http://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Ephesians&feed=atom&action=historyEphesians - Revision history2024-03-28T18:12:11ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.35.2http://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Ephesians&diff=22336&oldid=prevDougmiller4: /* Authorship, Date, and Historical Context */2024-03-19T16:52:50Z<p><span dir="auto"><span class="autocomment">Authorship, Date, and Historical Context</span></span></p>
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<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122; text-align: center;">Revision as of 16:52, 19 March 2024</td>
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<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Ephesians is somewhat of a puzzle. Some deeply appreciate the majestic flow of the letter and the memorable phrases that capture the essence of Paul’s message. Others miss the vibrancy and personal engagement usually found in Paul’s letters. They see the style of Ephesians as ornate and ponderous, not at all like the terse style, often direct to the point of offensiveness, of many of Paul’s letters. Second, it is not obvious to whom the letter was written, since the most reliable manuscripts do not contain “in Ephesus” in 1:1. Third, the unusually extensive use of hymns and prayers raises the question as to whether it is less a letter than a worship resource. Fourth, while there are striking echoes of all the letters in the Pauline collection, with the exception of 2 Thessalonians and the Pastoral Letters, it shares many words, phrases, and emphases with Colossians. Much like the Synoptic gospels, the treatment in Ephesians of Christ, church, and eschatology, and of the Household Code, appears to share more with Colossians than with any other letter in the Pauline collection. Does Ephesians use Colossians, or vice versa?</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Ephesians is somewhat of a puzzle. Some deeply appreciate the majestic flow of the letter and the memorable phrases that capture the essence of Paul’s message. Others miss the vibrancy and personal engagement usually found in Paul’s letters. They see the style of Ephesians as ornate and ponderous, not at all like the terse style, often direct to the point of offensiveness, of many of Paul’s letters. Second, it is not obvious to whom the letter was written, since the most reliable manuscripts do not contain “in Ephesus” in 1:1. Third, the unusually extensive use of hymns and prayers raises the question as to whether it is less a letter than a worship resource. Fourth, while there are striking echoes of all the letters in the Pauline collection, with the exception of 2 Thessalonians and the Pastoral Letters, it shares many words, phrases, and emphases with Colossians. Much like the Synoptic gospels, the treatment in Ephesians of Christ, church, and eschatology, and of the Household Code, appears to share more with Colossians than with any other letter in the Pauline collection. Does Ephesians use Colossians, or vice versa?</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Careful readers also quickly notice differences to letters Paul’s authorship <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">of which </del>no one questions. To illustrate, while Paul normally speaks of the church as a local congregation (e.g., Corinth, Thessalonica, etc.), in Ephesians the church is always a cosmic or universal reality. Second, Paul usually refers to salvation as something expected in the (near) future (e.g., Rom. 13:11; 1 Thess. 1:10; 4:13—5:11). In Ephesians, however, salvation, and with it resurrection and exaltation together with Christ, is referred to in 2:4-8 as having already taken place. There are only few references to a future event of redemption (e.g., 1:14; 4:30; 5:5), and none explicitly to a return or future appearance of Christ. Third, instead of “justification” by grace (Rom. 3:24), we read of “salvation” by grace (2:5, 8). Fourth, in 1 Corinthians 15:20-28, Paul pictures Christ as the divine warrior in battle with the powers, but in Ephesians it is the church that is summoned to such a struggle (6:10-18). To cite one more example, in Galatians 3:28 Paul says: “There is no longer Jew or Greek, . . . slave or free, . . . male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” In Ephesians, however, there are clearly “us” Jews and “you” Gentiles; wives and husbands, children and fathers, slaves and masters are exhorted to live within what appear to be traditional roles of dominance and subordination.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Careful readers also quickly notice differences to letters <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">of which </ins>Paul’s authorship no one questions. To illustrate, while Paul normally speaks of the church as a local congregation (e.g., Corinth, Thessalonica, etc.), in Ephesians the church is always a cosmic or universal reality. Second, Paul usually refers to salvation as something expected in the (near) future (e.g., Rom. 13:11; 1 Thess. 1:10; 4:13—5:11). In Ephesians, however, salvation, and with it resurrection and exaltation together with Christ, is referred to in 2:4-8 as having already taken place. There are only few references to a future event of redemption (e.g., 1:14; 4:30; 5:5), and none explicitly to a return or future appearance of Christ. Third, instead of “justification” by grace (Rom. 3:24), we read of “salvation” by grace (2:5, 8). Fourth, in 1 Corinthians 15:20-28, Paul pictures Christ as the divine warrior in battle with the powers, but in Ephesians it is the church that is summoned to such a struggle (6:10-18). To cite one more example, in Galatians 3:28 Paul says: “There is no longer Jew or Greek, . . . slave or free, . . . male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” In Ephesians, however, there are clearly “us” Jews and “you” Gentiles; wives and husbands, children and fathers, slaves and masters are exhorted to live within what appear to be traditional roles of dominance and subordination.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Considerations such as these have raised some thorny questions, especially regarding address, authorship, date, and context. If Paul himself wrote this letter, as many commentators continue to hold, even if with help of a scribe (see, e.g., Rom 16:22), we should imagine a date late in his apostolic career (early 60s, during Roman imprisonment?). If so, then “Ephesus” is less likely as an address. Apart from the textual problems in 1:1, 3:2 implies that Paul is familiar to his readers by hearsay, which is unlikely if Paul spent several years in Ephesus (Acts 19:8-10). Should we rather imagine a general letter sent to one or more churches in the area around Ephesus, some of which he would have known, others perhaps less so? After all, no specific issue seems to have prompted the writing of the letter. Perhaps Paul felt the need to prepare for his many churches a final reflective treatise or sermon-like letter, celebrating God’s act of reconciling the world in Christ. Some have suggested that it was a cover letter for an early collection of Paul’s letters. Might Paul have initiated such a collection?</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Considerations such as these have raised some thorny questions, especially regarding address, authorship, date, and context. If Paul himself wrote this letter, as many commentators continue to hold, even if with help of a scribe (see, e.g., Rom 16:22), we should imagine a date late in his apostolic career (early 60s, during Roman imprisonment?). If so, then “Ephesus” is less likely as an address. Apart from the textual problems in 1:1, 3:2 implies that Paul is familiar to his readers by hearsay, which is unlikely if Paul spent several years in Ephesus (Acts 19:8-10). Should we rather imagine a general letter sent to one or more churches in the area around Ephesus, some of which he would have known, others perhaps less so? After all, no specific issue seems to have prompted the writing of the letter. Perhaps Paul felt the need to prepare for his many churches a final reflective treatise or sermon-like letter, celebrating God’s act of reconciling the world in Christ. Some have suggested that it was a cover letter for an early collection of Paul’s letters. Might Paul have initiated such a collection?</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
</table>Dougmiller4http://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Ephesians&diff=22335&oldid=prevDougmiller4: /* Authorship, Date, and Historical Context */2024-03-19T16:49:26Z<p><span dir="auto"><span class="autocomment">Authorship, Date, and Historical Context</span></span></p>
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<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122; text-align: center;">Revision as of 16:49, 19 March 2024</td>
</tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l20" >Line 20:</td>
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<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>===Authorship, Date, and Historical Context===</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>===Authorship, Date, and Historical Context===</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Ephesians is somewhat of a puzzle. Some deeply appreciate the majestic flow of the letter and the memorable phrases that capture the essence of Paul’s message. Others miss the vibrancy and personal engagement usually found in Paul’s letters. They see the style of Ephesians as ornate and ponderous, not at all like the terse style, often direct to the point of offensiveness, of many of Paul’s letters. Second, it is not obvious to whom the letter was written, since the most reliable manuscripts do not contain “in Ephesus” in 1:1. Third, the unusually extensive use of hymns and prayers raises the question as to whether it less letter than a worship resource. Fourth, while there are striking echoes of all the letters in the Pauline collection, with the exception of 2 Thessalonians and the Pastoral Letters, it shares many words, phrases, and emphases with Colossians. Much like the Synoptic gospels, the treatment in Ephesians of Christ, church, and eschatology, and of the Household Code, appears to share more with Colossians than with any other letter in the Pauline collection. Does Ephesians use Colossians, or vice versa?