“Ephesians,” in: Michael D. Coogan (ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Books of the Bible (New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), vol. 1, 237–243 (original) (raw)
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Topic: An Exegesis on Ephesians 5:1-5
Churches in Ephesus and the surrounding region A.D.62 while imprisoned in Rome (Acts 28) .During this time he also wrote Colossians and Philemon. All three letters were sent with Tychicus and Onesimus. 2 There are two arguments advanced to cast doubt on the letter's authenticity, the First Historical Argument-concerns a discrepancy between the Acts account of Paul's longstanding and intimate acquaintance with the Ephesian Church and the entirely impersonal and 'hearsay' relationship which the letter expresses. 3 Apostle Paul had intimacy with the elders of Ephesian church, and it was found in Acts 19:1-20:1, 31.Second, Theological In Ephesians as distinct from the letters of unquestioned Pauline authorship, the role of Christ assumes a cosmic dimension that the sphere of interest is 'the heavenly places' (a unique expression occurring five items) in which the principalities and powers operate, that the focus of concern is the church, that 'justification' is not mentioned, that 'reconciliation' is more between Jews and Gentiles than between the sinner and God, that salvation is portrayed not as dying with Christ but only as rising with him, and that there is no reference to our Lord's second coming 4. Ephesians strongly influenced the thought in I Peter. Polycarp A.D.156 echoes both words and ideas from the epistle. Several apologists in the second century, and Marcion. The stormy petrel of the early church, used this letter. Irenaeus quoted the letter as Paul's, not in any disputatious way, but as something accepted by Christians. This letter as Paul's was included in the Muratorian Canon (c.200) and in all subsequent lists of the New Testament
Philippians: A Summary of the Structure and Style of the Letter
The Structure and Style of Philippians, including a presentation of the Greek (fully parsed and rhetorically analysed) and a Literal English Translation (exhibiting the letter's style and structure). This is Paul's Letter to the Philippians as you've never seen it before! Yet the writer/rhetor would have had you know it this way all your life and, indeed, throughout all the life of the church. Enjoy and, whatever you do, as Paul says again and again in this letter, 'Rejoice!'
2 and notices or pieces of advice, are also employed for family and friendship correspondence, business dealings and political communications. 7 The letter format commonly maintains a praescriptio (prescript or epistolary opening) consists of the superscriptio (sender), the adscriptio (recipients) and the salutio (salutation/greetings). The praescriptio is followed by a proem 8 and a (body) 9 with an opening, middle and closing, and the letter ends with a conclusio (epistolary closing) as indispensable elements, often employing a thanksgiving, health wish and paraenetic section as well. 10 On the other hand, types of letters used by philosophers and rhetoricians were written in an extended setting/context as they are written for public use. 11 These letters are referred differently to as -literary letters,‖ 12 -letter essays,‖ 13 and -philosophical letters.‖ 14 Four components have been identified with such letters: heading, epistolary introduction, transition from the introduction to the body and closing. 15 As they are written out of a -genuine lettersetting and they retain … formal and structural epistolary characteristics.‖ 16 1.2 The Form of Pauline Letters: For this paper, space will not be sufficient to talk about the literary form (i.e., literary or non-literary) to which the writings of Paul belong. No doubt, Paul's writings are -shaped by the conventions of Greco-Roman letter writing, notably the introductory greetings and wishes, and the farewells. Paul creatively develops his personal epistolary style within the patterns of known conventions.‖ 17 While his letters seem to align most closely with the typical -non-literary‖ letter format discussed above, but his letters are longer than the typical personal letters of his day and they exceed the average length of literary and official letters. 18 It is 7 Pitts, Paul and Hellenistic Education, 114. 8 In Paul's letters the proem always begins with a prayer of thanksgiving to God for the letter recipients which then merges into a petitionary prayer on behalf of the readers for God to bless them in certain ways. Only in the letter to Titus, Paul omits the proem. Lorin L. Cranford, -The Writing Ministry of the Apostle Paul,‖ 4. http://cranfordville.com/IBC%20Cologne/BibleSession08.pdf (22/9/2017) 9 The -body‖ of the letter does not follow any prescribed structure. The arrangement of the contents depended heavily on the creativity of the writer and on the general purpose of the writing of the letter. Likewise, Paul exhibits considerable creativity in this section of his letters. Cranford, -The Writing Ministry,‖ 4.
