Exegetically Speaking In Form Like His Body of Glory, with Chris Kugler: Philippians 2:6-7 and 3:20-21
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Mar 2, 2026 Chris Kugler, lecturer in theology at Baylor and author on Paul and Christology, digs into Philippians 2 and 3. He traces key Greek terms from the Christ hymn and shows how Paul reuses them in 3:20–21. Conversations explore language, literary links, and how the original hearers would have perceived the letter. Short, precise, and driven by close Greek reading.
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How Learning Greek Began By Chance
- Chris Kugler discovered New Testament Greek as an elective while a youth pastor and quickly became passionate about reading first-century Christian texts in their original language.
- That initial curiosity led him to study more biblical languages, pursue graduate degrees, and build a career in academic biblical studies and theology.
Greek Reveals Connections Lost In Translation
- Reading the Greek lets you see Paul repeatedly use the same lexical roots differently across verses, revealing theological connections that translations often obscure.
- Kugler notes translations must choose renderings, but Greek shows Paul intentionally reuses morphe and schema for effect.
Paul's Greek Word Pairing Reveals Two Kinds Of Form
- In Philippians 2:6-7 Paul uses a cluster of Greek terms (morphe, schema) to describe Jesus' preexistent divine form and his adoption of a humble human form.
- Morphe denotes the divine form while schema points to Jesus' physical human presentation, and Paul intentionally contrasts these terms in the hymn.