</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Ephesians is somewhat of a puzzle. Some deeply appreciate the majestic flow of the letter and the memorable phrases that capture the essence of Paul’s message. Others miss the vibrancy and personal engagement usually found in Paul’s letters. They see the style of Ephesians as ornate and ponderous, not at all like the terse style, often direct to the point of offensiveness, of many of Paul’s letters. Second, it is not obvious to whom the letter was written, since the most reliable manuscripts do not contain “in Ephesus” in 1:1. Third, the unusually extensive use of hymns and prayers raises the question as to whether it <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">is </ins>less <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">a </ins>letter than a worship resource. Fourth, while there are striking echoes of all the letters in the Pauline collection, with the exception of 2 Thessalonians and the Pastoral Letters, it shares many words, phrases, and emphases with Colossians. Much like the Synoptic gospels, the treatment in Ephesians of Christ, church, and eschatology, and of the Household Code, appears to share more with Colossians than with any other letter in the Pauline collection. Does Ephesians use Colossians, or vice versa?</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Careful readers also quickly notice differences to letters Paul’s authorship of which no one questions. To illustrate, while Paul normally speaks of the church as a local congregation (e.g., Corinth, Thessalonica, etc.), in Ephesians the church is always a cosmic or universal reality. Second, Paul usually refers to salvation as something expected in the (near) future (e.g., Rom. 13:11; 1 Thess. 1:10; 4:13—5:11). In Ephesians, however, salvation, and with it resurrection and exaltation together with Christ, is referred to in 2:4-8 as having already taken place. There are only few references to a future event of redemption (e.g., 1:14; 4:30; 5:5), and none explicitly to a return or future appearance of Christ. Third, instead of “justification” by grace (Rom. 3:24), we read of “salvation” by grace (2:5, 8). Fourth, in 1 Corinthians 15:20-28, Paul pictures Christ as the divine warrior in battle with the powers, but in Ephesians it is the church that is summoned to such a struggle (6:10-18). To cite one more example, in Galatians 3:28 Paul says: “There is no longer Jew or Greek, . . . slave or free, . . . male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” In Ephesians, however, there are clearly “us” Jews and “you” Gentiles; wives and husbands, children and fathers, slaves and masters are exhorted to live within what appear to be traditional roles of dominance and subordination.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Careful readers also quickly notice differences to letters Paul’s authorship of which no one questions. To illustrate, while Paul normally speaks of the church as a local congregation (e.g., Corinth, Thessalonica, etc.), in Ephesians the church is always a cosmic or universal reality. Second, Paul usually refers to salvation as something expected in the (near) future (e.g., Rom. 13:11; 1 Thess. 1:10; 4:13—5:11). In Ephesians, however, salvation, and with it resurrection and exaltation together with Christ, is referred to in 2:4-8 as having already taken place. There are only few references to a future event of redemption (e.g., 1:14; 4:30; 5:5), and none explicitly to a return or future appearance of Christ. Third, instead of “justification” by grace (Rom. 3:24), we read of “salvation” by grace (2:5, 8). Fourth, in 1 Corinthians 15:20-28, Paul pictures Christ as the divine warrior in battle with the powers, but in Ephesians it is the church that is summoned to such a struggle (6:10-18). To cite one more example, in Galatians 3:28 Paul says: “There is no longer Jew or Greek, . . . slave or free, . . . male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” In Ephesians, however, there are clearly “us” Jews and “you” Gentiles; wives and husbands, children and fathers, slaves and masters are exhorted to live within what appear to be traditional roles of dominance and subordination.</div></td></tr>
</table>Dougmiller4http://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Ephesians&diff=22334&oldid=prevDougmiller4: /* Authorship, Date, and Historical Context */2024-03-19T16:48:09Z<p><span dir="auto"><span class="autocomment">Authorship, Date, and Historical Context</span></span></p>
<table class="diff diff-contentalign-left diff-editfont-monospace" data-mw="interface">
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<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td>
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122; text-align: center;">Revision as of 16:48, 19 March 2024</td>
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<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>===Authorship, Date, and Historical Context===</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>===Authorship, Date, and Historical Context===</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Ephesians is somewhat of a puzzle. Some deeply appreciate the majestic flow of the letter and the memorable phrases that capture the essence of Paul’s message. Others miss the vibrancy and personal engagement usually found in Paul’s letters. They see the style Ephesians as ornate and ponderous, not at all like the terse style, often direct to the point of offensiveness, of many of Paul’s letters. Second, it is not obvious to whom the letter was written, since the most reliable manuscripts do not contain “in Ephesus” in 1:1. Third, the unusually extensive use of hymns and prayers raises the question as to whether it less letter than a worship resource. Fourth, while there are striking echoes of all the letters in the Pauline collection, with the exception of 2 Thessalonians and the Pastoral Letters, it shares many words, phrases, and emphases with Colossians. Much like the Synoptic gospels, the treatment in Ephesians of Christ, church, and eschatology, and of the Household Code, appears to share more with Colossians than with any other letter in the Pauline collection. Does Ephesians use Colossians, or vice versa?</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Ephesians is somewhat of a puzzle. Some deeply appreciate the majestic flow of the letter and the memorable phrases that capture the essence of Paul’s message. Others miss the vibrancy and personal engagement usually found in Paul’s letters. They see the style <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">of </ins>Ephesians as ornate and ponderous, not at all like the terse style, often direct to the point of offensiveness, of many of Paul’s letters. Second, it is not obvious to whom the letter was written, since the most reliable manuscripts do not contain “in Ephesus” in 1:1. Third, the unusually extensive use of hymns and prayers raises the question as to whether it less letter than a worship resource. Fourth, while there are striking echoes of all the letters in the Pauline collection, with the exception of 2 Thessalonians and the Pastoral Letters, it shares many words, phrases, and emphases with Colossians. Much like the Synoptic gospels, the treatment in Ephesians of Christ, church, and eschatology, and of the Household Code, appears to share more with Colossians than with any other letter in the Pauline collection. Does Ephesians use Colossians, or vice versa?</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Careful readers also quickly notice differences to letters Paul’s authorship of which no one questions. To illustrate, while Paul normally speaks of the church as a local congregation (e.g., Corinth, Thessalonica, etc.), in Ephesians the church is always a cosmic or universal reality. Second, Paul usually refers to salvation as something expected in the (near) future (e.g., Rom. 13:11; 1 Thess. 1:10; 4:13—5:11). In Ephesians, however, salvation, and with it resurrection and exaltation together with Christ, is referred to in 2:4-8 as having already taken place. There are only few references to a future event of redemption (e.g., 1:14; 4:30; 5:5), and none explicitly to a return or future appearance of Christ. Third, instead of “justification” by grace (Rom. 3:24), we read of “salvation” by grace (2:5, 8). Fourth, in 1 Corinthians 15:20-28, Paul pictures Christ as the divine warrior in battle with the powers, but in Ephesians it is the church that is summoned to such a struggle (6:10-18). To cite one more example, in Galatians 3:28 Paul says: “There is no longer Jew or Greek, . . . slave or free, . . . male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” In Ephesians, however, there are clearly “us” Jews and “you” Gentiles; wives and husbands, children and fathers, slaves and masters are exhorted to live within what appear to be traditional roles of dominance and subordination.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Careful readers also quickly notice differences to letters Paul’s authorship of which no one questions. To illustrate, while Paul normally speaks of the church as a local congregation (e.g., Corinth, Thessalonica, etc.), in Ephesians the church is always a cosmic or universal reality. Second, Paul usually refers to salvation as something expected in the (near) future (e.g., Rom. 13:11; 1 Thess. 1:10; 4:13—5:11). In Ephesians, however, salvation, and with it resurrection and exaltation together with Christ, is referred to in 2:4-8 as having already taken place. There are only few references to a future event of redemption (e.g., 1:14; 4:30; 5:5), and none explicitly to a return or future appearance of Christ. Third, instead of “justification” by grace (Rom. 3:24), we read of “salvation” by grace (2:5, 8). Fourth, in 1 Corinthians 15:20-28, Paul pictures Christ as the divine warrior in battle with the powers, but in Ephesians it is the church that is summoned to such a struggle (6:10-18). To cite one more example, in Galatians 3:28 Paul says: “There is no longer Jew or Greek, . . . slave or free, . . . male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” In Ephesians, however, there are clearly “us” Jews and “you” Gentiles; wives and husbands, children and fathers, slaves and masters are exhorted to live within what appear to be traditional roles of dominance and subordination.</div></td></tr>
</table>Dougmiller4http://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Ephesians&diff=21843&oldid=prevDougmiller4: /* Bibliography */2023-08-04T19:57:02Z<p><span dir="auto"><span class="autocomment">Bibliography</span></span></p>
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<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122; text-align: center;">Revision as of 19:57, 4 August 2023</td>
</tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l123" >Line 123:</td>
