https://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=BenEB&feedformat=atomAnabaptistwiki - User contributions [en]2024-03-28T11:51:42ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.35.2https://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Philippians&diff=17918Philippians2017-08-16T15:42:13Z<p>BenEB: add outline</p>
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<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]''' <br />
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[[File:BCBC_Philippians.jpg|frame|right|180px|link=http://store.mennomedia.org/Philippians-P4734.aspx|[http://store.mennomedia.org/Philippians-P4734.aspx''Philippians'' by Gordon Zerbe (Believers Church Bible Commentary)]"]]<br />
<br />
==Introduction==<br />
<br />
====Relevance====<br />
<br />
This prized letter of Paul from prison, filled with resilience and reassurance, reveals a remarkable combination of consolation and congratulations, on the one hand, and challenge and admonition, on the other. In some ways it has a strong edge as a sort of underground political tract: Paul’s main persuasive concern is that this “assembly” (congregation) of Jesus loyalists remain steadfast and united in the context of a massive assault against them by the powers of imperial Rome in Philippi. At the same time, the letter exhibits own Paul’s deep piety and spiritual vitality in extreme hardship as a kind of political prisoner for the cause of Messiah Jesus, and it is infused with the warm and intimate relational bonds he shares with his similarly beleaguered “partners” in Philippi. <br />
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For Anabaptists, this letter has been decisive for calling the community of Jesus loyalists/believers (the Greek ''pisteuō'' implies “trust,” “loyalty,” and “conviction” at the same time) to a kind of alternative citizenship allegiance (Phil 3:20) that relativizes all other identities or loyalties. Accordingly, it has been used to caution Christians from serving as magistrates in a national state. Furthermore, the way that it highlights resilience in suffering (e.g. Phil 1:29) has been prized by those suffering persecution throughout the centuries. Many Anabaptist writers who similarly wrote from prison took great comfort in Paul’s example. Finally, Paul’s emphasis in Philippians on a life of deliberate striving (“works”) toward ethical maturity in contrast to merely resting on God’s grace (Phil 1:6; 2:12–13; 3:12–17) inspired Anabaptist writers as they articulated a middle pathway in their theological debates with Protestants and Catholics.<br />
<br />
====Date, Setting, and Author====<br />
<br />
Paul wrote the letter to the assembly in Philippi while he was imprisoned on a capital charge by Roman imperial authorities, most likely in Ephesus, the leading city and capital of the Roman province of Asia (western Asia Minor), sometime in the months of July–October, in the year 55 or 56 CE. It was written just before his departure for Macedonia (Acts 20:1–2), a trip he anticipates in the letter should he be released instead of executed (Phil 2:19–24). This would mean that Philippians was written a few months before 2 Corinthians (later that winter) and around six months before Romans (early spring the following year), both of which reflect retrospectively on the extreme hardship, both physical and mental, that he experienced during his imprisonment (2 Cor 1:3–11; 2:14–16; 4:7–5:9; 6:4–10; 11:21–12:10 ; Rom 5:1–5; 8:17–39).<br />
<br />
Paul says in the letter that both he and his “partners” in Philippi are involved in “the same kind of struggle”—a struggle of the same kind that they earlier witnessed him going through when he founded the assembly five years earlier (Phil 1:29–30; Acts 16:10–40). Paul acknowledges that there are “adversaries” committed to the community’s “destruction” and that his readers are “suffering” and experiencing considerable “fear” (1:27–30), at the hands of those Paul calls a “crooked and twisted nation” among whom they live missionally as shining lights (2:15–16). He characterizes these opponents further in coded language as “dogs, evildoers, and butcherers” (3:2–3), taking up a three-fold image derived from Psalm 22:16 (following a textual tradition preserved in the Greek translation of the OT and the Dead Sea Scrolls): “''Dogs'' have surrounded me; a gang of ''evil doers'' has encircled me; they have ''gouged'' my hands and my feet.” While Christian interpreters have traditionally claimed that these opponents are “Jews” or “Jewish-Christian judaizers,” it is much more likely that Paul is alluding in coded language to the Roman imperial and social order and its accompanying violence. <br />
<br />
The crisis the Philippian assembly has everything to do with the social and political character of Roman Philippi. Though demographically diverse, the city of approximately 10,000 or 15,000 inhabitants was dominated by a small Roman elite class descended from original veteran settlers, following the Battle of Philippi in 42 BCE, when Philippi become a kind of extension of Rome itself as a “colony.” This elite class of Roman citizens with their proud and patriotic Roman-ness controlled a mini-empire of around 700 square miles (the extent of the colony) with at least 40,000 subjects. <br />
<br />
Immediate practical concerns provide the occasion for the letter, following Paul’s decision to send Epaphroditus, the community’s emissary on his behalf, back to Philippi along with a letter:<br><br />
: (a) Paul needs to acknowledge their assistance during his ordeal formally (4:10-18; cf. 1:5-7; 2:25-30);<br><br />
: (b) He desires to explain the situation regarding Epaphroditus, offering words of commendation and gratitude (2:25-30);<br><br />
:(c) He wishes to provide an update on his own circumstances, especially on his own mental-emotional disposition (1:12-26; 2:17-18);<br><br />
:(d) Finally, Paul aims to set the stage for the imminent visit by Timothy (2:19-23) and indeed for his own reunion with his partners (1:25-26; 2:24).<br><br />
But these immediate purposes are subordinate to Paul’s chief persuasive concern: that the assembly remain steadfast and united in the context of a massive assault against them by the powers of Rome in Philippi. Philippians is a forceful challenge on the “practice of messianic citizenship” (1:27–2:16; 3:1–4:9). Paul’s key interest is to enliven patriotic loyalty to Lord Jesus Messiah alone. To this end, Paul engages in both consolation and reassurance in light of Messiah’s imminent, final, and global victory (2:9-11; 3:20-21). And he directly addresses the internal, common “political” life of the assembly. He warmly urges it to retain the messianic citizenship virtues of lowliness, neighborliness, and unity, and to resist the contrasting Roman patterns of consumerism, status-pursuit, and self-promoting glory, along with its general immorality (2:14-16; 3:2-3, 18-21).<br />
<br />
But in Paul’s perspective, the political is never separated from the spiritual, even though Paul’s striking and deep personal and relational expressions, have often blinded Western readers to the profoundly political, even subversive dimensions of his rhetoric (“religion” and “politics” were not separate spheres in the ancient world). The expressions of Paul’s deep piety and personal relationship with Christ, with powerful words of assurance, are everywhere apparent, and claimed by many throughout the centuries (see 1:21, 23; 2:17; 3:10; 4:4, 6, 13, 19). Still, in the midst of his resilience and optimism, there is also a foreboding anxiety (1:19-24; 2:17, 23-24) and an acknowledgement of deep pain (2:27). Most strikingly, Paul consoles when he is the one who himself should be consoled, and he draws attention to unfailing divine resources in suffering that he himself no doubt has relied upon (2:1; compare 2 Cor 1:3-11).<br />
<br />
====Form and Rhetoric====<br />
<br />
Philippians is both a letter of warm friendship and a letter of bold exhortation. As a letter of friendship it seeks to celebrate and solidify relationship bonds through, for instance, conveying personal information and sharing feelings of separation, longing, mutuality, distress, pain, and joy. As a letter of exhortation it displays features of deliberative rhetoric, a kind of persuasion designed to effect a change among hearers.<br />
<br />
Paul’s letter to the Philippians is carefully crafted in word and structure. The letter is bracketed by the salutation (1:1–2) and closing (4:21–23). The opening thanksgiving and prayer (1:3–11) also correlates with a concluding thanksgiving and acknowledgement of their assistance (4:10–20), both of which coalesce around the theme of “partnership” between Paul and the congregation. The letter also has two segments of disclosure: the first focuses on Paul’s circumstance in prison (1:12–26) while the second summarizes imminent travel plans and the return of Epaphroditus to Philippi (2:19–30). The main body of exhortation comes in two parts, focusing around the theme of being Christ’s citizen community (1:27–2:28; 3:1–4:9). The centerpiece of the first is a tribute in honor of Messiah as model and deliverer (2:6–11) while in the second Paul’s puts forward his own citizenship account as a model (3:4–17) while emphasizing Messiah’s imminent global victory (3:20–21).<br />
<br />
In Philippians, Paul exhorts and argues mainly through paradigmatic example, following a long-standing pattern of using exemplary models (''paradeigma'') as proofs for an argument in persuasive rhetoric (e.g. Aristotle).<br />
<br />
Paul makes his case for the “practice of messianic citizenship” by reference primarily to two exemplary models: Messiah (2:5-11, the centerpiece of the letter) and Paul (3:4-17; 4:9). Even where not explicit, Paul’s explanation of his own disposition or conduct is clearly intended as a model for others to follow (1:12-26; 2:16-18; 4:10-13). Of course, Messiah as exalted slave is in his own special category as both model and deliverer (2:5-11; 3:10-11, 18-21; 4:5). Even lesser figures, such as Timothy and Epaphroditus, are presented and commended in such as a way as to provide further examples of these two primary models (2:19-22, 25-30; cf. 3:17). As it is today, patriotic loyalty is best enlivened not by abstract, logical argument, but by the celebration and honoring of exemplary heroes.<br />
<br />
==Summary and Comment==<br />
<br />
====Outline====<br />
'''Salutation, 1:1-2'''<br />
: ''Sender, Addressee, Grace and Peace Blessing''<br />
<br />
<br />
'''Thanksgiving and Prayer, 1:3-11'''<br />
: ''Themes: Partnership in Generosity, Maturation in Love and Righteousness-Justice''<br />
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'''Disclosure of Paul’s Circumstances, 1:12-26'''<br />
: ''Theme: Imprisonment on Behalf of Messiah: The Advance of the Gospel and Paul’s Confidence despite Adversity''<br />
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<br />
'''Exhortation, Part I, 1:27–2:18'''<br />
: ''Theme: Being Messiah’s Citizen Body''<br />
: ''Centerpiece: Messiah Jesus as Model and Deliverer (2:6-11)''<br />
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'''Disclosure of Travel Plans, 2:19-30'''<br />
: ''Commendations: Timothy and Epaphroditus as Model Citizens''<br />
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'''Exhortation, Part II, 3:1–4:9'''<br />
: ''Theme 1: Being Messiah’s Citizen Body, Continued, 3:1–4:1''<br />
:: ''Core Theme: Paul as Citizenship Model (3:4-17)''<br />
:: ''Climax: Messiah’s Global Victory (3:20-21)''<br />
: ''Theme 2: Concluding Exhortations, 4:2-9''<br />
<br />
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'''Thanksgiving and Receipt for Assistance, 4:10-20'''<br />
: ''Theme: Celebrating Partnership and God’s Rich Provision''<br />
<br />
<br />
'''Closing, 4:21-23'''<br />
<br />
<br />
====Themes====<br />
<br />
Four interrelated themes recur in a profound way in the letter and deserve careful attention by any reader: citizenship, partnership, high-low inversion, and joy-gladness.<br />
<br />
'''Citizenship'''. Drawing on the language and imagery of Greek political theory, the body of the letter (1:27–4:9) is carefully developed around the theme of a devoted, singular messianic citizenship. Messiah’s assembly is presented as a kind of ''polis'' (“citizen body, city-state”) that has both a social form and distinctive practice (1:27, ''politeuomai''), in alignment with a regime (''politeuma'') that is now secured in heaven but to be realized soon throughout the whole world (1:9-11; 3:20-21). As soon as this citizenship theme is put forward in the thesis statement of 1:27, Paul elaborates by employing the military imagery of a citizen-state (''polis'', city-state) that is defending itself against a siege: (a) ”standing firm as one” in military alignment; (b) ”contending/fighting together with a unified zeal,” oriented to loyalty to the city constitution proclaimed by Messiah; and (c) refusing to be affected by the “terror” waged by adversaries.<br />
<br />
The centerpiece of the letter takes the form of a political encomium (public tribute) to the savior and deliverer of this regime of citizens, whose regime of humiliation will one day be victorious throughout the whole world, and whose self-sacrificing pattern of life poses a model for all who would claim allegiance to him (2:5-11).<br />
<br />
When the main exhortation comes to a close, Paul comes back to these same themes: Messiah’s saving work has inaugurated a new regime of citizens now secured in heaven, along with a corresponding alternative citizenship (3:20-21). The notion of a “regime-citizenship in heaven” clarifies the security of Messiah’s regime (for now in a kind of exile), and the source of Messiah’s reclaiming of the entire world. It does ''not'' indicate the ultimate location of Messiah’s regime or the final destination of the faithful. Paul’s theological vision consistently focuses on the arrival of the age to come, a transformed world under Christ’s lordship, not on a retreat or escape to heaven. The repeated call to stand firm is the primary implication of the declaration of Messiah’s final, global victory, involving the subjection of all things, including the Roman regime (4:1). Thus the faithful must ''contend or fight together'' in a posture of unified messianic disposition (4:2-3). Still, merciful forbearance (nonretaliation) even to hostile opponents can and must be displayed, because final vindication through Messiah is near, to whom claims for justice can be deferred. And ''anxiety'' (4:5; cf. ''fear'' or ''terror'' of 1:14, 28) can be abandoned in recognition of g''uarding hearts and minds'' by the ''peace of God'' (4:6-7), another military image, and parody-like word play on both the imperial ''pax Romana'' (peace of Rome) and the Roman military garrison guarding the city itself. Finally, the pursuit of civic virtues must continue through a discernment ever aware of their messianic redefinition, as mediated by Paul (4:8-9).<br />
<br />
'''Partnership'''. Drawing further on Greek political imagery, Messiah’s assembly is characterized as a partnership (''koinōnia''). Major Greek political thinkers, including Plato and Aristotle, similarly stress that ''koinōnia'', or “that which is in common,” is one of the primary features of any worthy ''polis'', citizen community. But Paul takes this even one notch forward in explaining what this means concretely in the practical mutual aid of nonhierarchical ''generosity'' (grace), and that this ''partnership'' extends to solidarity in the midst of suffering (1:30–2:1; 2:17-18), and indeed specifically to partnership in the very suffering of Messiah (3:10). Paul’s vision of partnership is posed as a direct challenge to the prevailing sociocultural system of “patronage” (1:5-7; 4:10-20).<br />
<br />
'''High-Low Inversion'''. Images of social inversion are scattered throughout the letter and explain the distinctive feature of Messiah’s community as both a ''polis'' (citizen-community) and a ''koinōnia'' (partnership). We see this in the language of high status and low rank, honor and shame, lowliness and glory, humiliation and exaltation, losses (divestment) and gains (achievements), selfish ambition vs. watching out for others, destruction and defeat vs. prizes and victory wreaths, and slaves and lords. At the center of this motif is the humiliation-exaltation drama of Messiah himself, both Lord-Deliverer and model hero of God’s ever-expanding ''polis'' in the world (2:5-11). Paul is carefully deconstructing and reconstructing prevailing norms for honor, status, virtue, victory, and the good life in Roman Philippi, a society deeply preoccupied with status, honor, and rank. <br />
<br />
'''Joy-Rejoicing'''. Words for joy and rejoicing are so common in Philippians that this letter is often described as the letter of joy. But even this repeated motif is closely tied to the call to singular and devoted allegiance to Lord Messiah Jesus alone. Paul’s language of ''joy'' or ''gladness'' (''chara'') is best understood in light of the long-standing discussion about civic happiness (''eudaimonia'') in Greek political discourse, in the same way that the notion of the pursuit of happiness has become a key political ideal in American consciousness. Where one might have expected Paul to say (with Greek theorists) that the core political ideals are justice, peace, and civic happiness, he instead highlights justice, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit as the markers of the kingdom of God (Rom 14:17). Paul uses the language of joy as a way to stress the distinctive feature of “the pursuit of happiness” in Messiah’s spiritual-political community. The pursuit of happiness in the community of Christ is not determined by the prevailing measures of success and upward mobility, whether in politics or in business, but in an inversion of those standard notions of value. For this reason there can even be joy in suffering. In Philippians, the practice of citizenship specifically takes the posture of celebrative rejoicing “in Messiah”—that is, in the deliverance that Messiah has secured and will secure—in direct contrast to the celebratory rejoicing in civic imperial festivals that proclaim the glories of Caesar and the “salvation” that Rome has given the world. In Philippians, “rejoicing in Messiah” is parallel to “boasting in Messiah” (1:26; 3:3) or “putting one’s confidence in Messiah” (1:14; 3:3), and has a strong counter-imperial edge.<br />
<br />
==Conclusion==<br />
<br />
As one of Paul’s treasured letters from prison, Philippians is a remarkable letter of comfort and consolation in the midst of suffering and hardship, while celebrating the bonds of partnership in Christ, along with a bold call that the community of Christ’s faithful remain steadfast and united as a citizen community with an undivided loyalty to their savior and model, the exalted slave, Lord Jesus Messiah.<br />
<br />
==Recommended Essays in the Commentary==<br />
Circumstance of the Messianic Assembly (Church) in Philippi<br />
Citizenship, Ancient and Modern<br />
Critical Questions regarding Philippians 2:6-11<br />
Date and Place of Writing<br />
Harpagmos<br />
History of the Assembly in Philippi<br />
Literary Integrity of Philippians<br />
Love of Honor in Roman Society<br />
Opponents in Philippians<br />
Profile of the Assembly in Philippi<br />
Roman Imperial Cult<br />
Roman Imperial Propaganda: The Gospel of Augustus<br />
Syzygus<br />
<br />
==Bibliography==<br />
<br />
Bockmuehl, Markus. ''The Epistle to the Philippians''. Black’s New Testament Commentary 11. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1998.<br />
<br />
Flemming, Dean. ''Philippians: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition''. New Beacon Bible Commentary. Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill, 2009.<br />
<br />
Fowl, Stephen E. ''Philippians''. The Two Horizons New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005.<br />
<br />
Hellerman, Joseph H. ''Reconstructing Honor in Roman Philippi: Carmen Christi as Cursus Pudorum''. Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series 132. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005 .<br />
<br />
Oakes, Peter. ''Philippians: From People to Letter''. Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series 110. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.<br />
<br />
Peterman, G. W. ''Paul’s Gift from Philippi: Conventions of Gift-Exchange and Christian Giving''. Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series 92. Cambridge University Press, 1997.<br />
<br />
== Invitation to Comment ==<br />
To recommend improvements to this article, [mailto:ljohns@ambs.edu click here].<br />
<br />
{| border="1" style="text-align: right; color: green; background-color:#ffffcc; float: right" <br />
|—'''''Gordon Zerbe''''' <br />
|}</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=U&diff=17917U2017-08-14T11:32:32Z<p>BenEB: use of scripture</p>
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<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]'''<br />
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[[Use of Scripture (in 2 Corinthians)]]</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Use_of_Scripture_(in_2_Corinthians)&diff=17916Use of Scripture (in 2 Corinthians)2017-08-14T11:31:55Z<p>BenEB: post complete essay</p>
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<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]''' <br />
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[[file:BCBC_2Corinthians2.jpg|frame|right|x310px|link=http://store.mennomedia.org/2-Corinthians-P286.aspx|[http://store.mennomedia.org/2-Corinthians-P286.aspx''2 Corinthians'', by V. George Shillington (Believers Church Bible Commentary)]'']]<br />
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Of the many puzzling elements of Paul's letters, few outrank the way he interprets Scripture in his arguments. Perhaps the last phrase is key: he interprets Scripture in his ''arguments''. 2 Corinthians 3 is no exception, even though several scholars have pointed to that chapter as a prime example of Pauline exegesis: discovering meaning inherent in a text. Paul's reference to the glow and the veil on Moses' face are said to be in line with the Palestinian-Jewish way of commenting on a text (''midrash pesher''), in which the present significance of a text is found in its details, words, sequence, numbers, etc. In the argument of 2 Corinthians, however, where the text of Exodus 34 is clearly in view, Paul alludes to particular elements to speak a word on target into the particular situation of the moment at Corinth. His method is more that of allusion and echo than it is reflective commentary, much less historical critical exegesis.<br />
<br />
The recent work of Richard Hays on Paul's use of Scripture offers valuable clues to solving "the puzzle of Pauline hermeneutics" (1989:1-33). Paul ''alludes'' to the LXX where he cites a text specifically within an argument (e.g., Rom. 11), and ''echoes'' texts at other points without direct reference. He brings his Scripture to bear on a situation in a congregation by linking one element from one text with another element from another, making an intertextual chain around which his argument is cemented. The intertextual linkage acts as authoritative reinforcement within the given discourse. As Hays puts it, Paul's scriptural allusions and echoes "generate new meanings by linking the earlier text (Scripture) to the later (Paul's discourse) in such a way as to produce unexpected correspondences, correspondences that suggest more than they assert" (Hays: 24).<br />
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What an echoed text of Scripture ''meant'' originally and what the same text means in the echo are not identical but analogous. Even in the more sustained echo of Exodus 34 in 2 Corinthians 3, the meaning for Paul is mediated by his experience of Christ, his call to Gentile mission, and the rival mission of his own Jewish-Christian contemporaries among his converts at Corinth. On the fading glory of Moses' face and the veil that covered the glow, his interpretation merges auspiciously with the thrust of his appeal in the argument: people who turn to the Lord, Jesus Christ, permanently reflect the greater glory to which the law (Moses) points as its end-fulfillment.<br />
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Paul's method of interpretation may not find a ready home among modern (or postmodern) readers steeped in the scientific method of Euro-American culture. Yet there is a hermeneutical lesson to be learned from Paul. The word of Scripture should be a word on target, an energizing word that speaks authentically to the issues of the moment. Such useful speech from Scripture will leave some textual elements behind, because they do not merge with the current life setting. The JewishChristian Paul set aside circumcision, a traditional sign of the covenant, in keeping with his Gentile mission. In many modern church settings, where women and men are now equally gifted and educated, it should mean lifting the traditional gender restriction for ministry. The role of Scripture is generative, not restrictive, as Paul's reading of Exodus 34 illustrates.<br />
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== Invitation to Comment ==<br />
To recommend improvements to this article, [mailto:ljohns@ambs.edu click here].<br />
<br />
{| border="1" style="text-align: right; color: green; background-color:#ffffcc; float: right" <br />
|—'''''[[V. George Shillington]]''''' <br />
|}</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=O&diff=17915O2017-08-14T11:28:15Z<p>BenEB: </p>
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<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]'''<br />
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[[Obadiah]] <br><br />
[[Opponents Implicit in 2 Corinthians]]</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Opponents_Implicit_in_2_Corinthians&diff=17914Opponents Implicit in 2 Corinthians2017-08-14T11:26:54Z<p>BenEB: post complete essay</p>
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<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]''' <br />
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[[file:BCBC_2Corinthians2.jpg|frame|right|x310px|link=http://store.mennomedia.org/2-Corinthians-P286.aspx|[http://store.mennomedia.org/2-Corinthians-P286.aspx''2 Corinthians'', by V. George Shillington (Believers Church Bible Commentary)]'']]<br />
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That Paul experienced bitter opposition from some rival missionaries is inescapable, especially from the rhetoric of 2 Corinthians 10-13. Yet the identity of the adversaries is veiled, and so is their criticism of Paul. The only primary source for identifying the rivals depicted in 2 Corinthians is this extant letter (particularly chaps. 10-13). The opposition may already begun when Paul was writing 1 Corinthians (cf. 1 Cor. 1:12-17; 3:3-15), but it came to a head by the time Paul wrote the Letter of Defense (2 Cor. 10-13). Even in the Letter of Defense, the opponents are veiled behind (or within) the various forms of argument, but strangely also revealed therein at the same time. The job of locating the real identity and character of Paul's opponents in 2 Corinthians remains unfinished. But certain advances have been made.<br />
<br />
Historical reconstructions of various allusions Paul makes in his arguments are usually not necessary for grasping the sense of a given text. In the case of the implied opponents at Corinth, however, the matter is somewhat different. The rival ministry of these figures lies intertwined in the rhetoric of chapters 10-13. An informed, imaginative reconstruction of the identity and character of the persons denounced in the argument is therefore possible.<br />
<br />
The following is a brief review of scholarly opinion regarding Paul's opponents at Corinth, including (last) the position assumed throughout the commentary.<br />
<br />
'''Judaizers.''' To some modern readers, the opponents behind 2 Corinthians appear as "Judaizers" from Jerusalem. Unlike Paul. they insist that Gentile converts to Christ (the Jewish Messiah) observe the regulations of the Jewish law. These people came to Corinth under the auspices of the conservative branch of the Jerusalem Church, to ensure that Corinthian believers in the Jewish Messiah adhere to the law of Israel's God. These opponents, according to this view, are cut from the same cloth as those characterized in Galatians. They appeal to Moses (2 Cor. 3:1-18) and ''preach another Jesus than the one we proclaimed . . . and a different gospel from the one you accepted'' (2 Cor. 11:4; cf. Gal. 1:6-9; 2:11-14). These same critics are also implied in Paul's rhetorical questions in 2 Corinthians 11 and are found to be Hebrews, Israelites and descendants of Abraham (11:22; cf. Gal. 3:6-14). This school of interpretation takes such clues to mean that Paul's opponents at Corinth warrant the designation "Judaizers."<br />
<br />
However, the way these clues are construed is misleading. The problems of law observance in Galatians (such as circumcision and the food code) are not mentioned in 2 Corinthians. Nor is the opponents' place of origin identified. As Meeks points out, "Where they came from, we do not know, for there is nothing in the text to connect them with Jerusalem" (132). Hints in 2 Corinthians portray them rather as charismatic missionaries (or self-styled "apostles") who seek to outdo Paul in missionary leadership (apostleship), in spiritual insight and ministry (12:1, 11-12), and in Christian social manners (12:14-18). The traits of these opponents in 2 Corinthians are different from those of Galatians.<br />
<br />
'''Gnostics.''' More than anyone else, Walter Schmithals detected "Christian" Gnostics at Corinth. According to him, these were the opponents Paul faced. Paul's extravagant rhetoric in 2 Corinthians 1013 stems from Paul's misunderstanding of his Gnostic opponents. Gnosticism in Corinth, by Schmithals' description, was a religious movement that viewed human beings as essentially divine. Salvation comes to those with inner, spiritual knowledge (gnosis) * of their substantial self, of the nature of the world, and of God's redemption of the soul (25-32).<br />
<br />
Schmithals' conclusions stretch the evidence beyond proper limits. If Paul in his letters to the Corinthians appears to misunderstand the Gnostics that Schmithals constructs, it is because they did not exist as such in Paul's time. The force with which Paul addresses the situation in 2 Corinthians, especially in chapters 10-13, demonstrates that he recognized quite well what his opponents were up to in Corinth; he rejected their stance unequivocally.<br />
<br />
'''Jewish "Divine-Men" Missionaries.''' Dieter Georgi's elaborate research into '''The Opponents of Paul in Second Corinthians''' deserves more detailed evaluation than this space allows. His analysis of the situation depicted in 2 Corinthians reveals a group of outside missionaries competing with Paul for the allegiance of the Corinthians. They touted their credentials as superior to Paul's, their ties to salvationtradition as stronger, their spiritual experience as higher, and their rhetoric as more persuasive and pleasing. Georgi thus identifies Paul's opponents as Jewish missionaries of Palestinian origin who think they have reached the status of "divine men," like Moses and Jesus.<br />
<br />
Georgi's designation of the opponents of Paul in 2 Corinthians relies heavily on material from the Corinthian correspondence. Yet it takes liberties with Paul's rhetoric without due warrant. If the opponents claimed to be ''Hebrews'' (2 Cor. 11:22), for example, does that really mean they were also of Palestinian Jewish origin and spoke Aramaic? Paul himself claimed to be "a Hebrew born of Hebrews" (Phil. 3:5), but he was a citizen of the Roman city of Tarsus and a Roman citizen, and he spoke Greek (Acts 21:37—22:29; 16:37-39). Is Paul's reduction of the glory of Moses in chapter 3, and his own claim to spiritual ecstasy in chapters 11-12, sufficient ground to classify the opponents as belonging to a "divine-man" school of thought? The evidence scarcely carries the weight of the conclusion.<br />
<br />
'''Pneumatics.''' A more modest proposal came from Ernst Käsemann. He signaled the importance of key words in 2 Corinthians 10-13 for identifying the opponents. He acknowledged the Jewish-Christian background of the rivals but emphasized their claim to pneumatic experience, their spiritual giftedness, including their ability thus to perform miracles. In comparing their credentials and experience of the Spirit (''pneuma'') with Paul's, they portrayed Paul as ''weak'' (10:10). The strength of Käsemann's conclusion about Paul's rival missionaries in 2 Corinthians is that he limited his search to 2 Corinthians 10-13. The problem with working primarily with Paul's language, however, is that Paul argues polemically, in a way that will cast his opponents in the worst possible light.<br />
<br />
The result of Käsemann's analysis is rather general. To say in the end that the opponents were "pneumatics" and "Jewish-Christian" is scarcely telling for the interpretation of the text of 2 Corinthians.<br />
<br />
'''Strategic Alliance of Judaizers and Spirit-People.''' Jerome Murphy O'Connor put his finger on a very important point in his recent book on The ''Theology of the Second Letter to the Corinthians''. His clue to part of the identity of the opponents comes from the figure of Apollos in 1 Corinthians. Apollos like Philo, his Alexandrian Jewish counterpart, taught initiation into a higher spiritual wisdom. A group in the church at Corinth had aligned themselves with this Apollos. They adopted his teaching on the Spirit to an extreme, from Paul's perspective. Paul put this group of "spirit-people" in their place with his own instruction on spiritual wisdom and knowledge in 1 Corinthians 1-3. The group must have felt hurt when the letter was read. When an outside group of JewishChristian missionaries came to Corinth to bring the community in line with the Jewish law, these "spirit-people" in the community saw an opportunity to get back at Paul. They formed a coalition with these Judaizers to devalue Paul's status and mission in the community. "Such 'Corinthianization' of the Judaizers is the best explanation of the combination of apparently incompatible traits that appear in 2 Corinthians" (15).<br />
<br />
Welcome as Murphy-O'Connor's insight on Apollos at Corinth is, his attempt at combining two groups, (1) insider "spirit-people" in league with Apollos and (2) outsider "Judaizers," is really not required by the evidence of 2 Corinthians to the extent that he thinks.<br />
<br />
Another explanation of the opponents, adopted in the commentary. makes the most sense of the available evidence:<br />
<br />
'''HellenisticJewish Christian Missionaries from the Same Diaspora Synagogue Setting as Paul.''' Scholars in search of Paul's opponents in 2 Corinthians have felt reasonably secure in placing the opposing group at Corinth outside the circle of Paul's Christian mission. The opponents must have another origin, another language and culture, and a deficient Christian confession. The inquiry has operated on the premise that "opponents" must be sharply distinguished from the religious and social thought and life of Paul. Hence, scholars have tended to highlight their ''difference'' from Paul to account for Paul's dramatic rhetoric of denunciation.<br />
<br />
A case can be made the other way. Paul is upset, as his polemical argument shows, because he has expected Christian missionaries from his own religious and social world, speaking his own Greek language, wandering charismatically in mission as he does, to respect his person and the primacy of his apostolic place in the church he founded at Corinth. These other "apostles" followed Paul to Corinth, arriving after he had left, and they should have supported him and his missionary work. Instead, they criticized him. Out of this sense of betrayal, Paul writes with such passion in 2 Corinthians 10-13. The subjects of his scathing rhetoric, the "opponents," seem far removed from Paul's Christian thinking and mission, ''disguising themselves as apostles of Christ'' (11:13). But the distancing factor is itself a key part of the rhetoric of denunciation.<br />
<br />
According to Paul in (2 Cor.) 11:12, the interlopers at Corinth take every opportunity to be recognized as our equals. As far as their Jewish background and spiritual gifts are concerned, they are Paul's equals (11:22). They also claim to be ministers of Christ as Paul is (11:23). Yet on several points, they are not his equal. They arrive in Corinth after Paul founded the community. On that score, they are secondary. They carry letters of recommendation. Paul did not carry such letters because he was breaking new ground. They take sustenance from the Corinthians for their labors in the gospel. Paul did not do so ''[Refusing Money from Corinth, p. 277].''<br />
<br />
However, from Paul's perspective, one critical point renders them unequal to him as an apostle: they boast competitively in the name of Jesus Christ. Paul does not, indeed cannot. Their vain boasting and competitive behavior brands Paul's critics as ''false apostles'' (2 Cor. 11:13), not merely secondary apostles, and certainly not their claimed status of ''super-apostles'' (11:5). The purported Christian message they preach is ''another Jesus, . . . a different spirit . . . a different gospel'' (11:4). In short, these persons, despite their claim to have come from the same Jewish-Christian circle as Paul, have lost their grasp on the distinctive character of the gospel: the paradox of the ''power'' of God in the ''weakness'' of the cross of Jesus Christ and manifested in the apostle (12:9; cf. 1 Cor. 1:18-25).<br />
<br />
At another level, these ''apostles" to Corinth from within Paul's missionary circle in the North Mediterranean society may have been able to maintain a better relationship to the Jewish synagogue than Paul was able to maintain (2 Cor. 11:24); they may have related to the one at Ephesus (cf. Acts 19:810). For one thing, Paul's Roman citizenship, associated with the Hellenistic city of Tarsus, may not have worked in his favor among the Jewish synagogue elite, who regarded Roman domination as a violation of the rule of the Lord their God. To complicate matters even more, Paul emphasizes a saving Messiah killed in Roman fashion, by crucifixion. These elements considered, Paul's preaching is bound to create no small animosity. Suppose that Paul's competitors, on the other hand, are not associated with Roman imperialism by citizenship and play down the significance of the crosstheology that Paul plays up; then their stance may be helping them retain their tie to the synagogue, with little repercussion.<br />
<br />
The Jewish synagogue in the cities of the Greek-speaking world ensured its members a link with the saving tradition of Israel. Greek-speaking Jews, like Apollos from Alexandria and Paul from Tarsus, could listen to Moses being read (2 Cor. 3:15) in the Greek language, and know in their hearts that their Jewish inheritance in salvation was secure. Judging from the description of Apollos in 1 Corinthians 3 and in Acts 18-19, he and others like him have made converts to Christ from Diaspora synagogues. In turn, the more outstanding of these converts to Christ have become recognized missionary preachers among the Gentiles, especially in Gentile congregations already established by someone else, Paul in particular (Acts 19:13-19).<br />
<br />
Their credentials, like those of Apollos, are first rate. Coming from Jewish parents and aligned with the synagogue, they are ''Hebrews, . . . Israelites, . . . descendants of Abraham'' (2 Cor. 11:22). Aligned with the new Christ movement, they are ministers of Christ and filled with the Spirit; they have visions of the Lord, performed miracles (11:23; 12:1, 12), and accept support for their labor in the gospel. They come from the same Jewish background as Paul himself and stand essentially in the same circle of HellenisticJewish Christian thought.<br />
<br />
Judging from Paul's dramatic rhetoric of denunciation in 2 Corinthians 10-13, he perceives the criticism from his rival apostles to be aimed at denying his status and function as apostle of Jesus Christ at Corinth. His scathing denunciation of his critics is understandable if they come from within his own circle of Christian missionary friends and colleagues from the Diaspora synagogue setting, people like Apollos. Paul and his gospel were being discredited in the Corinthian congregation he founded, by Christian missionaries of his own kind of Jewish-Christian thought and life. His pain at having his apostleship and his gospel thus discredited best accounts for the display of emotion in the rhetoric of denunciation in chapters 10-13.<br />
<br />
By analogy, a Christian minister in a denomination today feels deeply hurt when another leader of the same denomination calls one's own ministry and motives and message into question. The response to such betrayal is understandably defensive.<br />
<br />
Of the number of possible factors that could account for the sharp criticism of Paul at Corinth, the sociological ones doubtless play a significant part. In his essay on the "Sociology of Early Christian Missionaries," Gerd Theissen (1982:27-67) deals with the legitimation of "primitive Christian itinerant preachers," of which both Paul and his opponents are members. Theissen identifies two types of missionary preachers in the early stages of the Christian movement: (1) itinerant charismatics and (2) community organizers. Paul and his co-workers represent community organizers, who break new ground and establish independent communities of believers. ''The most important difference between [the two types] is that each adopts a distinctive attitude to the question of subsistence" (28).<br />
<br />
Paul recognizes his right to subsistence from preaching the gospel. He has a word from Moses and a word from the Lord Jesus to authorize his privilege of expecting a living from his preaching (1 Cor. 9:8-14). But he renounces the privilege, choosing rather to support himself independently in his ministry at Corinth (1 Cor. 9:15). Paul's competitors view their right to food and lodging as a mark of apostleship in relation to Jesus, himself a wandering charismatic teacher. Their criticism against Paul is that by renouncing his privilege of subsistence, he has renounced true apostleship in the name of Christ. By seeking his own living, rather than accepting livelihood from the Corinthians, Paul is acting ''according to human standards'' (2 Cor. 10:2). On this count, among others, Paul's rivals hold his apostleship suspect. Paul is obliged to establish the legitimacy of his apostolic ministry, but not by the standards of his competitors. He cites his ''weakness'' as identification with Christ (2 Cor. 12:6-10), and his renunciation of support as abundant love for the Corinthians (2 Cor. 12:14-18).<br />
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Theissen's reconstruction of the crisis between Paul and his rival missionaries at Corinth is instructive:<br />
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: Itinerant charismatics arriving in Corinth made a claim on support from the community. The members reacted at first by pointing to Paul: our apostle Paul never raised any such claims. In response, the itinerant charismatics could point to the words of Jesus as a justification for their position. As regards Paul, that left but two choices. Either they must convert him to their style of life or deny him his claim to apostolicity. . . . They contested Paul's apostolicity—not out of personal malice, but in self-defense. (1982:53)<br />
<br />
Antoinette Clark Wire adds yet another possible dimension to the mixed crisis that developed at Corinth. The social status of some members has improved after Paul's mission in the city, especially the status of the Corinthian women prophets. These would consider themselves Paul's friends, whose hospitality he has refused while maintaining his right to it. "When Paul refuses their hospitality—whether offered or not—and refuses to join them in mutual gain, they are offended, rejecting a friendship based on mutual loss. . . . The result is enmity" (195). The rival apostles to Corinth, discovering this situation among the Corinthians, are then able to use Paul's refusal of hospitality against him to their own social advantage.<br />
<br />
All of this sifted evidence for the identity of Paul's opponents in 2 Corinthians points persuasively to Hellenistic-Jewish Christian missionaries from a setting in a diaspora synagogue. The leader of the group may very well be Apollos.<br />
<br />
== Invitation to Comment ==<br />
To recommend improvements to this article, [mailto:ljohns@ambs.edu click here].<br />
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{| border="1" style="text-align: right; color: green; background-color:#ffffcc; float: right" <br />
|—'''''[[V. George Shillington]]''''' <br />
|}</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=I&diff=17913I2017-08-14T11:10:10Z<p>BenEB: the integrity of 2 corinthians</p>
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<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]'''<br />
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[[Imprecation (in Psalms)]] <BR> <br />
[["In Christ" (in Colossians and Philemon)]] <br><br />
[[Injustice (in Ecclesiastes)]] <BR> <br />
[[The Integrity of 2 Corinthians (in 2 Corinthians)]]<br><br />
[[The Interpreting Community of Faith (in Ruth/Jonah/Esther)]] <BR> <br />
[[Isaiah]] <BR> <br />
[[Israel and Israel's Leaders (Mark and Anti-Semitism)]] - See also [[Anti-Semitism (in Matthew)]] and [[“The Jews” (in the Gospel of John)]]</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=The_Integrity_of_2_Corinthians_(in_2_Corinthians)&diff=17912The Integrity of 2 Corinthians (in 2 Corinthians)2017-08-14T11:09:19Z<p>BenEB: post complete essay</p>
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<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]''' <br />
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[[file:BCBC_2Corinthians2.jpg|frame|right|x310px|link=http://store.mennomedia.org/2-Corinthians-P286.aspx|[http://store.mennomedia.org/2-Corinthians-P286.aspx''2 Corinthians'', by V. George Shillington (Believers Church Bible Commentary)]'']]<br />
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====Introduction====<br />
<br />
One longstanding puzzle about 2 Corinthians concerns how the various parts of the letter hold together. Are the different parts integrated as though written at one sitting by one writer in the same frame of mind from start to finish? No one seriously questions who wrote the different parts of 2 Corinthians. The historical Paul did, in the midst of his north-Mediterranean mission at about A.D. 54-55. The way the parts of 2 Corinthians fit together, however, is quite a different matter. This is the puzzle of integrity.<br />
Reading through 2 Corinthians in one sitting, an attentive reader will experience abrupt breaks in the form of writing and flow of thought at several points in the text. This phenomenon has led to a wide range of scholarly opinion about the origin of the parts and their place in the present letter.<br />
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At one end of the spectrum, a few scholars feel compelled to treat the letter in its present form as a unity. Paul wrote all of 2 Corinthians on one scroll at one period for the same situation, abrupt changes of mood and language notwithstanding. At the opposite end, more than a few scholars see in 2 Corinthians a composite of no less than five fragments of letters, some large and some small, written at different times about different situations at Corinth. The combining of the fragments happened after Paul's mission and death at approximately the same time as the collection of Paul's letters from the different churches around the Mediterranean. A second-generation Christian (or group) devoted to Paul and his work must have gathered together all available writings of the great apostle. Some of the material from Corinth would have been fragmentary, either from wear and tear or from the deliberate cutting of one piece of papyrus from the scroll. The collected fragments of different letters, if they came from one area, Corinth, were then transferred to one scroll to make a composite letter.<br />
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The practice of combining written (or oral) materials from an important community leader started long before the second-generation church. Many documents of the Hebrew Bible are composite works, the prophets being a prime example. The large scroll of Isaiah, for example, contains speeches from different years and different situations of the prophetic ministry. The combining of the different prophetic oracles and narratives then served the larger (and later) community of Israel. A similar process happened for Paul's combined letters or parts of letters in 2 Corinthians. A generation after Paul's death, this composite document identified with Paul's ministry at Corinth was put into the service of the church at large.<br />
<br />
Whatever the position concerning the number of letter fragments in 2 Corinthians, some account should be given for the unexpected interruptions of thought and literary texture at several points in 2 Corinthians. The disjuncture from one section of text to the next is sharper at some points than at others, as the following analysis indicates.<br />
<br />
====From 2:13 to 2:14====<br />
At 2:12-13 Paul begins a personal account of his traveling from Troas to Macedonia to find Titus. Suddenly the thought changes into a triumphant thanksgiving that leads Paul into another train of thought lasting until 7:4. At that point the travelogue about Macedonia resumes and concludes in 7:5-16. This juxtaposition of texts has led some readers to the opinion that the conciliatory text of 1:1—2:13 and 7:5-16 once stood together in the same letter, and that 2:14—7:4 (minus 6:14—7:1) belonged to another letter in the form of a defense for Paul's mission and ministry.<br />
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====From 6:13 to 6:14; and 7:1 to 7:2====<br />
<br />
At 6:11 and 13 Paul cites his openness and compassion toward the Corinthians and asks that their hearts also be open to him: open wide your hearts also (6:13). Abruptly at 6:14 the text becomes a stern, sermonlike warning for believers to avoid an unequal yoke with unbelievers. A striking number of the words in this small passage (6:14—7:1) appear only here in the NT and are not characteristically Pauline. Much of the thought compares well to that of the Dead Sea Scrolls from Qumran. At 7:2 the conciliatory language returns as suddenly as it left: Make room in your hearts for us. A number of interpreters view 6:14—7:1 as a Pauline fragment of a lost letter, inserted between 6:13 and 7:2 by a later editor. Others believe the passage was written by someone other than Paul and inserted at this point by the later compiler of Paul's correspondence.<br />
<br />
====From chapter 8 to chapter 9====<br />
Both chapters 8 and 9 deal with the collection of money for the saints at Jerusalem. The appeal of chapter 8 reaches an apt conclusion at the end of the chapter. Chapter 9 begins another appeal for the collection as though chapter 8 did not exist prior to it. This observation has led some scholars to interpret the two chapters about the collection as two separate letters. Some suggest that chapter 9 is an earlier appeal than the letter of chapter 8.<br />
<br />
====From chapters 1-9 to chapters 10-13====<br />
Of the noticeable interruptions in language and thought throughout chapters 1-9, none compares to the radical change of tone at the beginning of chapter 10. In chapters 1-9 the tone generally is conciliatory, even though Paul appears to be aware of visiting preachers at Corinth who commend themselves unduly in distinction from him (3:13). In marked contrast, the language of chapters 10-13 is sarcastically biting. In these four chapters, Paul attacks the rival missionaries who have made themselves welcome at Corinth. He goes on to chastise the Corinthians for allowing these preachers to present themselves at Corinth in opposition to him. Hence, most scholars read chapters 10-13 as a letter written at a different time and situation from the time and circumstance of chapters 1-9. Some place the last four chapters chronologically before chapters 19, and identify chapters 10-13 as part of the so-called "severe letter" or "letter of tears" referred to in 2:4 and 7:8. Many other interpreters consider chapters 10-13 to be a letter in response to a later development of opposition to Paul in Corinth.<br />
<br />
====The position adopted====<br />
Rather than enter a detailed discussion of the various composition theories of 2 Corinthians, a short explanation of the position adopted in this commentary must suffice.<br />
<br />
With the exception of the alien character of the warning inserted between 6:13 and 7:2, and assuming that Paul digresses from one line of thought to pursue another related idea, the unity of chapters 19 can be affirmed. The same cannot be said for all thirteen chapters. The thirteen chapters comprising 2 Corinthians have two distinct literary parts: chapters 1-9 and chapters 10-13. These two literary types brought together onto the one scroll of 2 Corinthians represent two letters of Paul, or parts of letters, written out of two different sets of circumstances. The sequence is the same. The letter of chapters 1-9 predates the letter of chapters 10-13. The latter does not qualify for the earlier "letter of tears" alluded to in 2:14.<br />
<br />
Even though there is no evidence in the available manuscripts for two original letters, the literary evidence points strongly in the direction of two originals. Paul ends the collection appeal of chapter 9 thankful to God for his indescribable gift (9:15). Then immediately in chapter 10, he lashes out at opponents in Corinth, and at the Corinthian believers themselves. He uses sustained invective, the like of which is completely missing from chapters 1-9. Someone may say that Paul composed the two parts at two intervals, or that he had "a sleepless night" between the end of chapter 9 and the beginning of 10 (Lietzmann). But that is hardly enough to account for Paul's placing the two very different ways of writing to his congregation on the same scroll to be read at Corinth at one sitting.<br />
<br />
It is difficult to imagine Paul mailing one scroll with one part gentle and conciliatory and the other censuring and defensive; one part saying, ''I often boast about you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with consolation; I am overjoyed'' (7:4), and the other saying, ''I fear that when I come, I may not find you as I wish. . . . Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith'' (12:20; 13:5). In the letter of chapters 1-9, Paul has no reason "to boast" about himself in ministry. In chapters 10-13 the Corinthians have forced him "to boast" at length. The word ''boast'' is prominent in chapters 10-13, and the first person singular (I) is frequent. These terms signal a new situation of opposition and estrangement that has prompted the kind of writing found in these last four chapters of 2 Corinthians.<br />
<br />
The relational sequence of chapters 1-9 to 10-13 needs further comment. Chapters 10-13 are severe and sarcastic, but not tearful or sorrowful any more than 1 Corinthians is. Neither the letter of 1 Corinthians nor the letter of the last four chapters of 2 Corinthians qualifies for the letter Paul describes in 2:3-4 and again in 7:8. The letter Paul cites in these texts refers to his second visit, when someone opposed him shamefully. Paul denounced the man for his outburst against him. The congregation apparently stood apart apathetically. Paul left the congregation dishonored, lacking moral support from his converts, and sorrowful at such a heavy loss of honor. Out of sorrow, he wrote a letter chiding the congregation for their strategic withdrawal from him when he needed their support, and calling on them to discipline the individual involved. The congregation felt hurt by Paul's letter, but they followed his directive in any case. according to the report that Titus brought back to Paul (7:5-13). Upon learning of their obedience, Paul wrote the conciliatory letter now preserved in 2 Corinthians 1-9, urging the church to show compassion to the man who had wronged him (2:8-9). While the conciliatory letter survived in 2 Corinthians 1-9, the "tearful letter" did not survive.<br />
<br />
