In this book, Barclay examines three very varied, but important, letters from Paul. Known as the "Epistle of Joy", his letter to the Philippians is a letter of encouragement to his dearest of friends. In his letter to Colossians, Paul dedicates some of his highest thinking to the relatively insignificant town of Colosse and defends the Church there from a dangerous heresy; and Thessalonians, Paul reassures the Christians of this town, so vital in the emergence of Christianity as a world faith, and firm solutions to the day-to-day problems which arose in the new and expanding Church.