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<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>*Schnackenburg, Rudolf. ''Ephesians: A Commentary''. Translated by Helen Heron. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1991. Along with the great German commentaries by Joachim Gnilka and Heinrich Schlier, Schnackenburg’s commentary represents the best of European Catholic scholarship. It is enhanced by careful attention to the history of interpretation (Wirkungsgeschichte) of Ephesians. </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>*Schnackenburg, Rudolf. ''Ephesians: A Commentary''. Translated by Helen Heron. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1991. Along with the great German commentaries by Joachim Gnilka and Heinrich Schlier, Schnackenburg’s commentary represents the best of European Catholic scholarship. It is enhanced by careful attention to the history of interpretation (Wirkungsgeschichte) of Ephesians. </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><br></div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><br></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Those wishing to explore the passages in Ephesians that are implicated in contemporary debates about violence and the New Testament (e.g., the household codes and the armor of God) may wish to consult my more recent exploration of those issues and the relevant scholarship: </div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Those wishing to explore the passages in Ephesians that are implicated in contemporary debates about violence and the New Testament (e.g., the household codes and the armor of God) may wish to consult <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">the commentary as well as </ins>my more recent exploration of those issues and the relevant scholarship: </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>*Yoder Neufeld, Thomas R. ''Killing Enmity: Violence and the New Testament''. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2011. (Co-published in the UK by SPCK as ''Jesus and the Subversion of Violence: Wrestling with the New Testament Evidence''). See pp. 97-108, 143-49.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>*Yoder Neufeld, Thomas R<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">. ''Ephesians''. Believers Church Bible Commentary. Scottdale, PA: Herald, 2001.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">*______</ins>. ''Killing Enmity: Violence and the New Testament''. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2011. (Co-published in the UK by SPCK as ''Jesus and the Subversion of Violence: Wrestling with the New Testament Evidence''). See pp. 97-108, 143-49.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>== Invitation to Comment ==</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>== Invitation to Comment ==</div></td></tr>
</table>Dougmiller4http://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Ephesians&diff=21842&oldid=prevDougmiller4: /* Form and Rhetoric */2023-08-04T19:52:59Z<p><span dir="auto"><span class="autocomment">Form and Rhetoric</span></span></p>
<table class="diff diff-contentalign-left diff-editfont-monospace" data-mw="interface">
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<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122; text-align: center;">Revision as of 19:52, 4 August 2023</td>
</tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l36" >Line 36:</td>
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<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Christians new to the faith or to discipleship will read Ephesians like an exciting roadmap to faithfulness. But the possibility that this letter was written to the second or third generation of Paul’s communities, suggests that this letter can speak strongly also to readers who struggle with loss of vision, loss of energy, forgetfulness about what their baptism and membership in the Messiah’s “body” really means—which describes many churches today. It can then serve as a wake-up call, or, to draw on the image of the marriage between Christ and the church in chapter 5, as an invitation to marriage renewal.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Christians new to the faith or to discipleship will read Ephesians like an exciting roadmap to faithfulness. But the possibility that this letter was written to the second or third generation of Paul’s communities, suggests that this letter can speak strongly also to readers who struggle with loss of vision, loss of energy, forgetfulness about what their baptism and membership in the Messiah’s “body” really means—which describes many churches today. It can then serve as a wake-up call, or, to draw on the image of the marriage between Christ and the church in chapter 5, as an invitation to marriage renewal.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>===Form and <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Rhetoric</del>===</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>===Form<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">, Rhetoric, </ins>and <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Structure</ins>===</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>I have already alluded to the style of the letter as rather ornate. There is a large appetite for heaping up synonyms, perhaps to point out, rather ironically, the inability of language to capture the wonder of the gospel. But it does give many readers the impression of being over-produced, we might say. This may not be unrelated to what I earlier referred to as the highly reflective character of the letter. It seems to emerge out of great deliberation.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>I have already alluded to the style of the letter as rather ornate. There is a large appetite for heaping up synonyms, perhaps to point out, rather ironically, the inability of language to capture the wonder of the gospel. But it does give many readers the impression of being over-produced, we might say. This may not be unrelated to what I earlier referred to as the highly reflective character of the letter. It seems to emerge out of great deliberation.</div></td></tr>
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<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>:A1 Doxology—in praise of God 3:20-21</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>:A1 Doxology—in praise of God 3:20-21</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The second half is not a chiasm. It is rather a set of exhortations intended to encourage the manner of life the “new human” created “in Christ” is live. It is focused on unity, reminders of baptism, and participation in the divine struggle against the “powers” that resist God’s efforts to “gather in” all things, all people, into a peaceable unity. Indeed, the summons to put on the armour of God and to take the struggle to the powers forms the climax of the exhortation. The exhortation employs well-formed and perhaps already familiar traditions, such as creedal formulations (4:4-6), baptismal ritual (4:22-24; 5:14; 6:11), household code (5:21-6:9), the armour of God (6:10-20), and Scriptural citations and novel interpretations (4:8; 5:31; 6:14-17). </div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The second half is not a chiasm. It is rather a set of exhortations intended to encourage the manner of life the “new human” created “in Christ” is live. It is focused on unity, reminders of baptism, and participation in the divine struggle against the “powers” that resist God’s efforts to “gather in” all things, all people, into a peaceable unity. Indeed, the summons to put on the armour of God and to take the struggle to the powers forms the climax of the exhortation. The exhortation employs well-formed and perhaps already familiar traditions, such as creedal formulations (4:4-6), baptismal ritual (4:22-24; 5:14; 6:11), household code (5:21-6:9), the armour of God (6:10-20), and Scriptural citations and novel interpretations (4:8; 5:31; 6:14-17).</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==Summary and Comment==</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==Summary and Comment==</div></td></tr>
</table>Dougmiller4http://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Ephesians&diff=20788&oldid=prevDougmiller4: /* Relevance */2022-06-16T22:13:57Z<p><span dir="auto"><span class="autocomment">Relevance</span></span></p>
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</tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l14" >Line 14:</td>
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<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>It may, of course, seem nonsensical to have so many “centers.” On the other hand, the vision informing Ephesians does not allow us to push any one of these out of the centre. We are faced with some of the same mystery we encounter in the trinity. </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>It may, of course, seem nonsensical to have so many “centers.” On the other hand, the vision informing Ephesians does not allow us to push any one of these out of the centre. We are faced with some of the same mystery we encounter in the trinity. </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>I quote from the commentary as a way to summarize the gist of this grand letter to the Ephesians <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">(p.19)</del>: </div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>I quote from the commentary as a way to summarize the gist of this grand letter to the Ephesians: </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>: The secret is out! In Christ, God is gathering up all things. God’s mercy and grace not only extend forgiveness to sinners. The Creator has also taken the initiative of peace to mend broken humanity by removing enmity and by re-creating humanity anew in Christ. This reclaimed human community is drawn into the process of peacemaking: it has become a new home for insiders and outsiders, for humanity and God. But it is also summoned and empowered to take up the divine struggle against the powers of evil that still thwart the full realization of God’s peace, and to do so in the trenches of everyday existence.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>: The secret is out! In Christ, God is gathering up all things. God’s mercy and grace not only extend forgiveness to sinners. The Creator has also taken the initiative of peace to mend broken humanity by removing enmity and by re-creating humanity anew in Christ. This reclaimed human community is drawn into the process of peacemaking: it has become a new home for insiders and outsiders, for humanity and God. But it is also summoned and empowered to take up the divine struggle against the powers of evil that still thwart the full realization of God’s peace, and to do so in the trenches of everyday existence. <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">(Yoder Neufeld, 19)</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>===Authorship, Date, and Historical Context===</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>===Authorship, Date, and Historical Context===</div></td></tr>