The substance and rhetoric of 2 Corinthians 10-13 make it an unlikely candidate for the tearful letter on several counts. Those four chapters make no mention of the offender or of the offense, and they give no advice to the congregation on how to deal with the man. Instead, these chapters represent quite another situation in which intruding missionaries have led members of the congregation to question Paul's credentials for apostolic ministry. With such a charge against him, Paul writes the Letter of Defense (chaps. 10-13) and plans a third visit to deal with the charge face to face (12:14; 13:1).<br />
<br />
One can only assume that Paul and the Corinthian believers ultimately resolved their differences. If he later wrote Romans from Corinth, as most believe he did, then indeed Paul and the Corinthians were united. He would have lived in Corinth for some time, and he probably accepted food and lodging from the Corinthians, particularly the Corinthian women responsible for such provision (Wire: 39-97). The epistle to the Romans from Corinth carries virtually no hint of the earlier conflict with the Corinthians. By the end of Romans, Paul can report that the collection from Achaia, the area of Corinth, is already complete (Rom. 15:25-26). Furthermore, the Letter of Defense survived, is preserved in chapters 10-13 (of 2 Cor.). and thus is testimony in itself that the letter and third visit accomplished their aim: the conflict was resolved, relations restored, and the letter preserved as a memento.<br />
<br />
The thorny question on the place of the warning of 6:14—7:1 in chapters 1-9 is more difficult to decide. As for the literary unity of 2 Corinthians 1-9, this small warning passage does not fit well into the context of chapters 6-7. Its presence in that context "looks like an erratic boulder" (Plummer: xxiv).<br />
<br />
From the number of "foreign words," coupled with rather un-Pauline ideas and forms, one could reasonably assume that this fragment had currency at Corinth and came into the hands of the collector of Paul's letters and letter fragments. The collector then incorporated the warning into the scroll of 2 Corinthians between 6:13 and 7:2. The language and ideas of the fragment have much in common with some texts in the Qumran scrolls. But warnings of this sort were common in the synagogues of Greekspeaking Jewish people in Mediterranean culture, not strictly in the Qumran community. The fragment has some of the marks of a synagogue sermon; it may well have made its way into the Corinthian Christian context, where it was picked up and incorporated into the larger scroll of the biblical 2 Corinthians.<br />
<br />
The fragment contains a significant number of un-Pauline elements and fits marginally in the rhetorical context of 2 Corinthians 6-7; yet its insertion in that unlikely place gives it canonical status in the tradition of the Corinthian correspondence of Paul, whether Paul wrote it or not. This justifies its interpretation and application in the commentary.<br />
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== Invitation to Comment ==<br />
To recommend improvements to this article, [mailto:ljohns@ambs.edu click here].<br />
<br />
{| border="1" style="text-align: right; color: green; background-color:#ffffcc; float: right" <br />
|—'''''[[V. George Shillington]]''''' <br />
|}</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=2_Corinthians&diff=179112 Corinthians2017-08-14T10:10:51Z<p>BenEB: </p>
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<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]''' <br />
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[[file:BCBC_2Corinthians2.jpg|frame|right|x310px|link=http://store.mennomedia.org/2-Corinthians-P286.aspx|[http://store.mennomedia.org/2-Corinthians-P286.aspx''2 Corinthians'', by V. George Shillington (Believers Church Bible Commentary)]'']]<br />
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==Introduction==<br />
<br />
===Then and Now===<br />
One could say that human beings are the same the world over throughout all ages. It has been propounded that humankind from the beginning has the capacity to think and reason and imagine in ways that other life forms do not. On that premise, the first readers of 2 Corinthians would have thought and felt the same in the first century as we do in the twenty-first. But that is not the whole truth about then and now. 2 Corinthians was written by a person in close social and cultural proximity to the life and experience of the first readers. Our awareness of our post-modern world is second nature to us, but not to them. The writer and his first readers were not remotely aware of the world that shapes our thinking. They did not know, for example, that planet earth was a sphere spinning on its axis every twenty-four hours, and circling the sun once every 365/6 days. They had not heard of global warming, much less that 7 billion people of earth move about in 1.2 billion horseless vehicles powered by fossil fuel. Unlike them, we have had two millennia of preaching and teaching about Jesus Messiah (Christ) still to come again to set things right with humankind. The point is this: When we attempt to understand 2 Corinthians for our time and place in the present world we need to take into account the cultural and intellectual gap between the first writer-and-readers and ourselves. Failure to do so short-circuits our attempt to capture the sense of the variety of first-century texts that make up 2 Corinthians. When the writer tells about being “caught up to the third heaven” (2 Cor. 12:2) we scientific moderns simply cannot comprehend such a domain of thinking. Still, there are lessons for life now as then in that biblical document: moral, spiritual and cultural lessons. One important lesson has to do with proper respect for leaders, religious leaders in particular. The writer of 2 Corinthians devotes a large part of the document to regaining the respect of the congregation he created through his teaching. The challenge for us is to work together in community, as the early Anabaptists did in the sixteenth century, to find our way to hope and wholeness and faithfulness in our precarious time and place.<br />
<br />
===Author, Date, and Situation(s)===<br />
2 Corinthians of the New Testament stands as one of seven letters whose authorship is uncontested. The historical figure of Paul, a late Apostle of Christ, is the author according to the best scholarly assessment. Paul’s letter writing extended from ca. 49 CE until ca. 57/8 CE. 2 Corinthians appears to have been written in 55-56 CE, prior to Paul’s last journey to Jerusalem (ca. 57/58 CE). The place of writing is not certain. The situation that gave rise to the document in its present form was two-fold: chapters 1–9 extend thanksgiving, encouragement in the faith, awaiting new creation, reconciliation between Paul and the community, and urging the community to complete the collection of funds for the poor saints in Jerusalem; chapters 10–13 carry a different tone. Some people visited the community in Paul’s absence and tried to persuade the members to reconsider Paul’s apostolic status. The tone of the second part of the letter is biting and corrective, the rhetoric sharp, intended to warn the community at Corinth of the danger of abandoning Paul in favor of the would-be apostles who dishonor Paul.<br />
<br />
===Form and Rhetoric===<br />
2 Corinthians falls within the literary form of an ancient Greco-Roman letter: opening ''salutation'' consisting of sender, receiver(s), greeting; ''thanksgiving'' for the relationship between sender and receiver; ''body'' of the letter that expands the purpose for writing; and ''closing'', which often consists of a benediction.<br />
<br />
But 2 Corinthians does not quite fit the coherent letter form. The document exhibits the presence of at least two original letters pieced together on one sheet of papyrus. The first letter (chapters 1-9) is conciliatory, while the second (chapters 10–13) is sharp and threatening. But there may be even more than two documents spliced together on the scroll of 2 Corinthians. For example, the two appeals in chapters 8 and 9 to complete the collection, rather than being redundant repetition, may well be the combination of two separate letters (or parts of letters) written on two different occasions. Another piece of text (6:14–7:1) seems to have been inserted into the flow of discussion surrounding it. Its texture does not fit the subject matter surrounding it. So the rhetoric of 2 Corinthians is mixed. Rhetoric is a form of persuasion. The rhetoric in the first nine chapters is one of fostering wholesome relationship based on faith in Jesus Christ. The rhetoric in the last four chapters is reactionary, sarcastic, and shaming, directed as it is at the interlopers who seek to discredit Paul in the community that he founded.<br />
<br />
==Summary and Comment== <br />
===The Letter of Reconciliation (1:1–9:15)===<br />
Following the opening ''salutation'' (1:1-2) and the ''thanksgiving'' (1:3–7) in which Paul aims to console those afflicted in one way or another, Paul then addresses in more detail the importance of right relationship within the community of Christ. Paul had experienced an affront on his person from a member of the community. Details about the affront are missing, as also the “letter of tears,” to which Paul refers, and in which he rebuked both the offender and also the congregation for their indifference to the offence. Paul’s conciliatory attitude comes through in the text surrounding his reference to the hurtful episode: he forgives the offender (2:5-11). Here we have an emphasis that the early Anabaptists picked up and sought to put into practice.<br />
<br />
The Letter of Reconciliation exhibits ''three variations'' on that theme, which extends from the opening salutation to the end of the appeal for funds for the righteous poor of Jerusalem (9: 15). The three may be identified under three headings as follows:<br />
<br />
====1. Solidarity in Affliction and Joy (1:1–2:13)====<br />
Paul offers up thanks to the “Father of mercies and the God of all consolation” (1:3) for bringing him through some afflictions, whether from the community or from outsiders. So painful were the afflictions that he felt the “sentence of death” (1:9) on his life. Specific description of the afflictions is not given. In the midst of it all, Paul senses in his heart God’s unequivocal “Yes” (1:15–22) that affirms his ministry, which prompts him to utter the “‘Amen,’ to the glory of God” (1:20). Paul then calls God as his witness before the congregation (1:23–2:4), and demonstrates how the good news of God-in-Christ manifests itself in a faithful community: the offender is forgiven (2:5-11). Paul’s joy comes especially from faithful partnership with those who believe and practise as he does in relation to Christ. Titus is one such faithful partner, as illustrated in 2:12–13; cf. 2 Cor. 8:23): he acts as Paul’s interface between himself and the communities while Paul travels to and fro in mission.<br />
<br />
====2. New Ministry in the Light of Christ (2:14–7:4)====<br />
The large discussion in this part of 2 Corinthians is testimony to the character and fervor of Paul’s life in mission. The argument moves along with verve and purpose, and “presents one of the most moving portrayals of ministry to be found anywhere in Scripture” (Baird: 78). The issue that drives the argument is the shape and scope of the ministry in which Paul is engaged. The word “ministry” (diakonia) comes through twenty times in this passage (2:14–7:16), compared to a total of thirty-six in all of Paul’s letters. That observation alone is testimony to the significance of the kind of work in which Paul is engaged. A “new creation” (5:17) is underway, and with it a “new covenant” (3:6) in keeping with the presence and power of the Spirit of the resurrected Messiah in the community. Hence, Paul views his ministry to the Corinthians—and others—as belonging to the large end-time ingathering of people of the world into Christ at the turn of the ages from old to new (5:16). Paul’s rival missionaries present themselves to the Corinthians with letters of recommendation, and thus put the Corinthians on alert to demand the same from Paul. He refuses, on the ground that he has been their apostle from the beginning. He knows them and they know him: “Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Surely we do not need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you, do we?” (3:1). The situation implied in the rhetorical question, and elsewhere, provides a clue concerning the purpose of Paul’s letter. His somewhat strained relationship with the Corinthians comes to the fore in this variation on the theme of ministry (2:14-7:4), but reaches crescendo proportion in the Letter of Defence (10:1– 13:13).<br />
<br />
====3. Equity through a Financial “Gift of Blessing” (8:1–9:15)====<br />
The two appeals for a financial gift for the “saints” in Jerusalem seems to be redundant. Both are still about ministry, not Paul’s, but that of the Corinthian congregation of Christ- followers. This time the ministry is related to a gift of money, so that there be a measure of equity between the relatively rich Corinthians and the poor saints of Jerusalem. Paul then cites Exodus 16:18 about the Hebrews gathering manna and quail: “The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little.” (8:15). Paul’s rhetorical appeal in chapter 8 tends to be heavy-handed. He cites the overflowing generosity of the Macedonians to the north, compared to the halting spirit of the Corinthians. He calls the financial gift a “generous undertaking” (NRSV), or simply “grace” (''charis''). Grace is a very positive quality, and the Macedonians have plenty of it, compared to the Corinthians who are halting in their willingness to complete the collection of funds. Paul also appeals to the great grace of Christ who gave up even his life for the sake of others. In this strong rhetorical flourish Paul holds that he is merely “testing the genuineness of [their] love against the earnestness of others.” (8:8).<br />
Chapter 9 appears to be repetitive. Dieter Betz argues that chapters 8 and 9 about the collection were originally two letters written at different times. Both were later incorporated into the final shape of 2 Corinthians as we have it today. That scenario is plausible, but not necessary to understand the difference between the two appeals. Equally plausible is the idea that the scribe read back the appeal of chapter 8, and Paul sensed its critical tone. The sheet of papyrus would not be thrown away, like a sheet of paper today. Instead, Paul dictated a codicil that softens the critical tone of chapter 8. Now in chapter 9 Paul lets the Corinthians know that he reported to the Macedonians the eagerness of the Corinthians of Achaia to complete the collection for Jerusalem. They have “great generosity” (9:11) after all.<br />
<br />
===The Letter of Defence (10:1–13:13)===<br />
====Response to Betrayal in Ministry: (10:1-13:10)====<br />
The last four chapters of 2 Corinthians clearly do not complement or extend the themes of the first 9 chapters. On the strength of that judgement it is reasonable to suggest that the papyrus that carried the material of the last four chapters came from a different time and situation. There is no sure way of knowing whether the last four chapters were written before or after the first nine. What is clear from reading chapters 10–13 is that Paul in responding to betrayal with respect to his ministry among the Corinthians. His trust friend, Titus, brought him word about the betrayal, even quoting to Paul what was being said about his apostolic ministry: “‘His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.’” (10:10). Then comes the defence from Paul, using the strongest rhetoric at his disposal to shame his opponents. They see him more as a fool than a confirmed apostle of the good news of Jesus Christ. So he turns that criticism against them by acknowledging that he is a fool for the sake of the good news of Jesus Christ. He cites as examples his imprisonments and beatings as the marks of a true minister of Christ crucified: “Are they ministers of Christ? I am talking like a madman—I am a better one: with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless floggings, and often near death.” (11:23). Moreover, in this second part of 2 Corinthians (10–13) we have some of the most challenging imagery of life in relationship to Christ to be found anywhere in the Bible. Here is a classic example of Paul’s provocative and paradoxical stance about his person and ministry in the sphere of Christ in response to his negative critics: “Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.” (12:7–10).<br />
<br />
====Closure (13:11–13)====<br />
Paul’s final appeal to the congregation is to live up to the standard of Christ in whose name they worship together and in whose way they engage with the culture. Paul’s closing words of counsel still have currency for the descendents of the early Anabaptists: agreement, peace, love, and grace. The benediction that closes the letter is one of the most used in Christian churches: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.” (13:13).<br />
<br />
===Lessons from the Letter(s)===<br />
'''2 Corinthians 1–2:13'''. Greetings, thanksgiving, and forgiveness of offence.<br />
<br />
Greet each other in the fellowship of Christ, and be thankful, even when circumstances in life are difficult. Always stand ready to forgive an offence done to you. God in Christ is the reference point in all of life. Enjoy the friendship and service of trusted friends such as Titus.<br />
<br />
'''2 Corinthians 2:14-7:4'''. The ministry about which Paul writes was new at the time. Jesus was a new kind of Jewish Messiah figure whose Spirit lived within the faithful community.<br />
<br />
The same ministry is renewed throughout history. The new creation continues to come to expression in every generation in keeping with the situation. Reconciliation is possible between people of the world, but how much more between people infused with the Spirit of Christ Jesus. Paul was engaged in a ministry of reconciling the world to God. That reconciliation means freedom from the grip of sin and death, in that “the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” (3:17).<br />
<br />
'''2 Corinthians 8:1–9.15'''. The gift of God in Christ exceeds all other gifts, including the gift of money received or given to others.<br />
<br />
Paul’s appeal for money is wrapped in theological language: the basis for collecting money from the congregation(s) and giving to those who have little is grounded in the abundant grace of God is the gift of Christ Jesus. There should be fair balance between people, especially so in the household of faith in Christ. There is nothing here about giving one-tenth as in the old law of the Temple, but each one should give “according to your means” (8:11). For some people giving one-tenth of their income means their family could go hungry. Paul eschews such an inequitable position in the community of Christ.<br />
<br />
'''2 Corinthians 10:1–13:13'''. How does a person of faith in Christ respond to unbridled criticism, especially from within the community of faith?<br />
<br />
When Paul felt the sting of criticism against his person and ministry he did not remain silent. The criticism against him was unwarranted, hence his sharp message of defence to his congregation. His reaction was not so much to save himself, but to save the members of the congregation from misguided attitude and belief concerning the person of Jesus Messiah crucified and risen. Paul stands in relationship to that redemptive figure, and that trumps the opponents’ critique of his seemingly weak ministry.<br />
<br />
==Conclusion==<br />
<br />
2 Corinthians contains two types of address, originally probably two separate letters, directed to the congregation of faith in Jesus. The first type (chapters 1-9) may be called lessons on reconciliation within the household of believers in the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. The ministry in the community should reflect the saving ministry of Jesus Christ. “For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake.” (2 Cor. 4:5). The second type of address is that of defence of Paul’s ministry lest the Corinthians be taken in by the urge toward elegance in speech and personality. To put emphasis on power and glory is tantamount to dishonoring Jesus Messiah. Here is Paul in his own voice with one of the great paradoxes of the New Testament: “I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.” (12:10).<br />
<br />
==Recommended Essays in the Commentary==<br />
[[The Integrity of 2 Corinthians (in 2 Corinthians)|The Intergrity of 2 Corinthians]]<br><br />
A Different Gospel<br><br />
The Canonical Shape of 2 Corinthians <br><br />
[[Opponents Implicit in 2 Corinthians]]<br><br />
The Collection<br><br />
[[Satan (in 2 Corinthians)|Satan]] <br><br />
Two Appeals for One Collection in One Letter <br><br />
The Super-Apostles <br><br />
[[Use of Scripture (in 2 Corinthians)|Use of Scripture]]<br />
<br />
==Bibliography==<br />
*Baird, William. ''Knox Preaching Guides: 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians''. Atlanta: John Knox, 1980.<br />
*Bates, W. H. “The Integrity of 2 Corinthians.” ''New Testament Studies'' 12 (1965): 56– 69.<br />
*Batey, Richard. “Paul’s Interaction with the Corinthians.” ''Journal of Biblical Literature''. (1965) 84:139-146.<br />
*Betz, Hans Dieter. ''2 Corinthians 8 and 9''. Hermeneia. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1985.<br />
*Fitzgerald, John T. ''Cracks in an Earthen Vessel: An Examination of the Catalogues of Hardships in the Corinthian Correspondence''. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1988.<br />
*Georgi, Dieter. ''The Opponent of Paul in Second Corinthians''. Collegeville Bible Commentary. 7. Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1985.<br />
*Harvey, A. E. ''Renewal Through Suffering: A Study of 2 Corinthians''. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1996.<br />
*Kennedy, George A. ''New Testament Interpretation Through Rhetorical Criticism''. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1984.<br />
<br />
== Invitation to Comment ==<br />
To recommend improvements to this article, [mailto:ljohns@ambs.edu click here].<br />
<br />
{| border="1" style="text-align: right; color: green; background-color:#ffffcc; float: right" <br />
|—'''''[[V. George Shillington]]''''' <br />
|}</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=2_Corinthians&diff=179102 Corinthians2017-08-14T10:10:31Z<p>BenEB: corrected link to essays</p>
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<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]''' <br />
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[[file:BCBC_2Corinthians2.jpg|frame|right|x310px|link=http://store.mennomedia.org/2-Corinthians-P286.aspx|[http://store.mennomedia.org/2-Corinthians-P286.aspx''2 Corinthians'', by V. George Shillington (Believers Church Bible Commentary)]'']]<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
==Introduction==<br />
<br />
===Then and Now===<br />
One could say that human beings are the same the world over throughout all ages. It has been propounded that humankind from the beginning has the capacity to think and reason and imagine in ways that other life forms do not. On that premise, the first readers of 2 Corinthians would have thought and felt the same in the first century as we do in the twenty-first. But that is not the whole truth about then and now. 2 Corinthians was written by a person in close social and cultural proximity to the life and experience of the first readers. Our awareness of our post-modern world is second nature to us, but not to them. The writer and his first readers were not remotely aware of the world that shapes our thinking. They did not know, for example, that planet earth was a sphere spinning on its axis every twenty-four hours, and circling the sun once every 365/6 days. They had not heard of global warming, much less that 7 billion people of earth move about in 1.2 billion horseless vehicles powered by fossil fuel. Unlike them, we have had two millennia of preaching and teaching about Jesus Messiah (Christ) still to come again to set things right with humankind. The point is this: When we attempt to understand 2 Corinthians for our time and place in the present world we need to take into account the cultural and intellectual gap between the first writer-and-readers and ourselves. Failure to do so short-circuits our attempt to capture the sense of the variety of first-century texts that make up 2 Corinthians. When the writer tells about being “caught up to the third heaven” (2 Cor. 12:2) we scientific moderns simply cannot comprehend such a domain of thinking. Still, there are lessons for life now as then in that biblical document: moral, spiritual and cultural lessons. One important lesson has to do with proper respect for leaders, religious leaders in particular. The writer of 2 Corinthians devotes a large part of the document to regaining the respect of the congregation he created through his teaching. The challenge for us is to work together in community, as the early Anabaptists did in the sixteenth century, to find our way to hope and wholeness and faithfulness in our precarious time and place.<br />
<br />
===Author, Date, and Situation(s)===<br />
2 Corinthians of the New Testament stands as one of seven letters whose authorship is uncontested. The historical figure of Paul, a late Apostle of Christ, is the author according to the best scholarly assessment. Paul’s letter writing extended from ca. 49 CE until ca. 57/8 CE. 2 Corinthians appears to have been written in 55-56 CE, prior to Paul’s last journey to Jerusalem (ca. 57/58 CE). The place of writing is not certain. The situation that gave rise to the document in its present form was two-fold: chapters 1–9 extend thanksgiving, encouragement in the faith, awaiting new creation, reconciliation between Paul and the community, and urging the community to complete the collection of funds for the poor saints in Jerusalem; chapters 10–13 carry a different tone. Some people visited the community in Paul’s absence and tried to persuade the members to reconsider Paul’s apostolic status. The tone of the second part of the letter is biting and corrective, the rhetoric sharp, intended to warn the community at Corinth of the danger of abandoning Paul in favor of the would-be apostles who dishonor Paul.<br />
<br />
===Form and Rhetoric===<br />
2 Corinthians falls within the literary form of an ancient Greco-Roman letter: opening ''salutation'' consisting of sender, receiver(s), greeting; ''thanksgiving'' for the relationship between sender and receiver; ''body'' of the letter that expands the purpose for writing; and ''closing'', which often consists of a benediction.<br />
<br />
But 2 Corinthians does not quite fit the coherent letter form. The document exhibits the presence of at least two original letters pieced together on one sheet of papyrus. The first letter (chapters 1-9) is conciliatory, while the second (chapters 10–13) is sharp and threatening. But there may be even more than two documents spliced together on the scroll of 2 Corinthians. For example, the two appeals in chapters 8 and 9 to complete the collection, rather than being redundant repetition, may well be the combination of two separate letters (or parts of letters) written on two different occasions. Another piece of text (6:14–7:1) seems to have been inserted into the flow of discussion surrounding it. Its texture does not fit the subject matter surrounding it. So the rhetoric of 2 Corinthians is mixed. Rhetoric is a form of persuasion. The rhetoric in the first nine chapters is one of fostering wholesome relationship based on faith in Jesus Christ. The rhetoric in the last four chapters is reactionary, sarcastic, and shaming, directed as it is at the interlopers who seek to discredit Paul in the community that he founded.<br />
<br />
==Summary and Comment== <br />
===The Letter of Reconciliation (1:1–9:15)===<br />
Following the opening ''salutation'' (1:1-2) and the ''thanksgiving'' (1:3–7) in which Paul aims to console those afflicted in one way or another, Paul then addresses in more detail the importance of right relationship within the community of Christ. Paul had experienced an affront on his person from a member of the community. Details about the affront are missing, as also the “letter of tears,” to which Paul refers, and in which he rebuked both the offender and also the congregation for their indifference to the offence. Paul’s conciliatory attitude comes through in the text surrounding his reference to the hurtful episode: he forgives the offender (2:5-11). Here we have an emphasis that the early Anabaptists picked up and sought to put into practice.<br />
<br />
The Letter of Reconciliation exhibits ''three variations'' on that theme, which extends from the opening salutation to the end of the appeal for funds for the righteous poor of Jerusalem (9: 15). The three may be identified under three headings as follows:<br />
<br />
====1. Solidarity in Affliction and Joy (1:1–2:13)====<br />
Paul offers up thanks to the “Father of mercies and the God of all consolation” (1:3) for bringing him through some afflictions, whether from the community or from outsiders. So painful were the afflictions that he felt the “sentence of death” (1:9) on his life. Specific description of the afflictions is not given. In the midst of it all, Paul senses in his heart God’s unequivocal “Yes” (1:15–22) that affirms his ministry, which prompts him to utter the “‘Amen,’ to the glory of God” (1:20). Paul then calls God as his witness before the congregation (1:23–2:4), and demonstrates how the good news of God-in-Christ manifests itself in a faithful community: the offender is forgiven (2:5-11). Paul’s joy comes especially from faithful partnership with those who believe and practise as he does in relation to Christ. Titus is one such faithful partner, as illustrated in 2:12–13; cf. 2 Cor. 8:23): he acts as Paul’s interface between himself and the communities while Paul travels to and fro in mission.<br />
<br />
====2. New Ministry in the Light of Christ (2:14–7:4)====<br />
The large discussion in this part of 2 Corinthians is testimony to the character and fervor of Paul’s life in mission. The argument moves along with verve and purpose, and “presents one of the most moving portrayals of ministry to be found anywhere in Scripture” (Baird: 78). The issue that drives the argument is the shape and scope of the ministry in which Paul is engaged. The word “ministry” (diakonia) comes through twenty times in this passage (2:14–7:16), compared to a total of thirty-six in all of Paul’s letters. That observation alone is testimony to the significance of the kind of work in which Paul is engaged. A “new creation” (5:17) is underway, and with it a “new covenant” (3:6) in keeping with the presence and power of the Spirit of the resurrected Messiah in the community. Hence, Paul views his ministry to the Corinthians—and others—as belonging to the large end-time ingathering of people of the world into Christ at the turn of the ages from old to new (5:16). Paul’s rival missionaries present themselves to the Corinthians with letters of recommendation, and thus put the Corinthians on alert to demand the same from Paul. He refuses, on the ground that he has been their apostle from the beginning. He knows them and they know him: “Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Surely we do not need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you, do we?” (3:1). The situation implied in the rhetorical question, and elsewhere, provides a clue concerning the purpose of Paul’s letter. His somewhat strained relationship with the Corinthians comes to the fore in this variation on the theme of ministry (2:14-7:4), but reaches crescendo proportion in the Letter of Defence (10:1– 13:13).<br />
<br />
====3. Equity through a Financial “Gift of Blessing” (8:1–9:15)====<br />
The two appeals for a financial gift for the “saints” in Jerusalem seems to be redundant. Both are still about ministry, not Paul’s, but that of the Corinthian congregation of Christ- followers. This time the ministry is related to a gift of money, so that there be a measure of equity between the relatively rich Corinthians and the poor saints of Jerusalem. Paul then cites Exodus 16:18 about the Hebrews gathering manna and quail: “The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little.” (8:15). Paul’s rhetorical appeal in chapter 8 tends to be heavy-handed. He cites the overflowing generosity of the Macedonians to the north, compared to the halting spirit of the Corinthians. He calls the financial gift a “generous undertaking” (NRSV), or simply “grace” (''charis''). Grace is a very positive quality, and the Macedonians have plenty of it, compared to the Corinthians who are halting in their willingness to complete the collection of funds. Paul also appeals to the great grace of Christ who gave up even his life for the sake of others. In this strong rhetorical flourish Paul holds that he is merely “testing the genuineness of [their] love against the earnestness of others.” (8:8).<br />
Chapter 9 appears to be repetitive. Dieter Betz argues that chapters 8 and 9 about the collection were originally two letters written at different times. Both were later incorporated into the final shape of 2 Corinthians as we have it today. That scenario is plausible, but not necessary to understand the difference between the two appeals. Equally plausible is the idea that the scribe read back the appeal of chapter 8, and Paul sensed its critical tone. The sheet of papyrus would not be thrown away, like a sheet of paper today. Instead, Paul dictated a codicil that softens the critical tone of chapter 8. Now in chapter 9 Paul lets the Corinthians know that he reported to the Macedonians the eagerness of the Corinthians of Achaia to complete the collection for Jerusalem. They have “great generosity” (9:11) after all.<br />
<br />
===The Letter of Defence (10:1–13:13)===<br />
====Response to Betrayal in Ministry: (10:1-13:10)====<br />
The last four chapters of 2 Corinthians clearly do not complement or extend the themes of the first 9 chapters. On the strength of that judgement it is reasonable to suggest that the papyrus that carried the material of the last four chapters came from a different time and situation. There is no sure way of knowing whether the last four chapters were written before or after the first nine. What is clear from reading chapters 10–13 is that Paul in responding to betrayal with respect to his ministry among the Corinthians. His trust friend, Titus, brought him word about the betrayal, even quoting to Paul what was being said about his apostolic ministry: “‘His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.’” (10:10). Then comes the defence from Paul, using the strongest rhetoric at his disposal to shame his opponents. They see him more as a fool than a confirmed apostle of the good news of Jesus Christ. So he turns that criticism against them by acknowledging that he is a fool for the sake of the good news of Jesus Christ. He cites as examples his imprisonments and beatings as the marks of a true minister of Christ crucified: “Are they ministers of Christ? I am talking like a madman—I am a better one: with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless floggings, and often near death.” (11:23). Moreover, in this second part of 2 Corinthians (10–13) we have some of the most challenging imagery of life in relationship to Christ to be found anywhere in the Bible. Here is a classic example of Paul’s provocative and paradoxical stance about his person and ministry in the sphere of Christ in response to his negative critics: “Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.” (12:7–10).<br />
<br />
====Closure (13:11–13)====<br />
Paul’s final appeal to the congregation is to live up to the standard of Christ in whose name they worship together and in whose way they engage with the culture. Paul’s closing words of counsel still have currency for the descendents of the early Anabaptists: agreement, peace, love, and grace. The benediction that closes the letter is one of the most used in Christian churches: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.” (13:13).<br />
<br />
===Lessons from the Letter(s)===<br />
'''2 Corinthians 1–2:13'''. Greetings, thanksgiving, and forgiveness of offence.<br />
<br />
Greet each other in the fellowship of Christ, and be thankful, even when circumstances in life are difficult. Always stand ready to forgive an offence done to you. God in Christ is the reference point in all of life. Enjoy the friendship and service of trusted friends such as Titus.<br />
<br />
'''2 Corinthians 2:14-7:4'''. The ministry about which Paul writes was new at the time. Jesus was a new kind of Jewish Messiah figure whose Spirit lived within the faithful community.<br />
<br />
The same ministry is renewed throughout history. The new creation continues to come to expression in every generation in keeping with the situation. Reconciliation is possible between people of the world, but how much more between people infused with the Spirit of Christ Jesus. Paul was engaged in a ministry of reconciling the world to God. That reconciliation means freedom from the grip of sin and death, in that “the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” (3:17).<br />
<br />
'''2 Corinthians 8:1–9.15'''. The gift of God in Christ exceeds all other gifts, including the gift of money received or given to others.<br />
<br />
Paul’s appeal for money is wrapped in theological language: the basis for collecting money from the congregation(s) and giving to those who have little is grounded in the abundant grace of God is the gift of Christ Jesus. There should be fair balance between people, especially so in the household of faith in Christ. There is nothing here about giving one-tenth as in the old law of the Temple, but each one should give “according to your means” (8:11). For some people giving one-tenth of their income means their family could go hungry. Paul eschews such an inequitable position in the community of Christ.<br />
<br />
'''2 Corinthians 10:1–13:13'''. How does a person of faith in Christ respond to unbridled criticism, especially from within the community of faith?<br />
<br />
When Paul felt the sting of criticism against his person and ministry he did not remain silent. The criticism against him was unwarranted, hence his sharp message of defence to his congregation. His reaction was not so much to save himself, but to save the members of the congregation from misguided attitude and belief concerning the person of Jesus Messiah crucified and risen. Paul stands in relationship to that redemptive figure, and that trumps the opponents’ critique of his seemingly weak ministry.<br />
<br />
==Conclusion==<br />
<br />
2 Corinthians contains two types of address, originally probably two separate letters, directed to the congregation of faith in Jesus. The first type (chapters 1-9) may be called lessons on reconciliation within the household of believers in the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. The ministry in the community should reflect the saving ministry of Jesus Christ. “For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake.” (2 Cor. 4:5). The second type of address is that of defence of Paul’s ministry lest the Corinthians be taken in by the urge toward elegance in speech and personality. To put emphasis on power and glory is tantamount to dishonoring Jesus Messiah. Here is Paul in his own voice with one of the great paradoxes of the New Testament: “I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.” (12:10).<br />
<br />
==Recommended Essays in the Commentary==<br />
[[The Integrity of 2 Corinthians (in 2 Corinthians)|The Intergrity of 2 Corinthians]]<br><br />
A Different Gospel<br><br />
The Canonical Shape of 2 Corinthians <br><br />
[[Opponents Implicit in 2 Corinthians]]<br><br />
The Collection<br><br />
[[Satan (in 2 Corinthians)|Satan]] <br><br />
Two Appeals for One Collection in One Letter <br><br />
The Super-Apostles <br><br />
[[Use of Scripture (in 2 Corinthians)|Use of Scripture]]<br />
<br />
Bibliography<br />
*Baird, William. ''Knox Preaching Guides: 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians''. Atlanta: John Knox, 1980.<br />
*Bates, W. H. “The Integrity of 2 Corinthians.” ''New Testament Studies'' 12 (1965): 56– 69.<br />
*Batey, Richard. “Paul’s Interaction with the Corinthians.” ''Journal of Biblical Literature''. (1965) 84:139-146.<br />
*Betz, Hans Dieter. ''2 Corinthians 8 and 9''. Hermeneia. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1985.<br />
*Fitzgerald, John T. ''Cracks in an Earthen Vessel: An Examination of the Catalogues of Hardships in the Corinthian Correspondence''. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1988.<br />
*Georgi, Dieter. ''The Opponent of Paul in Second Corinthians''. Collegeville Bible Commentary. 7. Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1985.<br />
*Harvey, A. E. ''Renewal Through Suffering: A Study of 2 Corinthians''. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1996.<br />
*Kennedy, George A. ''New Testament Interpretation Through Rhetorical Criticism''. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1984.<br />
<br />
== Invitation to Comment ==<br />
To recommend improvements to this article, [mailto:ljohns@ambs.edu click here].<br />
<br />
{| border="1" style="text-align: right; color: green; background-color:#ffffcc; float: right" <br />
|—'''''[[V. George Shillington]]''''' <br />
|}</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=2_Corinthians&diff=179092 Corinthians2017-08-14T10:09:26Z<p>BenEB: link to essays</p>
<hr />
<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]''' <br />
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[[file:BCBC_2Corinthians2.jpg|frame|right|x310px|link=http://store.mennomedia.org/2-Corinthians-P286.aspx|[http://store.mennomedia.org/2-Corinthians-P286.aspx''2 Corinthians'', by V. George Shillington (Believers Church Bible Commentary)]'']]<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
==Introduction==<br />
<br />
===Then and Now===<br />
One could say that human beings are the same the world over throughout all ages. It has been propounded that humankind from the beginning has the capacity to think and reason and imagine in ways that other life forms do not. On that premise, the first readers of 2 Corinthians would have thought and felt the same in the first century as we do in the twenty-first. But that is not the whole truth about then and now. 2 Corinthians was written by a person in close social and cultural proximity to the life and experience of the first readers. Our awareness of our post-modern world is second nature to us, but not to them. The writer and his first readers were not remotely aware of the world that shapes our thinking. They did not know, for example, that planet earth was a sphere spinning on its axis every twenty-four hours, and circling the sun once every 365/6 days. They had not heard of global warming, much less that 7 billion people of earth move about in 1.2 billion horseless vehicles powered by fossil fuel. Unlike them, we have had two millennia of preaching and teaching about Jesus Messiah (Christ) still to come again to set things right with humankind. The point is this: When we attempt to understand 2 Corinthians for our time and place in the present world we need to take into account the cultural and intellectual gap between the first writer-and-readers and ourselves. Failure to do so short-circuits our attempt to capture the sense of the variety of first-century texts that make up 2 Corinthians. When the writer tells about being “caught up to the third heaven” (2 Cor. 12:2) we scientific moderns simply cannot comprehend such a domain of thinking. Still, there are lessons for life now as then in that biblical document: moral, spiritual and cultural lessons. One important lesson has to do with proper respect for leaders, religious leaders in particular. The writer of 2 Corinthians devotes a large part of the document to regaining the respect of the congregation he created through his teaching. The challenge for us is to work together in community, as the early Anabaptists did in the sixteenth century, to find our way to hope and wholeness and faithfulness in our precarious time and place.<br />
<br />
===Author, Date, and Situation(s)===<br />
2 Corinthians of the New Testament stands as one of seven letters whose authorship is uncontested. The historical figure of Paul, a late Apostle of Christ, is the author according to the best scholarly assessment. Paul’s letter writing extended from ca. 49 CE until ca. 57/8 CE. 2 Corinthians appears to have been written in 55-56 CE, prior to Paul’s last journey to Jerusalem (ca. 57/58 CE). The place of writing is not certain. The situation that gave rise to the document in its present form was two-fold: chapters 1–9 extend thanksgiving, encouragement in the faith, awaiting new creation, reconciliation between Paul and the community, and urging the community to complete the collection of funds for the poor saints in Jerusalem; chapters 10–13 carry a different tone. Some people visited the community in Paul’s absence and tried to persuade the members to reconsider Paul’s apostolic status. The tone of the second part of the letter is biting and corrective, the rhetoric sharp, intended to warn the community at Corinth of the danger of abandoning Paul in favor of the would-be apostles who dishonor Paul.<br />
<br />
===Form and Rhetoric===<br />
2 Corinthians falls within the literary form of an ancient Greco-Roman letter: opening ''salutation'' consisting of sender, receiver(s), greeting; ''thanksgiving'' for the relationship between sender and receiver; ''body'' of the letter that expands the purpose for writing; and ''closing'', which often consists of a benediction.<br />
<br />
But 2 Corinthians does not quite fit the coherent letter form. The document exhibits the presence of at least two original letters pieced together on one sheet of papyrus. The first letter (chapters 1-9) is conciliatory, while the second (chapters 10–13) is sharp and threatening. But there may be even more than two documents spliced together on the scroll of 2 Corinthians. For example, the two appeals in chapters 8 and 9 to complete the collection, rather than being redundant repetition, may well be the combination of two separate letters (or parts of letters) written on two different occasions. Another piece of text (6:14–7:1) seems to have been inserted into the flow of discussion surrounding it. Its texture does not fit the subject matter surrounding it. So the rhetoric of 2 Corinthians is mixed. Rhetoric is a form of persuasion. The rhetoric in the first nine chapters is one of fostering wholesome relationship based on faith in Jesus Christ. The rhetoric in the last four chapters is reactionary, sarcastic, and shaming, directed as it is at the interlopers who seek to discredit Paul in the community that he founded.<br />
<br />
==Summary and Comment== <br />
===The Letter of Reconciliation (1:1–9:15)===<br />
Following the opening ''salutation'' (1:1-2) and the ''thanksgiving'' (1:3–7) in which Paul aims to console those afflicted in one way or another, Paul then addresses in more detail the importance of right relationship within the community of Christ. Paul had experienced an affront on his person from a member of the community. Details about the affront are missing, as also the “letter of tears,” to which Paul refers, and in which he rebuked both the offender and also the congregation for their indifference to the offence. Paul’s conciliatory attitude comes through in the text surrounding his reference to the hurtful episode: he forgives the offender (2:5-11). Here we have an emphasis that the early Anabaptists picked up and sought to put into practice.<br />
<br />
The Letter of Reconciliation exhibits ''three variations'' on that theme, which extends from the opening salutation to the end of the appeal for funds for the righteous poor of Jerusalem (9: 15). The three may be identified under three headings as follows:<br />
<br />
====1. Solidarity in Affliction and Joy (1:1–2:13)====<br />
Paul offers up thanks to the “Father of mercies and the God of all consolation” (1:3) for bringing him through some afflictions, whether from the community or from outsiders. So painful were the afflictions that he felt the “sentence of death” (1:9) on his life. Specific description of the afflictions is not given. In the midst of it all, Paul senses in his heart God’s unequivocal “Yes” (1:15–22) that affirms his ministry, which prompts him to utter the “‘Amen,’ to the glory of God” (1:20). Paul then calls God as his witness before the congregation (1:23–2:4), and demonstrates how the good news of God-in-Christ manifests itself in a faithful community: the offender is forgiven (2:5-11). Paul’s joy comes especially from faithful partnership with those who believe and practise as he does in relation to Christ. Titus is one such faithful partner, as illustrated in 2:12–13; cf. 2 Cor. 8:23): he acts as Paul’s interface between himself and the communities while Paul travels to and fro in mission.<br />
<br />
====2. New Ministry in the Light of Christ (2:14–7:4)====<br />
The large discussion in this part of 2 Corinthians is testimony to the character and fervor of Paul’s life in mission. The argument moves along with verve and purpose, and “presents one of the most moving portrayals of ministry to be found anywhere in Scripture” (Baird: 78). The issue that drives the argument is the shape and scope of the ministry in which Paul is engaged. The word “ministry” (diakonia) comes through twenty times in this passage (2:14–7:16), compared to a total of thirty-six in all of Paul’s letters. That observation alone is testimony to the significance of the kind of work in which Paul is engaged. A “new creation” (5:17) is underway, and with it a “new covenant” (3:6) in keeping with the presence and power of the Spirit of the resurrected Messiah in the community. Hence, Paul views his ministry to the Corinthians—and others—as belonging to the large end-time ingathering of people of the world into Christ at the turn of the ages from old to new (5:16). Paul’s rival missionaries present themselves to the Corinthians with letters of recommendation, and thus put the Corinthians on alert to demand the same from Paul. He refuses, on the ground that he has been their apostle from the beginning. He knows them and they know him: “Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Surely we do not need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you, do we?” (3:1). The situation implied in the rhetorical question, and elsewhere, provides a clue concerning the purpose of Paul’s letter. His somewhat strained relationship with the Corinthians comes to the fore in this variation on the theme of ministry (2:14-7:4), but reaches crescendo proportion in the Letter of Defence (10:1– 13:13).<br />
<br />
====3. Equity through a Financial “Gift of Blessing” (8:1–9:15)====<br />
The two appeals for a financial gift for the “saints” in Jerusalem seems to be redundant. Both are still about ministry, not Paul’s, but that of the Corinthian congregation of Christ- followers. This time the ministry is related to a gift of money, so that there be a measure of equity between the relatively rich Corinthians and the poor saints of Jerusalem. Paul then cites Exodus 16:18 about the Hebrews gathering manna and quail: “The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little.” (8:15). Paul’s rhetorical appeal in chapter 8 tends to be heavy-handed. He cites the overflowing generosity of the Macedonians to the north, compared to the halting spirit of the Corinthians. He calls the financial gift a “generous undertaking” (NRSV), or simply “grace” (''charis''). Grace is a very positive quality, and the Macedonians have plenty of it, compared to the Corinthians who are halting in their willingness to complete the collection of funds. Paul also appeals to the great grace of Christ who gave up even his life for the sake of others. In this strong rhetorical flourish Paul holds that he is merely “testing the genuineness of [their] love against the earnestness of others.” (8:8).<br />
Chapter 9 appears to be repetitive. Dieter Betz argues that chapters 8 and 9 about the collection were originally two letters written at different times. Both were later incorporated into the final shape of 2 Corinthians as we have it today. That scenario is plausible, but not necessary to understand the difference between the two appeals. Equally plausible is the idea that the scribe read back the appeal of chapter 8, and Paul sensed its critical tone. The sheet of papyrus would not be thrown away, like a sheet of paper today. Instead, Paul dictated a codicil that softens the critical tone of chapter 8. Now in chapter 9 Paul lets the Corinthians know that he reported to the Macedonians the eagerness of the Corinthians of Achaia to complete the collection for Jerusalem. They have “great generosity” (9:11) after all.<br />
<br />
===The Letter of Defence (10:1–13:13)===<br />
====Response to Betrayal in Ministry: (10:1-13:10)====<br />
The last four chapters of 2 Corinthians clearly do not complement or extend the themes of the first 9 chapters. On the strength of that judgement it is reasonable to suggest that the papyrus that carried the material of the last four chapters came from a different time and situation. There is no sure way of knowing whether the last four chapters were written before or after the first nine. What is clear from reading chapters 10–13 is that Paul in responding to betrayal with respect to his ministry among the Corinthians. His trust friend, Titus, brought him word about the betrayal, even quoting to Paul what was being said about his apostolic ministry: “‘His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.’” (10:10). Then comes the defence from Paul, using the strongest rhetoric at his disposal to shame his opponents. They see him more as a fool than a confirmed apostle of the good news of Jesus Christ. So he turns that criticism against them by acknowledging that he is a fool for the sake of the good news of Jesus Christ. He cites as examples his imprisonments and beatings as the marks of a true minister of Christ crucified: “Are they ministers of Christ? I am talking like a madman—I am a better one: with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless floggings, and often near death.” (11:23). Moreover, in this second part of 2 Corinthians (10–13) we have some of the most challenging imagery of life in relationship to Christ to be found anywhere in the Bible. Here is a classic example of Paul’s provocative and paradoxical stance about his person and ministry in the sphere of Christ in response to his negative critics: “Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.” (12:7–10).<br />
<br />
====Closure (13:11–13)====<br />
Paul’s final appeal to the congregation is to live up to the standard of Christ in whose name they worship together and in whose way they engage with the culture. Paul’s closing words of counsel still have currency for the descendents of the early Anabaptists: agreement, peace, love, and grace. The benediction that closes the letter is one of the most used in Christian churches: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.” (13:13).<br />
<br />
===Lessons from the Letter(s)===<br />
'''2 Corinthians 1–2:13'''. Greetings, thanksgiving, and forgiveness of offence.<br />
<br />
Greet each other in the fellowship of Christ, and be thankful, even when circumstances in life are difficult. Always stand ready to forgive an offence done to you. God in Christ is the reference point in all of life. Enjoy the friendship and service of trusted friends such as Titus.<br />
<br />
'''2 Corinthians 2:14-7:4'''. The ministry about which Paul writes was new at the time. Jesus was a new kind of Jewish Messiah figure whose Spirit lived within the faithful community.<br />
<br />
The same ministry is renewed throughout history. The new creation continues to come to expression in every generation in keeping with the situation. Reconciliation is possible between people of the world, but how much more between people infused with the Spirit of Christ Jesus. Paul was engaged in a ministry of reconciling the world to God. That reconciliation means freedom from the grip of sin and death, in that “the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” (3:17).<br />
<br />
'''2 Corinthians 8:1–9.15'''. The gift of God in Christ exceeds all other gifts, including the gift of money received or given to others.<br />
<br />
Paul’s appeal for money is wrapped in theological language: the basis for collecting money from the congregation(s) and giving to those who have little is grounded in the abundant grace of God is the gift of Christ Jesus. There should be fair balance between people, especially so in the household of faith in Christ. There is nothing here about giving one-tenth as in the old law of the Temple, but each one should give “according to your means” (8:11). For some people giving one-tenth of their income means their family could go hungry. Paul eschews such an inequitable position in the community of Christ.<br />
