Acts 19, but may have been intended as a circular letter to be read by neighboring. Pauline authorship of ephesians was universally accepted until modern times. Irenaeus explicitly identifies paul as the author of ephesians, as does marcion. It deals, however, not so much with a congregation in the city of ephesus in asia minor as with the worldwide. Understanding the book of ephesians and bible study guide. The letter is addressed to the church in the city of ephesus, capital of the roman province of asia asia minor, modern turkey. Abbott, a critical and exegetical commentary on the epistles to the ephesians and to the colossians. Then in the synthesis, we will summarize what we have learned for future reference. The key personalities of ephesians are the apostle paul and tychicus. Twopage spread from johannes gutenbergs 42line bible, c. To the saints in ephesus, a the faithful in christ jesus. Colossians is named for the city of colossae, where the church it was addressed to was located. The concept that the elect jews and gentiles compose the one family of god, the one holy nation, is a central theme of the book of ephesians.
All tradition takes the epistle as being pauline until it was first disputed by erasmus. Ephesians is the great pauline letter about the church. In it paul stresses the preeminence of the person of christ and the completeness of the salvation he provides. The book of ephesians bible study and ministry resources. But theres a lot of nuance that goes into answering this question.
The epistle to the ephesians, also called the letter to the ephesians and often shortened to ephesians, is the tenth book of the new testament. Today a number of scholars claim that it was written in pauls name by an unknown follower or. The author exhorts his readersparents and children, masters and slavesto. The analysis on ephesians prefacing the book the bible essay 1570 words 7 pages. The author except for the pastorals, ephesians has the worst.
Summarize what the bible says about ephesus the city. If such is truly the case, then paul wrote ephesians around 6163 a. The letter to the ephesian church is regarded as one of the masterworks of. Twice in this epistle paul referred to himself by name as the author of the book 1. The book of ephesians clearly leaves its mark among other bible books by displaying the powerful impact of the gospel of christ jesus in the individual and corporate life of believers. In fact, pauline authorship was not questioned until the late 18 th century. Does include some short authors translation portions, but the text is not part of the book. Answering bible contradictions, misunderstandings, and misinterpretations. The hebrew bible, or tanakh, is the collection of scriptures making up the bible used by judaism. Book of ephesians overview insight for living ministries. Furthermore, a study in ephesians will help to fortify and to establish the. Biblical scholar harold hoehner, surveying 279 commentaries written between 1519 and 2001. Objections to pauls authorship the first objections to pauls authorship of ephesians arose among scripture scholars in the late eighteenth and.
This summary of the book of ephesians provides information about the title, authors, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and. What can studying the book of james teach us about faith. The book of james is a wonderful companion piece to jesus teachings as recorded in the four gospels. The next nine lessons will focus on studying key passages in detail.
Introduction to pauls letter to the ephesians jesuswalk. Some have taken the absence of the usual personal greetings and the verbal similarity of many parts to colossians, among other reasons, as grounds for doubting authorship by the apostle paul. Paul wrote the letter to the ephesians sometime in ad 60 61, around the same time he wrote colossians and. It was also to be read in the neighboring church at laodicea 4. I would have loved to have the entire ephesians text as. Seminary, and is currently professor of new testament studies at his alma mater.
The epistle to the ephesians, additionally called the letter to the ephesians and frequently abbreviated to ephesians, is the tenth book of the new testament. The book of ephesians is a prison epistle letter written while in prison. Intro to ephesians biblica the international bible society. In live abundantly, bible teachers lenya heitzig and penny pierce rose challenge you to dig deep into the book of ephesians to find the spiritual treasure god has for you. Its authorship has traditionally been attributed to paul the apostle but starting.
Make a list of bible passages outside the book of ephesians that refer to the city or church at ephesus use a concordance and crossreferences. James has a strong ethical emphasis thats consistent with the moral teachings jesus gave to his. To deny pauline authorship of a book in the bible is to challenge its authority as scripture. Ephesians our blessings in christ importance this epistle was evidently addressed to the church in ephesus cf. The indication is that the epistles to the colossians, philemon and the ephesians were carried to their destination by. But the book of genesis possibly challenges us more than any other book because of the matter that it deals with in the early. Letter of paul to the ephesians, new testament writing once thought to have been composed. Ephesians is a 1stcentury ce new testament letter in which a jewish. Yet the pauline authorship of ephesians has been greatly disputed in recent years. Ephesians places the burden of proof on contrary hypotheses. Epistle to the ephesians read the bible online bible study tools. Essay about letter to the ephesians 1186 words bartleby. Before we get into the book itself, lets see what we can learn about it.
In the esv study bible, the authors wrote an excerpt on ephesians prefacing the author, title, date, background. The lucado life lessons series brings the new testament to life in twelve lessons filled with intriguing questions, inspirational storytelling, profound reflections, and space for journaling. Its authorship has traditionally been attributed to paul the. There are two very good reasons to see paul as the author of ephesians.
The traditional idea, that god deals in one manner with the. Letter of paul to the ephesians work by saint paul britannica. Every book of the bible is a challenge and a joy to read and meditate upon. Ephesians scholars remain divided on the authorship of the letter. The book of ephesians was very likely written between a. Date paul wrote this epistle from prison, as he did ephesians, philippians, and.
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