</table>Dougmiller4http://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Ephesians&diff=20787&oldid=prevDougmiller4: /* Conclusion */2022-06-16T22:11:46Z<p><span dir="auto"><span class="autocomment">Conclusion</span></span></p>
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<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122; text-align: center;">Revision as of 22:11, 16 June 2022</td>
</tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l84" >Line 84:</td>
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<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>No document in the New Testament puts as much stress on the church as does Ephesians. But the church as such is not, to be sure, the center of the story. First, the church is “in Christ,” and Christ is in the body. Church is a messianic phenomenon, inextricable from the Creator’s work to reclaim the whole world. In the end, that daunting mission provides the larger framework for the repeated stress in this letter on power and empowerment, on Spirit, and on identification with the resurrected Christ.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>No document in the New Testament puts as much stress on the church as does Ephesians. But the church as such is not, to be sure, the center of the story. First, the church is “in Christ,” and Christ is in the body. Church is a messianic phenomenon, inextricable from the Creator’s work to reclaim the whole world. In the end, that daunting mission provides the larger framework for the repeated stress in this letter on power and empowerment, on Spirit, and on identification with the resurrected Christ.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==Conclusion==</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==Conclusion <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">and the Anabaptist Tradition</ins>==</div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Ephesians is a letter much beloved and used whenever Christians wish to be reminded of what it means to be the “church,” the “body of Christ.” Not surprisingly, it enjoys much favor wherever there are efforts to unite the church, whether at the congregational, denominational, or ecumenical level of church life. At the same time, the emphasis on the church as a cosmic unified reality “in Christ” is at odds with a post-modern appreciation of diversity and suspicion of hegemony. Moreover, readers sensitized to gender-based injustice are often troubled by the identification of the relationship of Christ and the church with that of husband and wife in Ephesians 5, with what is perceived to be a patriarchal entrenchment of sexual inequality. Many have thus cooled to this letter, some to the point of antipathy.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">This commentary on the letter to the Ephesians is written from within a particular tradition, the so-called believers church, Anabaptist, and/or Mennonite tradition. That tradition has placed several emphases at its centre: the church is a community of those who have made a conscious decision to follow Christ in life, have been baptized on confession of faith, and have taken on the covenantal responsibility of mutual accountability and shared ministry; the Bible is God’s authoritative self-disclosure, even as it is also an archive of human interaction with God spanning a millennium. It is viewed as clear in its call to peace and servanthood. As part of the “Believers Church Bible Commentary,” this commentary respects and engages that tradition. </ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">The vision informing </del>this <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">letter is thoroughly—<br></del></div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Ephesians both supports and challenges </ins>this <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">tradition. It supports </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">believers church tradition </ins>in the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">high value placed on baptism on confession </ins>of <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">faith as entry into a new life marked by “good works,” typically called “discipleship” </ins>(<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">chapters </ins>2 <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">and </ins>4)<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">. The historic emphasis on nonconformity </ins>and the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">costliness </ins>of <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">discipleship will find an echo in the call to separation from darkness </ins>and <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">the summons to do battle with evil </ins>(<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">chapters </ins>5 <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">and 6</ins>)<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">. The central emphasis on </ins>Christ <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">as peacemaker </ins>in <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">chapter 2 quite clearly supports </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">peacemaking emphasis </ins>in the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Anabaptist tradition</ins>. </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">*Theocentric—God as “Father” and Creator is before all (1:3-14), above all, through all, and in all (4:6);<br></del></div></td><td colspan="2"> </td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">*Christocentric—it is “in and through Christ” who is “our peace” that God is “gathering up all things” (1:10; 2:14-16);<br></del></div></td><td colspan="2"> </td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">*Pneumacentric— </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Spirit facilitating the peace Jews and Gentiles share </del>in the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">presence </del>of <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">God </del>(2<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">:18), enabling the unity God is bringing about (</del>4<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">:3</del>)<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">, </del>and <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">giving energy to </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">life </del>of <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">worship </del>and <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">service </del>(5<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">:18</del>)<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">;<br></del></div></td><td colspan="2"> </td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">*Ecclesiocentric—the church or “assembly” (to translate literally) is the “new human” created by God in </del>Christ<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">, and thus a participant </del>in <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">that new creation as the reconciled and reconciling “body” of the Messiah. </del></div></td><td colspan="2"> </td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del class="diffchange diffchange-inline"><Br></del></div></td><td colspan="2"> </td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">It may, of course, seem nonsensical to have so many “centers.” On the other hand, the vision informing Ephesians does not allow us to push any one of these out of the centre. We are faced with some of </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">same mystery we encounter </del>in the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">trinity</del>. </div></td><td colspan="2"> </td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">I quote from </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">commentary </del>as <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">a way </del>to <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">summarize </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">gist </del>of <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">this grand letter to </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Ephesians </del>(<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">p</del>.<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">19): </del></div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">On </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">other hand, both the stress on election and divine initiative in chapter 1 and the view of sin </ins>as <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">bondage </ins>to <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">evil powers (chap. 2) will rub up against </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">strong belief in human freedom in believers church circles. Further, the historic tendency in believers church experience to separate and divide over issues </ins>of <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">belief and ethics stands in real tension with </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">pervasive emphasis on unity or oneness in Christ </ins>(<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">chapters 2 and 4). The more politically and socially radical elements in Anabaptist circles will be troubled by the patriarchal setting of language and imagery, especially in the household code in chapters 5 and 6, as well as by the military imagery in chapter 6</ins>.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">: The secret is out! In Christ</del>, God <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">is gathering up all things</del>. <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">God’s mercy and grace not only extend forgiveness </del>to <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">sinners</del>. The <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Creator has also taken </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">initiative </del>of <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">peace </del>to <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">mend broken humanity by removing enmity </del>and by <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">re-creating humanity anew in Christ</del>. <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">This reclaimed human community </del>is <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">drawn into </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">process of peacemaking: it has become a new home for insiders and outsiders</del>, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">for humanity </del>and <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">God</del>. <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">But it is also summoned </del>and <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">empowered </del>to take <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">up </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">divine struggle against </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">powers of evil that still thwart </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">full realization of God’s peace</del>, and <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">to do so </del>in the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">trenches of everyday existence</del>.