<br />
'''2 Corinthians 10:1–13:13'''. How does a person of faith in Christ respond to unbridled criticism, especially from within the community of faith?<br />
<br />
When Paul felt the sting of criticism against his person and ministry he did not remain silent. The criticism against him was unwarranted, hence his sharp message of defence to his congregation. His reaction was not so much to save himself, but to save the members of the congregation from misguided attitude and belief concerning the person of Jesus Messiah crucified and risen. Paul stands in relationship to that redemptive figure, and that trumps the opponents’ critique of his seemingly weak ministry.<br />
<br />
==Conclusion==<br />
<br />
2 Corinthians contains two types of address, originally probably two separate letters, directed to the congregation of faith in Jesus. The first type (chapters 1-9) may be called lessons on reconciliation within the household of believers in the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. The ministry in the community should reflect the saving ministry of Jesus Christ. “For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake.” (2 Cor. 4:5). The second type of address is that of defence of Paul’s ministry lest the Corinthians be taken in by the urge toward elegance in speech and personality. To put emphasis on power and glory is tantamount to dishonoring Jesus Messiah. Here is Paul in his own voice with one of the great paradoxes of the New Testament: “I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.” (12:10).<br />
<br />
==Recommended Essays in the Commentary==<br />
[[The Integrity of 2 Corinthians (in 2 Corinthians)|The Intergrity of 2 Corinthians]<br><br />
A Different Gospel<br><br />
The Canonical Shape of 2 Corinthians <br><br />
[[Opponents Implicit in 2 Corinthians]]<br><br />
The Collection<br><br />
[[Satan (in 2 Corinthians)|Satan]] <br><br />
Two Appeals for One Collection in One Letter <br><br />
The Super-Apostles <br><br />
[[Use of Scripture (in 2 Corinthians)|Use of Scripture]<br />
<br />
Bibliography<br />
*Baird, William. ''Knox Preaching Guides: 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians''. Atlanta: John Knox, 1980.<br />
*Bates, W. H. “The Integrity of 2 Corinthians.” ''New Testament Studies'' 12 (1965): 56– 69.<br />
*Batey, Richard. “Paul’s Interaction with the Corinthians.” ''Journal of Biblical Literature''. (1965) 84:139-146.<br />
*Betz, Hans Dieter. ''2 Corinthians 8 and 9''. Hermeneia. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1985.<br />
*Fitzgerald, John T. ''Cracks in an Earthen Vessel: An Examination of the Catalogues of Hardships in the Corinthian Correspondence''. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1988.<br />
*Georgi, Dieter. ''The Opponent of Paul in Second Corinthians''. Collegeville Bible Commentary. 7. Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1985.<br />
*Harvey, A. E. ''Renewal Through Suffering: A Study of 2 Corinthians''. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1996.<br />
*Kennedy, George A. ''New Testament Interpretation Through Rhetorical Criticism''. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1984.<br />
<br />
== Invitation to Comment ==<br />
To recommend improvements to this article, [mailto:ljohns@ambs.edu click here].<br />
<br />
{| border="1" style="text-align: right; color: green; background-color:#ffffcc; float: right" <br />
|—'''''[[V. George Shillington]]''''' <br />
|}</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Philippians&diff=17908Philippians2017-08-10T00:05:12Z<p>BenEB: post complete essay</p>
<hr />
<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]''' <br />
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[[File:BCBC_Philippians.jpg|frame|right|180px|link=http://store.mennomedia.org/Philippians-P4734.aspx|[http://store.mennomedia.org/Philippians-P4734.aspx''Philippians'' by Gordon Zerbe (Believers Church Bible Commentary)]"]]<br />
<br />
==Introduction==<br />
<br />
====Relevance====<br />
<br />
This prized letter of Paul from prison, filled with resilience and reassurance, reveals a remarkable combination of consolation and congratulations, on the one hand, and challenge and admonition, on the other. In some ways it has a strong edge as a sort of underground political tract: Paul’s main persuasive concern is that this “assembly” (congregation) of Jesus loyalists remain steadfast and united in the context of a massive assault against them by the powers of imperial Rome in Philippi. At the same time, the letter exhibits own Paul’s deep piety and spiritual vitality in extreme hardship as a kind of political prisoner for the cause of Messiah Jesus, and it is infused with the warm and intimate relational bonds he shares with his similarly beleaguered “partners” in Philippi. <br />
<br />
For Anabaptists, this letter has been decisive for calling the community of Jesus loyalists/believers (the Greek ''pisteuō'' implies “trust,” “loyalty,” and “conviction” at the same time) to a kind of alternative citizenship allegiance (Phil 3:20) that relativizes all other identities or loyalties. Accordingly, it has been used to caution Christians from serving as magistrates in a national state. Furthermore, the way that it highlights resilience in suffering (e.g. Phil 1:29) has been prized by those suffering persecution throughout the centuries. Many Anabaptist writers who similarly wrote from prison took great comfort in Paul’s example. Finally, Paul’s emphasis in Philippians on a life of deliberate striving (“works”) toward ethical maturity in contrast to merely resting on God’s grace (Phil 1:6; 2:12–13; 3:12–17) inspired Anabaptist writers as they articulated a middle pathway in their theological debates with Protestants and Catholics.<br />
<br />
====Date, Setting, and Author====<br />
<br />
Paul wrote the letter to the assembly in Philippi while he was imprisoned on a capital charge by Roman imperial authorities, most likely in Ephesus, the leading city and capital of the Roman province of Asia (western Asia Minor), sometime in the months of July–October, in the year 55 or 56 CE. It was written just before his departure for Macedonia (Acts 20:1–2), a trip he anticipates in the letter should he be released instead of executed (Phil 2:19–24). This would mean that Philippians was written a few months before 2 Corinthians (later that winter) and around six months before Romans (early spring the following year), both of which reflect retrospectively on the extreme hardship, both physical and mental, that he experienced during his imprisonment (2 Cor 1:3–11; 2:14–16; 4:7–5:9; 6:4–10; 11:21–12:10 ; Rom 5:1–5; 8:17–39).<br />
<br />
Paul says in the letter that both he and his “partners” in Philippi are involved in “the same kind of struggle”—a struggle of the same kind that they earlier witnessed him going through when he founded the assembly five years earlier (Phil 1:29–30; Acts 16:10–40). Paul acknowledges that there are “adversaries” committed to the community’s “destruction” and that his readers are “suffering” and experiencing considerable “fear” (1:27–30), at the hands of those Paul calls a “crooked and twisted nation” among whom they live missionally as shining lights (2:15–16). He characterizes these opponents further in coded language as “dogs, evildoers, and butcherers” (3:2–3), taking up a three-fold image derived from Psalm 22:16 (following a textual tradition preserved in the Greek translation of the OT and the Dead Sea Scrolls): “''Dogs'' have surrounded me; a gang of ''evil doers'' has encircled me; they have ''gouged'' my hands and my feet.” While Christian interpreters have traditionally claimed that these opponents are “Jews” or “Jewish-Christian judaizers,” it is much more likely that Paul is alluding in coded language to the Roman imperial and social order and its accompanying violence. <br />
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The crisis the Philippian assembly has everything to do with the social and political character of Roman Philippi. Though demographically diverse, the city of approximately 10,000 or 15,000 inhabitants was dominated by a small Roman elite class descended from original veteran settlers, following the Battle of Philippi in 42 BCE, when Philippi become a kind of extension of Rome itself as a “colony.” This elite class of Roman citizens with their proud and patriotic Roman-ness controlled a mini-empire of around 700 square miles (the extent of the colony) with at least 40,000 subjects. <br />
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Immediate practical concerns provide the occasion for the letter, following Paul’s decision to send Epaphroditus, the community’s emissary on his behalf, back to Philippi along with a letter:<br><br />
: (a) Paul needs to acknowledge their assistance during his ordeal formally (4:10-18; cf. 1:5-7; 2:25-30);<br><br />
: (b) He desires to explain the situation regarding Epaphroditus, offering words of commendation and gratitude (2:25-30);<br><br />
:(c) He wishes to provide an update on his own circumstances, especially on his own mental-emotional disposition (1:12-26; 2:17-18);<br><br />
:(d) Finally, Paul aims to set the stage for the imminent visit by Timothy (2:19-23) and indeed for his own reunion with his partners (1:25-26; 2:24).<br><br />
But these immediate purposes are subordinate to Paul’s chief persuasive concern: that the assembly remain steadfast and united in the context of a massive assault against them by the powers of Rome in Philippi. Philippians is a forceful challenge on the “practice of messianic citizenship” (1:27–2:16; 3:1–4:9). Paul’s key interest is to enliven patriotic loyalty to Lord Jesus Messiah alone. To this end, Paul engages in both consolation and reassurance in light of Messiah’s imminent, final, and global victory (2:9-11; 3:20-21). And he directly addresses the internal, common “political” life of the assembly. He warmly urges it to retain the messianic citizenship virtues of lowliness, neighborliness, and unity, and to resist the contrasting Roman patterns of consumerism, status-pursuit, and self-promoting glory, along with its general immorality (2:14-16; 3:2-3, 18-21).<br />
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But in Paul’s perspective, the political is never separated from the spiritual, even though Paul’s striking and deep personal and relational expressions, have often blinded Western readers to the profoundly political, even subversive dimensions of his rhetoric (“religion” and “politics” were not separate spheres in the ancient world). The expressions of Paul’s deep piety and personal relationship with Christ, with powerful words of assurance, are everywhere apparent, and claimed by many throughout the centuries (see 1:21, 23; 2:17; 3:10; 4:4, 6, 13, 19). Still, in the midst of his resilience and optimism, there is also a foreboding anxiety (1:19-24; 2:17, 23-24) and an acknowledgement of deep pain (2:27). Most strikingly, Paul consoles when he is the one who himself should be consoled, and he draws attention to unfailing divine resources in suffering that he himself no doubt has relied upon (2:1; compare 2 Cor 1:3-11).<br />
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====Form and Rhetoric====<br />
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Philippians is both a letter of warm friendship and a letter of bold exhortation. As a letter of friendship it seeks to celebrate and solidify relationship bonds through, for instance, conveying personal information and sharing feelings of separation, longing, mutuality, distress, pain, and joy. As a letter of exhortation it displays features of deliberative rhetoric, a kind of persuasion designed to effect a change among hearers.<br />
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Paul’s letter to the Philippians is carefully crafted in word and structure. The letter is bracketed by the salutation (1:1–2) and closing (4:21–23). The opening thanksgiving and prayer (1:3–11) also correlates with a concluding thanksgiving and acknowledgement of their assistance (4:10–20), both of which coalesce around the theme of “partnership” between Paul and the congregation. The letter also has two segments of disclosure: the first focuses on Paul’s circumstance in prison (1:12–26) while the second summarizes imminent travel plans and the return of Epaphroditus to Philippi (2:19–30). The main body of exhortation comes in two parts, focusing around the theme of being Christ’s citizen community (1:27–2:28; 3:1–4:9). The centerpiece of the first is a tribute in honor of Messiah as model and deliverer (2:6–11) while in the second Paul’s puts forward his own citizenship account as a model (3:4–17) while emphasizing Messiah’s imminent global victory (3:20–21).<br />
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In Philippians, Paul exhorts and argues mainly through paradigmatic example, following a long-standing pattern of using exemplary models (''paradeigma'') as proofs for an argument in persuasive rhetoric (e.g. Aristotle).<br />
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Paul makes his case for the “practice of messianic citizenship” by reference primarily to two exemplary models: Messiah (2:5-11, the centerpiece of the letter) and Paul (3:4-17; 4:9). Even where not explicit, Paul’s explanation of his own disposition or conduct is clearly intended as a model for others to follow (1:12-26; 2:16-18; 4:10-13). Of course, Messiah as exalted slave is in his own special category as both model and deliverer (2:5-11; 3:10-11, 18-21; 4:5). Even lesser figures, such as Timothy and Epaphroditus, are presented and commended in such as a way as to provide further examples of these two primary models (2:19-22, 25-30; cf. 3:17). As it is today, patriotic loyalty is best enlivened not by abstract, logical argument, but by the celebration and honoring of exemplary heroes.<br />
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==Summary and Content==<br />
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Four interrelated themes recur in a profound way in the letter and deserve careful attention by any reader: citizenship, partnership, high-low inversion, and joy-gladness.<br />
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''Citizenship''. Drawing on the language and imagery of Greek political theory, the body of the letter (1:27–4:9) is carefully developed around the theme of a devoted, singular messianic citizenship. Messiah’s assembly is presented as a kind of ''polis'' (“citizen body, city-state”) that has both a social form and distinctive practice (1:27, ''politeuomai''), in alignment with a regime (''politeuma'') that is now secured in heaven but to be realized soon throughout the whole world (1:9-11; 3:20-21). As soon as this citizenship theme is put forward in the thesis statement of 1:27, Paul elaborates by employing the military imagery of a citizen-state (''polis'', city-state) that is defending itself against a siege: (a) ”standing firm as one” in military alignment; (b) ”contending/fighting together with a unified zeal,” oriented to loyalty to the city constitution proclaimed by Messiah; and (c) refusing to be affected by the “terror” waged by adversaries.<br />
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The centerpiece of the letter takes the form of a political encomium (public tribute) to the savior and deliverer of this regime of citizens, whose regime of humiliation will one day be victorious throughout the whole world, and whose self-sacrificing pattern of life poses a model for all who would claim allegiance to him (2:5-11).<br />
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When the main exhortation comes to a close, Paul comes back to these same themes: Messiah’s saving work has inaugurated a new regime of citizens now secured in heaven, along with a corresponding alternative citizenship (3:20-21). The notion of a “regime-citizenship in heaven” clarifies the security of Messiah’s regime (for now in a kind of exile), and the source of Messiah’s reclaiming of the entire world. It does ''not'' indicate the ultimate location of Messiah’s regime or the final destination of the faithful. Paul’s theological vision consistently focuses on the arrival of the age to come, a transformed world under Christ’s lordship, not on a retreat or escape to heaven. The repeated call to stand firm is the primary implication of the declaration of Messiah’s final, global victory, involving the subjection of all things, including the Roman regime (4:1). Thus the faithful must ''contend or fight together'' in a posture of unified messianic disposition (4:2-3). Still, merciful forbearance (nonretaliation) even to hostile opponents can and must be displayed, because final vindication through Messiah is near, to whom claims for justice can be deferred. And ''anxiety'' (4:5; cf. ''fear'' or ''terror'' of 1:14, 28) can be abandoned in recognition of g''uarding hearts and minds'' by the ''peace of God'' (4:6-7), another military image, and parody-like word play on both the imperial ''pax Romana'' (peace of Rome) and the Roman military garrison guarding the city itself. Finally, the pursuit of civic virtues must continue through a discernment ever aware of their messianic redefinition, as mediated by Paul (4:8-9).<br />
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''Partnership''. Drawing further on Greek political imagery, Messiah’s assembly is characterized as a partnership (''koinōnia''). Major Greek political thinkers, including Plato and Aristotle, similarly stress that ''koinōnia'', or “that which is in common,” is one of the primary features of any worthy ''polis'', citizen community. But Paul takes this even one notch forward in explaining what this means concretely in the practical mutual aid of nonhierarchical ''generosity'' (grace), and that this ''partnership'' extends to solidarity in the midst of suffering (1:30–2:1; 2:17-18), and indeed specifically to partnership in the very suffering of Messiah (3:10). Paul’s vision of partnership is posed as a direct challenge to the prevailing sociocultural system of “patronage” (1:5-7; 4:10-20).<br />
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High-Low Inversion. Images of social inversion are scattered throughout the letter and explain the distinctive feature of Messiah’s community as both a ''polis'' (citizen-community) and a ''koinōnia'' (partnership). We see this in the language of high status and low rank, honor and shame, lowliness and glory, humiliation and exaltation, losses (divestment) and gains (achievements), selfish ambition vs. watching out for others, destruction and defeat vs. prizes and victory wreaths, and slaves and lords. At the center of this motif is the humiliation-exaltation drama of Messiah himself, both Lord-Deliverer and model hero of God’s ever-expanding ''polis'' in the world (2:5-11). Paul is carefully deconstructing and reconstructing prevailing norms for honor, status, virtue, victory, and the good life in Roman Philippi, a society deeply preoccupied with status, honor, and rank. <br />
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''Joy-Rejoicing''. Words for joy and rejoicing are so common in Philippians that this letter is often described as the letter of joy. But even this repeated motif is closely tied to the call to singular and devoted allegiance to Lord Messiah Jesus alone. Paul’s language of ''joy'' or ''gladness'' (''chara'') is best understood in light of the long-standing discussion about civic happiness (''eudaimonia'') in Greek political discourse, in the same way that the notion of the pursuit of happiness has become a key political ideal in American consciousness. Where one might have expected Paul to say (with Greek theorists) that the core political ideals are justice, peace, and civic happiness, he instead highlights justice, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit as the markers of the kingdom of God (Rom 14:17). Paul uses the language of joy as a way to stress the distinctive feature of “the pursuit of happiness” in Messiah’s spiritual-political community. The pursuit of happiness in the community of Christ is not determined by the prevailing measures of success and upward mobility, whether in politics or in business, but in an inversion of those standard notions of value. For this reason there can even be joy in suffering. In Philippians, the practice of citizenship specifically takes the posture of celebrative rejoicing “in Messiah”—that is, in the deliverance that Messiah has secured and will secure—in direct contrast to the celebratory rejoicing in civic imperial festivals that proclaim the glories of Caesar and the “salvation” that Rome has given the world. In Philippians, “rejoicing in Messiah” is parallel to “boasting in Messiah” (1:26; 3:3) or “putting one’s confidence in Messiah” (1:14; 3:3), and has a strong counter-imperial edge.<br />
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==Conclusion==<br />
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As one of Paul’s treasured letters from prison, Philippians is a remarkable letter of comfort and consolation in the midst of suffering and hardship, while celebrating the bonds of partnership in Christ, along with a bold call that the community of Christ’s faithful remain steadfast and united as a citizen community with an undivided loyalty to their savior and model, the exalted slave, Lord Jesus Messiah.<br />
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==Recommended Essays in the Commentary==<br />
Circumstance of the Messianic Assembly (Church) in Philippi<br />
Citizenship, Ancient and Modern<br />
Critical Questions regarding Philippians 2:6-11<br />
Date and Place of Writing<br />
Harpagmos<br />
History of the Assembly in Philippi<br />
Literary Integrity of Philippians<br />
Love of Honor in Roman Society<br />
Opponents in Philippians<br />
Profile of the Assembly in Philippi<br />
Roman Imperial Cult<br />
Roman Imperial Propaganda: The Gospel of Augustus<br />
Syzygus<br />
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==Bibliography==<br />
<br />
Bockmuehl, Markus. ''The Epistle to the Philippians''. Black’s New Testament Commentary 11. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1998.<br />
<br />
Flemming, Dean. ''Philippians: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition''. New Beacon Bible Commentary. Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill, 2009.<br />
<br />
Fowl, Stephen E. ''Philippians''. The Two Horizons New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005.<br />
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Hellerman, Joseph H. ''Reconstructing Honor in Roman Philippi: Carmen Christi as Cursus Pudorum''. Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series 132. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005 .<br />
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Oakes, Peter. ''Philippians: From People to Letter''. Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series 110. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.<br />
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Peterman, G. W. ''Paul’s Gift from Philippi: Conventions of Gift-Exchange and Christian Giving''. Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series 92. Cambridge University Press, 1997.<br />
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== Invitation to Comment ==<br />
To recommend improvements to this article, [mailto:ljohns@ambs.edu click here].<br />
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{| border="1" style="text-align: right; color: green; background-color:#ffffcc; float: right" <br />
|—'''''Gordon Zerbe''''' <br />
|}</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=File:BCBC_Philippians.jpg&diff=17907File:BCBC Philippians.jpg2017-08-10T00:04:23Z<p>BenEB: BenEB uploaded a new version of File:BCBC Philippians.jpg</p>
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<div></div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=File:BCBC_Philippians.jpg&diff=17906File:BCBC Philippians.jpg2017-08-09T23:51:41Z<p>BenEB: </p>
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<div></div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=2_Corinthians&diff=179032 Corinthians2017-07-27T00:16:12Z<p>BenEB: post complete essay</p>
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<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]''' <br />
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[[file:BCBC_2Corinthians2.jpg|frame|right|x310px|link=http://store.mennomedia.org/2-Corinthians-P286.aspx|[http://store.mennomedia.org/2-Corinthians-P286.aspx''2 Corinthians'', by V. George Shillington (Believers Church Bible Commentary)]'']]<br />
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<br />
==Introduction==<br />
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===Then and Now===<br />
One could say that human beings are the same the world over throughout all ages. It has been propounded that humankind from the beginning has the capacity to think and reason and imagine in ways that other life forms do not. On that premise, the first readers of 2 Corinthians would have thought and felt the same in the first century as we do in the twenty-first. But that is not the whole truth about then and now. 2 Corinthians was written by a person in close social and cultural proximity to the life and experience of the first readers. Our awareness of our post-modern world is second nature to us, but not to them. The writer and his first readers were not remotely aware of the world that shapes our thinking. They did not know, for example, that planet earth was a sphere spinning on its axis every twenty-four hours, and circling the sun once every 365/6 days. They had not heard of global warming, much less that 7 billion people of earth move about in 1.2 billion horseless vehicles powered by fossil fuel. Unlike them, we have had two millennia of preaching and teaching about Jesus Messiah (Christ) still to come again to set things right with humankind. The point is this: When we attempt to understand 2 Corinthians for our time and place in the present world we need to take into account the cultural and intellectual gap between the first writer-and-readers and ourselves. Failure to do so short-circuits our attempt to capture the sense of the variety of first-century texts that make up 2 Corinthians. When the writer tells about being “caught up to the third heaven” (2 Cor. 12:2) we scientific moderns simply cannot comprehend such a domain of thinking. Still, there are lessons for life now as then in that biblical document: moral, spiritual and cultural lessons. One important lesson has to do with proper respect for leaders, religious leaders in particular. The writer of 2 Corinthians devotes a large part of the document to regaining the respect of the congregation he created through his teaching. The challenge for us is to work together in community, as the early Anabaptists did in the sixteenth century, to find our way to hope and wholeness and faithfulness in our precarious time and place.<br />
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===Author, Date, and Situation(s)===<br />
2 Corinthians of the New Testament stands as one of seven letters whose authorship is uncontested. The historical figure of Paul, a late Apostle of Christ, is the author according to the best scholarly assessment. Paul’s letter writing extended from ca. 49 CE until ca. 57/8 CE. 2 Corinthians appears to have been written in 55-56 CE, prior to Paul’s last journey to Jerusalem (ca. 57/58 CE). The place of writing is not certain. The situation that gave rise to the document in its present form was two-fold: chapters 1–9 extend thanksgiving, encouragement in the faith, awaiting new creation, reconciliation between Paul and the community, and urging the community to complete the collection of funds for the poor saints in Jerusalem; chapters 10–13 carry a different tone. Some people visited the community in Paul’s absence and tried to persuade the members to reconsider Paul’s apostolic status. The tone of the second part of the letter is biting and corrective, the rhetoric sharp, intended to warn the community at Corinth of the danger of abandoning Paul in favor of the would-be apostles who dishonor Paul.<br />
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===Form and Rhetoric===<br />
2 Corinthians falls within the literary form of an ancient Greco-Roman letter: opening ''salutation'' consisting of sender, receiver(s), greeting; ''thanksgiving'' for the relationship between sender and receiver; ''body'' of the letter that expands the purpose for writing; and ''closing'', which often consists of a benediction.<br />
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But 2 Corinthians does not quite fit the coherent letter form. The document exhibits the presence of at least two original letters pieced together on one sheet of papyrus. The first letter (chapters 1-9) is conciliatory, while the second (chapters 10–13) is sharp and threatening. But there may be even more than two documents spliced together on the scroll of 2 Corinthians. For example, the two appeals in chapters 8 and 9 to complete the collection, rather than being redundant repetition, may well be the combination of two separate letters (or parts of letters) written on two different occasions. Another piece of text (6:14–7:1) seems to have been inserted into the flow of discussion surrounding it. Its texture does not fit the subject matter surrounding it. So the rhetoric of 2 Corinthians is mixed. Rhetoric is a form of persuasion. The rhetoric in the first nine chapters is one of fostering wholesome relationship based on faith in Jesus Christ. The rhetoric in the last four chapters is reactionary, sarcastic, and shaming, directed as it is at the interlopers who seek to discredit Paul in the community that he founded.<br />
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==Summary and Comment== <br />
===The Letter of Reconciliation (1:1–9:15)===<br />
Following the opening ''salutation'' (1:1-2) and the ''thanksgiving'' (1:3–7) in which Paul aims to console those afflicted in one way or another, Paul then addresses in more detail the importance of right relationship within the community of Christ. Paul had experienced an affront on his person from a member of the community. Details about the affront are missing, as also the “letter of tears,” to which Paul refers, and in which he rebuked both the offender and also the congregation for their indifference to the offence. Paul’s conciliatory attitude comes through in the text surrounding his reference to the hurtful episode: he forgives the offender (2:5-11). Here we have an emphasis that the early Anabaptists picked up and sought to put into practice.<br />
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The Letter of Reconciliation exhibits ''three variations'' on that theme, which extends from the opening salutation to the end of the appeal for funds for the righteous poor of Jerusalem (9: 15). The three may be identified under three headings as follows:<br />
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====1. Solidarity in Affliction and Joy (1:1–2:13)====<br />
Paul offers up thanks to the “Father of mercies and the God of all consolation” (1:3) for bringing him through some afflictions, whether from the community or from outsiders. So painful were the afflictions that he felt the “sentence of death” (1:9) on his life. Specific description of the afflictions is not given. In the midst of it all, Paul senses in his heart God’s unequivocal “Yes” (1:15–22) that affirms his ministry, which prompts him to utter the “‘Amen,’ to the glory of God” (1:20). Paul then calls God as his witness before the congregation (1:23–2:4), and demonstrates how the good news of God-in-Christ manifests itself in a faithful community: the offender is forgiven (2:5-11). Paul’s joy comes especially from faithful partnership with those who believe and practise as he does in relation to Christ. Titus is one such faithful partner, as illustrated in 2:12–13; cf. 2 Cor. 8:23): he acts as Paul’s interface between himself and the communities while Paul travels to and fro in mission.<br />
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====2. New Ministry in the Light of Christ (2:14–7:4)====<br />
The large discussion in this part of 2 Corinthians is testimony to the character and fervor of Paul’s life in mission. The argument moves along with verve and purpose, and “presents one of the most moving portrayals of ministry to be found anywhere in Scripture” (Baird: 78). The issue that drives the argument is the shape and scope of the ministry in which Paul is engaged. The word “ministry” (diakonia) comes through twenty times in this passage (2:14–7:16), compared to a total of thirty-six in all of Paul’s letters. That observation alone is testimony to the significance of the kind of work in which Paul is engaged. A “new creation” (5:17) is underway, and with it a “new covenant” (3:6) in keeping with the presence and power of the Spirit of the resurrected Messiah in the community. Hence, Paul views his ministry to the Corinthians—and others—as belonging to the large end-time ingathering of people of the world into Christ at the turn of the ages from old to new (5:16). Paul’s rival missionaries present themselves to the Corinthians with letters of recommendation, and thus put the Corinthians on alert to demand the same from Paul. He refuses, on the ground that he has been their apostle from the beginning. He knows them and they know him: “Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Surely we do not need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you, do we?” (3:1). The situation implied in the rhetorical question, and elsewhere, provides a clue concerning the purpose of Paul’s letter. His somewhat strained relationship with the Corinthians comes to the fore in this variation on the theme of ministry (2:14-7:4), but reaches crescendo proportion in the Letter of Defence (10:1– 13:13).<br />
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====3. Equity through a Financial “Gift of Blessing” (8:1–9:15)====<br />
The two appeals for a financial gift for the “saints” in Jerusalem seems to be redundant. Both are still about ministry, not Paul’s, but that of the Corinthian congregation of Christ- followers. This time the ministry is related to a gift of money, so that there be a measure of equity between the relatively rich Corinthians and the poor saints of Jerusalem. Paul then cites Exodus 16:18 about the Hebrews gathering manna and quail: “The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little.” (8:15). Paul’s rhetorical appeal in chapter 8 tends to be heavy-handed. He cites the overflowing generosity of the Macedonians to the north, compared to the halting spirit of the Corinthians. He calls the financial gift a “generous undertaking” (NRSV), or simply “grace” (''charis''). Grace is a very positive quality, and the Macedonians have plenty of it, compared to the Corinthians who are halting in their willingness to complete the collection of funds. Paul also appeals to the great grace of Christ who gave up even his life for the sake of others. In this strong rhetorical flourish Paul holds that he is merely “testing the genuineness of [their] love against the earnestness of others.” (8:8).<br />
Chapter 9 appears to be repetitive. Dieter Betz argues that chapters 8 and 9 about the collection were originally two letters written at different times. Both were later incorporated into the final shape of 2 Corinthians as we have it today. That scenario is plausible, but not necessary to understand the difference between the two appeals. Equally plausible is the idea that the scribe read back the appeal of chapter 8, and Paul sensed its critical tone. The sheet of papyrus would not be thrown away, like a sheet of paper today. Instead, Paul dictated a codicil that softens the critical tone of chapter 8. Now in chapter 9 Paul lets the Corinthians know that he reported to the Macedonians the eagerness of the Corinthians of Achaia to complete the collection for Jerusalem. They have “great generosity” (9:11) after all.<br />
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===The Letter of Defence (10:1–13:13)===<br />
====Response to Betrayal in Ministry: (10:1-13:10)====<br />
The last four chapters of 2 Corinthians clearly do not complement or extend the themes of the first 9 chapters. On the strength of that judgement it is reasonable to suggest that the papyrus that carried the material of the last four chapters came from a different time and situation. There is no sure way of knowing whether the last four chapters were written before or after the first nine. What is clear from reading chapters 10–13 is that Paul in responding to betrayal with respect to his ministry among the Corinthians. His trust friend, Titus, brought him word about the betrayal, even quoting to Paul what was being said about his apostolic ministry: “‘His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.’” (10:10). Then comes the defence from Paul, using the strongest rhetoric at his disposal to shame his opponents. They see him more as a fool than a confirmed apostle of the good news of Jesus Christ. So he turns that criticism against them by acknowledging that he is a fool for the sake of the good news of Jesus Christ. He cites as examples his imprisonments and beatings as the marks of a true minister of Christ crucified: “Are they ministers of Christ? I am talking like a madman—I am a better one: with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless floggings, and often near death.” (11:23). Moreover, in this second part of 2 Corinthians (10–13) we have some of the most challenging imagery of life in relationship to Christ to be found anywhere in the Bible. Here is a classic example of Paul’s provocative and paradoxical stance about his person and ministry in the sphere of Christ in response to his negative critics: “Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.” (12:7–10).<br />
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====Closure (13:11–13)====<br />
Paul’s final appeal to the congregation is to live up to the standard of Christ in whose name they worship together and in whose way they engage with the culture. Paul’s closing words of counsel still have currency for the descendents of the early Anabaptists: agreement, peace, love, and grace. The benediction that closes the letter is one of the most used in Christian churches: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.” (13:13).<br />
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===Lessons from the Letter(s)===<br />
'''2 Corinthians 1–2:13'''. Greetings, thanksgiving, and forgiveness of offence.<br />
<br />
Greet each other in the fellowship of Christ, and be thankful, even when circumstances in life are difficult. Always stand ready to forgive an offence done to you. God in Christ is the reference point in all of life. Enjoy the friendship and service of trusted friends such as Titus.<br />
<br />
'''2 Corinthians 2:14-7:4'''. The ministry about which Paul writes was new at the time. Jesus was a new kind of Jewish Messiah figure whose Spirit lived within the faithful community.<br />
<br />
The same ministry is renewed throughout history. The new creation continues to come to expression in every generation in keeping with the situation. Reconciliation is possible between people of the world, but how much more between people infused with the Spirit of Christ Jesus. Paul was engaged in a ministry of reconciling the world to God. That reconciliation means freedom from the grip of sin and death, in that “the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” (3:17).<br />
<br />
'''2 Corinthians 8:1–9.15'''. The gift of God in Christ exceeds all other gifts, including the gift of money received or given to others.<br />
<br />
Paul’s appeal for money is wrapped in theological language: the basis for collecting money from the congregation(s) and giving to those who have little is grounded in the abundant grace of God is the gift of Christ Jesus. There should be fair balance between people, especially so in the household of faith in Christ. There is nothing here about giving one-tenth as in the old law of the Temple, but each one should give “according to your means” (8:11). For some people giving one-tenth of their income means their family could go hungry. Paul eschews such an inequitable position in the community of Christ.<br />
<br />
'''2 Corinthians 10:1–13:13'''. How does a person of faith in Christ respond to unbridled criticism, especially from within the community of faith?<br />
<br />
When Paul felt the sting of criticism against his person and ministry he did not remain silent. The criticism against him was unwarranted, hence his sharp message of defence to his congregation. His reaction was not so much to save himself, but to save the members of the congregation from misguided attitude and belief concerning the person of Jesus Messiah crucified and risen. Paul stands in relationship to that redemptive figure, and that trumps the opponents’ critique of his seemingly weak ministry.<br />
<br />
==Conclusion==<br />
<br />
2 Corinthians contains two types of address, originally probably two separate letters, directed to the congregation of faith in Jesus. The first type (chapters 1-9) may be called lessons on reconciliation within the household of believers in the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. The ministry in the community should reflect the saving ministry of Jesus Christ. “For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake.” (2 Cor. 4:5). The second type of address is that of defence of Paul’s ministry lest the Corinthians be taken in by the urge toward elegance in speech and personality. To put emphasis on power and glory is tantamount to dishonoring Jesus Messiah. Here is Paul in his own voice with one of the great paradoxes of the New Testament: “I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.” (12:10).<br />
<br />
==Recommended Essays in the Commentary==<br />
The Integrity of 2 Corinthians<br><br />
A Different Gospel<br><br />
The Canonical Shape of 2 Corinthians Opponents Implicit in 2 Corinthians<br><br />
The Collection<br><br />
[[Satan (in 2 Corinthians)|Satan]] <br><br />
Two Appeals for One Collection in One Letter <br><br />
The Super-Apostles<br />
<br />
Bibliography<br />
*Baird, William. ''Knox Preaching Guides: 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians''. Atlanta: John Knox, 1980.<br />
*Bates, W. H. “The Integrity of 2 Corinthians.” ''New Testament Studies'' 12 (1965): 56– 69.<br />
*Batey, Richard. “Paul’s Interaction with the Corinthians.” ''Journal of Biblical Literature''. (1965) 84:139-146.<br />
*Betz, Hans Dieter. ''2 Corinthians 8 and 9''. Hermeneia. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1985.<br />
*Fitzgerald, John T. ''Cracks in an Earthen Vessel: An Examination of the Catalogues of Hardships in the Corinthian Correspondence''. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1988.<br />
*Georgi, Dieter. ''The Opponent of Paul in Second Corinthians''. Collegeville Bible Commentary. 7. Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1985.<br />
*Harvey, A. E. ''Renewal Through Suffering: A Study of 2 Corinthians''. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1996.<br />
*Kennedy, George A. ''New Testament Interpretation Through Rhetorical Criticism''. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1984.<br />
<br />
== Invitation to Comment ==<br />
To recommend improvements to this article, [mailto:ljohns@ambs.edu click here].<br />
<br />
{| border="1" style="text-align: right; color: green; background-color:#ffffcc; float: right" <br />
|—'''''[[V. George Shillington]]''''' <br />
|}</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=W&diff=17902W2017-07-25T13:53:07Z<p>BenEB: </p>
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[[War and War Images (in Psalms)]] <BR> <br />
[[War in Chronicles]] <BR><br />
[[War, Warfare (in Isaiah)]] <BR><br />
[[Witness in Acts]]<BR><br />
[[Wisdom (in Ephesians)]]<br><br />
[[Women in John]] <BR><br />
[[Women in Ministry (in 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus)]] <br><br />
[[Worship in Revelation (in Revelation)]] <br><br />
[[Wrath (in Jeremiah)]] <BR> <br />
[[Wrath of God (in Isaiah)]] <BR> <br />
[[Wrath of God (in Psalms)]] <BR> <br />
[[Guidelines for Writers|Writers, Guidelines for]] <BR></div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Wisdom_(in_Ephesians)&diff=17901Wisdom (in Ephesians)2017-07-25T13:52:37Z<p>BenEB: post complete essay</p>
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<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]''' <br />
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[[file:BCBC_Ephesians2.jpg|frame|right|x310px|link=http://store.mennomedia.org/Ephesians-P53.aspx|[http://store.mennomedia.org/Ephesians-P53.aspx''Ephesians'', by Thomas R. Yoder Neufeld (Believers Church Bible Commentary)]'']]<br />
<br />
''Wisdom (sophia)'' refers to a tradition or set of traditions that in the Bible comes to clearest expression in Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes (''Qohelet''), and many psalms (e.g., Pss. 1, 19, 37, 49, 73, 112, 119, 127-128, 133). The apocryphal books of Baruch, Ecclesiasticus (Sirach/Wisdom of Jesus son of Sirah), and Wisdom of Solomon, which are part of the Catholic canon, are also important wisdom writings (note the frequent references to Wisdom of Solomon throughout this commentary). Solomon is identified as the source of much of this wisdom, and a good part of it may have ancient roots (see esp. Prov. 10–31), but most scholars believe the bulk of this literature in its present form is postexilic.<br />
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This literature, especially Proverbs, contains a great deal of proverbial wisdom, aphorisms of wisdom distilled from experience in light of the divine source of creation. The sages believed that the Creator brought into being an orderly creation, in which human life takes place according to divinely ordained rules. Hence, the presence of mundane instructions on table manners (Prov. 23:1-3; Sirach 31:12-31) as well as the lofty celebration of Torah as the distillation of wisdom (Ps. 119; Baruch 4:1; Ecclus./Sirach 24:23).<br />
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The wisdom tradition thus shows us the reflective side of Jewish piety. Given that God is Creator of the whole world and all peoples, the wisdom tradition represents an open window to the wisdom of other peoples (note the presence of Egyptian wisdom in Proverbs, and of Hellenism in Wisdom of Solomon). It was the assumption of a good creation at the hands of a benevolent deity that gave the troubling reflections in Job and Ecclesiastes their sharp edge. Note the debate among the sages about justice, God, and creation, reflected in the arguments between Job and his friends, or the world-weary opening cry of the Preacher/Teacher of Ecclesiastes to the effect that “all is vanity” (1:2).<br />
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Unlike in prophecy, where the utterances are imbued with the ambience of proclaiming the words of Yahweh directed at specific circumstances, in wisdom those words and the day-to-day experiences of the people become the object of probing reflection. The ways of God are visible in creation and law, but they are beyond knowing without the help of revelation. The sages were endlessly curious about the way God and God’s creation work, and deeply impressed by the limits of wisdom, by the mystery of God (compare the words of Job’s friends in Job 11:1-8 and 36:22-26 with Paul’s wonderful pastiche of wisdom aphorisms in Rom. 11:33-36).<br />
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In Jewish wisdom the acknowledged need for revelation in no way closed the door on intellectual activity, and vice versa. Such a conviction also informed the growth of prophetic traditions over many decades, such as those attributed to Isaiah. Apocalyptic literature such as Daniel insisted that ''only'' revelation (the meaning of the Greek ''apocalypsis [see essay in the commentary: Apocalyptic]'') could offer insight into the real state of the world and into the mystery of God’s designs for it, but these writings too were the product of self-consciously intellectual circles of visionaries. A careful study of the Revelation of John, for example, shows how meticulously even a recitation of visions and dreams was rehearsed in literary form (cf. also Millard Lind’s BCBC vol., ''Ezekiel'' (BCBC), esp. pages 18-19).<br />
<br />
Wisdom literature contains poetic celebrations of Wisdom as the personified daughter of God and companion of faithful people (e.g., Job 28:12-28, which should be read as a poem about personified Wisdom, as correctly presented by NJB; Prov. 1; 3:13-20; 8–9; Baruch 3:9—4:4; Sirach 6:18-31; 14:20—15:8; 24; 51:13-22; Wisd. of Sol. 6–9). Creation and law are personified in the figure of an intensely attractive woman who is identified with ''God’s'' activity as Creator and Lawgiver and with the ''human'' activity of faithfulness and “scientific” inquisitiveness. “Solomon” has Wisdom as a science and theology tutor (Wisd. of Sol. 7, esp. 7:15-28), but he also desires her as a lover and wife (8:2), a desire the wisdom literature intended to instill into all the faithful (e.g., Prov. 8:2-5; 9:1-6; Baruch 3:36—4:4; Sirach 4:11-13; 14:20-27).<br />
<br />
This rich tradition is relevant to the NT in various important ways. Jesus’ ethical and parabolic teachings are deeply rooted in wisdom and would have been recognized as such by his contemporaries. Further, early believers made the connection between personified Wisdom and the Christ (explicitly in 1 Cor. 1:24-30; Matt. 11:18-19, 28-30; James 3:13-18 also hints at it). Most dramatic are the hymns that celebrate Christ in the language and categories of personified Wisdom. Colossians 1:15-20 identifies Jesus Christ as the image of God (cf. Wisd. of Sol. 7:25-26) who created all things (cf. Prov. 8:30; Wisd. of Sol. 7:22). The poem on the “Word” (''logos'') in John 1:1-18 appears to owe much to this tradition, as the following passage from the Wisdom of Solomon illustrates:<br />
<br />
: For [Wisdom] is a reflection of eternal light,<br />
: a spotless mirror of the working of God,<br />
: and an image of his goodness.<br />
: Although she is but one, she can do all things,<br />
: and while remaining in herself, she renews all things; in every generation she passes into holy souls<br />
: and makes them friends of God, and prophets. (Wisd. of Sol. 7:26-27)<br />
<br />
These words help to show us why early followers of Jesus would have drawn from this rich well.<br />
<br />
The radical implications of identifying the crucified teacher from Galilee with Wisdom herself (Matt. 11:18-19; 1 Cor. 1) are particularly noteworthy. The self-giving Messiah is identified with the Wisdom that created the world, who gives guidance to humanity on how to order its existence and fashion its behavior. Hence Colossians 1:16 can claim that Christ is the one who has created and is Lord and disciplinarian of the principalities and powers (cf. 2:15 ''[See essay in the commentary: [[Powers (in Ephesians)|Powers]]]''); the Creator is also the one who makes peace through his own death on the cross (1:20). In making the identification of Jesus with the Wisdom of God, his early followers make the radical claim that he represents God’s solution to both human sinfulness and human history and is the key to understanding created reality in all its manifestations and dimensions.<br />
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The NT thus contains the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection and the promise of salvation, but also a rich storehouse of proverbial and parabolic wisdom about how to comport oneself in daily life. To give but one example, the love of enemies (Matt. 5:43-48), most dramatically expressed in the death of Christ (Rom. 5), is to be exercised in light of the meticulous care the divine Creator offers even the birds and the flowers of the field (Matt. 6:25-34). Salvation and creation emerge from the one God, and are part of the same loving impulse (Yoder Neufeld, 1999:174-91).<br />
<br />
Ephesians reflects the wisdom tradition in a number of ways. As much as any writing in the NT, it values wisdom and insight, most dramatically in 1:8, 17-18; and 3:14-19. It also values wise and righteous living (5:3-21).<br />
<br />
Second, its view of salvation is repeatedly depicted as re-creation (cf. 2:4-10, 15; 4:24). Surely the characteristic emphasis on Christ gathering up ''all things'' (1:9-10) is a generosity of vision informed by the comprehensive horizon of wisdom.<br />
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Third, Ephesians owes much to a Christology rooted in wisdom literature. Much like personified Wisdom, Christ is the one in whom God and reconciled humanity meet. He is the agent of ''God’s'' reconciliation and re-creation of humanity (e.g., 1:9-10; 2:14-18). He is also as the one who provides humanity with its identity as ''the new human'' (2:15; 4:24). He is the ''head of the body'' (1:23; 2:15-16; 4:11-16; 5:23). Just as Wisdom “enters holy souls and makes them friends of God and prophets” (Wisd. of Sol. 7:27), so in Ephesians Christ is the one who lives within so as to enable believers to be filled with the fullness of God (3:16, 19). The often romantically described intimacy between the righteous and Lady Wisdom is evoked in the relation of Christ and the church as his bride in 5:25-32, only now the genders are reversed. Though much of this in Ephesians is a development of what we find in Paul’s letters generally, the debt to the rich wisdom tradition is clear.<br />
Ephesians reflects the wisdom tradition in yet another way. In its dependency on and creative restatement of Paul’s teaching, at greater distance from the specific circumstances that usually precipitated Paul’s letters, Ephesians stands firmly in the wisdom tradition of “revelatory reflection,” if I may coin a phrase. What is often observed to be an “overworked” style of writing in Ephesians may, in addition to having the feel of worship about it, be evidence of the highly processed nature of reflective wisdom. The author quite consciously reformulates and restates the apostolic “deposit,” all the while probing its implications.<br />
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Such reflection is undertaken with the full conviction that God is intimately present in and through Christ and the Holy Spirit, inspiring the apostle, his co-workers and students, and his congregations (see notes for 1:17-18; 2:20). Such wisdom participates just as fully in the ongoing disclosure of God’s manifold wisdom (2:7; 3:10; 6:19). This observation might shed light on how Ephesians can contain so many echoes of other letters in the Pauline collection, most especially Colossians, while at the same time make so rich and distinctive a contribution to Pauline theology [See essay in the commentary: [[Pseudepigraphy (in Ephesians)|Pseudepigraphy]]].<br />
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For a more extensive survey of the highly varied wisdom tradition and the extensive secondary literature, see R. E. Murphy.<br />
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<br />
== Invitation to Comment ==<br />
To recommend improvements to this article, [mailto:ljohns@ambs.edu click here].<br />
<br />
{| border="1" style="text-align: right; color: green; background-color:#ffffcc; float: right" <br />
|—'''''[[Thomas R. Yoder Neufeld]]''''' <br />
|}</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=P&diff=17900P2017-07-25T13:37:16Z<p>BenEB: link to pseudepigraphy</p>
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[[Paul’s View of the Law (in Galatians)]] <br><br />
[https://www.goshen.edu/mqr/pastissues/july01lowry.html Pieter Jansz Twisck on Biblical Interpretation] by James W. Lowry <BR> <br />
[[Persecution in Revelation (in Revelation)]] <br><br />
[[1 & 2 Peter]] <BR> <br />
[[Philemon]] <BR> <br />
[[Philippians]] <BR> <br />
[[Political Power (in Ecclesiastes)]] <BR> <br />
[[Portrait of the Pastor (in 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus)]] <br><br />
[[Powers (in Ephesians)]]<br><br />
[[Proverbs]] <BR> <br />
[[Psalms]] <BR><br />
[[Pseudepigraphy (in Ephesians)]]</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Pseudepigraphy_(in_Ephesians)&diff=17899Pseudepigraphy (in Ephesians)2017-07-25T13:36:39Z<p>BenEB: post complete essay</p>
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<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]''' <br />
