Ephesians: background, authorship and Paul as pastor and theologian

Overview

The circular-letter theory, the case for and against Pauline authorship, and the letter's relation to Colossians.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What kind of city was Ephesus in the first century?

   Model answer

   Ephesus was the leading city of the Roman province of Asia and a major port and commercial centre. Ephesus was famous for the temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, and was a centre of magical practice and of the imperial cult.

2. 2

   How did the Christian community at Ephesus come to be established?

   Model answer

   Paul worked at Ephesus during the Third Missionary Journey, teaching daily in a lecture hall after leaving the synagogue, and remained there longer than in any other city. The mission was successful enough to disturb the trade in silver shrines of Artemis, and Ephesus became a base from which the gospel spread through the province.

3. 3

   Why is Ephesians described as one of the captivity letters?

   Model answer

   The writer calls himself a prisoner for Christ Jesus and an ambassador in chains. Ephesians is grouped with Philippians, Colossians and Philemon, though scholars disagree over whether the imprisonment was at Rome, Caesarea or Ephesus itself.

4. 4

   What is the textual problem with the words “in Ephesus” in 1:1?

   Model answer

   The words are missing from the earliest and best manuscripts, including the papyrus known as P46 and the original hands of Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus. Their absence has led many scholars to conclude that the letter was a circular sent to several churches, with a blank left for the name.

5. 5

   What did Marcion apparently call this letter, and why is that relevant?

   Model answer

   According to Tertullian, Marcion's collection listed the letter as addressed to the Laodiceans. The variation supports the view that the letter was not originally tied to one congregation.

6. 6

   Give three arguments used against Pauline authorship of Ephesians.

   Model answer

   Critics point to the style, with long accumulated sentences and vocabulary not found in the undisputed letters; to the impersonal tone, since the writer says he has heard of the readers' faith although Paul had spent years at Ephesus; and to the close literary relationship with Colossians, roughly a third of which reappears. A fourth argument is theological, that the church is now universal rather than local and that the apostles are spoken of as a foundation already laid.

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