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Whatever the challenges Ephesians puts to the Anabaptist tradition</ins>, <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">the core commitment to listen to the Bible as the word of </ins>God <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">must always take precedence over maintaining traditional interpretations of the Bible</ins>. <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">It therefore cannot be the task of this commentary to provide a soapbox for believers church or Anabaptist perspectives, or to attempt to manage the text so as to make it palatable, or </ins>to <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">serve a particular agenda, however radical</ins>. The <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">task of this commentary is, first, to open a way for the biblical text to address </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">community </ins>of <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">faith listening for God’s word, and second, to open a way for the community </ins>to <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">bring its agenda to the scriptural text. That said, every commentator and every reader comes to the Bible with eyes and ears shaped in </ins>and by <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">a culture or community</ins>. <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">The tendency, often unconscious, </ins>is <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">then to tailor </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">text to fit already existing needs, desires</ins>, and <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">convictions</ins>. <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">As commentators </ins>and <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">readers, we have no recourse other than </ins>to take the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">prayer in chapters 1 and 3 to be for us—a prayer for wisdom and a spirit of revelation so we can grasp </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">height and depth, </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">width and length</ins>, and<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">, most important, the love of God </ins>in <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Christ Jesus for us and for </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">whole cosmos</ins>.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==Recommended Essays in the Commentary==</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==Recommended Essays in the Commentary==</div></td></tr>
</table>Dougmiller4http://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Ephesians&diff=20786&oldid=prevDougmiller4: /* Relevance */2022-06-16T22:11:02Z<p><span dir="auto"><span class="autocomment">Relevance</span></span></p>
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<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td>
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122; text-align: center;">Revision as of 22:11, 16 June 2022</td>
</tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l6" >Line 6:</td>
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<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==Introduction==</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==Introduction==</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>===Relevance===</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>===Relevance===</div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">The vision informing this letter is thoroughly—<br></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">*Theocentric—God as “Father” and Creator is before all (1:3-14), above all, through all, and in all (4:6);<br></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">*Christocentric—it is “in and through Christ” who is “our peace” that God is “gathering up all things” (1:10; 2:14-16);<br></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">*Pneumacentric— the Spirit facilitating the peace Jews and Gentiles share in the presence of God (2:18), enabling the unity God is bringing about (4:3), and giving energy to the life of worship and service (5:18);<br></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">*Ecclesiocentric—the church or “assembly” (to translate literally) is the “new human” created by God in Christ, and thus a participant in that new creation as the reconciled and reconciling “body” of the Messiah. </ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"><Br></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">It may, of course, seem nonsensical to have so many “centers.” On the other hand, the vision informing Ephesians does not allow us to push any one of these out of the centre. We are faced with some of the same mystery we encounter in the trinity. </ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Ephesians is a letter much beloved and used whenever Christians wish to be reminded of what it means to be </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">“church,” the “body of Christ.” Not surprisingly, it enjoys much favor wherever there are efforts to unite the church, whether at the congregational, denominational, or ecumenical level of church life. At the same time, the emphasis on the church </del>as a <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">cosmic unified reality “in Christ” is at odds with a post-modern appreciation of diversity and suspicion of hegemony. Moreover, readers sensitized </del>to <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">gender-based injustice are often troubled by the identification of the relationship of Christ and </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">church with that of husband and wife in Ephesians 5, with what is perceived to be a patriarchal entrenchment </del>of <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">sexual inequality. Many have thus cooled to </del>this <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">letter, some to the point of antipathy.</del></div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">I quote from </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">commentary </ins>as a <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">way </ins>to <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">summarize </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">gist </ins>of this <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">grand </ins>letter to the Ephesians <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">(p</ins>.<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">19)</ins>: </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">This commentary on the </del>letter to the Ephesians <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">is written from within a particular tradition, the so-called believers church, Anabaptist, and/or Mennonite tradition</del>. <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">That tradition has placed several emphases at its centre</del>: <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">the church is a community of those who have made a conscious decision to follow Christ in life, have been baptized on confession of faith, and have taken on the covenantal responsibility of mutual accountability and shared ministry; the Bible is God’s authoritative self-disclosure, even as it is also an archive of human interaction with God spanning a millennium. It is viewed as clear in its call to peace and servanthood. As part of the “Believers Church Bible Commentary,” this commentary respects and engages that tradition. </del></div></td><td colspan="2"> </td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Ephesians both supports and challenges this tradition. It supports the believers church tradition in the high value placed on baptism on confession of faith as entry into a new life marked by “good works</del>,<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">” typically called “discipleship” (chapters 2 and 4)</del>. <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">The historic emphasis on nonconformity and the costliness of discipleship will find an echo in the call to separation from darkness </del>and <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">the summons </del>to <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">do battle with evil (chapters 5 and 6)</del>. The <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">central emphasis on Christ as peacemaker in chapter 2 quite clearly supports the peacemaking emphasis in the Anabaptist tradition. </del></div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">: The secret is out! In Christ</ins>, <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">God is gathering up all things</ins>. <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">God’s mercy </ins>and <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">grace not only extend forgiveness </ins>to <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">sinners</ins>. The <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Creator has also taken </ins>the initiative of <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">peace </ins>to <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">mend broken humanity </ins>by <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">removing enmity </ins>and by <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">re-creating humanity anew </ins>in <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Christ</ins>. <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">This reclaimed human community is drawn into </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">process </ins>of <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">peacemaking: </ins>it <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">has become </ins>a <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">new home </ins>for <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">insiders </ins>and <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">outsiders</ins>, for <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">humanity </ins>and <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">God</ins>. <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">But it </ins>is <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">also summoned </ins>and <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">empowered </ins>to take <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">up the divine struggle against </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">powers </ins>of <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">evil that still thwart </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">full realization of God’s peace</ins>, and <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">to do so in </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">trenches </ins>of <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">everyday existence</ins>.