Introduction to the Letter to the Ephesians

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Introduction to the Letter to the Ephesians
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The City of Ephesus

• The gods of the city. The city was principally
  celebrated for its temple of Artimus.
• The Magic of the City-With the worship of Artimus
  the practice of sorcery was from the earliest
  times connected.

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Authorship

• Arguments in favor of Pauline Authorship
• The epistle announces itself as written by Paul
  the Apostle.
• There is nothing in its contents inconsistent
  with the assumption of his being its author.
• All the incidental references agree with what is
  known to be true concerning Paul.
• The style, the doctrines, the sentiments, the
  spirit, the character revealed, are those of
  Paul.
• The whole ancient church received it as genuine.

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Objections to Pauline Authorship

• That Paul was familiarly acquainted with the
  Ephesians, whereas the writer of this epistle had
  only heard of their conversion and of their faith
  and love.
• That this epistle is merely a verbose imitation
  of the Epistle to the Colossians.
• The epistle contains no reference to the peculiar
  circumstances of the Ephesians.

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• It is objected that the style is not that of
  Paul.
• The principal objection urged by Baur of
  Tubingen, is that the Epistle to the Ephesians
  contains allusions to Gnostic opinions, which did
  not prevail until after the apostolic age.

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To whom was the letter written?

• This has to do with the textual problem in Eph.
  11
• As to this point there are three opinions.
• That it was addressed to the Ephesians.
• That it was addressed to the Laodiceans.
• That it was a circular letter designed for all
  the churches in that part of Asia Minor

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• In favor of the letter being addressed to the
  Ephesians
• That the epistle is directed to those who are in
  Ephesus.
• That this epistle was addressed to the Ephesians
  is proved by the testimony of the ancient church.

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• Arguments in favor of a circular letter
• The Lack of the words in Ephesis in the older
  manuscripts.
• The problem with this view is that it is only in
  Ephesis that has survived. If the above were the
  case, one would expect other churches names to
  crop up, which they do not.

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The Epistles relation to the book of Colossians

• Points of similarity
• In the occurrence in both epistles of the same
  words and forms of expressions.
• In passages which are identical in thought and
  language.
• In passages in which the thought is the same and
  the expression is varied.
• In others where the same topic is more fully
  handled in the one epistle than in the other.

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• Points of difference-
• While the Epistle to the Colossians has every
  indication of having been written to a particular
  congregation and in reference to their peculiar
  circumstances, the absence of these features is
  the most marked characteristic of the Epistle to
  the Ephesians.
• In the Epistle to the Ephesians the doctrinal
  element prevails over the practical in the
  Epistle to the Colossians it is just the reverse.

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• The main object of the Epistle to the Colossians
  is to warn the church against philosophy falsely
  so called. Of this there is no indication in the
  Epistle to the Ephesians.
• There are, therefore, topics discussed in the one
  epistle, to which there is nothing to correspond
  in the other.
• The order of sequence, except in the case of some
  particular exhortations, is entirely different in
  the two epistles.

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Key Themes in the book of Ephesians.

• The Greatness of God -13
• The Exalted Christ -121-22
• The Status of Believers- in Christ occurs 34
  times in the book.
• The Unity of Jew and Gentile-214-16
• The struggle with the powers of evil. 612
• The ethical obligation of believers- there are
  many imperatives starting with chapter 4.
• The church- this is the main theme.