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[[file:BCBC_Ephesians2.jpg|frame|right|x310px|link=http://store.mennomedia.org/Ephesians-P53.aspx|[http://store.mennomedia.org/Ephesians-P53.aspx''Ephesians'', by Thomas R. Yoder Neufeld (Believers Church Bible Commentary)]'']]<br />
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====Pseudepigraphy====<br />
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The word ''pseudepigraphy'' derives from two Greek terms: ''pseud''- (“false”) and ''epigrapha'' (“inscriptions/superscriptions”). Many prefer the closely related “pseudonymity.” Both refer to writing under a false name, a pen name.<br />
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Pseudepigraphy was widespread in biblical times, both inside and outside Jewish and Christian circles. In the two or three centuries before and after the time of Christ, for example, many Jewish documents were produced in the names of famous persons or revered teachers, collected in the so-called Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha. Apocalypses, testaments, psalms, prayers, and legends were attributed to famous biblical personalities, some from the very beginnings of the biblical story (e.g., Ezra, Solomon, the twelve patriarchs, Moses, Abraham, Enoch, and even Adam; see Charlesworth, 1983-85; 1992). The so-called NT Apocrypha include gospels, acts, letters, and apocalypses attributed to the important disciples of Jesus, Jesus’ brothers, even his mother, as well as to the great apostles Peter and Paul (Charlesworth, 1992; Hennecke).<br />
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The pseudonymity of documents is not particularly troubling when they are not part of Scripture. Pseudepigraphy and noncanonical status might be regarded as mutually reinforcing. The question of whether one finds pseudepigraphy in the canon of Scripture is more troubling. Many Christians find such a possibility theologically unacceptable, threatening the integrity of the Bible as revelation (see, e.g., Guthrie, 1990:1011-28). Most scholars, including many evangelical scholars, consider it more than likely, however, that some documents bear the names of those who did not write them. It has, for example, become common to question whether David composed the psalms, or whether the eighth-century prophet Isaiah composed chapters 40–66. There is a virtual consensus that 2 Peter and the pastoral letters are pseudepigraphical (J. Daryl Charles’s BCBC commentary on 2 Peter and Jude goes against the acknowledged current; in ''1–2 Peter, Jude'': 260-3). For most scholars, the list is considerably longer (see introductions to the Bible, recently again R. Brown: 585-9).<br />
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Inspiration or canonical status is, of course, not dependent on modern judgments regarding authorship (so, e.g., Barth, 1974:50, who defends Paul’s authorship of Ephesians; Lincoln: lxxiii; R. P. Martin, 1991:1-3; Meade: 153-7, 215-6; Metzger: 21-2; Patzia, 1990:121-41; 1995:76-8). Even so, the phenomenon of pseudepigraphy continues to be controversial in circles where the Bible is held in high regard.<br />
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While the ethics of authorship in biblical times no doubt differed from those in our day, the practice of writing in someone else’s name was sometimes controversial. For example, 2 Thessalonians 2:2 warns of letters being written in Paul’s name claiming that the day of the Lord had already arrived. It is not clear whether in that case the problem is first and foremost pseudepigraphy or errant eschatology. Late in the second century, Tertullian was swift in his condemnation of the presbyter who admitted to having penned the Acts of Paul and Thecla, even if out of love and respect for Paul. Again, the problem may be more that Paul is depicted as allowing a woman to preach and baptize than the act of impersonating Paul (for this and other examples, see Metzger: 14).<br />
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We should, even so, be careful not to apply to biblical times the modern ethics of authorial integrity as it relates to plagiarism or forgery (Best, 1998:12; Brown: 585-9; Lincoln: lxxi; Metzger; Patzia, 1990:122). In Jewish circles in the two or three centuries before and after the turn of the era, pseudepigraphy “was the norm in biblically inspired groups” (Charlesworth, 1992:541). We might expect something similar for circles devoted to central figures such as Peter, Paul, James, John, and Thomas.<br />
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What might have been the motivations for writing under the names of famous persons? First, it was a sign of respect, even “kinship” (Metzger: 21; for a full survey of motivations, see 5-12). Unlike most modern writers who are concerned that they themselves get full credit for the ideas they publish (hence the hallowed academic convention of crediting sources properly), many pseudonymous writers were quite happy to disappear behind the person inspiring their words. They would have viewed their work as a form of giving credit where credit is due.<br />
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Second, pseudepigraphy shows dependency on the revelatory tradition associated with the named author. There is an intense concern to make sure the “deposit” of “sound teaching,” as the Paul of the pastorals puts it (1 Tim. 6:20; 2 Tim. 1:12, 14), is both protected and rendered current. Pseudepigraphy is, in Dunn’s words, “a means of affirming the continuity of God’s purpose between the circumstances of the named author and the circumstances of the actual author” (68). Brown wonders whether we might not make a distinction between “writer” and “author” (585). In this case the one writing in the name of a James or a Peter, for example, recognizes that person as the true “author,” the real source of the content of the writing.<br />
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Third, heated controversy over the correct understanding of a revered figure’s teachings sometimes led to writing in his name. The pastoral letters and 2 Thessalonians are often taken to be examples in the biblical canon (see Elias: 374-7); beyond the canon, the list is long.<br />
<br />
Fourth, finding acceptance for one’s writing would no doubt often have been a motivation for pseudepigraphy. No doubt the mantle of a respected person might aid in the acceptance of an author’s ideas. In the case of the canonical writings, the judgment of the church was that the accepted writings indeed conformed to the “foundation of the apostles and prophets” (Eph. 2:20), and in particular, to the legacy of the stated author.<br />
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Should we assume that pseudonymous writers fooled readers, even if for noble reasons? No doubt there were numerous cases of intentional and successful deception (hence the warning in 2 Thess. 2:2; see extensive discussion in Metzger; also Brown: 587-8). Even so, a number of scholars have suggested that pseudepigraphy was so accepted that it was often quite “transparent,” especially if the writing was associated with a school or circle of writers and teachers associated with a particular person. “Both ''writer and original readers'' would have been ''knowing participants'' in this particular mode of communication” (Lincoln: lxxii; emphasis added; cf. Dunn: 84). Both writer and readers would thus have felt no tension, for example, between the repeated stress in Ephesians on ''truth'' (4:15, 25; 6:14) and the strong possibility that a student and collaborator of Paul wrote this great letter after his death (see below).<br />
<br />
====Ephesians====<br />
<br />
With respect to whether Ephesians was written by Paul or by someone else in his name, a significant majority of scholars believe several factors point in their cumulative weight to an author other than Paul (on the cumulative nature of such an argument, see Best, 1998:35-6; Lincoln: 1xviii-lxix; Patzia, 1990. For a different conclusion on the basis of the same data, see Barth, 1974:49). Evangelical scholars also increasingly opt for an author other than Paul (e.g., R. P. Martin, 1991:4; Lincoln: lxi-lxxiii, and literature cited; Patzia is apparently unwilling to commit himself, but believes the issue should not be theologically divisive; 1990:121-41; 1995:76-8).<br />
<br />
The data are rehearsed in great detail in several recent commentaries (e.g., Best; Lincoln; Schnackenburg; and virtually all NT introductions, recently in Brown: 626-33). The data taken into account can be summarized as follows:<br />
<br />
1. In contrast to letters Paul undoubtedly wrote, Ephesians is very general, giving little explicit indication of specific issues, audience, or location. <br><br />
2. With the exception of 2 Thessalonians and the pastoral letters, Ephesians appears to show familiarity with all Pauline letters, especially with Colossians, on which it may be directly dependent.<br><br />
3. The language and style of Ephesians is quite distinct and very different from the undisputed letters of Paul.<br><br />
4. The theological emphases are distinct and are best understood as a development of Pauline themes:<br><br />
: • The church takes on unprecedented prominence. Moreover, the church is consistently thought of as a universal catholic reality.<br><br />
: • Resurrection and exaltation become more prominent than the cross.<br><br />
: • The eschatology of Ephesians is characterized by a stress on the present more than on the future. When the future does come into view, it is apt to be characterized by growth. There is no mention of the return or appearing of Christ.<br><br />
: • Salvation is not related to a future judgment but to the ''gathering up of all things'', and as part of that cosmic process, the reconciliation and recreation of humanity in and through Christ.<br />
<br />
Though these themes are all rooted in Paul’s apostolic teaching, their treatment in Ephesians suggests further development and critical engagement with others in the Pauline school with respect to how Paul’s legacy should be understood in light of the ongoing life of churches within the orbit of his mission. That does not mean that the deletions, additions, or shifts of emphasis are always a ''conscious'' correcting or updating of Paul. Over time, congregations, preachers, and teachers have time to forget and remember, to recall and often quite unconsciously to recast what they intend to ''preserve''. Tradition is never dead. As is often observed, the pastoral letters are explicitly concerned with “guarding the deposit” (1 Tim. 6:20; 2 Tim. 1:14); they are also most distant in tone, style, and content from the letters Paul undoubtedly wrote.<br />
<br />
If we combine the observation that Ephesians betrays evidence of a great deal of reworking of Paul’s own teaching and writing with the suggestion that the letter emerged from a “school”, then perhaps we should not think in terms of a solitary author (Acts 19:9-10 shows Paul passing on a legacy to his disciples). Ephesians becomes very much a collaborative effort, even if penned by one no doubt brilliant author, a collaboration that includes Paul, even if only through the letters and teaching he left behind as a ''foundation'' (2:20). For convenience’ sake, and because only one author is named at the beginning of the letter, I refer to “the author” in the singular throughout the commentary.<br />
<br />
If Paul was not the brilliant writer (Barth says this brilliance can point only to Paul; 1974:50; 1984:23), we can look tentatively to the co-writers at the beginning of Paul’s letters or to those who send greetings at the ends of those letters, persons closely associated with Paul who survived him. Mitton guesses it was the only one from such a circle who is named in this document, Tychicus (6:21; Mitton: 230). Other candidates have also been proposed: Onesimus (Goodspeed) and Luke (R. P. Martin, 1968). In the end we should respect the pseudepigrapher’s desire to hide behind the one whose apostolic mission this great letter is intended to further (See essay in the commentary: ''Authorship'').<br />
<br />
== Invitation to Comment ==<br />
To recommend improvements to this article, [mailto:ljohns@ambs.edu click here].<br />
<br />
{| border="1" style="text-align: right; color: green; background-color:#ffffcc; float: right" <br />
|—'''''[[Thomas R. Yoder Neufeld]]''''' <br />
|}</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=P&diff=17898P2017-07-25T13:21:00Z<p>BenEB: add powers</p>
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<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]'''<br />
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[[Paul’s View of the Law (in Galatians)]] <br><br />
[https://www.goshen.edu/mqr/pastissues/july01lowry.html Pieter Jansz Twisck on Biblical Interpretation] by James W. Lowry <BR> <br />
[[Persecution in Revelation (in Revelation)]] <br><br />
[[1 & 2 Peter]] <BR> <br />
[[Philemon]] <BR> <br />
[[Philippians]] <BR> <br />
[[Political Power (in Ecclesiastes)]] <BR> <br />
[[Portrait of the Pastor (in 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus)]] <br><br />
[[Powers (in Ephesians)]]<br><br />
[[Proverbs]] <BR> <br />
[[Psalms]] <BR></div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Powers_(in_Ephesians)&diff=17897Powers (in Ephesians)2017-07-25T13:20:19Z<p>BenEB: /* The “Powers” in Ephesians and the Bible: A Brief Overview */</p>
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<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]''' <br />
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[[file:BCBC_Ephesians2.jpg|frame|right|x310px|link=http://store.mennomedia.org/Ephesians-P53.aspx|[http://store.mennomedia.org/Ephesians-P53.aspx''Ephesians'', by Thomas R. Yoder Neufeld (Believers Church Bible Commentary)]'']]<br />
<br />
====The “Powers” in Ephesians and the Bible: A Brief Overview====<br />
<br />
The ''powers'' (also called “principalities and powers”) are often taken to refer to the whole gamut of forces opposing God, from Satan or the devil to demons possessing and tormenting individuals. Others view the powers more specifically as God-ordained yet fallen structures of reality that undergird but<br />
also undermine human life.<br />
<br />
In the NT Ephesians offers one of the largest inventories of terms for such powers. ''Devil (diabolos)'' rather than Satan is the designation for the chief evil power (4:27; 6:11; cf. also 2:2, where three terms for this power are listed: ''the aeon of this world; the ruler of the authority of the air; the spirit now at work among the sons of disobedience''). The list of the other ''rulers and authorities'' (3:10) is rather exhaustive. It includes every ''rule and authority and power and lordship and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come'' (1:21). Ephesians 6:12 lists ''the rulers, the authorities, the cosmic potentates of this darkness, the spiritual aspects'' (or ''forces''; lit., ''spiritualities'') ''of evil in the heavenlies''. One might conceivably add to this list ''coming ages'' (''approaching or attacking aeons'', 2:7), ''darkness'' (5:11), and less likely ''the width and length and height and depth'' (3:18).<br />
<br />
The interest in the powers is not unique to Ephesians. Prime examples are the Gospels, especially Jesus’ conflict with Satan and his acts of expelling demons, and of course, the Revelation of John. Of immediate interest for this study are the Pauline writings, where the powers are depicted variously. On one hand, Paul views them as evil: ''the rulers of this age'' are responsible for the crucifixion of Christ (1 Cor. 2:6-8). They try but ultimately fail to come between believers and God (Rom. 8:38), since they have been defeated by the cross (Col. 2:15) and will be vanquished completely at the final victory of Christ (1 Cor. 15:24). But even if the powers are experienced presently as hostile, they were originally created by Christ (Col. 1:16) and are to be shown due respect and deference (Rom. 13:3; Titus 3:1; for full discussion of the whole range of powers, see, e.g., Grundmann, 1964; Schlier, 1961; esp. Wink, 1984).<br />
<br />
Several questions are raised immediately. Are these texts reflecting the same view of the powers, or are there various powers? Are they always spiritual or angelic, or might they sometimes be human and/or structural? In other words, are they always personal beings, or are they sometimes spiritual forces most easily but nevertheless only metaphorically spoken of in personalistic terms? Are they always evil, or do they sometimes do God’s bidding?<br />
<br />
The search for clarity is encumbered by this ambiguity in the scriptural data. The matter is compounded by significant shifts in understanding over the centuries, shifts that have left their mark on the biblical record. Early on it appears that “the satan” could refer to a human “adversary” (e.g., 2 Sam. 19:22; 1 Kings 11:14; Ps. 109:6) or to a heavenly “accuser” (cf. Job 1–2; Zech. 3:1-2; in Num. 22:22, 32, “the satan” is a divine messenger). In short, he is not always depicted as unmitigated personified evil. Only in the few centuries leading up to the time of Christ did an elaborate demonology develop in Judaism. Perhaps under the influence of a Persian dualism, evil angelic powers were understood to be at war with good angelic powers (for specific literature, see Finger and Swartley: 10-2; Hamilton: 987-8; Kuemmerlin- McLean: 138-40; Reese: 140-2). “Satan” became a proper name for God’s evil competitor (e.g., Jubilees 23:29; Assump. Moses 10.1; other names: “the devil,” “Beliar,” “Beelzebub,” “Mastema,” and so on).<br />
<br />
By whatever name, the devil was understood to be the “ringleader” (Hamilton) of a hierarchy of demonic angels. NT writers reflect some of this diversity of views. Throughout the NT the “chief adversary” is variously called “Satan,” “devil,” “prince of this world,” “god of this world,” “Beelzebul” the ruler of demons, or “Belial.” Demons, most often noted in the synoptic Gospels, are mentioned throughout the NT.<br />
<br />
How does this relate to the powers? As indicated above, it is not always clear whether “rulers and authorities” refers to demonic forces or to “structures” that, however much fallen, undergird human social existence. For the most part, NT writers shared with the larger Jewish community a view of Satan or the devil as the chief commandant of the evil forces wreaking havoc in the affairs of humanity. At the same time, they did not draw clear lines between personal and impersonal forces, celestial powers, and earthly rulers (e.g., 1 Cor 2:6-8), or demonic forces and divinely created if “fallen” structures of human life (Cullmann: 95-114; Wink, 1984; 1986; Yoder, 1994:136-8).<br />
<br />
This possible double reference is illustrated in the way the Greek term ''stoicheia'' (Gal. 4:3, 9; Col. 2:8, 20; Heb. 5:12; 2 Pet. 3:10, 12) is variously translated as, e.g., “elements,” “ruling spirits,” “ABCs,” and “elementary truths.” The NRSV alone translates the same term as “elementary spirits” in Galatians 4, as “basic elements” in Hebrews 5, and as “elements” in 2 Peter 3. No doubt some of this ambiguity comes about because ancients, Jews and Gentiles alike, saw much of reality as deeply affected by “spirit” or “spirits,” both good and evil. Human life was believed to take place, individually and corporately, in a highly charged spiritual force field or “atmosphere.”<br />
<br />
The approach taken in this commentary intends to respect this ambiguity and implicit comprehensiveness. Ephesians well reflects such comprehensiveness. I noted above that in the NT, Ephesians has the largest number of terms for the powers. This conforms, on one hand, to the ornate style of Ephesians (Introduction), and we should thus be careful not to see this as an inventory of the powers. At the same time, such abundance of terms is surely intended to leave out nothing. Just as God is ''gathering up '''all things''' in Christ'' (1:10), so the body of that Christ is to engage ''all'' powers—''all'' forces resisting God’s saving initiative, whether personal or impersonal, structural, systemic, or spiritual. The pointed demand in 5:3—6:9 for an alternative culture in both society and home, leading up to the summons to battle with the powers in 6:10, makes it crystal clear: though ''blood and flesh'' are not the enemy (6:12) the struggle takes place in the everyday material contexts of faithful living.<br />
<br />
====A Variety of Interpretations====<br />
Contemporary interpretations of the powers and thus also of Ephesians can be placed on a continuum or spectrum reflecting the diversity of signals in the Scriptures. At the one end is the view of the church’s mission as “spiritual warfare” with personal demonic forces. Evangelism and exorcism are the means. At the other end of the spectrum is the view of the powers as primarily impersonal social and cultural forces, structures, and institutions that bring war, violence, and oppression. Public witness, prophetic critique, and political activism are the means of struggle. Most Christians likely find them- selves somewhere between these poles. In believers church circles, a majority likely tends to the second pole, given the emphasis in recent years on active peacemaking and restorative justice. But a significant segment also believes the mission of the church includes vigorous spiritual warfare against Satan and his demonic hordes. The texts relating to powers are read largely through the lenses of these perspectives.<br />
<br />
One can illustrate this diversity among scholars in the believers church tradition. Clinton Arnold, a scholar with Mennonite Brethren roots who has made important contributions to the study of Ephesians and of the powers, defines the “principalities and powers” as “angelic beings, both good and evil, but most commonly in reference to the realm of Satan” (1992a:467). His scholarly work on Ephesians reflects this understanding of the powers as personal beings (1989; 1992; see also Best, 1998:178-9; Lincoln: 444), as does his more popular work on spiritual warfare (1997). This approach is consistent with that taken by the so-called Third Wave movement in mission, dubbed so by one of its leading proponents, C. Peter Wagner (1988; he distinguishes this movement from earlier Pentecostalism and Charismatic renewals). The Third Wave is perhaps best known for its stress on spiritual warfare against “territorial spirits.” (For fuller discussions with an exorcistic view of the church’s mission in dealing with the powers, see, e.g., Arnold, 1992; 1997; Boyd; Page; Wagner, 1991; Warner, 1988; 1991).<br />
<br />
Another representative of the believers church tradition, John H. Yoder, offers a quite different interpretation, one just as intentionally biblical. Building on the work of Hendrikus Berkhof’s ''Christ and the Powers'', which he translated from the Dutch in 1962, Yoder views the powers mentioned in the NT as an “overwhelmingly broad totality,”<br />
<br />
: religious structures (especially the religious undergirdings of stable ancient and primitive societies), intellectual structures (-ologies, and -isms), moral structures (codes and customs), political structures (the tyrant, the market, the school, the courts, race, and nation). (J. H. Yoder, 1994:142-3; 1964:8-14)<br />
<br />
Berkhof and Yoder are echoed more recently in the influential writings of Walter Wink, who defines the powers as<br />
<br />
: legitimations, seats of authority, hierarchical systems, ideological justifica- tions, and punitive sanctions which their human incumbents exercise and which transcend these incumbents in both time and power. (Wink, 1984:85)<br />
<br />
: In the biblical view, they are both visible and invisible, earthly and heav- enly, spiritual and institutional. The powers possess an outer, physical manifestation (buildings, portfolios, personnel, trucks, fax machines) and an inner spirituality, corporate culture, or collective personality (Wink, 1992:3; see also 1998; 1998a).<br />
<br />
: They are linked together in a bewilderingly complex network, in what we can call the Domination System (Wink, 1998:36).<br />
<br />
Similarly, speaking out of the experience of the war in former Yugoslavia, Miroslav Volf calls the powers<br />
<br />
: all-pervasive low-intensity evil . . ., the interiority of warped institutions, structures, and systems . . . under which many suffer but for which no one is responsible and about which all complain but no one can target. (87)<br />
<br />
Such an interpretation draws attention to how pervasive and insidious these powers are. As social, political, and economic realities, the powers are diffused throughout the culture. Their demonic character rests more in their capacity to control the imaginations and behavior of human beings, individually and communally, than on their transcendent nature or personal agency. Unlike the earlier interpretation, this one rests heavily on Colossians 1:16, where Christ is declared the creator of the powers. Yoder draws the inference succinctly: given that the powers are “in their general essence . . . parts of a good creation, . . . we cannot live without them.” In their fallen state, and in the absolute claims they place on individuals and society, “we cannot live with them” (1994:143). As Wink puts it repeatedly, “The Powers are good; the Powers are fallen; the Powers will be redeemed” (1992:65; 1998:51; cf. Yoder, 1985:114). It is clear that judgment and transformation are more appropriate categories of response to such powers than exorcism. To be sure, judgment and transformation are also understood as spiritual undertakings. (McClain: 38-47, 89-136, e.g., employs the vocabulary of exorcism for such critical engagement with the powers so conceived. For similar interpretation of the powers, see, e.g., Cochrane; Eller, 1987; Ellul, 1976:151-60; McGill: 47-52, 86-93; Macgregor; Mott: 3-21; Mouw: 85-116; Schlier, 1961; re Ephesians in particular, see, e.g., Barth: 800-3; Russell: 119-21; Schlier, 1971:291; Schnackenburg: 272.)<br />
<br />
It is obvious that both “worldview” (cf. Wink, 1992:3-10; 1988:13-56) and rootage in various Christian traditions (McAlpine: 3-6) affect both the reading of the Bible and its interpretation in relation to the present task and mission of the church. Thomas McAlpine has identified these with the following typology as reflected in his chapter headings:<br />
<br />
: • Transformation by Osmosis: The Reformed Tradition <br />
: • Over Against: The Anabaptist Tradition<br />
: • Expect a Miracle: The Third Wave Tradition<br />
: • Sociological Bible: The Social Science Tradition<br />
<br />
His typology is helpful in identifying the variety of stances, but his nomenclature is less helpful. For example, present-day Anabaptists find themselves in every one of these categories (as his discussion of scholarship shows; see his extensive bibliography, including among “Anabaptist” types several leading Catholic scholars, thus raising further doubts about his categories).<br />
<br />
Clearly Christians are at quite different points in their view of the powers and in the task that implies for the church. Often the whole gamut of perspectives is found in one congregation. Worldviews coexist in traditions, indeed, even as unreconciled perspectives within one person. Sometimes these differences are defined as those between what we might call supernaturalists and materialists, the former typically the ones claiming to be biblical. McAlpine remarks somewhat whimsically but insightfully,<br />
<br />
: Appeals to simply “believe the Bible” are not very helpful here. For example, Genesis 1 speaks both of a solid firmament which keeps the rainwater in place and in which the stars are placed and of the beasts of the field. Our [present-day] pictures of the world contain the beasts of the field, but include the firmament only with major adjustments. Are the principalities and powers more like the firmament, or the beasts of the field? There is hard theological work to be done on the area. (78)<br />
<br />
McAlpine argues that common ground is the best place to do such work. He suggests that to find common ground is itself a struggle against the powers, and for that reason it is critically important to the mission of the church (86). Gayle Gerber Koontz, in reflecting on the divisiveness the strong differences in perspective have often introduced into the church, makes much the same point:<br />
<br />
: Should we not rather pray that God would form us ''together'' into one body whose head is Christ, a body not weakened by divisions resulting from carelessly narrow theological definitions, but one which can stand ''together'' strong in faith, hope and love in the face of demonic powers? (1988:93; emphasis added)<br />
<br />
: Contemporary experience of the demonic in ''all'' its forms ''and formlessness'' points us—''all'' of us—to this need for extraordinary faith and courage (1988:99; emphasis added).<br />
<br />
Whereas McAlpine and Gerber Koontz are speaking to the church’s mission today, they reflect a core concern in Ephesians. Any restrictive definition of the powers undervalues and thereby defeats the central argument in Ephesians, that God’s design is to gather up ''all things''. A full appreciation and a faithful translation for our day of what the author of Ephesians has in mind requires that we not force an exclusive choice between an exorcistic and a prophetic view of evil and the church’s response to it.<br />
<br />
Early readers would have related their understanding of the powers to the practices of astrology or magic, in which the rulers of evil and darkness were conjured up to work their power (so Arnold and Best, correctly). But they would also have understood the powers as referring to realities we today quite rightly identify as cultural, social, and political dimensions of dehumanization and oppression (so Volf, Wink, and Yoder, correctly). The task is to remain alert to the demonic features of these dimensions of human individual and social life and to see the struggle against them as fundamentally spiritual. Strugglers with the powers must guard against downplaying or underestimating the spiritual oppression of individuals and families. They must guard just as vigilantly against underestimating the spiritual nature of the –anities, -ali- ties, -ologies, -isms, -doms, and –hoods (cf. Yoder, 1964:8, n.1).<br />
<br />
Ephesians assumes that a variety of gifts will dictate how this struggle is undertaken. The author shows little interest in the mechanics of either how the powers affect human life or how they are to be combated. Ephesians does show, however, a very marked interest in wisdom (1:8, 17-23; 3:10, 14-19; 5:15-17), in nonconformity (4:17—5:17), in worship (1:3-14; 3:14-21; 5:18-21), and in ''standing against'' (6:10-20). The letter stresses the practical and communal exercise of truth, justice, peace, and the word of God, and finally prayer. These enable believers to preach the good news (6:14-20), which in Ephesians is most centrally the overcoming of enmity within the human community and with God (as in Eph. 2–3!).<br />
<br />
In Ephesians, the greatest evidence of the demonic lies in the existence of disobedience to God’s will for humanity (2:1-10), in the hostile and exclusionary divisions in the human community (2:11-22; 3:1-13), and in the darkness of a culture blind to the gravity of license, greed, and falsity (4:17—5:21). We know, as does the author of Ephesians, that the larger culturally experienced forces are the chief culprits in nurturing such hostilities. That is why the alternative cultural forces of truth, justice, and peace are so important. When these are wielded by a community that is ''in Christ''—that has put on the new ''human''—then its very life is exorcistic, casting out evil.<br />
<br />
<br />
== Invitation to Comment ==<br />
To recommend improvements to this article, [mailto:ljohns@ambs.edu click here].<br />
<br />
{| border="1" style="text-align: right; color: green; background-color:#ffffcc; float: right" <br />
|—'''''[[Thomas R. Yoder Neufeld]]''''' <br />
|}</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Powers_(in_Ephesians)&diff=17896Powers (in Ephesians)2017-07-25T13:19:08Z<p>BenEB: post complete essay</p>
<hr />
<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]''' <br />
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[[file:BCBC_Ephesians2.jpg|frame|right|x310px|link=http://store.mennomedia.org/Ephesians-P53.aspx|[http://store.mennomedia.org/Ephesians-P53.aspx''Ephesians'', by Thomas R. Yoder Neufeld (Believers Church Bible Commentary)]'']]<br />
<br />
====The “Powers” in Ephesians and the Bible: A Brief Overview====<br />
<br />
The ''powers'' (also called “principalities and powers”) are often taken to refer to the whole gamut of forces opposing God, from Satan or the devil to demons possessing and tormenting individuals. Others view the powers more specifically as God-ordained yet fallen structures of reality that undergird but<br />
also undermine human life.<br />
<br />
In the NT Ephesians offers one of the largest inventories of terms for such powers. ''Devil (diabolos)'' rather than Satan is the designation for the chief evil power (4:27; 6:11; cf. also 2:2, where three terms for this power are listed: ''the aeon of this world; the ruler of the authority of the air; the spirit now at work among the sons of disobedience''). The list of the other ''rulers and authorities'' (3:10) is rather exhaustive. It includes every ''rule and authority and power and lordship and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come'' (1:21). Ephesians 6:12 lists ''the rulers, the authorities, the cosmic potentates of this darkness, the spiritual aspects'' (or ''forces''; lit., ''spiritualities'') ''of evil in the heavenlies''. One might conceivably add to this list ''coming ages'' (''approaching or attacking aeons'', 2:7), ''darkness'' (5:11), and less likely ''the width and length and height and depth'' (3:18).<br />
<br />
The interest in the powers is not unique to Ephesians. Prime examples are the Gospels, especially Jesus’ conflict with Satan and his acts of expelling demons, and of course, the Revelation of John. Of immediate interest for this study are the Pauline writings, where the powers are depicted variously. On one hand, Paul views them as evil: ''the rulers of this age'' are responsible for the crucifixion of Christ (1 Cor. 2:6-8). They try but ultimately fail to come between believers and God (Rom. 8:38), since they have been defeated by the cross (Col. 2:15) and will be vanquished completely at the final victory of Christ (1 Cor. 15:24). But even if the powers are experienced presently as hostile, they were originally created by Christ (Col. 1:16) and are to be shown due respect and deference (Rom. 13:3; Titus 3:1; for full discussion of the whole range of powers, see, e.g., Grundmann, 1964; Schlier, 1961; esp. Wink, 1984).<br />
<br />
Several questions are raised immediately. Are these texts reflecting the same view of the powers, or are there various powers? Are they always spiritual or angelic, or might they sometimes be human and/or structural? In other words, are they always personal beings, or are they sometimes spiritual forces most easily but nevertheless only metaphorically spoken of in personalistic terms? Are they always evil, or do they sometimes do God’s bidding?<br />
<br />
The search for clarity is encumbered by this ambiguity in the scriptural data. The matter is compounded by significant shifts in understanding over the centuries, shifts that have left their mark on the biblical record. Early on it appears that “the satan” could refer to a human “adversary” (e.g., 2 Sam. 19:22; 1 Kings 11:14; Ps. 109:6) or to a heavenly “accuser” (cf. Job 1–2; Zech. 3:1-2; in Num. 22:22, 32, “the satan” is a divine messenger). In short, he is not always depicted as unmitigated personified evil. Only in the few centuries leading up to the time of Christ did an elaborate demonology develop in Judaism. Perhaps under the influence of a Persian dualism, evil angelic powers were understood to be at war with good angelic powers (for specific literature, see Finger and Swartley: 10-2; Hamilton: 987-8; Kuemmerlin- McLean: 138-40; Reese: 140-2). “Satan” became a proper name for God’s evil competitor (e.g., Jubilees 23:29; Assump. Moses 10.1; other names: “the devil,” “Beliar,” “Beelzebub,” “Mastema,” and so on).<br />
<br />
By whatever name, the devil was understood to be the “ringleader” (Hamilton) of a hierarchy of demonic angels. NT writers reflect some of this diversity of views. Throughout the NT the “chief adversary” is variously called “Satan,” “devil,” “prince of this world,” “god of this world,” “Beelzebul” the ruler of demons, or “Belial.” Demons, most often noted in the synoptic Gospels, are mentioned throughout the NT.<br />
<br />
How does this relate to the powers? As indicated above, it is not always clear whether “rulers and authorities” refers to demonic forces or to “structures” that, however much fallen, undergird human social existence. For the most part, NT writers shared with the larger Jewish community a view of Satan or the devil as the chief commandant of the evil forces wreaking havoc in the affairs of humanity. At the same time, they did not draw clear lines between personal and impersonal forces, celestial powers, and earthly rulers (e.g., 1 Cor 2:6-8), or demonic forces and divinely created if “fallen” structures of human life (Cullmann: 95-114; Wink, 1984; 1986; Yoder, 1994:136-8).<br />
<br />
This possible double reference is illustrated in the way the Greek term ''stoicheia'' (Gal. 4:3, 9; Col. 2:8, 20; Heb. 5:12; 2 Pet. 3:10, 12) is variously translated as, e.g., “elements,” “ruling spirits,” “ABCs,” and “elementary truths.” The NRSV alone translates the same term as “elementary spirits” in Galatians 4, as “basic elements” in Hebrews 5, and as “elements” in 2 Peter 3. No doubt some of this ambiguity comes about because ancients, Jews and Gentiles alike, saw much of reality as deeply affected by “spirit” or “spirits,” both good and evil. Human life was believed to take place, individually and corporately, in a highly charged spiritual force field or “atmosphere.”<br />
<br />
The approach taken in this commentary intends to respect this ambiguity and implicit comprehensiveness. Ephesians well reflects such comprehensiveness. I noted above that in the NT, Ephesians has the largest number of terms for the powers. This conforms, on one hand, to the ornate style of Ephesians (Introduction), and we should thus be careful not to see this as an inventory of the powers. At the same time, such abundance of terms is surely intended to leave out nothing. Just as God is ''gathering up ''''all things'''' in Christ'' (1:10), so the body of that Christ is to engage ''all'' powers—''all'' forces resisting God’s saving initiative, whether personal or impersonal, structural, systemic, or spiritual. The pointed demand in 5:3—6:9 for an alternative culture in both society and home, leading up to the summons to battle with the powers in 6:10, makes it crystal clear: though ''blood and flesh'' are not the enemy (6:12) the struggle takes place in the everyday material contexts of faithful living.<br />
<br />
====A Variety of Interpretations====<br />
Contemporary interpretations of the powers and thus also of Ephesians can be placed on a continuum or spectrum reflecting the diversity of signals in the Scriptures. At the one end is the view of the church’s mission as “spiritual warfare” with personal demonic forces. Evangelism and exorcism are the means. At the other end of the spectrum is the view of the powers as primarily impersonal social and cultural forces, structures, and institutions that bring war, violence, and oppression. Public witness, prophetic critique, and political activism are the means of struggle. Most Christians likely find them- selves somewhere between these poles. In believers church circles, a majority likely tends to the second pole, given the emphasis in recent years on active peacemaking and restorative justice. But a significant segment also believes the mission of the church includes vigorous spiritual warfare against Satan and his demonic hordes. The texts relating to powers are read largely through the lenses of these perspectives.<br />
<br />
One can illustrate this diversity among scholars in the believers church tradition. Clinton Arnold, a scholar with Mennonite Brethren roots who has made important contributions to the study of Ephesians and of the powers, defines the “principalities and powers” as “angelic beings, both good and evil, but most commonly in reference to the realm of Satan” (1992a:467). His scholarly work on Ephesians reflects this understanding of the powers as personal beings (1989; 1992; see also Best, 1998:178-9; Lincoln: 444), as does his more popular work on spiritual warfare (1997). This approach is consistent with that taken by the so-called Third Wave movement in mission, dubbed so by one of its leading proponents, C. Peter Wagner (1988; he distinguishes this movement from earlier Pentecostalism and Charismatic renewals). The Third Wave is perhaps best known for its stress on spiritual warfare against “territorial spirits.” (For fuller discussions with an exorcistic view of the church’s mission in dealing with the powers, see, e.g., Arnold, 1992; 1997; Boyd; Page; Wagner, 1991; Warner, 1988; 1991).<br />
<br />
Another representative of the believers church tradition, John H. Yoder, offers a quite different interpretation, one just as intentionally biblical. Building on the work of Hendrikus Berkhof’s ''Christ and the Powers'', which he translated from the Dutch in 1962, Yoder views the powers mentioned in the NT as an “overwhelmingly broad totality,”<br />
<br />
: religious structures (especially the religious undergirdings of stable ancient and primitive societies), intellectual structures (-ologies, and -isms), moral structures (codes and customs), political structures (the tyrant, the market, the school, the courts, race, and nation). (J. H. Yoder, 1994:142-3; 1964:8-14)<br />
<br />
Berkhof and Yoder are echoed more recently in the influential writings of Walter Wink, who defines the powers as<br />
<br />
: legitimations, seats of authority, hierarchical systems, ideological justifica- tions, and punitive sanctions which their human incumbents exercise and which transcend these incumbents in both time and power. (Wink, 1984:85)<br />
<br />
: In the biblical view, they are both visible and invisible, earthly and heav- enly, spiritual and institutional. The powers possess an outer, physical manifestation (buildings, portfolios, personnel, trucks, fax machines) and an inner spirituality, corporate culture, or collective personality (Wink, 1992:3; see also 1998; 1998a).<br />
<br />
: They are linked together in a bewilderingly complex network, in what we can call the Domination System (Wink, 1998:36).<br />
<br />
Similarly, speaking out of the experience of the war in former Yugoslavia, Miroslav Volf calls the powers<br />
<br />
: all-pervasive low-intensity evil . . ., the interiority of warped institutions, structures, and systems . . . under which many suffer but for which no one is responsible and about which all complain but no one can target. (87)<br />
<br />
Such an interpretation draws attention to how pervasive and insidious these powers are. As social, political, and economic realities, the powers are diffused throughout the culture. Their demonic character rests more in their capacity to control the imaginations and behavior of human beings, individually and communally, than on their transcendent nature or personal agency. Unlike the earlier interpretation, this one rests heavily on Colossians 1:16, where Christ is declared the creator of the powers. Yoder draws the inference succinctly: given that the powers are “in their general essence . . . parts of a good creation, . . . we cannot live without them.” In their fallen state, and in the absolute claims they place on individuals and society, “we cannot live with them” (1994:143). As Wink puts it repeatedly, “The Powers are good; the Powers are fallen; the Powers will be redeemed” (1992:65; 1998:51; cf. Yoder, 1985:114). It is clear that judgment and transformation are more appropriate categories of response to such powers than exorcism. To be sure, judgment and transformation are also understood as spiritual undertakings. (McClain: 38-47, 89-136, e.g., employs the vocabulary of exorcism for such critical engagement with the powers so conceived. For similar interpretation of the powers, see, e.g., Cochrane; Eller, 1987; Ellul, 1976:151-60; McGill: 47-52, 86-93; Macgregor; Mott: 3-21; Mouw: 85-116; Schlier, 1961; re Ephesians in particular, see, e.g., Barth: 800-3; Russell: 119-21; Schlier, 1971:291; Schnackenburg: 272.)<br />
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It is obvious that both “worldview” (cf. Wink, 1992:3-10; 1988:13-56) and rootage in various Christian traditions (McAlpine: 3-6) affect both the reading of the Bible and its interpretation in relation to the present task and mission of the church. Thomas McAlpine has identified these with the following typology as reflected in his chapter headings:<br />
<br />
: • Transformation by Osmosis: The Reformed Tradition <br />
: • Over Against: The Anabaptist Tradition<br />
: • Expect a Miracle: The Third Wave Tradition<br />
: • Sociological Bible: The Social Science Tradition<br />
<br />
His typology is helpful in identifying the variety of stances, but his nomenclature is less helpful. For example, present-day Anabaptists find themselves in every one of these categories (as his discussion of scholarship shows; see his extensive bibliography, including among “Anabaptist” types several leading Catholic scholars, thus raising further doubts about his categories).<br />
<br />
Clearly Christians are at quite different points in their view of the powers and in the task that implies for the church. Often the whole gamut of perspectives is found in one congregation. Worldviews coexist in traditions, indeed, even as unreconciled perspectives within one person. Sometimes these differences are defined as those between what we might call supernaturalists and materialists, the former typically the ones claiming to be biblical. McAlpine remarks somewhat whimsically but insightfully,<br />
<br />
: Appeals to simply “believe the Bible” are not very helpful here. For example, Genesis 1 speaks both of a solid firmament which keeps the rainwater in place and in which the stars are placed and of the beasts of the field. Our [present-day] pictures of the world contain the beasts of the field, but include the firmament only with major adjustments. Are the principalities and powers more like the firmament, or the beasts of the field? There is hard theological work to be done on the area. (78)<br />
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McAlpine argues that common ground is the best place to do such work. He suggests that to find common ground is itself a struggle against the powers, and for that reason it is critically important to the mission of the church (86). Gayle Gerber Koontz, in reflecting on the divisiveness the strong differences in perspective have often introduced into the church, makes much the same point:<br />
<br />
: Should we not rather pray that God would form us ''together'' into one body whose head is Christ, a body not weakened by divisions resulting from carelessly narrow theological definitions, but one which can stand ''together'' strong in faith, hope and love in the face of demonic powers? (1988:93; emphasis added)<br />
<br />
: Contemporary experience of the demonic in ''all'' its forms ''and formlessness'' points us—''all'' of us—to this need for extraordinary faith and courage (1988:99; emphasis added).<br />
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Whereas McAlpine and Gerber Koontz are speaking to the church’s mission today, they reflect a core concern in Ephesians. Any restrictive definition of the powers undervalues and thereby defeats the central argument in Ephesians, that God’s design is to gather up ''all things''. A full appreciation and a faithful translation for our day of what the author of Ephesians has in mind requires that we not force an exclusive choice between an exorcistic and a prophetic view of evil and the church’s response to it.<br />
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Early readers would have related their understanding of the powers to the practices of astrology or magic, in which the rulers of evil and darkness were conjured up to work their power (so Arnold and Best, correctly). But they would also have understood the powers as referring to realities we today quite rightly identify as cultural, social, and political dimensions of dehumanization and oppression (so Volf, Wink, and Yoder, correctly). The task is to remain alert to the demonic features of these dimensions of human individual and social life and to see the struggle against them as fundamentally spiritual. Strugglers with the powers must guard against downplaying or underestimating the spiritual oppression of individuals and families. They must guard just as vigilantly against underestimating the spiritual nature of the –anities, -ali- ties, -ologies, -isms, -doms, and –hoods (cf. Yoder, 1964:8, n.1).<br />
<br />
Ephesians assumes that a variety of gifts will dictate how this struggle is undertaken. The author shows little interest in the mechanics of either how the powers affect human life or how they are to be combated. Ephesians does show, however, a very marked interest in wisdom (1:8, 17-23; 3:10, 14-19; 5:15-17), in nonconformity (4:17—5:17), in worship (1:3-14; 3:14-21; 5:18-21), and in ''standing against'' (6:10-20). The letter stresses the practical and communal exercise of truth, justice, peace, and the word of God, and finally prayer. These enable believers to preach the good news (6:14-20), which in Ephesians is most centrally the overcoming of enmity within the human community and with God (as in Eph. 2–3!).<br />
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In Ephesians, the greatest evidence of the demonic lies in the existence of disobedience to God’s will for humanity (2:1-10), in the hostile and exclusionary divisions in the human community (2:11-22; 3:1-13), and in the darkness of a culture blind to the gravity of license, greed, and falsity (4:17—5:21). We know, as does the author of Ephesians, that the larger culturally experienced forces are the chief culprits in nurturing such hostilities. That is why the alternative cultural forces of truth, justice, and peace are so important. When these are wielded by a community that is ''in Christ''—that has put on the new ''human''—then its very life is exorcistic, casting out evil.<br />
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<br />
== Invitation to Comment ==<br />
To recommend improvements to this article, [mailto:ljohns@ambs.edu click here].<br />
<br />
{| border="1" style="text-align: right; color: green; background-color:#ffffcc; float: right" <br />
|—'''''[[Thomas R. Yoder Neufeld]]''''' <br />
|}</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=H&diff=17895H2017-07-25T12:55:09Z<p>BenEB: </p>
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<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]'''<br />
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[[Habakkuk]] <BR> <br />
[[Haggai]] <BR> <br />
[["Head" (in Ephesians)]]<BR><br />
[[Hebrews]] <BR> <br />
[[Herem, “Devoted to Destruction” (in Joshua)]] <BR> <br />
Hermeneutics - See [[Anabaptist Approaches to Scripture]] <BR> <br />
[[Historical and Political Context (in 1 & 2 Thessalonians)]] <br><br />
[[Holy Spirit in the Letters to Timothy and Titus (in 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus)]] <br><br />
[[Hosea]] <BR><br />
[[Household Behavior (in 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus)]] <br><br />
[[How Christian Communities Emerge (in 1 & 2 Thessalonians)]]</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=%22Head%22_(in_Ephesians)&diff=17894"Head" (in Ephesians)2017-07-25T12:54:11Z<p>BenEB: post complete essay</p>
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<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]''' <br />
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[[file:BCBC_Ephesians2.jpg|frame|right|x310px|link=http://store.mennomedia.org/Ephesians-P53.aspx|[http://store.mennomedia.org/Ephesians-P53.aspx''Ephesians'', by Thomas R. Yoder Neufeld (Believers Church Bible Commentary)]'']]<br />
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''Head (kephalē)'' most immediately refers anatomically to the top part of a person’s body. It can also refer to the top of just about anything else, such as a mountain or a wall (“headstone”; cf. Ps. 118:22, LXX, quoted in Matt. 21:42 and parallels). “Top” is probably as succinct a rendering of the meaning of ''kephalē'' as one might hope for. A related meaning of ''head'' is “source,” as in the word ''headwaters''. In English, as in Greek, ''head'' also functions metaphorically, denoting “what is first, supreme, or extreme” (Schlier, 1965:673). Not surprisingly, in the Septuagint ''kephalē'' occasionally translates the Hebrew ''ro’š'' (head) in contexts where it refers to one who bears authority and responsibility (e.g., Judg. 10:18; 11:11; 2 Sam. 22:44; Isa. 7: 8-9). But this is ''not'' normally the case (Scholer: 42). Other Greek words, such as ''archōn'', are used. We should expect the term as used in the NT to be shaped by biblical as well as conventional usage.<br />
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There is an ongoing and vigorous debate, fueled by the contemporary dif- ferences over relationships of men and women in home, church, and society, over whether the primary metaphorical meaning of ''head'' is “authority” (e.g., Fitzmyer; Grudem) or “source” (e.g., Bedale; Fee, 1987:502-5, with a vigorous critique of Grudem on 502, n. 42; Kroeger, 1987). The debate is not subsiding, partly because of the volatile intersection of biblical authority and social change. To quote R. T. France, “This, as they say, could run and run!” (44, n. 16). Since both sides can muster examples for their preferred reading, is it not likely that both metaphorical meanings would have suggested themselves to the readers of writings like Ephesians (so also, interestingly, e.g., Bedale; France: 38-41; Lincoln: 368-70)?<br />
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The metaphorical significance of ''head'' in Ephesians obviously encompasses both (for more extensive discussions and related literature, see also Barth, 1974:183-92; Best, 1998:193-6; Lincoln: 67-70, 368-70; Miletic: 67-87; Schlier, 1965:673-82). Whereas each of the following texts from Ephesians is discussed in the commentary, their relation to the motif of ''head'' is summarized here.<br />
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1. In Ephesians 1:21-22, God is said to have raised and exalted Christ over the whole cosmos, including all powers and authorities, literally ''giving him to be head over all''. As this text illustrates, being ''head'' means being first, superior, preeminent, in authority, and in control (for fuller discussion, see 1:15-23, notes). Status, not source, is the primary meaning in this passage. Nowhere is this clearer than in the great christological hymn in Colossians 1:15-20, even if there both status and source inform the meaning of Christ being “head” (cf., e.g., E. D. Martin, 1993:59-77; Schweizer, 1982:55-88). Christ is the “firstborn (''prōtotokos'')” of both creation (Col. 1:15) and resur- rection or re-creation (1:18). He is “before (''pro'') all things” (1:17), “preeminent in everything (prōteuōn)” (1:18), the one in whom the fullness of God dwells (1:19; cf. 2:9); in short, Christ is the head of the body (1:18; cf. 2:10). Whereas the ''body'' is more clearly specified to be the church in 1:18, it is commonly recognized that body is derived from a tradition that metaphorically viewed the cosmos as a whole as a body. Both Colossians and Ephesians understand the headship of Christ to extend to the church (Col. 1:18; Eph. 4:15-16), but just as important, to the whole of the universe. We might add that, whereas Ephesians 1:10 does not use the term ''head'' so much as ''heading'' (1:10, notes), the reference to “all things” being gathered up (lit., “being brought under one heading”) in and through Christ clearly carries overtones of cosmic headship.<br />
<br />
2. In Ephesians 4:15, Christ is said to be the ''head'' into which ''we'' are to grow, and from whom ''we'' derive what it takes to grow (4:1-16, notes). As ''head'', Christ is both source and goal of ''the whole body''—the church, both first and last. He is ''the perfect man'' (4:13), and in that sense at the top—the goal toward which the church is ''building'' (4:12). At the same time, Christ is the gift-giving supplier (4:7-11) of what the church needs to grow into Christ, of what the body needs to grow into the head. We are reminded that Colossians 1:15-20 similarly views Christ as one who “created all things” in the cosmos (1:16), the one who “holds all things together” (1:17; cf. Eph. 4:16). “Status” and “source” quite naturally converge as meanings for ''head''. To speak of Christ as ''head'' is to speak of his priority in every sense.<br />
