them of the hope of the resurrection. Crowns reflect the practice within associations of honoring patrons who have contributed bene- factions in order to support philotima 14. Following Deissmann’s seminal work, numerous interpreters have noted that the custom of the Hellenistic formal reception constitutes part of the interpretative understanding the Thessalonians would have had 15. The imagery of the crown is saturated with civic connotations in 1 Thessalonians. II. Philippians Paul’s reference to the crown in Phil 4,1 mirrors his reference to the crown in 1 Thessalonians 16. The Philippians also contributed financially not only to their own community but also to other Pauline house-churches (4,15; cf. 2 Cor 11,8-9), suggesting that the Philip- pians might have had some interest in the theologies of Pauline house-churches. Paul refers to his addressees as his “joy and crown” (cara. kai. ste,fanoj), exhibiting a sense of ownership of the Philippians. While the crown’s singularity may help to encourage unity among a church divided among different (female) leaders, it should not be interpreted as being singular in response to the divi- sions in Paul’s community at Philippi. Based on the tension evinced by 1,4 and 1,7-8, Craddock wonders whether Paul has “been very close to some members while others felt slighted” 17. Paul’s vision of the Philippians as his crown may be sincere, particularly given the re- 14 ASCOUGH, Paul’s Macedonian Associations, 153. 15 B.R. WITHERINGTON, 1 and 2 Thessalonians. A Socio-Rhetorical Com- mentary (Grand Rapids, MI 2006) 91; F.F. BRUCE, 1 and 2 Thessalonians (WBC 45; Dallas,TX 1982) 57. A. DEISSMANN, Light from the Ancient East (trans. L.R.M. STRACHAN) (London 21927) 314-320; cf. A. OEPKE, “parousia”, ThWNT V (1954) 856-869. Holleman cautions that “it should be remembered that the term parousia is also a very common term for any arrival or appearance”: J. HOLLEMAN, Resurrection and Parousia. A Traditio-historical Study of Paul’s Eschatology (NovTSup 84; Leiden 1996) 99; cf. PFITZNER, Paul and the Agon Motif, 104-110, 153-154. 16 The integrity of Philippians has been debated. See Hansen for a discus- sion of the partition theories and the arguments for thematic consistency: G.W. HANSEN, The Letter to the Philippians (Grand Rapids, MI 2009) 16-18. 17 F.B. CRADDOCK, Philippians (Louisville, KY 1973) 20.