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div> </div></td><td colspan="2"> </td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">On the other hand, both </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">stress on election and divine </del>initiative <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">in chapter 1 and the view </del>of <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">sin as bondage to evil powers (chap. 2) will rub up against the strong belief in human freedom in believers church circles. Further, the historic tendency in believers church experience </del>to <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">separate and divide over issues of belief and ethics stands in real tension with the pervasive emphasis on unity or oneness in Christ (chapters 2 and 4). The more politically and socially radical elements in Anabaptist circles will be troubled </del>by <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">the patriarchal setting of language and imagery, especially in the household code in chapters 5 </del>and <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">6, as well as </del>by <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">the military imagery </del>in <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">chapter 6</del>.</div></td><td colspan="2"> </td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div> </div></td><td colspan="2"> </td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Whatever the challenges Ephesians puts to the Anabaptist tradition, the core commitment to listen to the Bible as </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">word </del>of <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">God must always take precedence over maintaining traditional interpretations of the Bible. It therefore cannot be the task of this commentary to provide a soapbox for believers church or Anabaptist perspectives, or to attempt to manage the text so as to make </del>it <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">palatable, or to serve </del>a <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">particular agenda, however radical. The task of this commentary is, first, to open a way for the biblical text to address the community of faith listening </del>for <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">God’s word, </del>and <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">second</del>, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">to open a way </del>for <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">the community to bring its agenda to the scriptural text. That said, every commentator </del>and <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">every reader comes to the Bible with eyes and ears shaped in and by a culture or community</del>. <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">The tendency, often unconscious, </del>is <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">then to tailor the text to fit already existing needs, desires, and convictions. As commentators </del>and <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">readers, we have no recourse other than </del>to take the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">prayer in chapters 1 and 3 to be for us—a prayer for wisdom and a spirit </del>of <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">revelation so we can grasp </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">height and depth</del>, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">the width </del>and <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">length, and, most important, </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">love </del>of <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">God in Christ Jesus for us and for the whole cosmos</del>.</div></td><td colspan="2"> </td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>===Authorship, Date, and Historical Context===</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>===Authorship, Date, and Historical Context===</div></td></tr>
</table>Dougmiller4http://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Ephesians&diff=20511&oldid=prevDougmiller4: /* Recommended Essays from the Commentary */2022-05-06T16:49:07Z<p><span dir="auto"><span class="autocomment">Recommended Essays from the Commentary</span></span></p>
<table class="diff diff-contentalign-left diff-editfont-monospace" data-mw="interface">
<col class="diff-marker" />
<col class="diff-content" />
<col class="diff-marker" />
<col class="diff-content" />
<tr class="diff-title" lang="en">
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td>
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122; text-align: center;">Revision as of 16:49, 6 May 2022</td>
</tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l96" >Line 96:</td>
<td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 96:</td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>: The secret is out! In Christ, God is gathering up all things. God’s mercy and grace not only extend forgiveness to sinners. The Creator has also taken the initiative of peace to mend broken humanity by removing enmity and by re-creating humanity anew in Christ. This reclaimed human community is drawn into the process of peacemaking: it has become a new home for insiders and outsiders, for humanity and God. But it is also summoned and empowered to take up the divine struggle against the powers of evil that still thwart the full realization of God’s peace, and to do so in the trenches of everyday existence.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>: The secret is out! In Christ, God is gathering up all things. God’s mercy and grace not only extend forgiveness to sinners. The Creator has also taken the initiative of peace to mend broken humanity by removing enmity and by re-creating humanity anew in Christ. This reclaimed human community is drawn into the process of peacemaking: it has become a new home for insiders and outsiders, for humanity and God. But it is also summoned and empowered to take up the divine struggle against the powers of evil that still thwart the full realization of God’s peace, and to do so in the trenches of everyday existence.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==Recommended Essays <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">from </del>the Commentary==</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==Recommended Essays <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">in </ins>the Commentary==</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Apocalypticism <br></div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Apocalypticism <br></div></td></tr>
</table>Dougmiller4http://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Ephesians&diff=20510&oldid=prevDougmiller4: /* Summary and Comment */2022-05-06T16:47:13Z<p><span dir="auto"><span class="autocomment">Summary and Comment</span></span></p>
<table class="diff diff-contentalign-left diff-editfont-monospace" data-mw="interface">
<col class="diff-marker" />
<col class="diff-content" />
<col class="diff-marker" />
<col class="diff-content" />
<tr class="diff-title" lang="en">
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td>
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122; text-align: center;">Revision as of 16:47, 6 May 2022</td>
</tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l60" >Line 60:</td>
<td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 60:</td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>See full outline of Ephesians in the commentary, pp. 322-25, as well as my own fresh translation of the letter in a “schematic” format, visually reflecting the grammar of the Greek, pp. 326-38. </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>See full outline of Ephesians in the commentary, pp. 322-25, as well as my own fresh translation of the letter in a “schematic” format, visually reflecting the grammar of the Greek, pp. 326-38. </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Following the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''address<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>'' or greeting in <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''1:1-2<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>'', the letters opens with a lengthy prayer in which God is blessed for blessing us (<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''1:3-14<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''). This blessing or <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''eulogy<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>'' expresses the central conviction underlying the letter as a whole: the infinitely gracious God has blessed Jews and Gentiles alike. God has chosen them, made them sons and daughters, and let them in on the great secret, namely, that in and through Christ, God is “gathering up” all things, especially all people, into a divine unity (1:10; 4:6). </div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Following the ''address'' or greeting in ''1:1-2'', the letters opens with a lengthy prayer in which God is blessed for blessing us (''1:3-14''). This blessing or ''eulogy'' expresses the central conviction underlying the letter as a whole: the infinitely gracious God has blessed Jews and Gentiles alike. God has chosen them, made them sons and daughters, and let them in on the great secret, namely, that in and through Christ, God is “gathering up” all things, especially all people, into a divine unity (1:10; 4:6). </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>As is typical of letter writing etiquette in Paul’s days, he