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3. Before going on to the last of the Ephesian “head” texts, it is impor- tant to draw attention to 1 Corinthians 11:2-16. There is no need here to enter the ongoing debate about hair, veiling, or what it means for a woman prophet to wear an “authority” on her head (see, e.g., Fee, 1987:491-530; Grenz: 108-17; Murphy-O’Connor: 104-109; Schüssler Fiorenza, 1983: 226-230). It is relevant to notice the way the word ''head'' is used metaphorically to depict a chain of authority or origin—or more likely, both: God⟶Christ⟶man⟶woman (1 Cor. 11:3). Some notion of the order of creation seems to be operative in the attempt to regulate life in Corinth. On the other hand, in 11:11-12, Paul appears to offer an alternative way of under- standing the implied relationship between men and women by stating that “in the Lord” men and women have a mutuality of origin. The tension in the argument is palpable. Paul either intends to trump a notion of social order based on a certain understanding of creation with the new order in Christ, or he is struggling to remain true both to his inherited sense of the “order of cre- ation” and to the “order of the new creation.” Interpreters continue to debate this passage vigorously (for sample of the interpretive scope, see, e.g., Swartley, 1983:166-74). In the argument the word ''head'' appears to carry some metaphorical freight that we can no longer track with complete confidence. However, it is clear that Paul has no intention whatsoever of curtailing the authority of women to exercise the gift Paul saw as the highest gift the Spirit bestows on the church (1 Cor. 14:1; 11:5).<br />
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4. In Ephesians 5:23 the motif of ''head'' is used to draw an analogy between the relationship of husband and wife and that of Christ and the church: a husband is head of the wife as Christ is head of the church, himself Savior of the body (5:23). The metaphorical force of ''head'' is here at least initially more one of “status” and “authority” than of “source” (so also France: 40; Lincoln: 368; contra Miletic: 103; Patzia, 1990:268). Notice that ''head'' is placed in direct relationship to the subordination of wives to their husbands as to the Lord (5:22). Notice also that Christ is identified as Savior of the body, the church. While we see in 2:15 that creation is very much a part of salvation (2:15, notes), the emphatic ''himself'' in 5:23 appears to highlight his status as liberator. Last, we should note that, whereas men are to love their wives as they do themselves, wives are to ''fear'' their husbands (5:33). On the surface, at least, the text appears to support patriarchy, the superior position of husbands over wives.<br />
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However, a number of factors play havoc with any easy inference that husbands are at the top in marriage relationships:<br />
<br />
1. Christology in Ephesians focuses on the status of Christ as cosmic Lord and the expression of his lordship in re-creating humanity: the Lord is the Savior; the boss is the liberator. The meaning and content of Christ’s headship is peacemaking, re-creation, and self-offering for the benefit of a restored humanity. The ''head'' is ''our peace'' (2:14).<br><br />
2. Christ’s headship finds its fullest expression in Christ’s giving up his life for the sake of the life of humanity (2:11-22, notes). This is explicitly echoed in 5:2 and in 5:25.<br><br />
3. The writer of Ephesians introduces the Household Code with a summons to ''mutual'' subordination, empowered for such servitude by the Spirit. In effect, the sons and daughters of God are to recognize ''each other'' as heads (5:21; for this and other points above, see fuller discussion at 5:21—6:9, notes).<br />
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At the present time, headship is a highly charged issue (in addition to authors listed above, see survey of interpretive poles in Swartley, 1983:256-69). It divides traditionalists and complementarians from egalitarians. These divisions run between conservative and critical traditions of interpretation, and within evangelical interpretive circles (cf., e.g., Fee; France; Grudem; Grenz and Kjesbo; Kroeger; Patzia; and Scholer). The arguments typically center on the status to be given to cultural setting and its effect on what is normative, and on the lexical question as to whether ''head'' means chiefly “source” or “authority” (see above; for summary discussions of the issues and participants within the evangelical context, see, e.g., Grenz; Scholer).<br />
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These issues will not be dealt with in a life-giving way by finding a lexical loophole or by placing cultural-contextual parentheses around the text. The approach taken in this commentary has been to take seriously both the lexical and cultural-contextual questions. In my view, ''head'' does contain overtones of superiority and authority. The context in which the writer of Ephesians was writing was indeed one in which patriarchy was taken as a given. It is thus all the more important to ask what kind of a ''head'' Christ is and what effect such headship might have on entrenched structures of unequal power and authority.<br />
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The contention argued in the commentary is that the Christ who is offered to those in superior social positions—whatever those might be in any given time and place!—is one whose headship fundamentally undermines privilege and status. Yes, Christ is the cosmic emperor, the head of the universe. But when we look closely, the emperor’s new clothes are those of a slave. It is, after all, at the name of “Jesus”—the humble and poor man from Galilee— that “every knee shall bow” (Phil. 2:11). The slave will, however, have a hold on husbands, fathers, and bosses—or anyone else, regardless of gender, who in our day wields power and authority—only if he is also ''head''. To miss seeing that Christ, present throughout Ephesians, is to misread the Household Code as a summons to one-sided subordination rather than to permanent rev- olution—the revolution of the gathering up of all things under one “heading”—Christ.<br />
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== Invitation to Comment ==<br />
To recommend improvements to this article, [mailto:ljohns@ambs.edu click here].<br />
<br />
{| border="1" style="text-align: right; color: green; background-color:#ffffcc; float: right" <br />
|—'''''[[Thomas R. Yoder Neufeld]]''''' <br />
|}</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Ephesians&diff=17893Ephesians2017-07-25T12:32:12Z<p>BenEB: /* Bibliography */</p>
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[[file:BCBC_Ephesians2.jpg|frame|right|x310px|link=http://store.mennomedia.org/Ephesians-P53.aspx|[http://store.mennomedia.org/Ephesians-P53.aspx''Ephesians'', by Thomas R. Yoder Neufeld (Believers Church Bible Commentary)]'']]<br />
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==Introduction==<br />
===Relevance===<br />
<br />
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.<br />
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. <br />
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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,” typically called “discipleship” (chapters 2 and 4). The historic emphasis on nonconformity and the costliness of discipleship will find an echo in the call to separation from darkness and the summons to do battle with evil (chapters 5 and 6). The central emphasis on Christ as peacemaker in chapter 2 quite clearly supports the peacemaking emphasis in the Anabaptist tradition. <br />
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On the other hand, both the stress on election and divine initiative in chapter 1 and the view of 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 to 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 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.<br />
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Whatever the challenges Ephesians puts to the Anabaptist tradition, the core commitment to listen to the Bible as the word of 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 it palatable, or to serve a 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 for God’s word, and second, to open a way for the community to bring its agenda to the scriptural text. That said, every commentator and every reader comes to the Bible with eyes and ears shaped in and by a culture or community. The tendency, often unconscious, is then to tailor the text to fit already existing needs, desires, and convictions. As commentators and readers, we have no recourse other than to take the prayer in chapters 1 and 3 to be for us—a prayer for wisdom and a spirit of revelation so we can grasp the height and depth, the width and length, and, most important, the love of God in Christ Jesus for us and for the whole cosmos.<br />
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===Authorship, Date, and Historical Context===<br />
<br />
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?<br />
<br />
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.<br />
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?<br />
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Many commentators, including myself, think that these and other factors point to the likelihood that Ephesians was written after Paul’s death in his name. A date toward the end of the first century is generally accepted by those taking this position. Given how long Paul had worked in Ephesus (Acts 20:31 says three years), that city may well have become a magnet for Pauline study and reflection, a center for a Pauline “school.” The letter may thus have even emerged in Ephesus, rather than being addressed to Ephesus. We cannot know that, of course, but we likely on safest ground to think of Ephesians as emerging somewhere within the environs of Paul’s mission in Asia Minor and intended for a wide readership in that orbit. The commentary explores carefully the relatively common practice of writing in the name of a revered teacher, and thus under his authority (and indirect authorship). There is no good reason to allow the question of exactly who put pen to parchment to minimize the enormous value Ephesians holds for the church, or its status as a jewel in the canonical crown.<br />
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It may even be that placing the letter in the second half of the first century opens it up to interpretive possibilities that touch on church life today. The end of the first century was a time of great turbulence and change in early Christian communities, not least in Pauline churches. Christians struggled over the ongoing relevance of the Law, a major issue in Jewish-Gentile relations within the church. Further, the fact that Jesus did not return as soon as or in the way they initially expected challenged their faith significantly. Some prized the salvation that enlightenment and spirituality bring now; others anticipated keenly what God would do in the future. <br />
These and other highly divisive issues have left their mark on New Testament writings, including Ephesians. Chapters 2 and 3, for example, address the issue of Jewish-Gentile unity and peace as central to God’s work in the world. Second, no New Testament writing, with the possible exception of the Gospel of John, places as much value on knowledge (gnosis; e.g., 1:15-23; 3:14-21). In the second century, motifs from Ephesians such as “fullness” (pleroma; 1:23; 3:19), the “heavenlies” (e.g., 1:3; 2:6), the descent and ascent of the Savior (4:8-10), the perfect man (4:13), and the holy marriage between Christ and believer (5:25-32), would find a ready home in gnostic writings. At the same time, there are features in Ephesians that would have been appreciated just as likely by those who held to Paul’s apocalyptic teachings. Note, for example, the letter’s depiction of the world in darkness and under control of evil powers (e.g., 2:1-3; 6:12), sinners awaiting the wrath of God (5:5-7), the battle against evil cosmic powers (6:10-20), and the anticipation of the day of redemption (4:30). <br />
<br />
Rather than reading Ephesians either through a “gnostic” or “apocalyptic” lens, as commentators have often done, or to think of it as theologically inconsistent or confused, I propose that we see the author’s theology as itself an act of peacemaking—peacemaking as “ingathering” (1:10). As such, Ephesians provides an important precedent for a theology that “spares no effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the chain of peace” (4:3). <br />
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In its reflective quality, as well as in its engagement with the prophetic legacy of the apostle Paul, Ephesians is less prophecy than theological reflection on prophecy. I see it as part of the long tradition of biblical wisdom. That makes it no less inspired, revelatory, or authoritative. Its ground is the foundation of the apostles and prophets, its focal point the headstone, Christ, and its edifice the result of the collaborative ministry of the saints (2:20; 4:12-16).<br />
<br />
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.<br />
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===Form and Rhetoric===<br />
<br />
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.<br />
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That quality of reflection characterizes the letter’s structure. It is divided into two equal parts. The first, chapters 1-3, is focused in a celebratory and worshipful way on God’s work as creator and savior “in Christ,” a typical way in which Jesus as Messiah is the one in and through whom God is at work making peace with humanity, The second part, chapters 4-6, exhorts beneficiaries of God’s peacemaking to respond appropriately, to “walk in a way that is worthy” of their calling as sons and daughters of God. <br />
The first half of the letter places both creation and peace quite literally at the center of the celebrative and worshipful rehearsal of God’s grace at work. The author, whether that be Paul or one his followers, uses a device seen frequently in ancient literature, including the Bible, namely, “chiasmus,” or “chiasm.” It derives from the Greek letter chi, which looks like an “X”. The various parts correspond to each other, sometimes by contrast, other times by word association or similarity of theme, drawing ever closer to the focal centre, which, in the case of Ephesians, is a hymn or poem celebrating Christ as “our peace.” Peace is quite literally the centre piece of God’s activity as Creator and Saviour. The Messiah makes peace between Jews and Gentiles, and between them both and God, by “killing enmity” through his own death on the cross, and by creating in his own body a “new human,” made up of those who were once strangers and enemies of each other. <br />
<br />
:A Eulogy—in praise of God 1:3-14<br />
:: B Thanksgiving and Prayer for church 1:15-23<br />
::: C Salvation for both Jews and Gentiles 2:1-10<br />
:::: D Christ is our peace 2:11-22<br />
:::::a Once strangers and godless aliens 2:11, 12<br />
:::::: b Christ brought the far near through his blood 2:13<br />
::::::: c Christ is “our peace” 2:14-16<br />
:::::: b1 Christ preached peace to the far and the near 2:17-18<br />
::::: a1 No longer strangers, but at home with God 2:19-22<br />
::: C1 Salvation for both Jews and Gentiles 3:1-13<br />
:: B1 Prayer for church resumed 3:14-19<br />
:A1 Doxology—in praise of God 3:20-21<br />
<br />
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). <br />
<br />
==Summary and Comment==<br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
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). <br />
<br />
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. <br />
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'''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. <br />
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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. <br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
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). <br />
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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'''). <br />
<br />
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.<br />
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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.” <br />
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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.<br />
<br />
==Conclusion==<br />
<br />
The vision informing this letter is thoroughly—<br><br />
*Theocentric—God as “Father” and Creator is before all (1:3-14), above all, through all, and in all (4:6);<br><br />
*Christocentric—it is “in and through Christ” who is “our peace” that God is “gathering up all things” (1:10; 2:14-16);<br><br />
*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><br />
*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. <br />
<Br><br />
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. <br />
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I quote from the commentary as a way to summarize the gist of this grand letter to the Ephesians (p.19): <br />
<br />
: 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.<br />
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==Recommended Essays from the Commentary==<br />
<br />
Apocalypticism <br><br />
Authorship <br><br />
Cosmology of Ephesians <br><br />
Gnosticism<br><br />
[["Head" (in Ephesians)|“Head”]] <br><br />
"In"<br><br />
Pauline Letter Structure<br><br />
[[Powers (in Ephesians)|Powers]] <br><br />
[[Pseudepigraphy (in Ephesians)|Pseudepigraphy]] <br><br />
[[Wisdom (in Ephesians)|Wisdom]]<br />
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==Bibliography==<br />
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I recommend a number of the many commentaries on Ephesians, including those emerging out of the believers church and Anabaptist communities:<br />
<br />
*Arnold, Clinton E., ''Ephesians'' (ZECNT; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010). A prolific scholar with roots in the Mennonite Brethren community, and now an ordained Baptist minister and seminary dean, Arnold combines careful biblical scholarship with deep pastoral familiarity with “spiritual warfare,” which gives his work on the “powers” a distinct perspective from that influenced by the Yoder/Wink school of interpretation. While my commentary benefitted from his copious scholarship, his commentary emerged well after mine. <br />
*Barth, Markus. ''Ephesians: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary on Chapters 1-3; Chapters 4-6'' (Anchor Bible Commentary; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1974). This two-volume work is a mine of information and theologically informed opinion. Barth insists that Ephesians was authored by Paul himself.<br />
*Best, Ernest. ''Ephesians'' (International Critical Commentary; Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1998). Best often takes positions against prevailing opinion. In his view, Ephesians represents a shift of focus from mission to the world to inner-directed concerns for church preservation and order, a decidedly different interpretation from mine.<br />
*Harold W. Hoehner, ''Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary'' (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002). An exhaustive treatment of Ephesians, including a careful weighing of evidence regarding authorship, my commentary did not benefit from engagement with it. Hoehner vigorously defends the Pauline authorship of Ephesians. <br />
*Lincoln, Andrew T. ''Ephesians'' (Word Biblical Commentary. Dallas, TX: Word Books, 1990. In my opinion one of the best commentaries on Ephesians, Lincoln represents both critical and evangelical sensibilities, making his commentary both technically and theologically deeply satisfying.<br />
*Martin, Ralph P. ''Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon: Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching'' (Atlanta: John Knox, 1991. A lively and engaging commentary for preachers and teachers in the church by a foremost evangelical biblical scholar.<br />
*Penner, Erwin. ''The Power of God in a Broken World: Studies in Ephesians'' (Luminaire Studies; Winnipeg, MB/ Hillsboro, KS: Kindred, 1990). A pastorally perceptive commentary accessible to the lay reader by a Mennonite Brethren scholar.<br />
*Perkins, Pheme. ''Ephesians''. ANTC; Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1997. Perkin’s commentary is concise and lucid. A Roman Catholic scholar, her commentary is particularly useful in identifying the links between Ephesians and the Dead Sea Scrolls.<br />
*Roberts, Mark D. ''Ephesians'' (The Story of God Bible Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016). A very recent evangelical commentary by a long-term pastor, professor, and consultant, this commentary is a mine of insight rooted in both the best of scholarship and pastoral experience and relevance. <br />
*Russell, Letty M. ''Imitators of God: A Study Book on Ephesians''. New York, NY: Mission Education and Cultivation Program Department, General Board of Global Ministries, 1984. Rather difficult to come by, this commentary by a pioneering feminist scholar is a model of connecting scholarship to the real life of believers.<br />
*Schnackenburg, Rudolf. ''Ephesians: A Commentary'' (trans. 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. <br />
<br><br />
Those wishing to explore the passages in Ephesians that are implicated in contemporary debates about violence and the New Testament (e.g., the household code and the armor of God) may wish to consult my more recent exploration of those issues and the relevant scholarship: <br />
<br />
*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''), 97-108, 143-49.<br />
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== Invitation to Comment ==<br />
To recommend improvements to this article, [mailto:ljohns@ambs.edu click here].<br />
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{| border="1" style="text-align: right; color: green; background-color:#ffffcc; float: right" <br />
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<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]''' <br />
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[[file:BCBC_Ephesians2.jpg|frame|right|x310px|link=http://store.mennomedia.org/Ephesians-P53.aspx|[http://store.mennomedia.org/Ephesians-P53.aspx''Ephesians'', by Thomas R. Yoder Neufeld (Believers Church Bible Commentary)]'']]<br />
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<br />
==Introduction==<br />
===Relevance===<br />
<br />
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.<br />
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. <br />
<br />
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,” typically called “discipleship” (chapters 2 and 4). The historic emphasis on nonconformity and the costliness of discipleship will find an echo in the call to separation from darkness and the summons to do battle with evil (chapters 5 and 6). The central emphasis on Christ as peacemaker in chapter 2 quite clearly supports the peacemaking emphasis in the Anabaptist tradition. <br />
<br />
On the other hand, both the stress on election and divine initiative in chapter 1 and the view of 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 to 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 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.<br />
<br />
Whatever the challenges Ephesians puts to the Anabaptist tradition, the core commitment to listen to the Bible as the word of 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 it palatable, or to serve a 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 for God’s word, and second, to open a way for the community to bring its agenda to the scriptural text. That said, every commentator and every reader comes to the Bible with eyes and ears shaped in and by a culture or community. The tendency, often unconscious, is then to tailor the text to fit already existing needs, desires, and convictions. As commentators and readers, we have no recourse other than to take the prayer in chapters 1 and 3 to be for us—a prayer for wisdom and a spirit of revelation so we can grasp the height and depth, the width and length, and, most important, the love of God in Christ Jesus for us and for the whole cosmos.<br />
<br />
===Authorship, Date, and Historical Context===<br />
<br />
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?<br />
<br />
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.<br />
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?<br />
<br />
Many commentators, including myself, think that these and other factors point to the likelihood that Ephesians was written after Paul’s death in his name. A date toward the end of the first century is generally accepted by those taking this position. Given how long Paul had worked in Ephesus (Acts 20:31 says three years), that city may well have become a magnet for Pauline study and reflection, a center for a Pauline “school.” The letter may thus have even emerged in Ephesus, rather than being addressed to Ephesus. We cannot know that, of course, but we likely on safest ground to think of Ephesians as emerging somewhere within the environs of Paul’s mission in Asia Minor and intended for a wide readership in that orbit. The commentary explores carefully the relatively common practice of writing in the name of a revered teacher, and thus under his authority (and indirect authorship). There is no good reason to allow the question of exactly who put pen to parchment to minimize the enormous value Ephesians holds for the church, or its status as a jewel in the canonical crown.<br />
<br />
It may even be that placing the letter in the second half of the first century opens it up to interpretive possibilities that touch on church life today. The end of the first century was a time of great turbulence and change in early Christian communities, not least in Pauline churches. Christians struggled over the ongoing relevance of the Law, a major issue in Jewish-Gentile relations within the church. Further, the fact that Jesus did not return as soon as or in the way they initially expected challenged their faith significantly. Some prized the salvation that enlightenment and spirituality bring now; others anticipated keenly what God would do in the future. <br />
These and other highly divisive issues have left their mark on New Testament writings, including Ephesians. Chapters 2 and 3, for example, address the issue of Jewish-Gentile unity and peace as central to God’s work in the world. Second, no New Testament writing, with the possible exception of the Gospel of John, places as much value on knowledge (gnosis; e.g., 1:15-23; 3:14-21). In the second century, motifs from Ephesians such as “fullness” (pleroma; 1:23; 3:19), the “heavenlies” (e.g., 1:3; 2:6), the descent and ascent of the Savior (4:8-10), the perfect man (4:13), and the holy marriage between Christ and believer (5:25-32), would find a ready home in gnostic writings. At the same time, there are features in Ephesians that would have been appreciated just as likely by those who held to Paul’s apocalyptic teachings. Note, for example, the letter’s depiction of the world in darkness and under control of evil powers (e.g., 2:1-3; 6:12), sinners awaiting the wrath of God (5:5-7), the battle against evil cosmic powers (6:10-20), and the anticipation of the day of redemption (4:30). <br />
<br />
Rather than reading Ephesians either through a “gnostic” or “apocalyptic” lens, as commentators have often done, or to think of it as theologically inconsistent or confused, I propose that we see the author’s theology as itself an act of peacemaking—peacemaking as “ingathering” (1:10). As such, Ephesians provides an important precedent for a theology that “spares no effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the chain of peace” (4:3). <br />
<br />
In its reflective quality, as well as in its engagement with the prophetic legacy of the apostle Paul, Ephesians is less prophecy than theological reflection on prophecy. I see it as part of the long tradition of biblical wisdom. That makes it no less inspired, revelatory, or authoritative. Its ground is the foundation of the apostles and prophets, its focal point the headstone, Christ, and its edifice the result of the collaborative ministry of the saints (2:20; 4:12-16).<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
===Form and Rhetoric===<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
That quality of reflection characterizes the letter’s structure. It is divided into two equal parts. The first, chapters 1-3, is focused in a celebratory and worshipful way on God’s work as creator and savior “in Christ,” a typical way in which Jesus as Messiah is the one in and through whom God is at work making peace with humanity, The second part, chapters 4-6, exhorts beneficiaries of God’s peacemaking to respond appropriately, to “walk in a way that is worthy” of their calling as sons and daughters of God. <br />
The first half of the letter places both creation and peace quite literally at the center of the celebrative and worshipful rehearsal of God’s grace at work. The author, whether that be Paul or one his followers, uses a device seen frequently in ancient literature, including the Bible, namely, “chiasmus,” or “chiasm.” It derives from the Greek letter chi, which looks like an “X”. The various parts correspond to each other, sometimes by contrast, other times by word association or similarity of theme, drawing ever closer to the focal centre, which, in the case of Ephesians, is a hymn or poem celebrating Christ as “our peace.” Peace is quite literally the centre piece of God’s activity as Creator and Saviour. The Messiah makes peace between Jews and Gentiles, and between them both and God, by “killing enmity” through his own death on the cross, and by creating in his own body a “new human,” made up of those who were once strangers and enemies of each other. <br />
<br />
:A Eulogy—in praise of God 1:3-14<br />
:: B Thanksgiving and Prayer for church 1:15-23<br />
::: C Salvation for both Jews and Gentiles 2:1-10<br />
:::: D Christ is our peace 2:11-22<br />
:::::a Once strangers and godless aliens 2:11, 12<br />
:::::: b Christ brought the far near through his blood 2:13<br />
::::::: c Christ is “our peace” 2:14-16<br />
:::::: b1 Christ preached peace to the far and the near 2:17-18<br />
::::: a1 No longer strangers, but at home with God 2:19-22<br />
::: C1 Salvation for both Jews and Gentiles 3:1-13<br />
:: B1 Prayer for church resumed 3:14-19<br />
:A1 Doxology—in praise of God 3:20-21<br />
<br />
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). <br />
<br />
==Summary and Comment==<br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
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). <br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
'''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. <br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
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). <br />
<br />
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'''). <br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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.” <br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
==Conclusion==<br />
<br />
The vision informing this letter is thoroughly—<br><br />
*Theocentric—God as “Father” and Creator is before all (1:3-14), above all, through all, and in all (4:6);<br><br />
*Christocentric—it is “in and through Christ” who is “our peace” that God is “gathering up all things” (1:10; 2:14-16);<br><br />
*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><br />
*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. <br />
<Br><br />
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. <br />
<br />
I quote from the commentary as a way to summarize the gist of this grand letter to the Ephesians (p.19): <br />
<br />
: 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.<br />
<br />
==Recommended Essays from the Commentary==<br />
<br />
Apocalypticism <br><br />
Authorship <br><br />
Cosmology of Ephesians <br><br />
Gnosticism<br><br />
[["Head" (in Ephesians)|“Head”]] <br><br />
"In"<br><br />
Pauline Letter Structure<br><br />
[[Powers (in Ephesians)|Powers]] <br><br />
[[Pseudepigraphy (in Ephesians)|Pseudepigraphy]] <br><br />
[[Wisdom (in Ephesians)|Wisdom]]<br />
<br />
==Bibliography==<br />
<br />
I recommend a number of the many commentaries on Ephesians, including those emerging out of the believers church and Anabaptist communities:<br />
<br />
*Arnold, Clinton E., ''Ephesians'' (ZECNT; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010). A prolific scholar with roots in the Mennonite Brethren community, and now an ordained Baptist minister and seminary dean, Arnold combines careful biblical scholarship with deep pastoral familiarity with “spiritual warfare,” which gives his work on the “powers” a distinct perspective from that influenced by the Yoder/Wink school of interpretation. While my commentary benefitted from his copious scholarship, his commentary emerged well after mine. <br />
*Barth, Markus. ''Ephesians: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary on Chapters 1-3; Chapters 4-6'' (Anchor Bible Commentary; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1974). This two-volume work is a mine of information and theologically informed opinion. Barth insists that Ephesians was authored by Paul himself.<br />
*Best, Ernest. '''Ephesians''' (International Critical Commentary; Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1998). Best often takes positions against prevailing opinion. In his view, Ephesians represents a shift of focus from mission to the world to inner-directed concerns for church preservation and order, a decidedly different interpretation from mine.<br />
*Harold W. Hoehner, '''Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary''' (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002). An exhaustive treatment of Ephesians, including a careful weighing of evidence regarding authorship, my commentary did not benefit from engagement with it. Hoehner vigorously defends the Pauline authorship of Ephesians. <br />
*Lincoln, Andrew T. '''Ephesians''' (Word Biblical Commentary. Dallas, TX: Word Books, 1990. In my opinion one of the best commentaries on Ephesians, Lincoln represents both critical and evangelical sensibilities, making his commentary both technically and theologically deeply satisfying.<br />
*Martin, Ralph P. ''Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon: Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching'' (Atlanta: John Knox, 1991. A lively and engaging commentary for preachers and teachers in the church by a foremost evangelical biblical scholar.<br />
*Penner, Erwin. '''The Power of God in a Broken World: Studies in Ephesians''' (Luminaire Studies; Winnipeg, MB/ Hillsboro, KS: Kindred, 1990). A pastorally perceptive commentary accessible to the lay reader by a Mennonite Brethren scholar.<br />
*Perkins, Pheme. ''Ephesians''. ANTC; Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1997. Perkin’s commentary is concise and lucid. A Roman Catholic scholar, her commentary is particularly useful in identifying the links between Ephesians and the Dead Sea Scrolls.<br />
*Roberts, Mark D. '''Ephesians''' (The Story of God Bible Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016). A very recent evangelical commentary by a long-term pastor, professor, and consultant, this commentary is a mine of insight rooted in both the best of scholarship and pastoral experience and relevance. <br />
*Russell, Letty M. ''Imitators of God: A Study Book on Ephesians''. New York, NY: Mission Education and Cultivation Program Department, General Board of Global Ministries, 1984. Rather difficult to come by, this commentary by a pioneering feminist scholar is a model of connecting scholarship to the real life of believers.<br />
*Schnackenburg, Rudolf. ''Ephesians: A Commentary'' (trans. 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. <br />
<br><br />
Those wishing to explore the passages in Ephesians that are implicated in contemporary debates about violence and the New Testament (e.g., the household code and the armor of God) may wish to consult my more recent exploration of those issues and the relevant scholarship: <br />
<br />
*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''), 97-108, 143-49.<br />
<br />
== Invitation to Comment ==<br />
To recommend improvements to this article, [mailto:ljohns@ambs.edu click here].<br />
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{| border="1" style="text-align: right; color: green; background-color:#ffffcc; float: right" <br />
|—'''''[[Thomas R. Yoder Neufeld]]''''' <br />
|}</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Satan_(in_2_Corinthians)&diff=17891Satan (in 2 Corinthians)2017-07-25T09:26:11Z<p>BenEB: add citation</p>
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<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]''' <br />
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[[file:BCBC_2Corinthians2.jpg|frame|right|x310px|link=http://store.mennomedia.org/2-Corinthians-P286.aspx|[http://store.mennomedia.org/2-Corinthians-P286.aspx''2 Corinthians'', by V. George Shillington (Believers Church Bible Commentary)]'']]<br />
Paul mentions the figure of Satan at three points in 2 Corinthians. At 2:11 he counsels the congregation to forgive the wrongdoer in order to avoid the tricks of Satan. At 11:14 he characterizes his opponents as ministers of Satan disguised as ministers of righteousness. At 12:7 he views his ''thorn in the flesh'' as a ''messenger of Satan'' to keep him from being too elated. Satan is also connected with the name of ''Beliar'', in the inserted text of 6:14—7:1 (cf. Jub. 1:20; Test. Dan 1:7: 3:6; Fitzmyer, 1971:205217, on Dead Sea Scrolls).<br />
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Paul inherited his view of Satan from his Jewish tradition. The Greek term (''Satana'') is a carryover from the Hebrew (''ha'')-''satan''. The Greek version (LXX) rarely uses this term. When it does, the meaning denotes an ''adversary'' on the earthly plain, as in 1 Kings 11:14, where Hadad of Edom is Solomon's ''adversary'' (''satanas''; cf. Sirach 21:27). The sense is that the adversary is like an accusing prosecutor in a court (''TDNT'', 2:73). Where the archenemy of God is in view, the LXX renders (''ha'')-''satan'' with the Greek ''ho diabolos''. This Greek term, like its Hebrew counterpart, (''ha'')-''satan'', denotes an evil figure opposed to the will of God, and standing again like a prosecutor in God's court (''TDNT'', 7:151163). Depending on the context, such a figure could be called in English: Accuser, Adversary, or Devil. This is the same figure that provoked David to number Israel (1 Chron. 21:1); Job suffers under his power (Job 1:6—2:7); the same ''Satan'' resists the high priest in the reestablishing of the remnant in Israel (Zech. 3:1; cf. Ps. 109:6). In each of these instances in the OT, the ''Satan'' figure is not a demon of the underworld totally separated from the court of the Lord. On the contrary, Satan is seen in the same judicial assembly with the Lord, discussing the destiny of the people of God in the world. Satan's chief aim in these texts is to oppose the Lord of Israel (''TDNT'', 2:7375).<br />
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This sinister yet lordly figure appears under other titles in the OT. One of the less notable references to the rival of God appears in the priestly text of Leviticus 16 under the name Azazel (traditionally translated "scapegoat"). Here Aaron the priest presents a goat to the Lord and another to Azazel. He puts the sins of the people on the goat dedicated to Azazel. That goat is led out of the camp into the desert and handed over to Azazel for destruction, to rid God's holy community of its iniquities. In later Judaism, this figure of Azazel became identified with the arch opponent of God, otherwise known as Satan (Grabbe: 152f.).<br />
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Another name for the figure opposed to God occurs at Isaiah 14. In that prophecy the figure comes through as a high angelic being under the name "Lucifer" (KJV), meaning "Day Star, son of the Dawn." Embodied in the evil king of Babylon, his ambition in Isaiah 14 is to raise his throne "above the stars of God" and to make himself like the Most High (14:1214).<br />
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The same negative character from the other world and invading this world bears the name ''Belial'' or ''Beliar''. In almost all the texts in which his name appears in the OT, Belial begets children like himself. These lawless persons think and act like their progenitor "Belial" (KJV: Deut. 13:13; Judg. 19:22; 20:13; 1 Sam. 30:22; 2 Sam. 16:7; cf. John 8:4244; Col. 3:6. KJV; 1 John 3:810).<br />
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How do Paul's images of Satan in 2 Corinthians match these from his Scripture? Taking the name Belial/Beliar first, the rhetorical questions of 2 Corinthians 6:1416 assume that those who participate in Beliar bear his image, just as the participants in Christ bear the image of Christ. A person cannot participate in both at the same time (cf. 1 Cor. 10:21). This image is consistent with the prevailing notion from the OT that Beliar has his offspring. who do his will by nature.<br />
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Second, the beguiling character of Satan in the OT comes through in every reference in 2 Corinthians. Forgiveness prevents the kind of outwitting tricks Satan played on David (2:11). Satan's ministers opposing Paul are in disguise to deceive the Corinthians: they are in league with Lucifer, the Day Star, ''an angel of light'' (11:1415) who opposed God and fell from heaven (Isa. 12:14).<br />
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Finally, Satan torments Paul with the thorn in the flesh to keep him from being too elated (2 Cor. 12:7). This characterization of Satan carries a mild echo of the story of Job, who suffered at Satan's hand but was ultimately acquitted and restored.<br />
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The Azazel figure of the scapegoat tradition does not appear anywhere in 2 Corinthians, though it probably does lie behind 1 Corinthians 5:5. In that context, Paul consigns the incestuous man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh so that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. Here the echo resembles the figure of the destructive desert demon, Azazel, under the name Satan (see further in V. George Shillington, "Atonement Texture in 1 Corinthians 5.5”, ''JSNT'' (January 1999), 29–50; also Caird, 1994:107–111).<br />
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Paul believes that Satan's ultimate defeat was sealed by Jesus' death and resurrection, to be completed in the Day of the Lord (Col. 2:1415; Rom. 16:20; cf. Luke 10:18; John 12:3132: Rev. 12:712; 20:2, 10).<br />
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== Invitation to Comment ==<br />
To recommend improvements to this article, [mailto:ljohns@ambs.edu click here].<br />
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{| border="1" style="text-align: right; color: green; background-color:#ffffcc; float: right" <br />
|—'''''[[V. George Shillington]]''''' <br />
|}</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Ephesians&diff=17890Ephesians2017-07-25T09:21:53Z<p>BenEB: Added essay titles, created links to selected</p>
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<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]''' <br />
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[[file:BCBC_Ephesians2.jpg|frame|right|x310px|link=http://store.mennomedia.org/Ephesians-P53.aspx|[http://store.mennomedia.org/Ephesians-P53.aspx''Ephesians'', by Thomas R. Yoder Neufeld (Believers Church Bible Commentary)]'']]<br />
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==Introduction==<br />
===Relevance===<br />
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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.<br />
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. <br />
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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,” typically called “discipleship” (chapters 2 and 4). The historic emphasis on nonconformity and the costliness of discipleship will find an echo in the call to separation from darkness and the summons to do battle with evil (chapters 5 and 6). The central emphasis on Christ as peacemaker in chapter 2 quite clearly supports the peacemaking emphasis in the Anabaptist tradition. <br />
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On the other hand, both the stress on election and divine initiative in chapter 1 and the view of 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 to 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 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.<br />
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Whatever the challenges Ephesians puts to the Anabaptist tradition, the core commitment to listen to the Bible as the word of 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 it palatable, or to serve a 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 for God’s word, and second, to open a way for the community to bring its agenda to the scriptural text. That said, every commentator and every reader comes to the Bible with eyes and ears shaped in and by a culture or community. The tendency, often unconscious, is then to tailor the text to fit already existing needs, desires, and convictions. As commentators and readers, we have no recourse other than to take the prayer in chapters 1 and 3 to be for us—a prayer for wisdom and a spirit of revelation so we can grasp the height and depth, the width and length, and, most important, the love of God in Christ Jesus for us and for the whole cosmos.<br />
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===Authorship, Date, and Historical Context===<br />
<br />
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?<br />
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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.<br />
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?<br />
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Many commentators, including myself, think that these and other factors point to the likelihood that Ephesians was written after Paul’s death in his name. A date toward the end of the first century is generally accepted by those taking this position. Given how long Paul had worked in Ephesus (Acts 20:31 says three years), that city may well have become a magnet for Pauline study and reflection, a center for a Pauline “school.” The letter may thus have even emerged in Ephesus, rather than being addressed to Ephesus. We cannot know that, of course, but we likely on safest ground to think of Ephesians as emerging somewhere within the environs of Paul’s mission in Asia Minor and intended for a wide readership in that orbit. The commentary explores carefully the relatively common practice of writing in the name of a revered teacher, and thus under his authority (and indirect authorship). There is no good reason to allow the question of exactly who put pen to parchment to minimize the enormous value Ephesians holds for the church, or its status as a jewel in the canonical crown.<br />
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It may even be that placing the letter in the second half of the first century opens it up to interpretive possibilities that touch on church life today. The end of the first century was a time of great turbulence and change in early Christian communities, not least in Pauline churches. Christians struggled over the ongoing relevance of the Law, a major issue in Jewish-Gentile relations within the church. Further, the fact that Jesus did not return as soon as or in the way they initially expected challenged their faith significantly. Some prized the salvation that enlightenment and spirituality bring now; others anticipated keenly what God would do in the future. <br />
These and other highly divisive issues have left their mark on New Testament writings, including Ephesians. Chapters 2 and 3, for example, address the issue of Jewish-Gentile unity and peace as central to God’s work in the world. Second, no New Testament writing, with the possible exception of the Gospel of John, places as much value on knowledge (gnosis; e.g., 1:15-23; 3:14-21). In the second century, motifs from Ephesians such as “fullness” (pleroma; 1:23; 3:19), the “heavenlies” (e.g., 1:3; 2:6), the descent and ascent of the Savior (4:8-10), the perfect man (4:13), and the holy marriage between Christ and believer (5:25-32), would find a ready home in gnostic writings. At the same time, there are features in Ephesians that would have been appreciated just as likely by those who held to Paul’s apocalyptic teachings. Note, for example, the letter’s depiction of the world in darkness and under control of evil powers (e.g., 2:1-3; 6:12), sinners awaiting the wrath of God (5:5-7), the battle against evil cosmic powers (6:10-20), and the anticipation of the day of redemption (4:30). <br />
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Rather than reading Ephesians either through a “gnostic” or “apocalyptic” lens, as commentators have often done, or to think of it as theologically inconsistent or confused, I propose that we see the author’s theology as itself an act of peacemaking—peacemaking as “ingathering” (1:10). As such, Ephesians provides an important precedent for a theology that “spares no effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the chain of peace” (4:3). <br />
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In its reflective quality, as well as in its engagement with the prophetic legacy of the apostle Paul, Ephesians is less prophecy than theological reflection on prophecy. I see it as part of the long tradition of biblical wisdom. That makes it no less inspired, revelatory, or authoritative. Its ground is the foundation of the apostles and prophets, its focal point the headstone, Christ, and its edifice the result of the collaborative ministry of the saints (2:20; 4:12-16).<br />
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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.<br />
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===Form and Rhetoric===<br />
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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.<br />
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That quality of reflection characterizes the letter’s structure. It is divided into two equal parts. The first, chapters 1-3, is focused in a celebratory and worshipful way on God’s work as creator and savior “in Christ,” a typical way in which Jesus as Messiah is the one in and through whom God is at work making peace with humanity, The second part, chapters 4-6, exhorts beneficiaries of God’s peacemaking to respond appropriately, to “walk in a way that is worthy” of their calling as sons and daughters of God. <br />
The first half of the letter places both creation and peace quite literally at the center of the celebrative and worshipful rehearsal of God’s grace at work. The author, whether that be Paul or one his followers, uses a device seen frequently in ancient literature, including the Bible, namely, “chiasmus,” or “chiasm.” It derives from the Greek letter chi, which looks like an “X”. The various parts correspond to each other, sometimes by contrast, other times by word association or similarity of theme, drawing ever closer to the focal centre, which, in the case of Ephesians, is a hymn or poem celebrating Christ as “our peace.” Peace is quite literally the centre piece of God’s activity as Creator and Saviour. The Messiah makes peace between Jews and Gentiles, and between them both and God, by “killing enmity” through his own death on the cross, and by creating in his own body a “new human,” made up of those who were once strangers and enemies of each other. <br />
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:A Eulogy—in praise of God 1:3-14<br />
:: B Thanksgiving and Prayer for church 1:15-23<br />
::: C Salvation for both Jews and Gentiles 2:1-10<br />
:::: D Christ is our peace 2:11-22<br />
:::::a Once strangers and godless aliens 2:11, 12<br />
:::::: b Christ brought the far near through his blood 2:13<br />
::::::: c Christ is “our peace” 2:14-16<br />
:::::: b1 Christ preached peace to the far and the near 2:17-18<br />
::::: a1 No longer strangers, but at home with God 2:19-22<br />
::: C1 Salvation for both Jews and Gentiles 3:1-13<br />
:: B1 Prayer for church resumed 3:14-19<br />
:A1 Doxology—in praise of God 3:20-21<br />
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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). <br />
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==Summary and Comment==<br />
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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. <br />
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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). <br />
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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. <br />
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'''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. <br />
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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. <br />
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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. <br />
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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. <br />
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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). <br />
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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'''). <br />
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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.<br />
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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.” <br />
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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.<br />
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==Conclusion==<br />
<br />
The vision informing this letter is thoroughly—<br><br />
*Theocentric—God as “Father” and Creator is before all (1:3-14), above all, through all, and in all (4:6);<br><br />
*Christocentric—it is “in and through Christ” who is “our peace” that God is “gathering up all things” (1:10; 2:14-16);<br><br />
*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><br />
*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. <br />
<Br><br />
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. <br />
<br />
I quote from the commentary as a way to summarize the gist of this grand letter to the Ephesians (p.19): <br />
<br />
: 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.<br />
<br />
==Recommended Essays from the Commentary==<br />
<br />
Apocalypticism <br><br />
Authorship <br><br />
Cosmology of Ephesians <br><br />
Gnosticism<br><br />
[["Head" (in Ephesians)|“Head”]] <br><br />
"In"<br><br />
Pauline Letter Structure<br><br />
[[Powers (in Ephesians)|Powers]] <br><br />
[[Pseudepigraphy (in Ephesians)|Pseudepigraphy]] <br><br />
[[Wisdom (in Ephesians)|Wisdom]]<br />
<br />
==Bibliography==<br />
<br />
I recommend a number of the many commentaries on Ephesians, including those emerging out of the believers church and Anabaptist communities:<br />
<br />
*Arnold, Clinton E., ''Ephesians'' (ZECNT; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010). A prolific scholar with roots in the Mennonite Brethren community, and now an ordained Baptist minister and seminary dean, Arnold combines careful biblical scholarship with deep pastoral familiarity with “spiritual warfare,” which gives his work on the “powers” a distinct perspective from that influenced by the Yoder/Wink school of interpretation. While my commentary benefitted from his copious scholarship, his commentary emerged well after mine. <br />