An exegetical treatment of Paul’s First Letter to Timothy 4: 6-16 A younger yet better servant of Christ Jesus Live our faith Express our salvation, 2010
Paul’s first letter to Timothy is part of what we call the Pastoral Epistles (PE) – Paul’s second letter to Timothy and a lone letter to Titus completes the PE. Two things can be said of the PE that is unique from Paul’s other letters: (1) They are among the last things Paul reflected, his concerns near the end of his ministry. (2) They are addressed not to a congregation but to 2 young men in pastoral roles. But the author also intended the letter to be read extensively among the various churches. Among the general concerns in the letter are warning against false teachers (1 Tim. 1.3), qualifications of bishops and deacons (3.1, 3.8), duties to believers (5.1), false teaching and true riches (6.2). Each of the PE has a clear identification of the Apostle Paul as the author. It was only in the nineteenth century that arguments have been introduced questioning the Pauline authorship. Today the majority of NT scholars consider the PE not written by Paul but by a Paulinist or a disciple of Paul by the turn of the first century A.D. or one or two generations removed from the apostle. This paper is written from the view of Pauline authorship, convinced that a non-Pauline theory (i.e. a disciple of Paul wrote the PE) has more historical difficulties.
The Epistle of Ephesians (2024 edition)
The Three-Fold Thematic Scheme of the Epistle of Ephesians - The primary theme of the nine church epistles is the establishment of the doctrines of the New Testament church. Each of these epistles addresses one aspect of this doctrinal foundation as their secondary theme, so that collectively, they deliver the complete doctrinal creed of the church. The secondary theme of the epistle of Ephesians offers the testimony of the office and ministry of the God the Father in the believer’s sanctification, namely His divine foreknowledge regarding His plan of redemption for mankind. The third, imperative theme of Ephesians is the believer’s outward evidence of his sanctification demonstrated in walking a worthy walk and engaging in spiritual warfare to fulfill God’s plan of Redemption. Let me illustrate the theme of Ephesians in modern terms. Imagine that a family is taking a long journey together on a family vacation. There is the mother and father and three or four children. Now as God has created and designed a plan for our lives and for the Church as a whole, so did someone design the car, the highway, all of the signs, the hotels and eating places along the journey and even the route and destination for this journey. So, Dad and Mom get in the car. The father is like the pastor of our church, whom God has ordained as our leader. Just as the pastor has been to Bible school in order to learn how to guide a church, so has the father learned much about how to drive the car and how to read the road map. The father has checked out the car to make sure he can get there as fast and as safely as possible. He has a road map with him and he has listened to the advice from his buddies at work on which route to take. Mom has focused on the comforts of the journey, taking plenty of clothing, snacks in the car, pillows, sunglasses, etc. She wants to make sure the journey is made as enjoyable as possible. Now, look at the child. He has been bouncing a ball this whole time, excited about the trip, but completely in the dark as to how they will get there or what is needed for the journey. Now he is happy because he is carefree. His only concerns are his immediate needs, whether he is hungry or needs to go to the potty, or if his sibling is playing with his toy and he wants it back. Many Christians take this journey in life as a child and not as the adult. They are so consumed with their immediate childish needs that they want the pastor and other church workers to take them on the journey comfortably. They may do something good like sharing their toys and think that they are doing a great work for the Lord, but this is very insignificant compared to the real work for this journey. Thank God for the mature adults who will make sure that everyone makes the journey safely. The children are just along for the ride. God wants us to grow up and understand this journey that we are on. It is not a journey that someone takes by himself. It is a family matter requiring the support of each member. Thus, the major theme of this epistle is that God has blessed the Church with many spiritual blessings and equipped them in order to bring about His purpose and plan on earth. Did not the Lord Jesus refer to this role of the Church in bringing God’s will upon the earth in the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven,” (Matt 6:10). Therefore, the believer will find peace and joy only as he sets his heart and affections on these things above and not on the things of this earth. The epistle of Ephesians is structured like a journey and it teaches us how to find our role in God’s plan for our lives and the role of the Church in general of God’s great plan of redemption.
The letter of Paul to the Romans
1967
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and was declared a to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit b of holiness by his c resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith d for the sake of his name among all the nations e , 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, 7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Epistle of Philippians (2024 edition)
The Three-Fold Thematic Scheme of the Epistle of Philippians - The primary theme of the nine church epistles is the establishment of the doctrines of the New Testament church. Each of these epistles addresses one aspect of this doctrinal foundation as their secondary theme, so that collectively, they deliver the complete doctrinal creed of the church. The secondary theme of the epistle of Philippians offers the testimony of the office and ministry of the God the Father in the believer’s sanctification, namely the believer’s divine provision and destiny in light of the office and ministry of God the Father regarding His plan of redemption for mankind. The third, imperative theme of Philippians is the believer’s outward evidence of his sanctification demonstrated in becoming a partner in God’s plan of redemption for mankind. In other words, this epistle demonstrates how a believer walks in God’s plan for his life by supporting His servants as the Lord divinely supplies his own needs.