usually begins his letters with a thanksgiving section, rather than a blessing (2 Corinthians is a rare exception; in Galatians Paul is so upset with his readers he dispenses with such etiquette). But in Ephesians we encounter both blessing and thanksgiving. <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''Thanksgiving (1:15-16)<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>'' gives way immediately to <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''intercession<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>'' (<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''1:17-23<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''; resumed in 3:14), namely, that God give readers the insight and wisdom to know what power is at work in them and on their behalf. This power is the very power that raised and exalted Christ to the right hand of God, above all powers in the cosmos (1:18-23). The end of chapter 1 introduces the church as the “body” of that exalted Messiah, connecting the emphasis on power and status with the church’s identity and task. </div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>As is typical of letter writing etiquette in Paul’s days, he usually begins his letters with a thanksgiving section, rather than a blessing (2 Corinthians is a rare exception; in Galatians Paul is so upset with his readers he dispenses with such etiquette). But in Ephesians we encounter both blessing and thanksgiving. ''Thanksgiving (1:15-16)'' gives way immediately to ''intercession'' (''1:17-23''; resumed in 3:14), namely, that God give readers the insight and wisdom to know what power is at work in them and on their behalf. This power is the very power that raised and exalted Christ to the right hand of God, above all powers in the cosmos (1:18-23). The end of chapter 1 introduces the church as the “body” of that exalted Messiah, connecting the emphasis on power and status with the church’s identity and task. </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''Ephesians 2:1-10<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>'' provides a glimpse of what this power has already effected in believers—both Jews and Gentiles. Because of God’s fathomless storehouse of love and mercy, those who were once dead in sin—both Jews and Gentiles—have now been <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''brought to life together with Christ<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>'': they have been raised and seated together with him and with each other in the heavenly places. Believers have been “saved by grace” (2:5, 8) for “good works” (2:10), the full meaning of which will be become clear in the second half of Ephesians. </div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>''Ephesians 2:1-10'' provides a glimpse of what this power has already effected in believers—both Jews and Gentiles. Because of God’s fathomless storehouse of love and mercy, those who were once dead in sin—both Jews and Gentiles—have now been ''brought to life together with Christ'': they have been raised and seated together with him and with each other in the heavenly places. Believers have been “saved by grace” (2:5, 8) for “good works” (2:10), the full meaning of which will be become clear in the second half of Ephesians. </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>A celebration of Christ’s act of bringing peace follows in <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''2:11-22<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>'', anchored by what is likely a <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''hymn to Christ as peace<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>'' in 2:14-16. Outcasts and enemies—Gentiles—have been offered citizenship, inclusion in the family of God, and more: they have been made building blocks of God’s dwelling, his holy temple (2:19-22). Together with Jews, Gentiles have become an integral part of a “new human” re-created in the image of the God in whom all things cohere (cf. 1:10, 20-22; 4:24). At the very center of this act of re-creation is the violent death of Christ. It is this act of ultimate self-giving that nevertheless deals the lethal blow to enmity (2:16). Christ “murders hostility” through his own death. </div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>A celebration of Christ’s act of bringing peace follows in ''2:11-22'', anchored by what is likely a ''hymn to Christ as peace'' in 2:14-16. Outcasts and enemies—Gentiles—have been offered citizenship, inclusion in the family of God, and more: they have been made building blocks of God’s dwelling, his holy temple (2:19-22). Together with Jews, Gentiles have become an integral part of a “new human” re-created in the image of the God in whom all things cohere (cf. 1:10, 20-22; 4:24). At the very center of this act of re-creation is the violent death of Christ. It is this act of ultimate self-giving that nevertheless deals the lethal blow to enmity (2:16). Christ “murders hostility” through his own death. </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>In <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''Ephesians 3:1-13<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>'', Paul appears as the expert <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''guide into the secret of God<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>'', namely, the inclusion of Gentiles in the people of God. The task of the church, made up now of Jews and Gentiles, is to inform the powers of God’s infinitely “multivaried wisdom” (3:10). Quite fittingly, this is immediately followed in <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''3:14-19<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>'' by the resumption of the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''apostolic prayer<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>'' of intercession for power and knowledge (cf. 1:17-23), especially the unfathomable love of Christ. As in 1:23, at stake is nothing less than the fullness of God (3:19). The recitation of the immeasurable blessings of God in the first three chapters concludes appropriately with a flourish of praise or <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''doxology (3:20-21)<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>'', well-known to many readers as an oft-heard benediction concluding worship services. </div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>In ''Ephesians 3:1-13'', Paul appears as the expert ''guide into the secret of God'', namely, the inclusion of Gentiles in the people of God. The task of the church, made up now of Jews and Gentiles, is to inform the powers of God’s infinitely “multivaried wisdom” (3:10). Quite fittingly, this is immediately followed in ''3:14-19'' by the resumption of the ''apostolic prayer'' of intercession for power and knowledge (cf. 1:17-23), especially the unfathomable love of Christ. As in 1:23, at stake is nothing less than the fullness of God (3:19). The recitation of the immeasurable blessings of God in the first three chapters concludes appropriately with a flourish of praise or ''doxology (3:20-21)'', well-known to many readers as an oft-heard benediction concluding worship services. </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''second half of Ephesians<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>'' consists largely of exhortation (paraenesis). It begins in <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''4:1<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>'' with a <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''“therefore.”<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>'' As in Romans 11:33—12:2, the exhortation follows immediately on the heels of a doxology that celebrates the immeasurable grace of God (3:20-21). This is of critical importance: in all of Paul’s letters, what we call “ethics” is first and last a response to God’s saving acts. Because God’s grace always precedes and prepares the ground for human faithfulness (see esp. 2:1-10), the recitation of God’s blessings and benefactions necessarily calls for a response of active gratitude on the part of the recipients of God’s blessings. That is exactly how Ephesians is organized. Just as the first three chapters of Ephesians recite the blessings of God, the last three chapters point to the “good works” (cf. 2:10) the saints are to perform in worshipful gratitude. They are to “walk” in a way that is worthy of their high calling, identity, and mission. </div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The ''second half of Ephesians'' consists largely of exhortation (paraenesis). It begins in ''4:1'' with a ''“therefore.”'' As in Romans 11:33—12:2, the exhortation follows immediately on the heels of a doxology that celebrates the immeasurable grace of God (3:20-21). This is of critical importance: in all of Paul’s letters, what we call “ethics” is first and last a response to God’s saving acts. Because God’s grace always precedes and prepares the ground for human faithfulness (see esp. 2:1-10), the recitation of God’s blessings and benefactions necessarily calls for a response of active gratitude on the part of the recipients of God’s blessings. That is exactly how Ephesians is organized. Just as the first three chapters of Ephesians recite the blessings of God, the last three chapters point to the “good works” (cf. 2:10) the saints are to perform in worshipful gratitude. They are to “walk” in a way that is worthy of their high calling, identity, and mission. </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The exhortation begins with a <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''focus on the church (4:1-16)<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''. This is appropriate since the first half of the letter has indicated the central importance of the church as the place where God has begun the re-creation of humanity. Chapter 4 thus begins with a ringing <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''call for unity<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>'' in the church (<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''4:1-6<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''). This is followed in <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''4:7-16<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>'' by a clear reminder that the ministry of <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''building up the body of Christ<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>'' is not the special prerogative of leaders and teachers, but that of all members of Christ’s body. Leaders are reminded that their task is first and last to equip the saints to practice this ministry (4:12)—a ministry that must be seen in light