*Barth, Markus. ''Ephesians: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary on Chapters 1-3; Chapters 4-6'' (Anchor Bible Commentary; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1974). This two-volume work is a mine of information and theologically informed opinion. Barth insists that Ephesians was authored by Paul himself.<br />
*Best, Ernest. '''Ephesians''' (International Critical Commentary; Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1998). Best often takes positions against prevailing opinion. In his view, Ephesians represents a shift of focus from mission to the world to inner-directed concerns for church preservation and order, a decidedly different interpretation from mine.<br />
*Harold W. Hoehner, '''Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary''' (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002). An exhaustive treatment of Ephesians, including a careful weighing of evidence regarding authorship, my commentary did not benefit from engagement with it. Hoehner vigorously defends the Pauline authorship of Ephesians. <br />
*Lincoln, Andrew T. '''Ephesians''' (Word Biblical Commentary. Dallas, TX: Word Books, 1990. In my opinion one of the best commentaries on Ephesians, Lincoln represents both critical and evangelical sensibilities, making his commentary both technically and theologically deeply satisfying.<br />
*Martin, Ralph P. ''Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon: Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching'' (Atlanta: John Knox, 1991. A lively and engaging commentary for preachers and teachers in the church by a foremost evangelical biblical scholar.<br />
*Penner, Erwin. '''The Power of God in a Broken World: Studies in Ephesians''' (Luminaire Studies; Winnipeg, MB/ Hillsboro, KS: Kindred, 1990). A pastorally perceptive commentary accessible to the lay reader by a Mennonite Brethren scholar.<br />
*Perkins, Pheme. ''Ephesians''. ANTC; Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1997. Perkin’s commentary is concise and lucid. A Roman Catholic scholar, her commentary is particularly useful in identifying the links between Ephesians and the Dead Sea Scrolls.<br />
*Roberts, Mark D. '''Ephesians''' (The Story of God Bible Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016). A very recent evangelical commentary by a long-term pastor, professor, and consultant, this commentary is a mine of insight rooted in both the best of scholarship and pastoral experience and relevance. <br />
*Russell, Letty M. ''Imitators of God: A Study Book on Ephesians''. New York, NY: Mission Education and Cultivation Program Department, General Board of Global Ministries, 1984. Rather difficult to come by, this commentary by a pioneering feminist scholar is a model of connecting scholarship to the real life of believers.<br />
*Schnackenburg, Rudolf. ''Ephesians: A Commentary'' (trans. 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. <br />
<br><br />
Those wishing to explore the passages in Ephesians that are implicated in contemporary debates about violence and the New Testament (e.g., the household code and the armor of God) may wish to consult my more recent exploration of those issues and the relevant scholarship: <br />
<br />
*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''), 97-108, 143-49.<br />
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|—'''''[[Thomas R. Yoder Neufeld]]''''' <br />
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<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]''' <br />
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[[file:BCBC_Ephesians2.jpg|frame|right|x310px|link=http://store.mennomedia.org/Ephesians-P53.aspx|[http://store.mennomedia.org/Ephesians-P53.aspx''Ephesians'', by Thomas R. Yoder Neufeld (Believers Church Bible Commentary)]'']]<br />
<br />
<br />
==Introduction==<br />
===Relevance===<br />
<br />
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.<br />
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. <br />
<br />
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,” typically called “discipleship” (chapters 2 and 4). The historic emphasis on nonconformity and the costliness of discipleship will find an echo in the call to separation from darkness and the summons to do battle with evil (chapters 5 and 6). The central emphasis on Christ as peacemaker in chapter 2 quite clearly supports the peacemaking emphasis in the Anabaptist tradition. <br />
<br />
On the other hand, both the stress on election and divine initiative in chapter 1 and the view of 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 to 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 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.<br />
<br />
Whatever the challenges Ephesians puts to the Anabaptist tradition, the core commitment to listen to the Bible as the word of 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 it palatable, or to serve a 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 for God’s word, and second, to open a way for the community to bring its agenda to the scriptural text. That said, every commentator and every reader comes to the Bible with eyes and ears shaped in and by a culture or community. The tendency, often unconscious, is then to tailor the text to fit already existing needs, desires, and convictions. As commentators and readers, we have no recourse other than to take the prayer in chapters 1 and 3 to be for us—a prayer for wisdom and a spirit of revelation so we can grasp the height and depth, the width and length, and, most important, the love of God in Christ Jesus for us and for the whole cosmos.<br />
<br />
===Authorship, Date, and Historical Context===<br />
<br />
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?<br />
<br />
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.<br />
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?<br />
<br />
Many commentators, including myself, think that these and other factors point to the likelihood that Ephesians was written after Paul’s death in his name. A date toward the end of the first century is generally accepted by those taking this position. Given how long Paul had worked in Ephesus (Acts 20:31 says three years), that city may well have become a magnet for Pauline study and reflection, a center for a Pauline “school.” The letter may thus have even emerged in Ephesus, rather than being addressed to Ephesus. We cannot know that, of course, but we likely on safest ground to think of Ephesians as emerging somewhere within the environs of Paul’s mission in Asia Minor and intended for a wide readership in that orbit. The commentary explores carefully the relatively common practice of writing in the name of a revered teacher, and thus under his authority (and indirect authorship). There is no good reason to allow the question of exactly who put pen to parchment to minimize the enormous value Ephesians holds for the church, or its status as a jewel in the canonical crown.<br />
<br />
It may even be that placing the letter in the second half of the first century opens it up to interpretive possibilities that touch on church life today. The end of the first century was a time of great turbulence and change in early Christian communities, not least in Pauline churches. Christians struggled over the ongoing relevance of the Law, a major issue in Jewish-Gentile relations within the church. Further, the fact that Jesus did not return as soon as or in the way they initially expected challenged their faith significantly. Some prized the salvation that enlightenment and spirituality bring now; others anticipated keenly what God would do in the future. <br />
These and other highly divisive issues have left their mark on New Testament writings, including Ephesians. Chapters 2 and 3, for example, address the issue of Jewish-Gentile unity and peace as central to God’s work in the world. Second, no New Testament writing, with the possible exception of the Gospel of John, places as much value on knowledge (gnosis; e.g., 1:15-23; 3:14-21). In the second century, motifs from Ephesians such as “fullness” (pleroma; 1:23; 3:19), the “heavenlies” (e.g., 1:3; 2:6), the descent and ascent of the Savior (4:8-10), the perfect man (4:13), and the holy marriage between Christ and believer (5:25-32), would find a ready home in gnostic writings. At the same time, there are features in Ephesians that would have been appreciated just as likely by those who held to Paul’s apocalyptic teachings. Note, for example, the letter’s depiction of the world in darkness and under control of evil powers (e.g., 2:1-3; 6:12), sinners awaiting the wrath of God (5:5-7), the battle against evil cosmic powers (6:10-20), and the anticipation of the day of redemption (4:30). <br />
<br />
Rather than reading Ephesians either through a “gnostic” or “apocalyptic” lens, as commentators have often done, or to think of it as theologically inconsistent or confused, I propose that we see the author’s theology as itself an act of peacemaking—peacemaking as “ingathering” (1:10). As such, Ephesians provides an important precedent for a theology that “spares no effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the chain of peace” (4:3). <br />
<br />
In its reflective quality, as well as in its engagement with the prophetic legacy of the apostle Paul, Ephesians is less prophecy than theological reflection on prophecy. I see it as part of the long tradition of biblical wisdom. That makes it no less inspired, revelatory, or authoritative. Its ground is the foundation of the apostles and prophets, its focal point the headstone, Christ, and its edifice the result of the collaborative ministry of the saints (2:20; 4:12-16).<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
===Form and Rhetoric===<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
That quality of reflection characterizes the letter’s structure. It is divided into two equal parts. The first, chapters 1-3, is focused in a celebratory and worshipful way on God’s work as creator and savior “in Christ,” a typical way in which Jesus as Messiah is the one in and through whom God is at work making peace with humanity, The second part, chapters 4-6, exhorts beneficiaries of God’s peacemaking to respond appropriately, to “walk in a way that is worthy” of their calling as sons and daughters of God. <br />
The first half of the letter places both creation and peace quite literally at the center of the celebrative and worshipful rehearsal of God’s grace at work. The author, whether that be Paul or one his followers, uses a device seen frequently in ancient literature, including the Bible, namely, “chiasmus,” or “chiasm.” It derives from the Greek letter chi, which looks like an “X”. The various parts correspond to each other, sometimes by contrast, other times by word association or similarity of theme, drawing ever closer to the focal centre, which, in the case of Ephesians, is a hymn or poem celebrating Christ as “our peace.” Peace is quite literally the centre piece of God’s activity as Creator and Saviour. The Messiah makes peace between Jews and Gentiles, and between them both and God, by “killing enmity” through his own death on the cross, and by creating in his own body a “new human,” made up of those who were once strangers and enemies of each other. <br />
<br />
:A Eulogy—in praise of God 1:3-14<br />
:: B Thanksgiving and Prayer for church 1:15-23<br />
::: C Salvation for both Jews and Gentiles 2:1-10<br />
:::: D Christ is our peace 2:11-22<br />
:::::a Once strangers and godless aliens 2:11, 12<br />
:::::: b Christ brought the far near through his blood 2:13<br />
::::::: c Christ is “our peace” 2:14-16<br />
:::::: b1 Christ preached peace to the far and the near 2:17-18<br />
::::: a1 No longer strangers, but at home with God 2:19-22<br />
::: C1 Salvation for both Jews and Gentiles 3:1-13<br />
:: B1 Prayer for church resumed 3:14-19<br />
:A1 Doxology—in praise of God 3:20-21<br />
<br />
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). <br />
<br />
==Summary and Comment==<br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
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). <br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
'''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. <br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
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). <br />
<br />
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'''). <br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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.” <br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
==Conclusion==<br />
<br />
The vision informing this letter is thoroughly—<br><br />
*Theocentric—God as “Father” and Creator is before all (1:3-14), above all, through all, and in all (4:6);<br><br />
*Christocentric—it is “in and through Christ” who is “our peace” that God is “gathering up all things” (1:10; 2:14-16);<br><br />
*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><br />
*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. <br />
<Br><br />
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. <br />
<br />
I quote from the commentary as a way to summarize the gist of this grand letter to the Ephesians (p.19): <br />
<br />
: 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.<br />
<br />
==Recommended Essays from the Commentary==<br />
<br />
“Head” <br><br />
Powers <br><br />
Pseudepigraphy <br><br />
Wisdom<br />
<br />
==Bibliography==<br />
<br />
I recommend a number of the many commentaries on Ephesians, including those emerging out of the believers church and Anabaptist communities:<br />
<br />
*Arnold, Clinton E., ''Ephesians'' (ZECNT; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010). A prolific scholar with roots in the Mennonite Brethren community, and now an ordained Baptist minister and seminary dean, Arnold combines careful biblical scholarship with deep pastoral familiarity with “spiritual warfare,” which gives his work on the “powers” a distinct perspective from that influenced by the Yoder/Wink school of interpretation. While my commentary benefitted from his copious scholarship, his commentary emerged well after mine. <br />
*Barth, Markus. ''Ephesians: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary on Chapters 1-3; Chapters 4-6'' (Anchor Bible Commentary; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1974). This two-volume work is a mine of information and theologically informed opinion. Barth insists that Ephesians was authored by Paul himself.<br />
*Best, Ernest. '''Ephesians''' (International Critical Commentary; Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1998). Best often takes positions against prevailing opinion. In his view, Ephesians represents a shift of focus from mission to the world to inner-directed concerns for church preservation and order, a decidedly different interpretation from mine.<br />
*Harold W. Hoehner, '''Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary''' (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002). An exhaustive treatment of Ephesians, including a careful weighing of evidence regarding authorship, my commentary did not benefit from engagement with it. Hoehner vigorously defends the Pauline authorship of Ephesians. <br />
*Lincoln, Andrew T. '''Ephesians''' (Word Biblical Commentary. Dallas, TX: Word Books, 1990. In my opinion one of the best commentaries on Ephesians, Lincoln represents both critical and evangelical sensibilities, making his commentary both technically and theologically deeply satisfying.<br />
*Martin, Ralph P. ''Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon: Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching'' (Atlanta: John Knox, 1991. A lively and engaging commentary for preachers and teachers in the church by a foremost evangelical biblical scholar.<br />
*Penner, Erwin. '''The Power of God in a Broken World: Studies in Ephesians''' (Luminaire Studies; Winnipeg, MB/ Hillsboro, KS: Kindred, 1990). A pastorally perceptive commentary accessible to the lay reader by a Mennonite Brethren scholar.<br />
*Perkins, Pheme. ''Ephesians''. ANTC; Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1997. Perkin’s commentary is concise and lucid. A Roman Catholic scholar, her commentary is particularly useful in identifying the links between Ephesians and the Dead Sea Scrolls.<br />
*Roberts, Mark D. '''Ephesians''' (The Story of God Bible Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016). A very recent evangelical commentary by a long-term pastor, professor, and consultant, this commentary is a mine of insight rooted in both the best of scholarship and pastoral experience and relevance. <br />
*Russell, Letty M. ''Imitators of God: A Study Book on Ephesians''. New York, NY: Mission Education and Cultivation Program Department, General Board of Global Ministries, 1984. Rather difficult to come by, this commentary by a pioneering feminist scholar is a model of connecting scholarship to the real life of believers.<br />
*Schnackenburg, Rudolf. ''Ephesians: A Commentary'' (trans. 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. <br />
<br><br />
Those wishing to explore the passages in Ephesians that are implicated in contemporary debates about violence and the New Testament (e.g., the household code and the armor of God) may wish to consult my more recent exploration of those issues and the relevant scholarship: <br />
<br />
*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''), 97-108, 143-49.<br />
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{| border="1" style="text-align: right; color: green; background-color:#ffffcc; float: right" <br />
|—'''''[[Thomas R. Yoder Neufeld]]''''' <br />
|}</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Ephesians&diff=17888Ephesians2017-07-25T09:10:20Z<p>BenEB: Revised section</p>
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[[file:BCBC_Ephesians2.jpg|frame|right|x310px|link=http://store.mennomedia.org/Ephesians-P53.aspx|[http://store.mennomedia.org/Ephesians-P53.aspx''Ephesians'', by Thomas R. Yoder Neufeld (Believers Church Bible Commentary)]'']]<br />
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<br />
==Introduction==<br />
===Relevance===<br />
<br />
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.<br />
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. <br />
<br />
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,” typically called “discipleship” (chapters 2 and 4). The historic emphasis on nonconformity and the costliness of discipleship will find an echo in the call to separation from darkness and the summons to do battle with evil (chapters 5 and 6). The central emphasis on Christ as peacemaker in chapter 2 quite clearly supports the peacemaking emphasis in the Anabaptist tradition. <br />
<br />
On the other hand, both the stress on election and divine initiative in chapter 1 and the view of 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 to 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 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.<br />
<br />
Whatever the challenges Ephesians puts to the Anabaptist tradition, the core commitment to listen to the Bible as the word of 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 it palatable, or to serve a 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 for God’s word, and second, to open a way for the community to bring its agenda to the scriptural text. That said, every commentator and every reader comes to the Bible with eyes and ears shaped in and by a culture or community. The tendency, often unconscious, is then to tailor the text to fit already existing needs, desires, and convictions. As commentators and readers, we have no recourse other than to take the prayer in chapters 1 and 3 to be for us—a prayer for wisdom and a spirit of revelation so we can grasp the height and depth, the width and length, and, most important, the love of God in Christ Jesus for us and for the whole cosmos.<br />
<br />
===Authorship, Date, and Historical Context===<br />
<br />
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?<br />
<br />
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.<br />
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?<br />
<br />
Many commentators, including myself, think that these and other factors point to the likelihood that Ephesians was written after Paul’s death in his name. A date toward the end of the first century is generally accepted by those taking this position. Given how long Paul had worked in Ephesus (Acts 20:31 says three years), that city may well have become a magnet for Pauline study and reflection, a center for a Pauline “school.” The letter may thus have even emerged in Ephesus, rather than being addressed to Ephesus. We cannot know that, of course, but we likely on safest ground to think of Ephesians as emerging somewhere within the environs of Paul’s mission in Asia Minor and intended for a wide readership in that orbit. The commentary explores carefully the relatively common practice of writing in the name of a revered teacher, and thus under his authority (and indirect authorship). There is no good reason to allow the question of exactly who put pen to parchment to minimize the enormous value Ephesians holds for the church, or its status as a jewel in the canonical crown.<br />
<br />
It may even be that placing the letter in the second half of the first century opens it up to interpretive possibilities that touch on church life today. The end of the first century was a time of great turbulence and change in early Christian communities, not least in Pauline churches. Christians struggled over the ongoing relevance of the Law, a major issue in Jewish-Gentile relations within the church. Further, the fact that Jesus did not return as soon as or in the way they initially expected challenged their faith significantly. Some prized the salvation that enlightenment and spirituality bring now; others anticipated keenly what God would do in the future. <br />
These and other highly divisive issues have left their mark on New Testament writings, including Ephesians. Chapters 2 and 3, for example, address the issue of Jewish-Gentile unity and peace as central to God’s work in the world. Second, no New Testament writing, with the possible exception of the Gospel of John, places as much value on knowledge (gnosis; e.g., 1:15-23; 3:14-21). In the second century, motifs from Ephesians such as “fullness” (pleroma; 1:23; 3:19), the “heavenlies” (e.g., 1:3; 2:6), the descent and ascent of the Savior (4:8-10), the perfect man (4:13), and the holy marriage between Christ and believer (5:25-32), would find a ready home in gnostic writings. At the same time, there are features in Ephesians that would have been appreciated just as likely by those who held to Paul’s apocalyptic teachings. Note, for example, the letter’s depiction of the world in darkness and under control of evil powers (e.g., 2:1-3; 6:12), sinners awaiting the wrath of God (5:5-7), the battle against evil cosmic powers (6:10-20), and the anticipation of the day of redemption (4:30). <br />
<br />
Rather than reading Ephesians either through a “gnostic” or “apocalyptic” lens, as commentators have often done, or to think of it as theologically inconsistent or confused, I propose that we see the author’s theology as itself an act of peacemaking—peacemaking as “ingathering” (1:10). As such, Ephesians provides an important precedent for a theology that “spares no effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the chain of peace” (4:3). <br />
<br />
In its reflective quality, as well as in its engagement with the prophetic legacy of the apostle Paul, Ephesians is less prophecy than theological reflection on prophecy. I see it as part of the long tradition of biblical wisdom. That makes it no less inspired, revelatory, or authoritative. Its ground is the foundation of the apostles and prophets, its focal point the headstone, Christ, and its edifice the result of the collaborative ministry of the saints (2:20; 4:12-16).<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
===Form and Rhetoric===<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
That quality of reflection characterizes the letter’s structure. It is divided into two equal parts. The first, chapters 1-3, is focused in a celebratory and worshipful way on God’s work as creator and savior “in Christ,” a typical way in which Jesus as Messiah is the one in and through whom God is at work making peace with humanity, The second part, chapters 4-6, exhorts beneficiaries of God’s peacemaking to respond appropriately, to “walk in a way that is worthy” of their calling as sons and daughters of God. <br />
The first half of the letter places both creation and peace quite literally at the center of the celebrative and worshipful rehearsal of God’s grace at work. The author, whether that be Paul or one his followers, uses a device seen frequently in ancient literature, including the Bible, namely, “chiasmus,” or “chiasm.” It derives from the Greek letter chi, which looks like an “X”. The various parts correspond to each other, sometimes by contrast, other times by word association or similarity of theme, drawing ever closer to the focal centre, which, in the case of Ephesians, is a hymn or poem celebrating Christ as “our peace.” Peace is quite literally the centre piece of God’s activity as Creator and Saviour. The Messiah makes peace between Jews and Gentiles, and between them both and God, by “killing enmity” through his own death on the cross, and by creating in his own body a “new human,” made up of those who were once strangers and enemies of each other. <br />
<br />
:A Eulogy—in praise of God 1:3-14<br />
:: B Thanksgiving and Prayer for church 1:15-23<br />
::: C Salvation for both Jews and Gentiles 2:1-10<br />
:::: D Christ is our peace 2:11-22<br />
:::::a Once strangers and godless aliens 2:11, 12<br />
:::::: b Christ brought the far near through his blood 2:13<br />
::::::: c Christ is “our peace” 2:14-16<br />
:::::: b1 Christ preached peace to the far and the near 2:17-18<br />
::::: a1 No longer strangers, but at home with God 2:19-22<br />
::: C1 Salvation for both Jews and Gentiles 3:1-13<br />
:: B1 Prayer for church resumed 3:14-19<br />
:A1 Doxology—in praise of God 3:20-21<br />
<br />
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). <br />
<br />
==Summary and Comment==<br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
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). <br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
'''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. <br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
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). <br />
<br />
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'''). <br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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.” <br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
==Conclusion==<br />
<br />
The vision informing this letter is thoroughly—<br><br />
*Theocentric—God as “Father” and Creator is before all (1:3-14), above all, through all, and in all (4:6);<br><br />
*Christocentric—it is “in and through Christ” who is “our peace” that God is “gathering up all things” (1:10; 2:14-16);<br><br />
*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><br />
*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. <br />
<Br><br />
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. <br />
<br />
I quote from the commentary as a way to summarize the gist of this grand letter to the Ephesians (p.19): <br />
<br />
: 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.<br />
<br />
==Recommended Essays from the Commentary==<br />
<br />
“Head” <br><br />
Powers <br><br />
Pseudepigraphy <br><br />
Wisdom<br />
<br />
==Bibliography==<br />
<br />
I recommend a number of the many commentaries on Ephesians, including those emerging out of the believers church and Anabaptist communities:<br />
<br />
*Arnold, Clinton E., Ephesians (ZECNT; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010). A prolific scholar with roots in the Mennonite Brethren community, and now an ordained Baptist minister and seminary dean, Arnold combines careful biblical scholarship with deep pastoral familiarity with “spiritual warfare,” which gives his work on the “powers” a distinct perspective from that influenced by the Yoder/Wink school of interpretation. While my commentary benefitted from his copious scholarship, his commentary emerged well after mine. <br />
*Barth, Markus. Ephesians: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary on Chapters 1-3; Chapters 4-6 (Anchor Bible Commentary; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1974). This two-volume work is a mine of information and theologically informed opinion. Barth insists that Ephesians was authored by Paul himself.<br />
*Best, Ernest. Ephesians (International Critical Commentary; Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1998). Best often takes positions against prevailing opinion. In his view, Ephesians represents a shift of focus from mission to the world to inner-directed concerns for church preservation and order, a decidedly different interpretation from mine.<br />
*Harold W. Hoehner, Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002). An exhaustive treatment of Ephesians, including a careful weighing of evidence regarding authorship, my commentary did not benefit from engagement with it. Hoehner vigorously defends the Pauline authorship of Ephesians. <br />
*Lincoln, Andrew T. Ephesians (Word Biblical Commentary. Dallas, TX: Word Books, 1990. In my opinion one of the best commentaries on Ephesians, Lincoln represents both critical and evangelical sensibilities, making his commentary both technically and theologically deeply satisfying.<br />
*Martin, Ralph P. Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon: Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Atlanta: John Knox, 1991. A lively and engaging commentary for preachers and teachers in the church by a foremost evangelical biblical scholar.<br />
*Penner, Erwin. The Power of God in a Broken World: Studies in Ephesians (Luminaire Studies; Winnipeg, MB/ Hillsboro, KS: Kindred, 1990). A pastorally perceptive commentary accessible to the lay reader by a Mennonite Brethren scholar.<br />
*Perkins, Pheme Ephesians. ANTC; Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1997. Perkin’s commentary is concise and lucid. A Roman Catholic scholar, her commentary is particularly useful in identifying the links between Ephesians and the Dead Sea Scrolls.<br />
*Roberts, Mark D., Ephesians (The Story of God Bible Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016). A very recent evangelical commentary by a long-term pastor, professor, and consultant, this commentary is a mine of insight rooted in both the best of scholarship and pastoral experience and relevance. <br />
*Russell, Letty M. Imitators of God: A Study Book on Ephesians. New York, NY: Mission Education and Cultivation Program Department, General Board of Global Ministries, 1984. Rather difficult to come by, this commentary by a pioneering feminist scholar is a model of connecting scholarship to the real life of believers.<br />
*Schnackenburg, Rudolf. Ephesians: A Commentary (trans. 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. <br />
<br><br />
Those wishing to explore the passages in Ephesians that are implicated in contemporary debates about violence and the New Testament (e.g., the household code and the armour of God) may wish to consult my more recent exploration of those issues and the relevant scholarship: <br />
<br />
*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), 97-108, 143-49.<br />
<br />
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{| border="1" style="text-align: right; color: green; background-color:#ffffcc; float: right" <br />
|—'''''[[Thomas R. Yoder Neufeld]]''''' <br />
|}</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=1_%26_2_Thessalonians&diff=178871 & 2 Thessalonians2017-07-19T06:44:55Z<p>BenEB: /* Outline and Summary */</p>
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<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]''' <br />
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[[file:BCBC_1-2Thessalonians2.jpg|frame|right|x310px|link=http://store.mennomedia.org/1-2-Thessalonians-P283.aspx|[http://store.mennomedia.org/1-2-Thessalonians-P283.aspx''1 & 2 Thessalonians'', by Jacob W. Elias (Believers Church Bible Commentary)]'']]<br />
<br />
==1 Thessalonians==<br />
<br />
===Introduction===<br />
<br />
====Relevance to Believers Church====<br />
<br />
As a pastoral letter addressed to the first century church in Thessalonica, 1 Thessalonians seeks to equip its members for a life style characterized by faith, love and hope. The prevailing imperial ideology of devotion to the Roman Empire in the Mediterranean world required prayerful discernment about how their allegiance to Jesus Christ shapes their daily lives as individuals and a community within the empire. The proclamation of the Gospel by the apostle Paul had elicited their affirmation of the sovereignty of God and the Lordship of Christ. Their experience of estrangement and persecution as a result of the conflicting alignments between empire and the church elicits Paul’s pastoral instruction and encouragement. The Believers Church vision of communal life and mission resonates with Paul’s longing for the church to continue to be faithful within in the tensions they face. This faithfulness is inspired by Jesus’ faithfulness, even to the point of death on the imperial cross, and it is empowered by the Spirit of God.<br />
<br />
See essay: [[How Christian Communities Emerge (in 1 & 2 Thessalonians)|How Christian Communities Emerge]] (pp. 54-56)<br />
<br />
====Date, Setting, and Author====<br />
<br />
There is a remarkable consensus among scholars that 1 Thessalonians was written in about 50 CE, before any of the other writings that are included within the New Testament canon. It also deserves to be noted that this epistolary encounter between missionary pastors and this community was preceded by Timothy’s visit in Thessalonica to learn firsthand about events subsequent to Paul’s initial visit (1 Thess 3:1-10).<br />
<br />
First Thessalonians is addressed to a newly planted church in the Macedonian city of Thessalonica, a major metropolitan center strongly aligned with the Roman imperial powers. A minority Jewish population and the assembly of some Jews and Gentiles who acknowledged Jesus as Lord found themselves in a context where their allegiance to God tended to collide with imperial values and the civic cult of devotion to the emperor.<br />
<br />
See essay: [[Historical and Political Context (in 1 & 2 Thessalonians)|Historical and Political Context]]<br />
<br />
In conformity with letter-writing conventions in the Greco-Roman world of the first century CE the letter begins by naming the author. In 1 Thessalonians there are three. There has has been consensus among scholars that the primary author is the apostle Paul, although two of his partners are named as well: Silvanus, and Timothy. The dominant use of the first pronoun plural attests to the collegial nature of this epistle. Occasionally the pronoun “I” appears, ostensibly to give Paul the opportunity to speak with his own voice.<br />
<br />
See essay: [[Relationship Between 1 and 2 Thessalonians (in 1 & 2 Thessalonians)|Relationship Between 1 and 2 Thessalonians]]<br />
<br />
====Form====<br />
<br />
Paul wrote letters to congregations or individuals when he could not be personally present with them. In writing 1 Thessalonians he adapted the conventional Hellenistic letter form that prevailed in his day:<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
| 1:1 <br />
|Salutation: Sender, Recipient, Greeting<br />
|-<br />
|1:2-10 <br />
|Thanksgiving section<br />
|-<br />
|2:1-5:22 <br />
|Body of the Letter<br />
|-<br />
|5:23-28 <br />
|Letter closing<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
Each of these sections of the letter was adapted to address the community in ways tailored to their needs and situations. <br />
<br />
See essay: [[Epistolary Analysis (in 1 & 2 Thessalonians)|Epistolary Analysis]]<br />
<br />
===Outline and Summary===<br />
<br />
This outline of 1 Thessalonians shows how Paul employs this letter to speak to specific developments in the Thessalonian congregation. The themes of faith, love, and hope serve as a rubric to portray the progression of thought in this letter.<br />
<br />
See “Outline of 1 Thessalonians” pp. 340-341<br />
<br />
'''1:1.''' The '''salutation''' names the authors and recipients and concludes with the wish prayer, “Grace to you and peace.”<br />
<br />
'''1:2-10.''' Paul begins with '''thanksgiving'''. He expresses gratitude to God, specifically for how the members of this community had come to faith. When he mentions them in his prayers he remembers their faith and love and hope, and acknowledges their election. In telling the story of the emergence of this congregation, Paul highlights both how he and his partners reflect on their initial experience in Thessalonica and how the Thessalonians received the Gospel. Strikingly Paul deploys the motif of imitation: their affliction and joy mirror the path that the evangelists and Jesus himself had followed when they encountered persecution. Paul concludes the thanksgiving section of the letter in a summary of how past, present, and future are all wrapped into one grand vision of the reality of this Christian community: “You turned toward God away from idols, to serve the living and true God, and to await God’s Son from heaven, whom God raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the coming wrath.” (1:9-10)<br />
<br />
'''2:1-4:12.''' The main body of the letter continues, first, with retrospective comments about how Paul and his companions had conducted themselves during their initial visit ('''2:1-12'''). A series of disclaimers addresses the suspicion of some in Thessalonica that this missionary party was no different than hucksters among Cynic travelling philosophers: deceitful immoral tricksters, flatterers, money-grubbing egotistical seekers of fame and fortune. Knowing or suspecting that at least some in Thessalonica might have such suspicions, Paul reflects on the internal and external circumstances of their evangelistic visit in Thessalonica. He uses several family metaphors, referring to himself and his partners as apostolic babies, and as orphans, thereby underscoring their vulnerability. And Paul compares himself to a mother who cherishes her children and a father who nurtures and encourages them to live in conformity to God’s kingdom.<br />
<br />
Paul continues in '''2:13-16''' with another expression of gratitude and with reflections on how the suffering of the Thessalonians in their setting parallels what the churches in Judea were experiencing from their own kin. Wrath has come upon those who oppose believers in Judea, Paul asserts, apparently referring, as did the prophets, to some tragic event among Jews in Judea. (See Text in Biblical Context “Wrath” pp. 93-98)<br />
<br />
In '''2:17-3:13''' Paul reverts to a narrative mode, rehearsing the developments that prohibited Paul’s return to Thessalonica and led to the decision for Timothy to visit instead. A wish-prayer articulates both Paul’s longing to rejoin the Thessalonians and his eagerness for them to grow in love and be established in holy hopefulness.<br />
<br />
With a “finally, therefore, brothers and sisters” Paul moves to pastoral exhortation and encouragement (4:1-5:22). Thematically the section '''4:1-12''' continues to focus on love. Faithfulness within sexual relationships needs to be characterized by holiness, honor, and self-control. Responsible social and economic behavior within the community is marked by practical acts of love, a healthy work ethic, and the avoidance of the kind of meddlesome unruliness (often mistakenly understood as idleness) that leads to unhealthy reliance on others.<br />
<br />
'''4:13-5:22.''' In '''4:13-18''' Paul’s attention shifts to exhortation and encouragement to address the hopelessness linked to the suffering that believers in Thessalonica were experiencing. Some people had died, and those who were left behind struggled to understand what had happened. Paul seeks to reassure them by reminding them that Jesus’ faithfulness led to his death, but God raised him up. “Jesus died and arose” Paul reminds them, and he adds that God will also vindicate those whose faithfulness to God leads to suffering and martyrdom. To reassure and strengthen them, Paul deploys dramatic apocalyptic language and motifs. This use of apocalyptic imagery moved some of the early and later readers of this letter to propose a variety of end-time scenarios. A literalistic interpretation apocalyptic literature, such as the book of Daniel, typically leads to a misreading of the original intention. In the case of 1 Thess 4:13-18, the motif of coming (''parousia'') and meeting have clear political implications. There were times when the Roman Caesar travelled to major cities in the empire. In anticipation of the emperor’s coming civic leaders would mount cleanup and redecorating efforts along the parade routes and prepare residents of the city to welcome the emperor and shout their allegiance. They were invited to anticipate a future meeting of Caesar. Similar imagery is used when Paul invites the Thessalonian believers to anticipate that, when their Lord comes, they, and those who had suffered and died, would meet the Lord, not at the city gate but in the air. The purpose of such evocative imagery is to comfort the grieving and encourage the living with the good news of what God has done and will do through Jesus the Christ.<br />
<br />
In '''5:1-11''' Paul attempts to defuse speculation about the “times and seasons” related to the day of the Lord. He assures them that violent imperial military strategies intending to guarantee “peace and security” within the expansive Roman empire will inevitably lead to destruction. And he reminds them that, as those whose armor consists of the breastplate of faith and love and whose helmet is the hope of salvation, they will live with the Lord who died for them. As people committed to a life style of faith, hope, and love, they are reminded to encourage each other and build each other up.<br />
<br />
Admonitions and instructions about life and leadership within the faith community ('''5:12-22''') wrap up the letter. Some groups mentioned earlier in the letter are mentioned specifically: the unruly, the fainthearted, and the weak. More general encouragement urges people to pursue the welfare of all, including their enemies, and to let their lives be marked by rejoicing, prayer, and thanksgiving. Believers are urged to allow the Spirit of God to empower them and guide them in their life together.<br />
<br />
'''5:23-28.''' The letter closing begins with a wish prayer which reinforces the message of encouragement in 4:13-5:11 regarding “the coming (''parousia'') of our Lord Jesus Christ.” A request for prayer, several short admonitions, and a benediction conclude the letter. “God of peace” and “grace of our Lord Jesus Christ” recall the letter’s opening greeting, “Grace to you and peace.” God’s grace and peace constitute the big canvas on which the believers’ realities find their place.<br />
<br />
==2 Thessalonians==<br />
<br />
===Introduction===<br />
<br />
====Relevance to Believers Church====<br />
The second letter to the Thessalonian congregation is the continuation of pastoral encouragement for these believers to live a life marked by faith, love, and hope. Their faith and love had continued to increase but evidently they struggled to sustain hopefulness in the face of heightened opposition and suffering. Paul and his companions commend them for their ongoing steadfastness and faith, which give hope-inspiring evidence that indeed God does judge justly. On the other hand, Paul also feels compelled to correct the destabilizing exuberance with which some believers in Thessalonica (the unruly) claimed that the Day of the Lord had already come. The Believers Church has historically also demonstrated remarkable endurance in suffering, on one hand, while also at times yielding to an escapist enthusiasm for an end-time rescue from the world. <br />
<br />
====Date, Setting, and Author====<br />
<br />
Many scholars have concluded that 2 Thessalonians was written at some point during the last half of the first century CE. They argue that it was written in the name of Paul, Silvanus and Timothy. The parallel structures of the two letters and the distinct differences in vocabulary and tone have led to these conclusions. However, the real and perceived differences between 1 and 2 Thessalonians can all be understood in light of the new circumstances which emerged in Thessalonica following Paul’s initial visit and the writing of the first letter.<br />
<br />
See [[Relationship Between 1 and 2 Thessalonians (in 1 & 2 Thessalonians)|Relationship Between 1 and 2 Thessalonians]] <br />
<br />
Second Thessalonians is addressed to a congregation in the Macedonian city of Thessalonica, a major metropolitan center strongly aligned with the Roman imperial powers. <br />
<br />
====Form====<br />
<br />
In 2 Thessalonians the authors have adapted the conventional Hellenistic letter form for the purpose of offering pastoral encouragement and instruction from a distance: <br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable"<br />
|1:1-2 <br />
|Salutation: Sender, Recipient, Greeting<br />
|-<br />
|1:3-12 <br />
|Thanksgiving, with apocalyptic elaboration and an intercessory prayer report<br />
|-<br />
|2:1-3:15 <br />
|Body of the Letter, with several sub-sections: <br />
: Eschatological teaching (2:1-12)<br />
: Thanksgiving, Admonition, Wish prayer (2:13-17)<br />
: Pastoral instructions (3:1-15)<br />
|-<br />
|3:16-18 <br />
|Letter closing<br />
|}<br />
<br />
Each of these sections of the letter was adapted to address the community in ways tailored to their needs and situations.<br />
<br />
===Outline and Summary=== <br />
This outline of 2 Thessalonians demonstrates that Paul adapts the letter format to speak to specific developments in the Thessalonian congregation, especially related to their expectations concerning the Day of the Lord. <br />
<br />
See “Outline of 2 Thessalonians” pp. 342-343<br />
<br />
'''1:1-2.''' The '''salutation''' names the authors and recipients and concludes with an expanded prayer for grace and peace.”<br />
<br />
'''1:3-12.''' The '''thanksgiving''' here has a more reserved tone than in the first letter, likely because of escalating opposition from without and a disturbing unruliness within. Thanksgiving for their faith and love segues into an apocalyptic elaboration about God’s judgment. Faithful endurance under persecution is rooted in the confidence that ultimately God will vindicate the faithful. In the end, God’s justice will prevail. To those who afflict, God will repay with affliction, and to those being afflicted, God will provide relief. Ultimately those who fail to acknowledge God and heed the Gospel exclude themselves from God’s presence and glory. A prayer report expresses the longing that glory and grace of the Lord will emanate from the community where faith, love, and steadfast hopefulness prevail under difficult circumstances.<br />
<br />
See “[[Suffering and God's Judgment (in 1 & 2 Thessalonians)|Suffering and God’s Judgment]]” The Text in the Life of the Church pp. 269-271<br />
<br />
'''2:1-17.''' The first section of the letter body ('''2:1-12''') offers pastoral correction and instruction precipitated by aberrant eschatological teaching purveyed within the congregation. Upstart prophets claiming to be speaking for Paul during ecstatic worship have been announcing that the Day of the Lord has already come. Addressing what he considers to be deceptive and dangerous teaching, Paul utilizes apocalyptic rhetoric to warn about grievous apostasy, still in the future, which will feature an antagonist sitting in God’s temple and announcing his divinity. Before the arrival of the climactic Day of the Lord, Paul says, oppression at the hands of the oppressor (the emperor and his provincial and local officials) will continue for those whose confession of Christ as Lord flies in the face of the imperial cult. Ultimately, however, the antagonist will be dramatically defeated in a holy war. <br />
<br />
The sequel to the vivid eschatological drama consists of renewed thanksgiving, pastoral encouragement, and a prayer report ('''2:13-17'''). Paul thanks God for the Thessalonian congregation, the first fruit of salvation. He urges them to stand firm in what they had been taught. And he prays for them to experience comfort, strength and fruitfulness.<br />
<br />
'''3:1-15.''' With a “finally” Paul launches pastoral exhortation, first in general terms: a call to intercession, assurance of God’s faithfulness, and a prayer for them to know God’s love and the steadfastness of Christ ('''3:1-5'''). The more specific instructions are introduced as imperatives ('''3:6-15'''), indicative of the gravity of the situation in the congregation. Paul urges believers to stay aloof from a group characterized as being socially disruptive. Often described as “idlers” it is more accurate to describe them as “the unruly.” Likely the frenzy of prophetic claims that the Day of the Lord has dawned also resulted in the abandonment of normal self-sustaining activity and a resulting dependence on the faith community for their physical needs. Paul therefore says that anyone not willing to work also should not eat, likely referring to communal meals where food is shared. Using a word play Paul shares what he has heard: These unruly people are busybodies, not busy working. He commands them to work quietly rather than be noisily meddlesome. Paul summarizes by urging the congregation not to associate with such people, yet with the caution that these are not enemies but brothers and sisters in need of admonition as prelude to change.<br />
<br />
'''3:16-18.''' The letter closes with a personal greeting, handwritten by Paul himself, and a benediction recalling the peace and grace with which the letter opens.<br />
<br />
==Concluding Reflections==<br />
Paul’s primary intention in 1 and 2 Thessalonians is to reassure and to warn. Those who remain faithful and steadfast, even under persecution, are reassured. Those being deceived hear a warning: though not yet, God’s righteous judgment will surely come. And those who are duped into an exercise of date-setting and an escapist notion of salvation are instructed to realize that they have a mission to accomplish here and now, not just a heaven to await. The apocalyptic imagery utilized in these letters fortifies faithfulness, an ethic of love, and vibrant hopefulness, all in the context of a seductive imperial culture that divinizes the emperor and relies on the militaristic promise of peace and security.<br />
<br />
Enlightened folks living in comfort and ease are often uncomfortable with these letters. Heard by the afflicted and the suffering in Thessalonica then and by the oppressed and the poor today this is good news. Relief to the oppressed, and pressure on establishment people? Is that good news? It is, as we side with the oppressed and as we seek God’s justice, both for them and for ourselves.<br />
<br />
==Additional Resources==<br />
* Jacob W. Elias, “Paul, Peace, and Apocalyptic” in Laura L. Brenneman and Brad D. Schantz (eds.), ''Struggles for Shalom: Peace and Violence across the Testaments.'' Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2014 pp. 267-278.<br />
* Jacob W. Elias, ''Remember the Future: The Pastoral Theology of Paul the Apostle.'' Herald Press, 2006.<br />
* Richard Horsley (ed.) ''Paul and Empire: Religion and Power in Roman Imperial Society.'' Trinity Press International, 1997.<br />
* Richard Horsley (ed.) ''Paul and the Roman Imperial Order.'' Trinity Press International, 2004.<br />
* Richard Horsley (ed.) ''Paul and Politics.'' Trinity Press International, 2000<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
{| border="1" style="text-align: right; color: green; background-color:#ffffcc; float: right" <br />
|—'''''[[Jacob W. Elias]]''''' <br />
|}</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Ephesians&diff=17886Ephesians2017-07-18T18:16:34Z<p>BenEB: /* Conclusion */</p>
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<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]''' <br />
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[[file:BCBC_Ephesians2.jpg|frame|right|x310px|link=http://store.mennomedia.org/Ephesians-P53.aspx|[http://store.mennomedia.org/Ephesians-P53.aspx''Ephesians'', by Thomas R. Yoder Neufeld (Believers Church Bible Commentary)]'']]<br />
<br />
<br />
==Introduction==<br />
===Relevance===<br />
<br />
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.<br />
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. <br />
<br />
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,” typically called “discipleship” (chapters 2 and 4). The historic emphasis on nonconformity and the costliness of discipleship will find an echo in the call to separation from darkness and the summons to do battle with evil (chapters 5 and 6). The central emphasis on Christ as peacemaker in chapter 2 quite clearly supports the peacemaking emphasis in the Anabaptist tradition. <br />
<br />
On the other hand, both the stress on election and divine initiative in chapter 1 and the view of 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 to 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 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.<br />
<br />
Whatever the challenges Ephesians puts to the Anabaptist tradition, the core commitment to listen to the Bible as the word of 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 it palatable, or to serve a 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 for God’s word, and second, to open a way for the community to bring its agenda to the scriptural text. That said, every commentator and every reader comes to the Bible with eyes and ears shaped in and by a culture or community. The tendency, often unconscious, is then to tailor the text to fit already existing needs, desires, and convictions. As commentators and readers, we have no recourse other than to take the prayer in chapters 1 and 3 to be for us—a prayer for wisdom and a spirit of revelation so we can grasp the height and depth, the width and length, and, most important, the love of God in Christ Jesus for us and for the whole cosmos.<br />
<br />
===Authorship, Date, and Historical Context===<br />
<br />
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?<br />
<br />
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.<br />
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?<br />
<br />
Many commentators, including myself, think that these and other factors point to the likelihood that Ephesians was written after Paul’s death in his name. A date toward the end of the first century is generally accepted by those taking this position. Given how long Paul had worked in Ephesus (Acts 20:31 says three years), that city may well have become a magnet for Pauline study and reflection, a center for a Pauline “school.” The letter may thus have even emerged in Ephesus, rather than being addressed to Ephesus. We cannot know that, of course, but we likely on safest ground to think of Ephesians as emerging somewhere within the environs of Paul’s mission in Asia Minor and intended for a wide readership in that orbit. The commentary explores carefully the relatively common practice of writing in the name of a revered teacher, and thus under his authority (and indirect authorship). There is no good reason to allow the question of exactly who put pen to parchment to minimize the enormous value Ephesians holds for the church, or its status as a jewel in the canonical crown.<br />
<br />
It may even be that placing the letter in the second half of the first century opens it up to interpretive possibilities that touch on church life today. The end of the first century was a time of great turbulence and change in early Christian communities, not least in Pauline churches. Christians struggled over the ongoing relevance of the Law, a major issue in Jewish-Gentile relations within the church. Further, the fact that Jesus did not return as soon as or in the way they initially expected challenged their faith significantly. Some prized the salvation that enlightenment and spirituality bring now; others anticipated keenly what God would do in the future. <br />
These and other highly divisive issues have left their mark on New Testament writings, including Ephesians. Chapters 2 and 3, for example, address the issue of Jewish-Gentile unity and peace as central to God’s work in the world. Second, no New Testament writing, with the possible exception of the Gospel of John, places as much value on knowledge (gnosis; e.g., 1:15-23; 3:14-21). In the second century, motifs from Ephesians such as “fullness” (pleroma; 1:23; 3:19), the “heavenlies” (e.g., 1:3; 2:6), the descent and ascent of the Savior (4:8-10), the perfect man (4:13), and the holy marriage between Christ and believer (5:25-32), would find a ready home in gnostic writings. At the same time, there are features in Ephesians that would have been appreciated just as likely by those who held to Paul’s apocalyptic teachings. Note, for example, the letter’s depiction of the world in darkness and under control of evil powers (e.g., 2:1-3; 6:12), sinners awaiting the wrath of God (5:5-7), the battle against evil cosmic powers (6:10-20), and the anticipation of the day of redemption (4:30). <br />
<br />
Rather than reading Ephesians either through a “gnostic” or “apocalyptic” lens, as commentators have often done, or to think of it as theologically inconsistent or confused, I propose that we see the author’s theology as itself an act of peacemaking—peacemaking as “ingathering” (1:10). As such, Ephesians provides an important precedent for a theology that “spares no effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the chain of peace” (4:3). <br />
<br />
In its reflective quality, as well as in its engagement with the prophetic legacy of the apostle Paul, Ephesians is less prophecy than theological reflection on prophecy. I see it as part of the long tradition of biblical wisdom. That makes it no less inspired, revelatory, or authoritative. Its ground is the foundation of the apostles and prophets, its focal point the headstone, Christ, and its edifice the result of the collaborative ministry of the saints (2:20; 4:12-16).<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
===Form and Rhetoric===<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
That quality of reflection characterizes the letter’s structure. It is divided into two equal parts. The first, chapters 1-3, is focused in a celebratory and worshipful way on God’s work as creator and savior “in Christ,” a typical way in which Jesus as Messiah is the one in and through whom God is at work making peace with humanity, The second part, chapters 4-6, exhorts beneficiaries of God’s peacemaking to respond appropriately, to “walk in a way that is worthy” of their calling as sons and daughters of God. <br />
The first half of the letter places both creation and peace quite literally at the center of the celebrative and worshipful rehearsal of God’s grace at work. The author, whether that be Paul or one his followers, uses a device seen frequently in ancient literature, including the Bible, namely, “chiasmus,” or “chiasm.” It derives from the Greek letter chi, which looks like an “X”. The various parts correspond to each other, sometimes by contrast, other times by word association or similarity of theme, drawing ever closer to the focal centre, which, in the case of Ephesians, is a hymn or poem celebrating Christ as “our peace.” Peace is quite literally the centre piece of God’s activity as Creator and Saviour. The Messiah makes peace between Jews and Gentiles, and between them both and God, by “killing enmity” through his own death on the cross, and by creating in his own body a “new human,” made up of those who were once strangers and enemies of each other. <br />
<br />
:A Eulogy—in praise of God 1:3-14<br />
:: B Thanksgiving and Prayer for church 1:15-23<br />
::: C Salvation for both Jews and Gentiles 2:1-10<br />
:::: D Christ is our peace 2:11-22<br />
:::::a Once strangers and godless aliens 2:11, 12<br />
:::::: b Christ brought the far near through his blood 2:13<br />
::::::: c Christ is “our peace” 2:14-16<br />
:::::: b1 Christ preached peace to the far and the near 2:17-18<br />
::::: a1 No longer strangers, but at home with God 2:19-22<br />
::: C1 Salvation for both Jews and Gentiles 3:1-13<br />
:: B1 Prayer for church resumed 3:14-19<br />
:A1 Doxology—in praise of God 3:20-21<br />
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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). <br />
<br />
==Summary and Comment==<br />
<br />
Following the address or greeting in 1:1-2, the letters opens with a lengthy prayer of blessing (1:3-14). It 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).<br />
<br />
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). But in Ephesians 1:15 we encounter both a blessing or eulogy and thanksgiving. Thanksgiving gives way immediately to a prayer of intercession, 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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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). 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. <br />
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In chapter 3, 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 verses 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 (3:20-21), well-known to many readers as an oft-heard benediction concluding worship services.<br />
<br />
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. 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.<br />
<br />
The exhortation begins in chapter 4 with a focus on the church. 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 verses 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).<br />
No break is intended or even perceived when the author now moves from church to ethics. 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). The church is to live the new life, to “walk the talk,” first in relationships within the community of faith, but then also in relation to the surrounding world. After all, the new human is being created in the midst of a world that is hostile to it. In Ephesians, such “walking” means honesty, integrity, a loving attitude toward others (4:1—5:2); it means a refusal to have anything to do with greed and lust and idolatry (5:3-14); it expresses itself in wise living, enthusiastic worship, and an empowered mutual servanthood (5:15—6:9). This is all finally summed up as the courageous struggle with the powers through the exercise of truth, justice, peace, and the sharp word of God (6:10-20).<br />
<br />
The gulf between death and life depicted in chapter 2 is addressed in chapter 5 in the call to separation of light from darkness. However, this call to nonconformity is not a call to disengagement, but to the transformation of darkness into light. Confrontation and exposure are intended to bring about transformation (5:11-14). 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, aware of the transformative task before them. Their nonconformity is to serve the mending of all things. The children of light are to be the embodied Christ (cf. 1:23; 2:15), participating in God’s work of unifying the world into a reconciled whole (1:10).<br />
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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 Ephesians the household instructions are framed by the call to be filled with the Spirit, or enlivened by the breath of God (5:18) 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.<br />
<br />
God’s calling and empowerment of the saints in Christ (1:19-23; 2:1-10; 3:14-21) finds its full complement at the end of the letter, in an image rooted in the old biblical tradition of God as divine warrior (6:10-20; 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). In this way the final and perhaps most dramatic image of the letter combines the purposes of both parts of the letter. Readers are confronted at once 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.”<br />
<br />
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,” 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. <br />
<br />
==Conclusion==<br />
<br />
The vision informing this letter is thoroughly—<br><br />
*Theocentric—God as “Father” and Creator is before all (1:3-14), above all, through all, and in all (4:6);<br><br />
*Christocentric—it is “in and through Christ” who is “our peace” that God is “gathering up all things” (1:10; 2:14-16);<br><br />
*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><br />
*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. <br />
<Br><br />
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. <br />
<br />
I quote from the commentary as a way to summarize the gist of this grand letter to the Ephesians (p.19): <br />
<br />
: 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.<br />
<br />
==Recommended Essays from the Commentary==<br />
<br />
“Head” <br><br />
Powers <br><br />
Pseudepigraphy <br><br />
Wisdom<br />
<br />
==Bibliography==<br />
<br />
I recommend a number of the many commentaries on Ephesians, including those emerging out of the believers church and Anabaptist communities:<br />
<br />
*Arnold, Clinton E., Ephesians (ZECNT; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010). A prolific scholar with roots in the Mennonite Brethren community, and now an ordained Baptist minister and seminary dean, Arnold combines careful biblical scholarship with deep pastoral familiarity with “spiritual warfare,” which gives his work on the “powers” a distinct perspective from that influenced by the Yoder/Wink school of interpretation. While my commentary benefitted from his copious scholarship, his commentary emerged well after mine. <br />
*Barth, Markus. Ephesians: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary on Chapters 1-3; Chapters 4-6 (Anchor Bible Commentary; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1974). This two-volume work is a mine of information and theologically informed opinion. Barth insists that Ephesians was authored by Paul himself.<br />
*Best, Ernest. Ephesians (International Critical Commentary; Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1998). Best often takes positions against prevailing opinion. In his view, Ephesians represents a shift of focus from mission to the world to inner-directed concerns for church preservation and order, a decidedly different interpretation from mine.<br />
*Harold W. Hoehner, Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002). An exhaustive treatment of Ephesians, including a careful weighing of evidence regarding authorship, my commentary did not benefit from engagement with it. Hoehner vigorously defends the Pauline authorship of Ephesians. <br />
*Lincoln, Andrew T. Ephesians (Word Biblical Commentary. Dallas, TX: Word Books, 1990. In my opinion one of the best commentaries on Ephesians, Lincoln represents both critical and evangelical sensibilities, making his commentary both technically and theologically deeply satisfying.<br />
*Martin, Ralph P. Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon: Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Atlanta: John Knox, 1991. A lively and engaging commentary for preachers and teachers in the church by a foremost evangelical biblical scholar.<br />
*Penner, Erwin. The Power of God in a Broken World: Studies in Ephesians (Luminaire Studies; Winnipeg, MB/ Hillsboro, KS: Kindred, 1990). A pastorally perceptive commentary accessible to the lay reader by a Mennonite Brethren scholar.<br />
*Perkins, Pheme Ephesians. ANTC; Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1997. Perkin’s commentary is concise and lucid. A Roman Catholic scholar, her commentary is particularly useful in identifying the links between Ephesians and the Dead Sea Scrolls.<br />
*Roberts, Mark D., Ephesians (The Story of God Bible Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016). A very recent evangelical commentary by a long-term pastor, professor, and consultant, this commentary is a mine of insight rooted in both the best of scholarship and pastoral experience and relevance. <br />
*Russell, Letty M. Imitators of God: A Study Book on Ephesians. New York, NY: Mission Education and Cultivation Program Department, General Board of Global Ministries, 1984. Rather difficult to come by, this commentary by a pioneering feminist scholar is a model of connecting scholarship to the real life of believers.<br />
*Schnackenburg, Rudolf. Ephesians: A Commentary (trans. 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. <br />
<br><br />
Those wishing to explore the passages in Ephesians that are implicated in contemporary debates about violence and the New Testament (e.g., the household code and the armour of God) may wish to consult my more recent exploration of those issues and the relevant scholarship: <br />
<br />
*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), 97-108, 143-49.<br />
<br />
<br />
{| border="1" style="text-align: right; color: green; background-color:#ffffcc; float: right" <br />
|—'''''[[Thomas R. Yoder Neufeld]]''''' <br />
|}</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Ephesians&diff=17885Ephesians2017-07-18T18:10:28Z<p>BenEB: /* Conclusion */</p>
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<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]''' <br />
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[[file:BCBC_Ephesians2.jpg|frame|right|x310px|link=http://store.mennomedia.org/Ephesians-P53.aspx|[http://store.mennomedia.org/Ephesians-P53.aspx''Ephesians'', by Thomas R. Yoder Neufeld (Believers Church Bible Commentary)]'']]<br />
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<br />
==Introduction==<br />
===Relevance===<br />
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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.<br />
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. <br />
<br />
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,” typically called “discipleship” (chapters 2 and 4). The historic emphasis on nonconformity and the costliness of discipleship will find an echo in the call to separation from darkness and the summons to do battle with evil (chapters 5 and 6). The central emphasis on Christ as peacemaker in chapter 2 quite clearly supports the peacemaking emphasis in the Anabaptist tradition. <br />
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On the other hand, both the stress on election and divine initiative in chapter 1 and the view of 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 to 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 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.<br />
<br />
Whatever the challenges Ephesians puts to the Anabaptist tradition, the core commitment to listen to the Bible as the word of 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 it palatable, or to serve a 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 for God’s word, and second, to open a way for the community to bring its agenda to the scriptural text. That said, every commentator and every reader comes to the Bible with eyes and ears shaped in and by a culture or community. The tendency, often unconscious, is then to tailor the text to fit already existing needs, desires, and convictions. As commentators and readers, we have no recourse other than to take the prayer in chapters 1 and 3 to be for us—a prayer for wisdom and a spirit of revelation so we can grasp the height and depth, the width and length, and, most important, the love of God in Christ Jesus for us and for the whole cosmos.<br />
<br />
===Authorship, Date, and Historical Context===<br />
<br />
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?<br />
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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.<br />
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?<br />
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Many commentators, including myself, think that these and other factors point to the likelihood that Ephesians was written after Paul’s death in his name. A date toward the end of the first century is generally accepted by those taking this position. Given how long Paul had worked in Ephesus (Acts 20:31 says three years), that city may well have become a magnet for Pauline study and reflection, a center for a Pauline “school.” The letter may thus have even emerged in Ephesus, rather than being addressed to Ephesus. We cannot know that, of course, but we likely on safest ground to think of Ephesians as emerging somewhere within the environs of Paul’s mission in Asia Minor and intended for a wide readership in that orbit. The commentary explores carefully the relatively common practice of writing in the name of a revered teacher, and thus under his authority (and indirect authorship). There is no good reason to allow the question of exactly who put pen to parchment to minimize the enormous value Ephesians holds for the church, or its status as a jewel in the canonical crown.<br />
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It may even be that placing the letter in the second half of the first century opens it up to interpretive possibilities that touch on church life today. The end of the first century was a time of great turbulence and change in early Christian communities, not least in Pauline churches. Christians struggled over the ongoing relevance of the Law, a major issue in Jewish-Gentile relations within the church. Further, the fact that Jesus did not return as soon as or in the way they initially expected challenged their faith significantly. Some prized the salvation that enlightenment and spirituality bring now; others anticipated keenly what God would do in the future. <br />
These and other highly divisive issues have left their mark on New Testament writings, including Ephesians. Chapters 2 and 3, for example, address the issue of Jewish-Gentile unity and peace as central to God’s work in the world. Second, no New Testament writing, with the possible exception of the Gospel of John, places as much value on knowledge (gnosis; e.g., 1:15-23; 3:14-21). In the second century, motifs from Ephesians such as “fullness” (pleroma; 1:23; 3:19), the “heavenlies” (e.g., 1:3; 2:6), the descent and ascent of the Savior (4:8-10), the perfect man (4:13), and the holy marriage between Christ and believer (5:25-32), would find a ready home in gnostic writings. At the same time, there are features in Ephesians that would have been appreciated just as likely by those who held to Paul’s apocalyptic teachings. Note, for example, the letter’s depiction of the world in darkness and under control of evil powers (e.g., 2:1-3; 6:12), sinners awaiting the wrath of God (5:5-7), the battle against evil cosmic powers (6:10-20), and the anticipation of the day of redemption (4:30). <br />
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Rather than reading Ephesians either through a “gnostic” or “apocalyptic” lens, as commentators have often done, or to think of it as theologically inconsistent or confused, I propose that we see the author’s theology as itself an act of peacemaking—peacemaking as “ingathering” (1:10). As such, Ephesians provides an important precedent for a theology that “spares no effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the chain of peace” (4:3). <br />
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In its reflective quality, as well as in its engagement with the prophetic legacy of the apostle Paul, Ephesians is less prophecy than theological reflection on prophecy. I see it as part of the long tradition of biblical wisdom. That makes it no less inspired, revelatory, or authoritative. Its ground is the foundation of the apostles and prophets, its focal point the headstone, Christ, and its edifice the result of the collaborative ministry of the saints (2:20; 4:12-16).<br />
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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.<br />
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===Form and Rhetoric===<br />
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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.<br />
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That quality of reflection characterizes the letter’s structure. It is divided into two equal parts. The first, chapters 1-3, is focused in a celebratory and worshipful way on God’s work as creator and savior “in Christ,” a typical way in which Jesus as Messiah is the one in and through whom God is at work making peace with humanity, The second part, chapters 4-6, exhorts beneficiaries of God’s peacemaking to respond appropriately, to “walk in a way that is worthy” of their calling as sons and daughters of God. <br />
The first half of the letter places both creation and peace quite literally at the center of the celebrative and worshipful rehearsal of God’s grace at work. The author, whether that be Paul or one his followers, uses a device seen frequently in ancient literature, including the Bible, namely, “chiasmus,” or “chiasm.” It derives from the Greek letter chi, which looks like an “X”. The various parts correspond to each other, sometimes by contrast, other times by word association or similarity of theme, drawing ever closer to the focal centre, which, in the case of Ephesians, is a hymn or poem celebrating Christ as “our peace.” Peace is quite literally the centre piece of God’s activity as Creator and Saviour. The Messiah makes peace between Jews and Gentiles, and between them both and God, by “killing enmity” through his own death on the cross, and by creating in his own body a “new human,” made up of those who were once strangers and enemies of each other. <br />
<br />
:A Eulogy—in praise of God 1:3-14<br />
:: B Thanksgiving and Prayer for church 1:15-23<br />
::: C Salvation for both Jews and Gentiles 2:1-10<br />
:::: D Christ is our peace 2:11-22<br />
:::::a Once strangers and godless aliens 2:11, 12<br />
:::::: b Christ brought the far near through his blood 2:13<br />
::::::: c Christ is “our peace” 2:14-16<br />
:::::: b1 Christ preached peace to the far and the near 2:17-18<br />
::::: a1 No longer strangers, but at home with God 2:19-22<br />
::: C1 Salvation for both Jews and Gentiles 3:1-13<br />
:: B1 Prayer for church resumed 3:14-19<br />
:A1 Doxology—in praise of God 3:20-21<br />
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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). <br />
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==Summary and Comment==<br />
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Following the address or greeting in 1:1-2, the letters opens with a lengthy prayer of blessing (1:3-14). It 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).<br />
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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). But in Ephesians 1:15 we encounter both a blessing or eulogy and thanksgiving. Thanksgiving gives way immediately to a prayer of intercession, 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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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). 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. <br />
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In chapter 3, 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 verses 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 (3:20-21), well-known to many readers as an oft-heard benediction concluding worship services.<br />
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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. 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.<br />
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The exhortation begins in chapter 4 with a focus on the church. 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 verses 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).<br />
No break is intended or even perceived when the author now moves from church to ethics. 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). The church is to live the new life, to “walk the talk,” first in relationships within the community of faith, but then also in relation to the surrounding world. After all, the new human is being created in the midst of a world that is hostile to it. In Ephesians, such “walking” means honesty, integrity, a loving attitude toward others (4:1—5:2); it means a refusal to have anything to do with greed and lust and idolatry (5:3-14); it expresses itself in wise living, enthusiastic worship, and an empowered mutual servanthood (5:15—6:9). This is all finally summed up as the courageous struggle with the powers through the exercise of truth, justice, peace, and the sharp word of God (6:10-20).<br />
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The gulf between death and life depicted in chapter 2 is addressed in chapter 5 in the call to separation of light from darkness. However, this call to nonconformity is not a call to disengagement, but to the transformation of darkness into light. Confrontation and exposure are intended to bring about transformation (5:11-14). 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, aware of the transformative task before them. Their nonconformity is to serve the mending of all things. The children of light are to be the embodied Christ (cf. 1:23; 2:15), participating in God’s work of unifying the world into a reconciled whole (1:10).<br />
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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 Ephesians the household instructions are framed by the call to be filled with the Spirit, or enlivened by the breath of God (5:18) 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.<br />
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God’s calling and empowerment of the saints in Christ (1:19-23; 2:1-10; 3:14-21) finds its full complement at the end of the letter, in an image rooted in the old biblical tradition of God as divine warrior (6:10-20; 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). In this way the final and perhaps most dramatic image of the letter combines the purposes of both parts of the letter. Readers are confronted at once 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.”<br />
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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,” 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. <br />
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==Conclusion==<br />
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The vision informing this letter is thoroughly—<br><br />
• theocentric—God as “Father” and Creator is before all (1:3-14), above all, through all, and in all (4:6);<br><br />
• christocentric—it is “in and through Christ” who is “our peace” that God is “gathering up all things” (1:10; 2:14-16);<br><br />
• 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><br />
• 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. <br />
<br />
It may, of course, seem nonsensical to have so many “centres.” 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. <br />
<br />
I quote from the commentary as a way to summarize the gist of this grand letter to the Ephesians (p.19): <br />
<br />
: 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.<br />
<br />
==Recommended Essays from the Commentary==<br />
<br />
“Head” <br><br />
Powers <br><br />
Pseudepigraphy <br><br />
Wisdom<br />
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==Bibliography==<br />
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I recommend a number of the many commentaries on Ephesians, including those emerging out of the believers church and Anabaptist communities:<br />
<br />
*Arnold, Clinton E., Ephesians (ZECNT; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010). A prolific scholar with roots in the Mennonite Brethren community, and now an ordained Baptist minister and seminary dean, Arnold combines careful biblical scholarship with deep pastoral familiarity with “spiritual warfare,” which gives his work on the “powers” a distinct perspective from that influenced by the Yoder/Wink school of interpretation. While my commentary benefitted from his copious scholarship, his commentary emerged well after mine. <br />
*Barth, Markus. Ephesians: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary on Chapters 1-3; Chapters 4-6 (Anchor Bible Commentary; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1974). This two-volume work is a mine of information and theologically informed opinion. Barth insists that Ephesians was authored by Paul himself.<br />
*Best, Ernest. Ephesians (International Critical Commentary; Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1998). Best often takes positions against prevailing opinion. In his view, Ephesians represents a shift of focus from mission to the world to inner-directed concerns for church preservation and order, a decidedly different interpretation from mine.<br />
*Harold W. Hoehner, Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002). An exhaustive treatment of Ephesians, including a careful weighing of evidence regarding authorship, my commentary did not benefit from engagement with it. Hoehner vigorously defends the Pauline authorship of Ephesians. <br />
*Lincoln, Andrew T. Ephesians (Word Biblical Commentary. Dallas, TX: Word Books, 1990. In my opinion one of the best commentaries on Ephesians, Lincoln represents both critical and evangelical sensibilities, making his commentary both technically and theologically deeply satisfying.<br />
*Martin, Ralph P. Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon: Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Atlanta: John Knox, 1991. A lively and engaging commentary for preachers and teachers in the church by a foremost evangelical biblical scholar.<br />
*Penner, Erwin. The Power of God in a Broken World: Studies in Ephesians (Luminaire Studies; Winnipeg, MB/ Hillsboro, KS: Kindred, 1990). A pastorally perceptive commentary accessible to the lay reader by a Mennonite Brethren scholar.<br />
*Perkins, Pheme Ephesians. ANTC; Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1997. Perkin’s commentary is concise and lucid. A Roman Catholic scholar, her commentary is particularly useful in identifying the links between Ephesians and the Dead Sea Scrolls.<br />
*Roberts, Mark D., Ephesians (The Story of God Bible Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016). A very recent evangelical commentary by a long-term pastor, professor, and consultant, this commentary is a mine of insight rooted in both the best of scholarship and pastoral experience and relevance. <br />
*Russell, Letty M. Imitators of God: A Study Book on Ephesians. New York, NY: Mission Education and Cultivation Program Department, General Board of Global Ministries, 1984. Rather difficult to come by, this commentary by a pioneering feminist scholar is a model of connecting scholarship to the real life of believers.<br />
*Schnackenburg, Rudolf. Ephesians: A Commentary (trans. 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. <br />
<br><br />
Those wishing to explore the passages in Ephesians that are implicated in contemporary debates about violence and the New Testament (e.g., the household code and the armour of God) may wish to consult my more recent exploration of those issues and the relevant scholarship: <br />
<br />
*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), 97-108, 143-49.<br />
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{| border="1" style="text-align: right; color: green; background-color:#ffffcc; float: right" <br />
|—'''''[[Thomas R. Yoder Neufeld]]''''' <br />
|}</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Ephesians&diff=17884Ephesians2017-07-18T15:03:11Z<p>BenEB: post complete essay</p>
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<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]''' <br />
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[[file:BCBC_Ephesians2.jpg|frame|right|x310px|link=http://store.mennomedia.org/Ephesians-P53.aspx|[http://store.mennomedia.org/Ephesians-P53.aspx''Ephesians'', by Thomas R. Yoder Neufeld (Believers Church Bible Commentary)]'']]<br />
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==Introduction==<br />
===Relevance===<br />
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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.<br />
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. <br />
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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,” typically called “discipleship” (chapters 2 and 4). The historic emphasis on nonconformity and the costliness of discipleship will find an echo in the call to separation from darkness and the summons to do battle with evil (chapters 5 and 6). The central emphasis on Christ as peacemaker in chapter 2 quite clearly supports the peacemaking emphasis in the Anabaptist tradition. <br />
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On the other hand, both the stress on election and divine initiative in chapter 1 and the view of 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 to 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 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.<br />
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Whatever the challenges Ephesians puts to the Anabaptist tradition, the core commitment to listen to the Bible as the word of 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 it palatable, or to serve a 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 for God’s word, and second, to open a way for the community to bring its agenda to the scriptural text. That said, every commentator and every reader comes to the Bible with eyes and ears shaped in and by a culture or community. The tendency, often unconscious, is then to tailor the text to fit already existing needs, desires, and convictions. As commentators and readers, we have no recourse other than to take the prayer in chapters 1 and 3 to be for us—a prayer for wisdom and a spirit of revelation so we can grasp the height and depth, the width and length, and, most important, the love of God in Christ Jesus for us and for the whole cosmos.<br />
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===Authorship, Date, and Historical Context===<br />
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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?<br />
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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.<br />
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?<br />
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Many commentators, including myself, think that these and other factors point to the likelihood that Ephesians was written after Paul’s death in his name. A date toward the end of the first century is generally accepted by those taking this position. Given how long Paul had worked in Ephesus (Acts 20:31 says three years), that city may well have become a magnet for Pauline study and reflection, a center for a Pauline “school.” The letter may thus have even emerged in Ephesus, rather than being addressed to Ephesus. We cannot know that, of course, but we likely on safest ground to think of Ephesians as emerging somewhere within the environs of Paul’s mission in Asia Minor and intended for a wide readership in that orbit. The commentary explores carefully the relatively common practice of writing in the name of a revered teacher, and thus under his authority (and indirect authorship). There is no good reason to allow the question of exactly who put pen to parchment to minimize the enormous value Ephesians holds for the church, or its status as a jewel in the canonical crown.<br />
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It may even be that placing the letter in the second half of the first century opens it up to interpretive possibilities that touch on church life today. The end of the first century was a time of great turbulence and change in early Christian communities, not least in Pauline churches. Christians struggled over the ongoing relevance of the Law, a major issue in Jewish-Gentile relations within the church. Further, the fact that Jesus did not return as soon as or in the way they initially expected challenged their faith significantly. Some prized the salvation that enlightenment and spirituality bring now; others anticipated keenly what God would do in the future. <br />
These and other highly divisive issues have left their mark on New Testament writings, including Ephesians. Chapters 2 and 3, for example, address the issue of Jewish-Gentile unity and peace as central to God’s work in the world. Second, no New Testament writing, with the possible exception of the Gospel of John, places as much value on knowledge (gnosis; e.g., 1:15-23; 3:14-21). In the second century, motifs from Ephesians such as “fullness” (pleroma; 1:23; 3:19), the “heavenlies” (e.g., 1:3; 2:6), the descent and ascent of the Savior (4:8-10), the perfect man (4:13), and the holy marriage between Christ and believer (5:25-32), would find a ready home in gnostic writings. At the same time, there are features in Ephesians that would have been appreciated just as likely by those who held to Paul’s apocalyptic teachings. Note, for example, the letter’s depiction of the world in darkness and under control of evil powers (e.g., 2:1-3; 6:12), sinners awaiting the wrath of God (5:5-7), the battle against evil cosmic powers (6:10-20), and the anticipation of the day of redemption (4:30). <br />
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Rather than reading Ephesians either through a “gnostic” or “apocalyptic” lens, as commentators have often done, or to think of it as theologically inconsistent or confused, I propose that we see the author’s theology as itself an act of peacemaking—peacemaking as “ingathering” (1:10). As such, Ephesians provides an important precedent for a theology that “spares no effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the chain of peace” (4:3). <br />
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In its reflective quality, as well as in its engagement with the prophetic legacy of the apostle Paul, Ephesians is less prophecy than theological reflection on prophecy. I see it as part of the long tradition of biblical wisdom. That makes it no less inspired, revelatory, or authoritative. Its ground is the foundation of the apostles and prophets, its focal point the headstone, Christ, and its edifice the result of the collaborative ministry of the saints (2:20; 4:12-16).<br />
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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.<br />
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===Form and Rhetoric===<br />
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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.<br />
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That quality of reflection characterizes the letter’s structure. It is divided into two equal parts. The first, chapters 1-3, is focused in a celebratory and worshipful way on God’s work as creator and savior “in Christ,” a typical way in which Jesus as Messiah is the one in and through whom God is at work making peace with humanity, The second part, chapters 4-6, exhorts beneficiaries of God’s peacemaking to respond appropriately, to “walk in a way that is worthy” of their calling as sons and daughters of God. <br />
The first half of the letter places both creation and peace quite literally at the center of the celebrative and worshipful rehearsal of God’s grace at work. The author, whether that be Paul or one his followers, uses a device seen frequently in ancient literature, including the Bible, namely, “chiasmus,” or “chiasm.” It derives from the Greek letter chi, which looks like an “X”. The various parts correspond to each other, sometimes by contrast, other times by word association or similarity of theme, drawing ever closer to the focal centre, which, in the case of Ephesians, is a hymn or poem celebrating Christ as “our peace.” Peace is quite literally the centre piece of God’s activity as Creator and Saviour. The Messiah makes peace between Jews and Gentiles, and between them both and God, by “killing enmity” through his own death on the cross, and by creating in his own body a “new human,” made up of those who were once strangers and enemies of each other. <br />
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:A Eulogy—in praise of God 1:3-14<br />
:: B Thanksgiving and Prayer for church 1:15-23<br />
::: C Salvation for both Jews and Gentiles 2:1-10<br />
:::: D Christ is our peace 2:11-22<br />
:::::a Once strangers and godless aliens 2:11, 12<br />
:::::: b Christ brought the far near through his blood 2:13<br />
::::::: c Christ is “our peace” 2:14-16<br />
:::::: b1 Christ preached peace to the far and the near 2:17-18<br />
::::: a1 No longer strangers, but at home with God 2:19-22<br />
::: C1 Salvation for both Jews and Gentiles 3:1-13<br />
:: B1 Prayer for church resumed 3:14-19<br />
:A1 Doxology—in praise of God 3:20-21<br />
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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). <br />
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==Summary and Comment==<br />
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Following the address or greeting in 1:1-2, the letters opens with a lengthy prayer of blessing (1:3-14). It 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).<br />
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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). But in Ephesians 1:15 we encounter both a blessing or eulogy and thanksgiving. Thanksgiving gives way immediately to a prayer of intercession, 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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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). 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. <br />
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In chapter 3, 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 verses 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 (3:20-21), well-known to many readers as an oft-heard benediction concluding worship services.<br />
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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. 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.<br />
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The exhortation begins in chapter 4 with a focus on the church. 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 verses 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).<br />
No break is intended or even perceived when the author now moves from church to ethics. 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). The church is to live the new life, to “walk the talk,” first in relationships within the community of faith, but then also in relation to the surrounding world. After all, the new human is being created in the midst of a world that is hostile to it. In Ephesians, such “walking” means honesty, integrity, a loving attitude toward others (4:1—5:2); it means a refusal to have anything to do with greed and lust and idolatry (5:3-14); it expresses itself in wise living, enthusiastic worship, and an empowered mutual servanthood (5:15—6:9). This is all finally summed up as the courageous struggle with the powers through the exercise of truth, justice, peace, and the sharp word of God (6:10-20).<br />
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The gulf between death and life depicted in chapter 2 is addressed in chapter 5 in the call to separation of light from darkness. However, this call to nonconformity is not a call to disengagement, but to the transformation of darkness into light. Confrontation and exposure are intended to bring about transformation (5:11-14). 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, aware of the transformative task before them. Their nonconformity is to serve the mending of all things. The children of light are to be the embodied Christ (cf. 1:23; 2:15), participating in God’s work of unifying the world into a reconciled whole (1:10).<br />
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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 Ephesians the household instructions are framed by the call to be filled with the Spirit, or enlivened by the breath of God (5:18) 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.<br />
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God’s calling and empowerment of the saints in Christ (1:19-23; 2:1-10; 3:14-21) finds its full complement at the end of the letter, in an image rooted in the old biblical tradition of God as divine warrior (6:10-20; 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). In this way the final and perhaps most dramatic image of the letter combines the purposes of both parts of the letter. Readers are confronted at once 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.”<br />
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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,” 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. <br />
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==Conclusion==<br />
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The vision informing this letter is thoroughly—<br />
• theocentric—God as “Father” and Creator is before all (1:3-14), above all, through all, and in all (4:6);<br />
• christocentric—it is “in and through Christ” who is “our peace” that God is “gathering up all things” (1:10; 2:14-16);<br />
• 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 />
• 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. <br />
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It may, of course, seem nonsensical to have so many “centres.” 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. <br />
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I quote from the commentary as a way to summarize the gist of this grand letter to the Ephesians (p.19): <br />
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: 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.<br />
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==Recommended Essays from the Commentary==<br />
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“Head” <br><br />
Powers <br><br />
Pseudepigraphy <br><br />
Wisdom<br />
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==Bibliography==<br />
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I recommend a number of the many commentaries on Ephesians, including those emerging out of the believers church and Anabaptist communities:<br />
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*Arnold, Clinton E., Ephesians (ZECNT; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010). A prolific scholar with roots in the Mennonite Brethren community, and now an ordained Baptist minister and seminary dean, Arnold combines careful biblical scholarship with deep pastoral familiarity with “spiritual warfare,” which gives his work on the “powers” a distinct perspective from that influenced by the Yoder/Wink school of interpretation. While my commentary benefitted from his copious scholarship, his commentary emerged well after mine. <br />
*Barth, Markus. Ephesians: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary on Chapters 1-3; Chapters 4-6 (Anchor Bible Commentary; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1974). This two-volume work is a mine of information and theologically informed opinion. Barth insists that Ephesians was authored by Paul himself.<br />
*Best, Ernest. Ephesians (International Critical Commentary; Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1998). Best often takes positions against prevailing opinion. In his view, Ephesians represents a shift of focus from mission to the world to inner-directed concerns for church preservation and order, a decidedly different interpretation from mine.<br />
*Harold W. Hoehner, Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002). An exhaustive treatment of Ephesians, including a careful weighing of evidence regarding authorship, my commentary did not benefit from engagement with it. Hoehner vigorously defends the Pauline authorship of Ephesians. <br />
*Lincoln, Andrew T. Ephesians (Word Biblical Commentary. Dallas, TX: Word Books, 1990. In my opinion one of the best commentaries on Ephesians, Lincoln represents both critical and evangelical sensibilities, making his commentary both technically and theologically deeply satisfying.<br />
*Martin, Ralph P. Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon: Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Atlanta: John Knox, 1991. A lively and engaging commentary for preachers and teachers in the church by a foremost evangelical biblical scholar.<br />
*Penner, Erwin. The Power of God in a Broken World: Studies in Ephesians (Luminaire Studies; Winnipeg, MB/ Hillsboro, KS: Kindred, 1990). A pastorally perceptive commentary accessible to the lay reader by a Mennonite Brethren scholar.<br />
*Perkins, Pheme Ephesians. ANTC; Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1997. Perkin’s commentary is concise and lucid. A Roman Catholic scholar, her commentary is particularly useful in identifying the links between Ephesians and the Dead Sea Scrolls.<br />
*Roberts, Mark D., Ephesians (The Story of God Bible Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016). A very recent evangelical commentary by a long-term pastor, professor, and consultant, this commentary is a mine of insight rooted in both the best of scholarship and pastoral experience and relevance. <br />
*Russell, Letty M. Imitators of God: A Study Book on Ephesians. New York, NY: Mission Education and Cultivation Program Department, General Board of Global Ministries, 1984. Rather difficult to come by, this commentary by a pioneering feminist scholar is a model of connecting scholarship to the real life of believers.<br />
*Schnackenburg, Rudolf. Ephesians: A Commentary (trans. 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. <br />
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Those wishing to explore the passages in Ephesians that are implicated in contemporary debates about violence and the New Testament (e.g., the household code and the armour of God) may wish to consult my more recent exploration of those issues and the relevant scholarship: <br />
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*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), 97-108, 143-49.<br />
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{| border="1" style="text-align: right; color: green; background-color:#ffffcc; float: right" <br />
|—'''''[[Thomas R. Yoder Neufeld]]''''' <br />
|}</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=W&diff=17845W2017-06-26T16:08:48Z<p>BenEB: </p>
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<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]'''<br />
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[[War and War Images (in Psalms)]] <BR> <br />
[[War in Chronicles]] <BR><br />
[[War, Warfare (in Isaiah)]] <BR><br />
[[Witness in Acts]]<BR><br />
[[Women in John]] <BR><br />
[[Women in Ministry (in 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus)]] <br><br />
[[Worship in Revelation (in Revelation)]] <br><br />
[[Wrath (in Jeremiah)]] <BR> <br />
[[Wrath of God (in Isaiah)]] <BR> <br />
[[Wrath of God (in Psalms)]] <BR> <br />
[[Guidelines for Writers|Writers, Guidelines for]] <BR></div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Worship_in_Revelation_(in_Revelation)&diff=17844Worship in Revelation (in Revelation)2017-06-26T16:07:47Z<p>BenEB: complete essay</p>
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<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]''' <br />
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[[file:BCBC_Revelation2.jpg|frame|right|x310px|link=http://store.mennomedia.org/Revelation-P70.aspx|[http://store.mennomedia.org/Revelation-P70.aspx''Revelation'', by John R. Yeatts (Believers Church Bible Commentary)]'']]<br />
<br />
Worship is certainly central to Revelation. Gloer contrasts Revelation’s hymns of worship to similar hymns of the imperial court which serve as a parody of the hymns of Revlation. This makes it evident that the hymns are not incidental to the content of Revelation. They focus a central message of Revelation that all must choose to worship God or the emperor. Gloer concludes: “Music plays a larger role in the Apocalypse than in any other New Testament writing.” <br />
<br />
Majestic hymns punctuate the tribulation scenes, reminding the reader that the persecution of Satan is not the last word but that God’s salvation will prevail. The language is magnificent: <br />
<br />
: Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing! (5:12) <br />
: Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb. (9:10b) <br />
: They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat. (7:16) <br />
: The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and his Messiah, and he will reign forever and ever. (11:15b) <br />
: Great and amazing are your deeds, Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, King of the nations! (15:3b) <br />
: Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. (19:6b) <br />
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In chapters 4–5 rhyming endings suggest liturgical intention and possible use: the threefold “holy” (''hagios'') in 4:8 is echoed by three refrains that are initiated by “worthy” (''axios'') in 4:11; 5:9, 12. The repetition of the number three indicates the completion of the holiness and worthiness of God and the Lamb. God is praised in these hymns because of his actions in history, and the worshipers’ response is to do the works of God (Rowland, 1998:595; see also 1 John 3:18). Thus, worship is tied closely to active service. <br />
<br />
Revelation has also served as the inspiration for many of the church’s favorite hymns (see Koester, 2001:33-35). From the descriptions of God and Christ at the beginning and end of Revelation (1:8, 17; 21:6; 22:13) comes the fourth-century hymn: “Of the Father’s Love Begotten.” <br />
<br />
: Of the Father’s love begotten <br />
: Ere the worlds began to be.<br />
: He is alpha and omega.<br />
: He the source, the ending He. <br />
: Of the things that are, that have been. <br />
: And that future years shall see. <br />
: Evermore and evermore. <br />
<br />
From the vision of heaven in chapter 4 comes the classic hymn by Reginald Heber (1723-1826), “Holy, Holy, Holy”: <br />
<br />
: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty! <br />
: Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee. <br />
: Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty, <br />
: God in three persons, blessed Trinity. <br />
<br />
: Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore thee, <br />
: Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea. <br />
: Cherubim and seraphim falling down before thee, <br />
: Which wert and art and evermore shalt be. <br />
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The vision of the Lamb in chapter 5 is the basis for Edward Perronet’s (1726- 1792) “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name:” <br />
<br />
: All hail the pow’r of Jesus’ name! <br />
: Let angels prostrate fall;<br />
: Bring forth the royal diadem, <br />
: And crown him Lord of all. <br />
<br />
Another verse of that song comes from the vision of the saints under the altar (6:9-11): <br />
<br />
: Crown him ye martyrs of your God, <br />
: Who from his altar call; <br />
: Extol the stem of Jesse’s rod <br />
: And crown him Lord of all. <br />
<br />
The praise of the great multitude (7:10-12) inspires the hymn of Charles Wesley (1707-88), “Ye Servants of God:” <br />
<br />
: Salvation to God, who sits on the throne! <br />
: Let all cry aloud and honor the Son. <br />
: The praises of Jesus the angels proclaim,<br />
: Fall down on their faces, and worship the Lamb. <br />
<br />
: Then let us adore and give him his right, <br />
: All glory and power, all wisdom and might <br />
: All honor and blessing, with angels above, <br />
: And thanks never ceasing, and infinite love. <br />
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The seventh trumpet (11:15) serves as the basis for Georg Friedrich Handel’s (1674-48) “Hallelujah Chorus:” <br />
<br />
: Hallelujah. For the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. Hallelujah.<br />
: The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our God and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. <br />
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Vintage and wine press passages yield imagery for the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” by Julia Ward Howe (1819-1910): <br />
<br />
: Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. <br />
: He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored. <br />
: He hath loosed the fateful lightening of his terrible swift sword. <br />
: His truth is marching on. <br />
<br />
: Glory, glory hallelujah! Glory, glory hallelujah! Glory, glory hallelujah! <br />
: His truth is marching on. <br />
<br />
The vision of the New Jerusalem (chs. 21–22) inspired the hymn, “For All the Saints,” by William How (1823-97): <br />
<br />
: From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast, <br />
: Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host, <br />
: Singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: Alleluia! Alleluia! <br />