of Christ’s peacemaking (see 2:11-22). </div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The exhortation begins with a ''focus on the church (4:1-16)''. This is appropriate since the first half of the letter has indicated the central importance of the church as the place where God has begun the re-creation of humanity. Chapter 4 thus begins with a ringing ''call for unity'' in the church (''4:1-6''). This is followed in ''4:7-16'' by a clear reminder that the ministry of ''building up the body of Christ'' is not the special prerogative of leaders and teachers, but that of all members of Christ’s body. Leaders are reminded that their task is first and last to equip the saints to practice this ministry (4:12)—a ministry that must be seen in light of Christ’s peacemaking (see 2:11-22). </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>No break is intended or even perceived when the author now moves from church to ethics (4:17-6:20). The church is after all the “body” of the agent of creation. Bodies act. It becomes apparent that good works are what the new human does (2:10; 4:24). Believers <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''learn from Christ<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>'' how to live the new life, to “walk the talk” (<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''4:17-24<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''). In baptism, they have taken off the “old human” and <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''put on “the new human,”<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>'' Christ (4:22-24), and are learning to live as the “new human” within the community of faith (<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''4:25-5:2<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''). The gulf between death and life depicted in 2:1-10 is addressed in <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''5:3-14<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>'' in the call to separation of light from darkness, as sharp a <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''call to nonconformity<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>'' as we will find in the Bible. However, this is not a call to disengagement, but to the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''transformation of darkness into light<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>'' (5:11-14). Confrontation and exposure are intended to bring about transformation. The dualistic language thus serves not to remove the children of light from the world of darkness, but rather to hone their sensitivities so that they might become and remain alert and faithful to the task before them; their nonconformity is to serve the mending of all things (1:10). Such a peculiar “walk” is neither dour nor suspicious. Rather, it expresses itself in wise living, enthusiastic worship, and empowered mutual servanthood (<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''5:15-21<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''). </div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>No break is intended or even perceived when the author now moves from church to ethics (4:17-6:20). The church is after all the “body” of the agent of creation. Bodies act. It becomes apparent that good works are what the new human does (2:10; 4:24). Believers ''learn from Christ'' how to live the new life, to “walk the talk” (''4:17-24''). In baptism, they have taken off the “old human” and ''put on “the new human,”'' Christ (4:22-24), and are learning to live as the “new human” within the community of faith (''4:25-5:2''). The gulf between death and life depicted in 2:1-10 is addressed in ''5:3-14'' in the call to separation of light from darkness, as sharp a ''call to nonconformity'' as we will find in the Bible. However, this is not a call to disengagement, but to the ''transformation of darkness into light'' (5:11-14). Confrontation and exposure are intended to bring about transformation. The dualistic language thus serves not to remove the children of light from the world of darkness, but rather to hone their sensitivities so that they might become and remain alert and faithful to the task before them; their nonconformity is to serve the mending of all things (1:10). Such a peculiar “walk” is neither dour nor suspicious. Rather, it expresses itself in wise living, enthusiastic worship, and empowered mutual servanthood (''5:15-21''). </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>It is in such a frame of reference that the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''Household Code<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>'' is taken up in <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''5:21-6:9<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''. In the first century, the household did not refer to a nuclear family nor was its meaning exhausted by the extended family that included servants and slaves. The household was a paradigm for the whole of society. In some contrast to other instances of the Household Code, in Ephesians the domestic instructions are framed by the call to be filled with the Spirit (5:18), or enlivened by the breath of God, or driven by divine wind, on one hand, and the summons to wage war on the powers (6:10-13). Such framing reminds readers that in Ephesians the everyday world of human relations is an arena in which light and darkness, good and evil, God and the powers meet, indeed clash. Moreover, rather than bystanders, victims, or beneficiaries, believers are participants in that struggle, even if, or most especially when it takes place in the family room, factory, or class room.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>It is in such a frame of reference that the ''Household Code'' is taken up in ''5:21-6:9''. In the first century, the household did not refer to a nuclear family nor was its meaning exhausted by the extended family that included servants and slaves. The household was a paradigm for the whole of society. In some contrast to other instances of the Household Code, in Ephesians the domestic instructions are framed by the call to be filled with the Spirit (5:18), or enlivened by the breath of God, or driven by divine wind, on one hand, and the summons to wage war on the powers (6:10-13). Such framing reminds readers that in Ephesians the everyday world of human relations is an arena in which light and darkness, good and evil, God and the powers meet, indeed clash. Moreover, rather than bystanders, victims, or beneficiaries, believers are participants in that struggle, even if, or most especially when it takes place in the family room, factory, or class room.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>This whole “ethical” section or exhortation spanning the second half of Ephesians is summed up as the courageous <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''struggle with the powers<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>'' through the exercise of truth, justice, peace, faith(fullness), liberation, and the sharp word of God (<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''6:10-20<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del>''). God’s calling and empowerment of the saints in Christ (1:19-23; 2:1-10; 3:14-21) thus finds its full complement at the end of the letter, in an image rooted in the old biblical tradition of God as divine warrior (cf. Isa 59:17; 1 Thess 5:8). Only now it is the messianic community—the body of the Messiah—that dons God’s armor and enters the fray of battle with the powers resisting God’s reconciliation of the world. Every bit of knowledge, power, and resurrection life are required for such an enterprise (1:17-23; 2:4-8; 3:14-21; 6:10). This final and perhaps most dramatic image of the letter combines the purposes of both parts of the letter. Readers are confronted at one and the same time with their elevated status as the elect sons and daughters of God, called to be the body of the Messiah, and with the breathtaking obligations that go with such status. Even as they exercise the often apparently modest virtues of humility, truth, justice, peace, and prayer in the ordinary arenas of everyday life, they are engaged in a cosmic battle with the “powers.” </div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>This whole “ethical” section or exhortation spanning the second half of Ephesians is summed up as the courageous ''struggle with the powers'' through the exercise of truth, justice, peace, faith(fullness), liberation, and the sharp word of God (''6:10-20''). God’s calling and empowerment of the saints in Christ (1:19-23; 2:1-10; 3:14-21) thus finds its full complement at the end of the letter, in an image rooted in the old biblical tradition of God as divine warrior (cf. Isa 59:17; 1 Thess 5:8). Only now it is the messianic community—the body of the Messiah—that dons God’s armor and enters the fray of battle with the powers resisting God’s reconciliation of the world. Every bit of knowledge, power, and resurrection life are required for such an enterprise (1:17-23; 2:4-8; 3:14-21; 6:10). This final and perhaps most dramatic image of the letter combines the purposes of both parts of the letter. Readers are confronted at one and the same time with their elevated status as the elect sons and daughters of God, called to be the body of the Messiah, and with the breathtaking obligations that go with such status. Even as they exercise the often apparently modest virtues of humility, truth, justice, peace, and prayer in the ordinary arenas of everyday life, they are engaged in a cosmic battle with the “powers.” </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>No document in the New Testament puts as much stress on the church as does Ephesians. But the church as such is not, to be sure, the center of the story. First, the church is “in Christ,” and Christ is in the body. Church is a messianic phenomenon, inextricable from the Creator’s work to reclaim the whole world. In the end, that daunting mission provides the larger framework for the repeated stress in this letter on power and empowerment, on Spirit, and on identification with the resurrected Christ.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>No document in the New Testament puts as much stress on the church as does Ephesians. But the church as such is not, to be sure, the center of the story. First, the church is “in Christ,” and Christ is in the body. Church is a messianic phenomenon, inextricable from the Creator’s work to reclaim the whole world. In the end, that daunting mission provides the larger framework for the repeated stress in this letter on power and empowerment, on Spirit, and on identification with the resurrected Christ.</div></td></tr>
</table>Dougmiller4