<br />
Perhaps Saint Francis of Assisi focused the purpose of music in Revelation in his answers to the following three questions: “Where are you coming from?” “From the next world.” “And where are you going?” “To the next world.” “And why do you sing?” “To keep from losing my way” (Kazantzakis, 1962:89). <br />
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In addition to its hymnody, Revelation’s basic message of the completed work of Christ’s redemption on the cross and still incomplete mission of the faithful to bear witness against sin and Satan carries considerable potential for preaching. Although the seven letters to the churches have served the church as texts for sermons and texts on the redemption of Christ and are included in the lectionary for the Easter season, Gonzalez (1999) has suggested that two passages are also homiletically appropriate for the Lenten season. Revelation 12:7-12 affirms that, because Christ has won the battle in the heavenly realm, the devil fights ferociously “because he knows his time is short.” The faithful are called to a steadfast witness, knowing that the victory is theirs. Revelation 18:9-24 is more specific about that witness against the powers of this world. The Roman system of commerce is tied to providing luxuries to the wealthy. While the Christian’s witness will not change the Roman system of injustice, the proclamation that the powers of the world have been defeated will be good news to those that the system oppresses. Such a relevant message is easy to preach in the twenty-first century. <br />
<br />
Because of the rich resources in Revelation for praise and proclamation, it is not surprising that the word worship (''proskyneo'') occurs repeatedly in Revelation, where obeisance is directed eleven times to the beast or his allies (9:20; 13:4, 4, 8, 12, 15; 14:9,11; 16:2; 19:20; 20:4), but twelve times toward God and the Lamb (4:10; 5:14; 7:11; 11:1, 16; 14:7; 15:4; 19:4, 10 [twice]; 22:8, 9), indicating the greater majesty of the latter pair. Perhaps, the most impressive use of the word is in the repeated phrase “Worship God!” Piper argues that similarities between Revelation and early Christian liturgies imply that the heavenly worship of Revelation was patterned after the liturgy of the primitive church, which in turn was borrowed from contemporary Jewish temple and synagogue worship. He concludes that, although actual liturgies are not found in Revelation, “the great significance which this book has for our knowledge of the early Christian liturgy” must be recognized (1951:18-19). Conversely, Beale contends that Revelation presents a heavenly pattern for the worship of the church (1999:312). <br />
<br />
Consistent with this early worship tradition, Swartley has provided a beautiful service taken directly from Revelation. It includes many voices—God, Christ, angels, elders, choirs. The hour-long worship service is especially appropriate for Easter or perhaps for the nation’s independence day. It is available from the Mennonite Board of Congregational Ministries, 500 S. Main Street, Elkhart, IN 46515 or in his forthcoming book on “Peace in the New Testament.” Swartley’s liturgy gives a powerful impression that Revelation may be a pattern for a Lord’s day service (1:10). <br />
<br />
== Invitation to Comment ==<br />
To recommend improvements to this article, [mailto:ljohns@ambs.edu click here].<br />
<br />
{| border="1" style="text-align: right; color: green; background-color:#ffffcc; float: right" <br />
|—'''''[[John R. Yeatts]]'''''<br />
|}</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=P&diff=17843P2017-06-26T15:53:31Z<p>BenEB: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]'''<br />
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[[Paul’s View of the Law (in Galatians)]] <br><br />
[https://www.goshen.edu/mqr/pastissues/july01lowry.html Pieter Jansz Twisck on Biblical Interpretation] by James W. Lowry <BR> <br />
[[Persecution in Revelation (in Revelation)]] <br><br />
[[1 & 2 Peter]] <BR> <br />
[[Philemon]] <BR> <br />
[[Philippians]] <BR> <br />
[[Political Power (in Ecclesiastes)]] <BR> <br />
[[Portrait of the Pastor (in 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus)]] <br><br />
[[Proverbs]] <BR> <br />
[[Psalms]] <BR></div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Persecution_in_Revelation_(in_Revelation)&diff=17842Persecution in Revelation (in Revelation)2017-06-26T15:51:47Z<p>BenEB: complete essay</p>
<hr />
<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]''' <br />
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[[file:BCBC_Revelation2.jpg|frame|right|x310px|link=http://store.mennomedia.org/Revelation-P70.aspx|[http://store.mennomedia.org/Revelation-P70.aspx''Revelation'', by John R. Yeatts (Believers Church Bible Commentary)]'']]<br />
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It appears clear from the text of Revelation that persecution was indeed evident and expected (2:10-11; 7:13- 14; 11:7-9; 12:11; 16:6; 17:6; 18:24; 19:2; 20:4-6; see also 1:9; 2:2-3, 13; 3:8-10; 6:9-11; 7:9-17; 11:1-13; 12:1-17; 13:1-18; 14:13; 17:1-6; see Murphy, 1998:7-11 on persecution in the New Testament). John himself was sent to Patmos as a prisoner (1:9), and his hearers are told to imitate Christ by persevering and conquering in the face of tribulation (1:5-9; 2:10-11, 17, 26-28; 3:5, 10, 12, 21; 7:13-14; 12:10-12; 14:1-5). Revelation specifies that at least one person died for his faith—Antipas of Pergamum (2:13). The issue worth dying for was idolatry, the refusal to worship the emperor. Charlesworth focuses two questions that have relevance for the first-century Christians: “Why should the Christian continue to be willing to die at the hands of Rome...? Why should the Christian continue to suffer and be willing to die for Christ who seems to be powerless?” (1987:26). These questions confront Christians at all times when persecution for the faith seems imminent. <br />
<br />
== Invitation to Comment ==<br />
To recommend improvements to this article, [mailto:ljohns@ambs.edu click here].<br />
<br />
{| border="1" style="text-align: right; color: green; background-color:#ffffcc; float: right" <br />
|—'''''[[John R. Yeatts]]'''''<br />
|}</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=E&diff=17841E2017-06-26T15:50:03Z<p>BenEB: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]'''<br />
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[[Ecclesiastes]] <BR> <br />
[[Ecclesiology (in 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus)]] <br><br />
[[Economic Justice (in Ezekiel)]] <BR> <br />
[[Elements of the Universe (in Colossians and Philemon)]] <br><br />
[[Emperors and Emperor Worship (in Revelation)]] <br><br />
[[Enemies (in Psalms)]] <BR> [[Ephesians]] <BR> <br />
[[Epistolary Analysis (in 1 & 2 Thessalonians)]]<br><br />
[[The Eschatology of Mark 13]] <BR> <br />
[[Anabaptist Approaches to Scripture|Essays on Biblical Interpretation: Anabaptist-Mennonite Perspectives]] Willard Swartley, Ed.<BR><br />
[[Esther]] <BR> <br />
[[Exodus]] <BR> <br />
[[Ezekiel]] <BR> <br />
[[Ezra]]</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Emperors_and_Emperor_Worship_(in_Revelation)&diff=17840Emperors and Emperor Worship (in Revelation)2017-06-26T15:49:24Z<p>BenEB: complete essay</p>
<hr />
<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]''' <br />
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[[file:BCBC_Revelation2.jpg|frame|right|x310px|link=http://store.mennomedia.org/Revelation-P70.aspx|[http://store.mennomedia.org/Revelation-P70.aspx''Revelation'', by John R. Yeatts (Believers Church Bible Commentary)]'']]<br />
<br />
Revelation seems to indicate that its context includes pressure to worship the Roman emperor and the cri- sis that this posed for Christians. Tacitus reports that the first temple to Rome was built in 195 B.C. in Smyrna (''Annals'' 4.56) and the first temple to the divine Caesar in Pergamum in 29 B.C. (4.37). Emperor worship reached a crescendo under Caligula (Jos., ''Ant''. 18.261; Suet., ''Caligula'' 22), and by the end of the first century A.D. all cities in Asia had temples for the worship of Rome and her emperors. Johns summarizes the influence of emperor worship on Asia Minor, concluding: “There is little question that the province of Asia was the world leader in the imperial cult” (1998:154-57). Pilgrim summarizes the case in even stronger language: “Asia Minor was a veritable hotbed for the imperial cult” (1999:148; see Barclay 1960:1.22-24 and Worth 1999:116-18 for a summary of how each emperor of the first century understood the practice of emperor worship). <br />
<br />
Traditionally, it has been thought that Domitian (A.D. 81-96) was the worst of the first-century emperors, insisting on his own divinity, demanding caesar worship, and persecuting Christians who did not participate. More recent scholars have questioned this assessment, emphasizing that it goes back to second-century apologists for the reforms of Trajan, who wished to contrast the good Emperor Trajan with his predecessor, Domitian ''[Essay: Persecution during Domitian’s Reign]''. Yet coins from 20-18 B.C. bearing a bust of Augustus and a representation of his temple and carrying inscriptions like ROM..ET.AUGUST witness to the presence of emperor worship early in Asia; and inscriptions on the temple in Ephesus, probably built during the reign of Domitian, evidence the divinization of the emperor’s family (Friesen 2001:29, 46). That Christians were compelled to worship the emperor several decades after Revelation was written is documented in a letter from Pliny the Younger to Caesar Trajan, who evidently executed Christians and forced those who denied being Christians to invoke the heathen gods and offer worship, wine, and frankincense before a statue of the Caesar (''Letter'' 10.96; see also ''Mart. Pol.'' 8). Nevertheless, Thompson gives convincing evidence that Domitian was not the cold-blooded persecutor of Christians that he was formerly thought to be (1990:109-15). Perhaps the pressure to worship the emperor during the reign of Domitian was more subtle and seductive than open and oppressive. Because Christians were becoming more affluent due to the trade that was prevalent throughout the empire, it may have been their materialism and expectation of wealth, more than outright persecution, that seduced Christians to worship the emperor (Kraybill, 1996:117). Yet, the memory of past persecution under Nero, and its reality in the second and third centuries, make it likely that the expectation of tribulation was present during the reign of Domitian (Yarbro Collins 1984:84-110). Friesen (2001) documents considerable provincial and municipal imperial cult activity with its attendant temples, festivals, officials, coins, and calendar woven into the religious and governmental culture of late-first-century Asia. Christians would naturally resist this usurpation of God’s rightful authority and Rome’s use of military force in support of imperial religion (208). <br />
<br />
<br />
== Invitation to Comment ==<br />
To recommend improvements to this article, [mailto:ljohns@ambs.edu click here].<br />
<br />
{| border="1" style="text-align: right; color: green; background-color:#ffffcc; float: right" <br />
|—'''''[[John R. Yeatts]]'''''<br />
|}</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=C&diff=17839C2017-06-26T15:45:04Z<p>BenEB: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]'''<br />
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[[Canonicity and Acceptance of Revelation (in Revelation)]] <br><br />
[[Christ/Christology (in Matthew)]] <BR> <br />
[[Christology of Revelation (in Revelation)]]<br><br />
[[1 & 2 Chronicles]] <BR><br />
[[Colossians]] <BR> <br />
[[Conquest and Land in the New Testament (in Joshua)]] <BR> <br />
[[Contextualizing the Gospel (in 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus)]] <br><br />
[[1 Corinthians]] <BR> <br />
[[2 Corinthians]] <BR> <br />
Cross - See [[Bearing One's Cross (in Mark)]]</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Christology_of_Revelation_(in_Revelation)&diff=17838Christology of Revelation (in Revelation)2017-06-26T15:43:59Z<p>BenEB: complete essay</p>
<hr />
<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]''' <br />
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[[file:BCBC_Revelation2.jpg|frame|right|x310px|link=http://store.mennomedia.org/Revelation-P70.aspx|[http://store.mennomedia.org/Revelation-P70.aspx''Revelation'', by John R. Yeatts (Believers Church Bible Commentary)]'']]<br />
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Revelation has a wealth of titles for Christ: faithful witness, firstborn of the dead, ruler of the kings of the earth (1:5); Alpha and Omega (1:8; 21:6; 22:13); who walks among the seven golden lampstands (1:13; 2:1); Son of Man (1:13; 14:14); who has eyes like a flame of fire (1:14; 2:18); whose feet are like burnished bronze (1:15; 2:18); one who holds the seven stars (1:16; 2:1); who has the sharp two-edged sword (1:16; 2:12); who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars (1:16; 3:1); first and last (1:17; 2:8; 22:13); who was dead and came to life (2:8); Son of God (2:18), holy one, true one, one who holds the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens (3:7); Amen, faithful and true witness, origin of God’s creation (3:14); lion of the tribe of Judah, root of David (5:5; 22:16); Lamb (5:6, 8, 12, 13; 6:1, 16; 7:9, 10, 14, 17; 12:11; 13:8; 14:1, 4, 10; 15:3; 17:14; 19:7, 9; 21:14, 22, 23; 22:1, 3); King of Kings, Lord of Lords (17:14; 19:16); faithful and true (19:11); the beginning and the end (21:6; 22:13); and so forth (see Johns, 1998:189-93, for a discussion of the political overtones of these titles and for the case that Revelation is “a subversive resistance manual”; Weaver, 1994a:279-81; 2001:20-33, 73-74, for a treatment of the Christus Victor theme in Revelation; and Slater, 1999, for consideration of the christological images Son of Man, Lamb, and Divine Warrior). <br />
<br />
Indeed, Revelation has the highest Christology in the New Testament (see Beasley-Murray 1947:23-29). John places Christ on par with God; the two names are used synonymously (3:21; 6:16; 7:9, 10, 17; 14:1; 21:22, 23; 22:1, 3). As a Jew, John was an inflexible monotheist; placing Christ on par with God shows Christ’s unique position and marks the beginning of Trinitarianism. John also adds the Holy Spirit to this Godhead at least by implication (1:4-5; 19:10; 22:17). Thus, John lays the basis, in a rudimentary form, for future formulations of the doctrine of the Trinity. <br />
<br />
<br />
== Invitation to Comment ==<br />
To recommend improvements to this article, [mailto:ljohns@ambs.edu click here].<br />
<br />
{| border="1" style="text-align: right; color: green; background-color:#ffffcc; float: right" <br />
|—'''''[[John R. Yeatts]]'''''<br />
|}</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=C&diff=17837C2017-06-26T15:42:11Z<p>BenEB: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]'''<br />
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[[Canonicity and Acceptance of Revelation (in Revelation)]] <br><br />
[[Christ/Christology (in Matthew)]] <BR> <br />
[[1 & 2 Chronicles]] <BR><br />
[[Colossians]] <BR> <br />
[[Conquest and Land in the New Testament (in Joshua)]] <BR> <br />
[[Contextualizing the Gospel (in 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus)]] <br><br />
[[1 Corinthians]] <BR> <br />
[[2 Corinthians]] <BR> <br />
Cross - See [[Bearing One's Cross (in Mark)]]</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Canonicity_and_Acceptance_of_Revelation_(in_Revelation)&diff=17836Canonicity and Acceptance of Revelation (in Revelation)2017-06-26T15:41:22Z<p>BenEB: complete essay</p>
<hr />
<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]''' <br />
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[[file:BCBC_Revelation2.jpg|frame|right|x310px|link=http://store.mennomedia.org/Revelation-P70.aspx|[http://store.mennomedia.org/Revelation-P70.aspx''Revelation'', by John R. Yeatts (Believers Church Bible Commentary)]'']]<br />
<br />
Evidence of the acceptance of the Book of Revelation in the Western church comes quite early. In Rome in A.D. 150, Justin Martyr names the book and its author, the apostle John (''Dialogue with Trypho'' 81). In A.D. 170, the Muratorian Canon says that the Apocalypse of John was universally recognized in Rome (Swete, 1908:cx). Irenaeus (''Adv. Haer.'' 3.11.1; 4.20.11; 5.35.2), Tertullian (''Against Marcion'' 3.14.3), Hippolytus (''de Ant.'' 36), Clement of Alexandria (''Who Is the Rich Man Who Shall Be Saved?'' 42; ''Miscellanies'' 6.106-7), and Origen (''Commentary on John'' 5.3) accept Revelation as scripture. In the fourth century, Eusebius says that some accept it as canonical, but he and others refer to it as a questioned book (''Eccl. Hist.'' 4.26). His attitude may have been influenced by the use of the book by millenarians, who believed in a literal reign of Christ on the earth. Overall, though, Revelation was accepted early in the West. Evidence of this is found in the words of St. Jerome: “The Apocalypse of John has as many secrets as words. I am saying less than the book deserves. It is beyond all praise; for multiple meanings lie hidden in each single word” (''Letter'' 53.9; translated in Caird, 1966:2). <br />
<br />
To the church in the East, Revelation was unknown for four centuries. It was not included in the Peshitto Version of the New Testament in the fifth century. Yet in the fourth century, Athanasius recognized Revelation, and the Council of Carthage listed it as canonical. The Third Council of Constantinople in the seventh century accepted it as part of the scripture of the Eastern church. Nevertheless, the text and imagery of Revelation is absent from the hymns and liturgy of the Syrian church throughout its history. Therefore, Revelation was not accepted as readily in the Eastern church tra- dition (Gwynn, 1897:c-civ; R. H. Charles, 1920:1.cii; Beckwith, 1919:341- 43; Swete, 1908:cxvi-cxvii). <br />
<br />
During the time of the Reformation, Revelation came into question in the West. Luther added the Epistle of James and the books following in an appendix to his commentary but separated them from the rest of the canon. He rejected Revelation because of what he called the author’s hubris and because he thought it obscured Christ for the ordinary believer. Indeed, in his 1522 ''Preface to the Revelation of Saint John'', Luther said: “My spirit cannot accommodate itself to this book. For me this is reason not to think highly of it: Christ is neither taught nor known in it” (''Luther’s Works'' 35:399). Zwingli could not accept Revelation because its considerable use of angels encouraged what he considered an immature, pious mysticism, and its liturgical format was too close to the Catholic mass. He says: “With the Apocalypse, we have no concern, for it is not a biblical book .... I can, if I so will, reject its testimonies” (quoted in Barclay, 1960:1.1). Calvin did not voice an opinion on Revelation; he did quote from it, but his commentaries exclude it. <br />
<br />
So, there have been diverse attitudes toward Revelation in the history of the church. No other book in the Bible has aroused such love and such hatred. The same is true today. On the one hand, in Umberto Eco’s novel ''The Name of the Rose'', a monk, while attempting to find out who is responsible for a series of murders occurring in a monastery, is asked whether or not the Book of Revelation might have the solution to the murders. He responds: “The Book of John offers the key to everything!” (1980:303). On the other hand, George Bernard Shaw, in his ''The Adventure of the Black Girl in Search for God'', calls Revelation “a curious record of the visions of a drug addict which was absurdly admitted to the canon under the title of Revelation” (1933:93). <br />
<br />
Indeed, Revelation has been loved and hated by Christians. It has served as a paradise for fanatics who give their own peculiar interpretation to the symbols of the text. Yet it has also been rejected by many Christians as either confusing or unintelligible. Caird sums up the situation well when he says: “In modern times scores of commentaries have been written on it so diverse as to make the reader wonder whether they are discussing the same book” (1966:2). <br />
<br />
<br />
== Invitation to Comment ==<br />
To recommend improvements to this article, [mailto:ljohns@ambs.edu click here].<br />
<br />
{| border="1" style="text-align: right; color: green; background-color:#ffffcc; float: right" <br />
|—'''''[[John R. Yeatts]]'''''<br />
|}</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=A&diff=17835A2017-06-26T15:34:30Z<p>BenEB: </p>
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<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]'''<br />
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[[Acts]] <BR> <br />
[[Amos]] <BR> <br />
[[Anabaptist Approaches to Scripture]] <BR> <br />
[https://uwaterloo.ca/grebel/sites/ca.grebel/files/uploads/files/CGR-22-3-F2004-9.pdf Anabaptist or Mennonite? Interpreting the Bible] by C. Norman Kraus <BR> <br />
[[Anabaptist Interpretation of Revelation (in Revelation)]]<br><br />
[[Anger of the Lord (in Joshua)]] <BR> <br />
Anti-Semitism in Mark: See [[Israel and Israel's Leaders (Mark and Anti-Semitism)]]. See also [[Anti-Semitism (in Matthew)]] and [[“The Jews” (in the Gospel of John)]] <BR><br />
[[Anti-Semitism (in Matthew)]] <BR><br />
[[Apocalyptic Literature (in Revelation)]]<br></div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Apocalyptic_Literature_(in_Revelation)&diff=17834Apocalyptic Literature (in Revelation)2017-06-26T15:33:59Z<p>BenEB: complete essay</p>
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<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]''' <br />
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[[file:BCBC_Revelation2.jpg|frame|right|x310px|link=http://store.mennomedia.org/Revelation-P70.aspx|[http://store.mennomedia.org/Revelation-P70.aspx''Revelation'', by John R. Yeatts (Believers Church Bible Commentary)]'']]<br />
<br />
<br />
The most accepted definition of apocalyptic literature at present is: <br />
<br />
: “Apocalypse” is a genre of revelatory literature with a narrative framework, in which a revelation is mediated by an otherworldly being to a human recipient, disclosing a transcendent reality which is both temporal, insofar as it envisages eschatological salvation, and spatial insofar as it involves another, supernatural world. (J. J. Collins, 1979:9) <br />
<br />
Within apocalyptic literature, the manner of revelation is through visions, epiphanies, otherworldly journeys, angel interpreters, and secret books; the recipient receives revelation from a venerable person, usually identified pseudonymously as from the other world, through discourse or dialogue; the content of revelation includes eschatological predictions about the final outcome of human history, a temporal review of history, or a spatial journey into other worlds (see Collins, 1979:5-18, for an expanded treatment of these characteristics and the typology that follows). <br />
<br />
Based on these characteristics, a paradigm of types and subtypes of apocalyptic literature has been constructed. There are two types—those with symbolic visions interested in primordial events or historical development (I), and those with otherworldly journeys interested in cosmological speculation about eschatological persecution and judgment (II). Three subtypes have also been delineated—those that include a review of history through recollection or prophecy after the fact (a); those that include cosmic or political eschatological transformation with no review of history (b); and those that include only individual eschatology, personal resurrection, judgment of the dead, and otherworldly regions and beings with no review of history or cosmic transformation (c). <br />
<br />
How does the Book of Revelation fit into this typology of apocalyptic? Revelation comes through symbolic visions of otherworldly beings, Christ and angels, but with only minimal reference to otherworldly journeys. Its content is primarily eschatological because it speaks of cosmic transformation, resurrection, and personal afterlife but has no complex review of history. Therefore, Revelation is categorized best as IIb, including symbolic visions with a concern for cosmic eschatology, although its somewhat less obvious concern for individual eschatology gives it some of the flavor of the category IIc. <br />
<br />
== Invitation to Comment ==<br />
To recommend improvements to this article, [mailto:ljohns@ambs.edu click here].<br />
<br />
{| border="1" style="text-align: right; color: green; background-color:#ffffcc; float: right" <br />
|—'''''[[John R. Yeatts]]'''''<br />
|}</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Revelation&diff=17833Revelation2017-06-26T15:30:41Z<p>BenEB: </p>
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<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]''' <br />
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[[file:BCBC_Revelation2.jpg|frame|right|x310px|link=http://store.mennomedia.org/Revelation-P70.aspx|[http://store.mennomedia.org/Revelation-P70.aspx''Revelation'', by John R. Yeatts (Believers Church Bible Commentary)]'']]<br />
<br />
<h2>Introduction</h2><br />
<h3>Relevance</h3><br />
<p>Some see Revelation as a book predicting when Jesus will return in wrath and judgment. Although it does clearly expect Jesus to return, the mood is joyful anticipation: "Amen. Come, Lord Jesus." Yet, when Jesus left this world, his disciples asked: "Lord, is this time when will you restore the kingdom to Israel?" Jesus responded: "It not for you to know the times" but "You will receive power&hellip; to be my witnesses&hellip;. (Acts 1:6-8)." That is the purpose of Revelation: Not to predict when Jesus will come again, but to prepare us to witness to Jesus who is coming. That witness includes who Jesus is, who God is, what Jesus accomplished by dying on the cross, the context and protection for witness, the evil forces arrayed against our witness, and the reward for faithful witness. These are all communicated in the powerful symbolic language of metaphor and simile interspersed with joyous worship.</p><br />
<h3>Author and Date</h3><br />
<p>Revelation was written in a time of actual tribulation or the threat of persecution. A few commentators insist that this best fits Nero's rule in the AD 60s. Yet, the focus of so much of Revelation's beastly symbolism upon the empire of Rome best fits a period after Rome destroyed Jerusalem in AD 70. Indeed, Irenaeus in the second century, Victorinus in the third century, and Eusebius in the fourth all assumed that Revelation was written during the reign of Domitian in the AD 90s. Therefore, the vast majority of commentators agree that Revelation was written during the threat of persecution under Domitian.</p><br />
<p>Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, who both lived in the century after Revelation was written, identify John the disciple as its author. Yet, Revelation's language is so different from the Gospel and Epistles of John that it is difficult to believe that same person wrote them all at about the same time. Nevertheless, the inspiration of the Book of Revelation is in the vision of Christ, not the human author.</p><br />
<h3>Form and Rhetoric</h3><br />
<p>Revelation 1:4-6 has the form of a letter and then chapters 2-3 are a series of letters to seven churches in Asia Minor. Moreover, the book ends with an epistolary conclusion: "The grace of the Lord Jesus be with the saints" (22:21). John himself calls Revelation a prophecy in both the introduction (1:3) and the conclusion (22:19). Yet, the first word of the Book of Revelation is <em>apocalypsis</em>, which came to identify a common genre of literature.</p><br />
<p>Apocalyptic literature is characterized by visions, angels and demons, otherworldly journeys, and secret books. Yet, its most important quality is the use of symbolic language. The reason for using symbols is to effectively communicate truths about God and Jesus, Satan and his demons, heaven and hell. Such truths cannot be effectively stated in descriptive language. Therefore, John used symbols to communicate such realities more powerfully and effectively.</p><br />
<h2>Summary and Comment</h2><br />
<p>'''The Vision of Christ: (1:1-20):''' In the first vision of Revelation, Jesus is described with grand symbolic language. Jesus wears the long robe of the High Priest and the golden belt of the king. He is endowed with the mature wisdom that accompanies white hair and with the stability of bronzed feet. The sword from his mouth is the word of God with which he destroys his adversaries. He holds the churches in the protection of his right hand, and his face shines with the glory of God. In response to this fantastic symbolic vision, John falls on his face in worship of Christ, who is also the focus of our witness.</p><br />
<p>'''The Letters to the Churches (2:1-3:22):''' These specific addresses to each of seven churches in Asia Minor indicate that Christ knows those churches intimately. Yet, the number seven suggests that the message is for the complete church that bears witness to Christ in all times and places.</p><br />
<p>'''The Vision of God (4:1-11):''' Revelation calls us to bear witness to God who is described in the symbolism of precious stones. The jasper, clear as crystal, speaks of the purity of God, and the fiery carnelian symbolizes the purifying judgment of God, but they are both encircled by the emerald-green rainbow of God's mercy. All of heaven worships this holy and merciful God.</p><br />
<p>'''The Redemption of Christ (5:1-14):''' To complement the powerful vision of Christ in chapter 1, this vision presents the redemption that Christ brought on the cross. Jesus appears to open the sealed scroll and accomplish God's plan for the redemption of our universe and the salvation of all humanity through his suffering and death on the cross. This vision is the centerpiece of Revelation and focus of our witness. Again the response in heaven is jubilant worship of the slaughtered Lamb.</p><br />
<p>'''The Context of Witness (6:1-16):''' Witnesses in all times and places face the four horsemen of the apocalypse &ndash; war, bloodshed, famine, and death. In response to this tribulation, the voices of those who follow the slaughtered Lamb and are martyred for this faithfulness cry out for God's justice to make sense of their suffering. The answer comes in God's cataclysmic judgment of the sixth seal directed at those who persecuted his witnesses.</p><br />
<p>'''The Sealing of the Witness (7:1-16):''' In the midst of suffering, Jesus's witnesses are marked for protection. The 144,000 represent the witnesses facing tribulation. Although they suffer even to the point of death, they are ultimately sealed and promised that they will join the great multitude before the throne worshipping God. This vast multitude is the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham that his seed would be innumerable.</p><br />
<p>'''The New Exodus (8:1-9:21; 15:1-16:21):''' The trumpet and bowl judgments parallel the plagues of the Exodus. Indeed, these chapters describe the eschatological exodus of God's people from this world. In answer to the prayers of these faithful witnesses, God brings judgment on those who have persecuted them and ultimately exalts the faithful to a place with God in heaven.</p><br />
<p>'''The Call of the Witnesses (10:1-11:19):''' Like Christ who opened the sealed scroll to accomplish God's plan of redemption, human witnesses take the little scroll that is open to them and symbolizes their to task to bear faithful witness through their death, resurrection and ascension to heaven. The scroll is sweet to their mouth because it symbolizes salvation, but bitter to their stomach because they realize that it involves suffering along with their Lord Jesus Christ who suffered on the cross for their salvation.</p><br />
<p>'''The Great Enemies of God's Witnesses (12:1-13:18):''' The great adversaries of faithful witnesses form a trinity of evil. The great red dragon Satan is defeated in a war in heaven, but remains alive to continue to attack God's people. That attack is waged by Satan's cohorts the political beast from the sea, who is elsewhere called the anti-Christ, and the religious beast from the earth, whom Revelation calls the false prophet. Although this trinity of evil continues to wage war on earth, faithful witnesses know that Satan's defeat in heaven assures them of the final defeat on earth of Satan and his two beastly cohorts.</p><br />
<p>'''The Separation of the Faithful from the Wicked (14:1-20):''' An angel from heaven separates those who wear the mark of Satan and his beast from those who bear the seal of the slain Lamb. The Lamb's faithful witnesses are portrayed as a wheat harvest and Satan's followers are like grapes thrown into the great winepress of the wrath of God.</p><br />
<p>'''The Defeat of the Enemies of Christ's Witnesses (17:1-18:24):''' The Fall of Babylon symbolizes the fall of Rome and all of empires that persecute Christ's witnesses. Babylon's defeat is described in both narrative and poetic form. What brings her downfall is her oppressive and wanton luxury, which also characterizes the great empires throughout history and even those in our day.</p><br />
<p>'''Christ's Final Victory (19:1-21):''' Christ wins the final battle with the sword from his mouth, which is the word of God. This brings the celebration of the marriage supper of the Lamb and the devastation of the wicked portrayed as a gruesome meal of dead flesh. This final battle, like the other wars of Revelation are won not with military might, but with the sword of the word of the Lamb that was slain.</p><br />
<p>'''The Kingdom of God (20:1-15):''' God's kingdom on earth is ruled by those who bear witness in great tribulation. Satan and his evil cohorts are destroyed, and all humanity is resurrected to be judged on the basis of what they have done in faithful witness to Christ.</p><br />
<p>'''The Reward of the Witnesses (21:1-22:21):''' The faithful witnesses are rewarded with the bliss of the New Heaven and New Earth, but the sea, the abode of Satan and his beast, is destroyed. The reward for witness is portrayed symbolically in the vision of the New Jerusalem, which is magnificent beyond what words can describe. Then Revelation ends in the jubilant expectation of the coming of the Lord Jesus to inaugurate the kingdom of God.</p><br />
<h2>Conclusion</h2><br />
<p>Revelation was not written to tell us when Jesus will come again, but to give us truths to bear witness to the one who is to come &ndash; our Lord Jesus. Revelation is a powerful symbolic presentation of the nature of Jesus and God, the atonement Jesus accomplished, the reality of Satan, and the reward of the faithful witnesses. This is all interspersed with jubilant worship of the almighty God on the throne and the Lamb that was slain for our salvation and who rose from the dead to conquer death.</p><br />
<h2>Recommended Essays from the Commentary</h2><br />
[[Anabaptist Interpretation of Revelation (in Revelation)|Anabaptist Interpretation of Revelation]]<br><br />
[[Apocalyptic Literature (in Revelation)|Apocalyptic Literature]]<br><br />
[[Canonicity and Acceptance of Revelation (in Revelation)|Canonicity and Acceptance of Revelation]]<br><br />
[[Christology of Revelation (in Revelation)|Christology of Revelation]]<br><br />
[[Emperors and Emperor Worship (in Revelation)|Emperors and Emperor Worship]]<br><br />
The Influence of Revelation<br><br />
[[Persecution in Revelation (in Revelation)|Persecution in Revelation]] <br><br />
The Structure of Revelation<br><br />
[[Worship in Revelation (in Revelation)|Worship in Revelation]]<br />
<h2>Bibliography</h2><br />
<ul><br />
<li>Aune, D.E. <em>Revelation</em> (Word Biblical Commentary). 3 Vols. Nashville, TN: Word Publishing, 1997, 1998.</li><br />
<li>Barr, David L. <em>Tales of the End: Narrative Commentary on the Book of Revelation</em>. 2nd ed. Santa Rosa, CA: Polebridge Press, 2011.</li><br />
<li>Beale, G.K. <em>The Book of Revelation: A Commentary on the Greek Text. </em>The New International Greek Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1999.</li><br />
<li>Bauckham, R.J. <em>The Theology of the Book of Revelation. </em>New Testament Theology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.</li><br />
<li>deSilva, D. A. <em>Seeing Things John's Way: The Rhetoric of the Book of Revelation. </em>Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2009.</li><br />
<li>Reddish, Mitchell G. <em>Revelation. </em>Macon, GA: Smyth and Helwys Publishing, 2001.</li><br />
</ul><br />
<br />
== Invitation to Comment ==<br />
To recommend improvements to this article, [mailto:ljohns@ambs.edu click here].<br />
<br />
{| border="1" style="text-align: right; color: green; background-color:#ffffcc; float: right" <br />
|—'''''[[John R. Yeatts]]'''''<br />
|}</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=A&diff=17832A2017-06-26T15:28:55Z<p>BenEB: link to anabaptist interpretation of revelation</p>
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<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]'''<br />
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[[Acts]] <BR> <br />
[[Amos]] <BR> <br />
[[Anabaptist Approaches to Scripture]] <BR> <br />
[https://uwaterloo.ca/grebel/sites/ca.grebel/files/uploads/files/CGR-22-3-F2004-9.pdf Anabaptist or Mennonite? Interpreting the Bible] by C. Norman Kraus <BR> <br />
[[Anabaptist Interpretation of Revelation (in Revelation)]]<br><br />
[[Anger of the Lord (in Joshua)]] <BR> <br />
Anti-Semitism in Mark: See [[Israel and Israel's Leaders (Mark and Anti-Semitism)]]. See also [[Anti-Semitism (in Matthew)]] and [[“The Jews” (in the Gospel of John)]] <BR><br />
[[Anti-Semitism (in Matthew)]] <BR></div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Anabaptist_Interpretation_of_Revelation_(in_Revelation)&diff=17831Anabaptist Interpretation of Revelation (in Revelation)2017-06-26T15:28:03Z<p>BenEB: complete essay</p>
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<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]''' <br />
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[[file:BCBC_Revelation2.jpg|frame|right|x310px|link=http://store.mennomedia.org/Revelation-P70.aspx|[http://store.mennomedia.org/Revelation-P70.aspx''Revelation'', by John R. Yeatts (Believers Church Bible Commentary)]'']]<br />
<br />
Anabaptist eschatology has reflected the beliefs of the evangelical church in general. Yet the uniqueness of the Anabaptist interpretation of Revelation lies in its martyr the- ology (see Correll, 1956:2.247). The great battle between God and the forces of Satan is being fought in this world by martyrs. <br />
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Many of the early Anabaptists interpreted the symbols of Revelation literally, applying them to Catholic and Protestant church leadership. In South Germany, Michael Sattler identified the seven heads and ten horns of the beast with the Roman church hierarchy. In Zurich, Anabaptists identified Zwingli with the red dragon of Revelation (Clasen, 1972:119). They believed that the suffering of the sixteenth century was evidence that they were in the last days. Thomas Müntzer predicted that the second coming would occur on Pentecost, 1528 (Klaassen, 1981:316-17), and during the time of the German Peasant’s War in 1526, Hans Hut predicted: “The final and most terrible times of this world are upon us” (quoted in Liechty, 1994:64). Other Anabaptist leaders rejected such speculations. Balthasar Hubmaier said: <br />
<br />
: Concerning this I very strongly opposed Hans Hut and his followers when they hoodwinked the simple people by claiming a definite time for the last day, namely next Pentecost. They convinced them to sell their property and leave wife and child, house and field behind, and are now without means of support. Thus the poor people were convinced to follow him by a seductive error which arose out of ignorance of Scripture. (Quoted in Klaassen, 1981:324) <br />
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During the sixteenth century, Anabaptist thinking separated into violent and quiet eschatology (Littell, 1958:102-3). Following Joachim of Fiore, Melchior Hoffman divided history into three parts and predicted that the end would come in 1536. He taught that in 1533 the godless of Strasbourg would be massacred and the 144,000 followers of Hoffman would go out to witness Christ’s return (Clasen, 1972:119). All of this would come about, not by human force, but by divine intervention (Krahn, 1981:100). He affirmed the city of Münster to be the millennial commonwealth; and one of his successors, Jan of Leyden, proclaimed himself to be the Davidic Messiah (Rowland, 1998:540). Bernhard Rothmann called Münster the center of the kingdom and advocated violent overthrow of the enemy: “They will make plowshares and hoes into swords and spears. They shall choose a captain, fly the flag, and blow the trumpet. They will incite an obstinate and merciless people against Babylon” (quoted in Klaassen, 1981:335). By the end of the sixteenth century, only a few made eschatological predictions and violent eschatology faded out. <br />
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Most Anabaptists accept what has been called quiet eschatology. Menno Simons and Dirk Philips represent this approach to Revelation. Menno clearly identified the antichrist with the Roman church (Klaassen, 1981:342). Yet he saw the kingdom of God as spiritual (Keeney, 1968:180). He believed, on the basis of scripture rather than world events, that Christ would come from outside history to judge the world and that resurrection is personal like the resurrection of Jesus (185, 186). This view was quite prevalent in Anabaptist circles for two centuries. <br />
<br />
However, there were persons that, although not violent, expected a literal millennial reign of Christ on this earth. For example, in the 1890s Claas Epp Jr., a Russian Mennonite farmer and preacher, believed that the tribulation was imminent and would be particularly threatening to Mennonites’ pacifistic exemption from the military. Epp led six hundred Mennonites from the Volga River area of Southern Russia hoping to find refuge in Turkestan and to meet the Lord there in 1889. Disappointed in that expectation, some found their way to North America (Belk, 1976). In the late nineteenth century, churches in the Anabaptist tradition rejected even more the literalist approach to Revelation. Perhaps through accommodation with the ideas of the mainline church, the second coming, resurrection, and judgment were given more symbolic interpretations. Nevertheless, the tragedies of the twentieth century (e.g., world wars, economic depression, arms race) led to a revival of evangelical eschatology. Until 1960, premillennialism and dispensationalism received increasing emphasis among Anabaptist-related churches (Correll 1956:2:248). Since then these eschatological views have waned; eschatological hope is more broadly conceived, emphasizing fulfillment now-in-Christ, but consummation yet-to-come. <br />
<br />
<br />
== Invitation to Comment ==<br />
To recommend improvements to this article, [mailto:ljohns@ambs.edu click here].<br />
<br />
{| border="1" style="text-align: right; color: green; background-color:#ffffcc; float: right" <br />
|—'''''[[John R. Yeatts]]'''''<br />
|}</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Revelation&diff=17830Revelation2017-06-26T15:19:31Z<p>BenEB: create links to essays</p>
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<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]''' <br />
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[[file:BCBC_Revelation2.jpg|frame|right|x310px|link=http://store.mennomedia.org/Revelation-P70.aspx|[http://store.mennomedia.org/Revelation-P70.aspx''Revelation'', by John R. Yeatts (Believers Church Bible Commentary)]'']]<br />
<br />
<h2>Introduction</h2><br />
<h3>Relevance</h3><br />
<p>Some see Revelation as a book predicting when Jesus will return in wrath and judgment. Although it does clearly expect Jesus to return, the mood is joyful anticipation: "Amen. Come, Lord Jesus." Yet, when Jesus left this world, his disciples asked: "Lord, is this time when will you restore the kingdom to Israel?" Jesus responded: "It not for you to know the times" but "You will receive power&hellip; to be my witnesses&hellip;. (Acts 1:6-8)." That is the purpose of Revelation: Not to predict when Jesus will come again, but to prepare us to witness to Jesus who is coming. That witness includes who Jesus is, who God is, what Jesus accomplished by dying on the cross, the context and protection for witness, the evil forces arrayed against our witness, and the reward for faithful witness. These are all communicated in the powerful symbolic language of metaphor and simile interspersed with joyous worship.</p><br />
<h3>Author and Date</h3><br />
<p>Revelation was written in a time of actual tribulation or the threat of persecution. A few commentators insist that this best fits Nero's rule in the AD 60s. Yet, the focus of so much of Revelation's beastly symbolism upon the empire of Rome best fits a period after Rome destroyed Jerusalem in AD 70. Indeed, Irenaeus in the second century, Victorinus in the third century, and Eusebius in the fourth all assumed that Revelation was written during the reign of Domitian in the AD 90s. Therefore, the vast majority of commentators agree that Revelation was written during the threat of persecution under Domitian.</p><br />
<p>Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, who both lived in the century after Revelation was written, identify John the disciple as its author. Yet, Revelation's language is so different from the Gospel and Epistles of John that it is difficult to believe that same person wrote them all at about the same time. Nevertheless, the inspiration of the Book of Revelation is in the vision of Christ, not the human author.</p><br />
<h3>Form and Rhetoric</h3><br />
<p>Revelation 1:4-6 has the form of a letter and then chapters 2-3 are a series of letters to seven churches in Asia Minor. Moreover, the book ends with an epistolary conclusion: "The grace of the Lord Jesus be with the saints" (22:21). John himself calls Revelation a prophecy in both the introduction (1:3) and the conclusion (22:19). Yet, the first word of the Book of Revelation is <em>apocalypsis</em>, which came to identify a common genre of literature.</p><br />
<p>Apocalyptic literature is characterized by visions, angels and demons, otherworldly journeys, and secret books. Yet, its most important quality is the use of symbolic language. The reason for using symbols is to effectively communicate truths about God and Jesus, Satan and his demons, heaven and hell. Such truths cannot be effectively stated in descriptive language. Therefore, John used symbols to communicate such realities more powerfully and effectively.</p><br />
<h2>Summary and Comment</h2><br />
<p>'''The Vision of Christ: (1:1-20):''' In the first vision of Revelation, Jesus is described with grand symbolic language. Jesus wears the long robe of the High Priest and the golden belt of the king. He is endowed with the mature wisdom that accompanies white hair and with the stability of bronzed feet. The sword from his mouth is the word of God with which he destroys his adversaries. He holds the churches in the protection of his right hand, and his face shines with the glory of God. In response to this fantastic symbolic vision, John falls on his face in worship of Christ, who is also the focus of our witness.</p><br />
<p>'''The Letters to the Churches (2:1-3:22):''' These specific addresses to each of seven churches in Asia Minor indicate that Christ knows those churches intimately. Yet, the number seven suggests that the message is for the complete church that bears witness to Christ in all times and places.</p><br />
<p>'''The Vision of God (4:1-11):''' Revelation calls us to bear witness to God who is described in the symbolism of precious stones. The jasper, clear as crystal, speaks of the purity of God, and the fiery carnelian symbolizes the purifying judgment of God, but they are both encircled by the emerald-green rainbow of God's mercy. All of heaven worships this holy and merciful God.</p><br />
<p>'''The Redemption of Christ (5:1-14):''' To complement the powerful vision of Christ in chapter 1, this vision presents the redemption that Christ brought on the cross. Jesus appears to open the sealed scroll and accomplish God's plan for the redemption of our universe and the salvation of all humanity through his suffering and death on the cross. This vision is the centerpiece of Revelation and focus of our witness. Again the response in heaven is jubilant worship of the slaughtered Lamb.</p><br />
<p>'''The Context of Witness (6:1-16):''' Witnesses in all times and places face the four horsemen of the apocalypse &ndash; war, bloodshed, famine, and death. In response to this tribulation, the voices of those who follow the slaughtered Lamb and are martyred for this faithfulness cry out for God's justice to make sense of their suffering. The answer comes in God's cataclysmic judgment of the sixth seal directed at those who persecuted his witnesses.</p><br />
<p>'''The Sealing of the Witness (7:1-16):''' In the midst of suffering, Jesus's witnesses are marked for protection. The 144,000 represent the witnesses facing tribulation. Although they suffer even to the point of death, they are ultimately sealed and promised that they will join the great multitude before the throne worshipping God. This vast multitude is the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham that his seed would be innumerable.</p><br />
<p>'''The New Exodus (8:1-9:21; 15:1-16:21):''' The trumpet and bowl judgments parallel the plagues of the Exodus. Indeed, these chapters describe the eschatological exodus of God's people from this world. In answer to the prayers of these faithful witnesses, God brings judgment on those who have persecuted them and ultimately exalts the faithful to a place with God in heaven.</p><br />
<p>'''The Call of the Witnesses (10:1-11:19):''' Like Christ who opened the sealed scroll to accomplish God's plan of redemption, human witnesses take the little scroll that is open to them and symbolizes their to task to bear faithful witness through their death, resurrection and ascension to heaven. The scroll is sweet to their mouth because it symbolizes salvation, but bitter to their stomach because they realize that it involves suffering along with their Lord Jesus Christ who suffered on the cross for their salvation.</p><br />
<p>'''The Great Enemies of God's Witnesses (12:1-13:18):''' The great adversaries of faithful witnesses form a trinity of evil. The great red dragon Satan is defeated in a war in heaven, but remains alive to continue to attack God's people. That attack is waged by Satan's cohorts the political beast from the sea, who is elsewhere called the anti-Christ, and the religious beast from the earth, whom Revelation calls the false prophet. Although this trinity of evil continues to wage war on earth, faithful witnesses know that Satan's defeat in heaven assures them of the final defeat on earth of Satan and his two beastly cohorts.</p><br />
<p>'''The Separation of the Faithful from the Wicked (14:1-20):''' An angel from heaven separates those who wear the mark of Satan and his beast from those who bear the seal of the slain Lamb. The Lamb's faithful witnesses are portrayed as a wheat harvest and Satan's followers are like grapes thrown into the great winepress of the wrath of God.</p><br />
<p>'''The Defeat of the Enemies of Christ's Witnesses (17:1-18:24):''' The Fall of Babylon symbolizes the fall of Rome and all of empires that persecute Christ's witnesses. Babylon's defeat is described in both narrative and poetic form. What brings her downfall is her oppressive and wanton luxury, which also characterizes the great empires throughout history and even those in our day.</p><br />
<p>'''Christ's Final Victory (19:1-21):''' Christ wins the final battle with the sword from his mouth, which is the word of God. This brings the celebration of the marriage supper of the Lamb and the devastation of the wicked portrayed as a gruesome meal of dead flesh. This final battle, like the other wars of Revelation are won not with military might, but with the sword of the word of the Lamb that was slain.</p><br />
<p>'''The Kingdom of God (20:1-15):''' God's kingdom on earth is ruled by those who bear witness in great tribulation. Satan and his evil cohorts are destroyed, and all humanity is resurrected to be judged on the basis of what they have done in faithful witness to Christ.</p><br />
<p>'''The Reward of the Witnesses (21:1-22:21):''' The faithful witnesses are rewarded with the bliss of the New Heaven and New Earth, but the sea, the abode of Satan and his beast, is destroyed. The reward for witness is portrayed symbolically in the vision of the New Jerusalem, which is magnificent beyond what words can describe. Then Revelation ends in the jubilant expectation of the coming of the Lord Jesus to inaugurate the kingdom of God.</p><br />
<h2>Conclusion</h2><br />
<p>Revelation was not written to tell us when Jesus will come again, but to give us truths to bear witness to the one who is to come &ndash; our Lord Jesus. Revelation is a powerful symbolic presentation of the nature of Jesus and God, the atonement Jesus accomplished, the reality of Satan, and the reward of the faithful witnesses. This is all interspersed with jubilant worship of the almighty God on the throne and the Lamb that was slain for our salvation and who rose from the dead to conquer death.</p><br />
<h2>Recommended Essays from the Commentary</h2><br />
[[Anabaptist Interpretation of Revelation (in Revelation)|Anabaptist Interpretation of Revelation]]<br><br />
[[Apocalyptic Literature (in Revelation|Apocalyptic Literature]]<br><br />
[[Canonicity and Acceptance of Revelation (in Revelation)|Canonicity and Acceptance of Revelation]]<br><br />
[[Christology of Revelation (in Revelation)|Christology of Revelation]]<br><br />
[[Emperors and Emperor Worship (in Revelation)|Emperors and Emperor Worship]]<br><br />
The Influence of Revelation<br><br />
[[Persecution in Revelation (in Revelation)|Persecution in Revelation]] <br><br />
The Structure of Revelation<br><br />
[[Worship in Revelation (in Revelation)|Worship in Revelation]]<br />
<h2>Bibliography</h2><br />
<ul><br />
<li>Aune, D.E. <em>Revelation</em> (Word Biblical Commentary). 3 Vols. Nashville, TN: Word Publishing, 1997, 1998.</li><br />
<li>Barr, David L. <em>Tales of the End: Narrative Commentary on the Book of Revelation</em>. 2nd ed. Santa Rosa, CA: Polebridge Press, 2011.</li><br />
<li>Beale, G.K. <em>The Book of Revelation: A Commentary on the Greek Text. </em>The New International Greek Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1999.</li><br />
<li>Bauckham, R.J. <em>The Theology of the Book of Revelation. </em>New Testament Theology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.</li><br />
<li>deSilva, D. A. <em>Seeing Things John's Way: The Rhetoric of the Book of Revelation. </em>Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2009.</li><br />
<li>Reddish, Mitchell G. <em>Revelation. </em>Macon, GA: Smyth and Helwys Publishing, 2001.</li><br />
</ul><br />
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== Invitation to Comment ==<br />
To recommend improvements to this article, [mailto:ljohns@ambs.edu click here].<br />
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{| border="1" style="text-align: right; color: green; background-color:#ffffcc; float: right" <br />
|—'''''[[John R. Yeatts]]'''''<br />
|}</div>BenEBhttps://anabaptistwiki.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=H&diff=17826H2017-06-19T16:22:20Z<p>BenEB: add holy spirit in timothy and titus</p>
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<div>[[file:ADB_logo_letters.jpg|x20px]] '''[[Anabaptist Dictionary of the Bible|Home]] [[A]] [[B]] [[C]] [[D]] [[E]] [[F]] [[G]] [[H]] [[I]] [[J]] [[K]] [[L]] [[M]] [[N]] [[O]] [[P]] [[Q]] [[R]] [[S]] [[T]] [[U]] [[V]] [[W]] [[X]] [[Y]] [[Z]] [[Abbreviations]] [[Glossary]]'''<br />
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[[Habakkuk]] <BR> <br />
[[Haggai]] <BR> <br />
[[Hebrews]] <BR> <br />
[[Herem, “Devoted to Destruction” (in Joshua)]] <BR> <br />
Hermeneutics - See [[Anabaptist Approaches to Scripture]] <BR> <br />
[[Historical and Political Context (in 1 & 2 Thessalonians)]] <br><br />
[[Holy Spirit in the Letters to Timothy and Titus (in 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus)]] <br><br />
[[Hosea]] <BR><br />
[[Household Behavior (in 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus)]] <br><br />
[[How Christian Communities Emerge (in 1 & 2 Thessalonians)]]</div>BenEB