I was just joking with you, johann
A. The truths of this book have impacted the lives of many saints
1. Samuel Coleridge called it "the most divine composition of man"
2. John Calvin called it his favorite book of the Bible
3. John Knox asked that Calvin's sermons on Ephesians be read to him on his deathbed
B. This book has been called the "crowning jewel," or capstone, of Paul's theology. All of the great themes of Paul started in Galatians, developed in Romans, and are now expressed in Ephesians in a wonderful summary fashion.
C. As God used Romans to instigate the Reformation, He will use Ephesians to reunite splintered churches and Christendom. Believers' unity and commonality in Christ far overshadow their differences.
AUTHOR
A. Paul
1. Expressly stated in Eph. 1:1, 3:1
2. Reference to imprisonment (probably in Rome) in Eph. 3:1; 4:1; 6:20
3. Almost unanimous church tradition
a. Clement of Rome, in a.d. 95, wrote a letter to Corinth that quotes Eph. 4:4-6
b. Ignatius (a.d. 30-107) quotes from Eph. 1:9; 2:19; 3:4-9
c. Polycarp (a.d. 65-155), the disciple of John the Apostle, and the bishop of Smyrna asserts Paul's authorship
d. Irenaeus (a.d. 130-200) asserts Paul's authorship
e. Clement of Alexandria (a.d. 150-210) asserts Paul's authorship
4. It is listed in
a. Marcion's (who came to Rome in a.d. 140's) list of accepted books
b. Muratorian Fragment (a.d. 180-200), a list of canonical books from Rome and placed it in Paul's writings
5. The closings of both Colossians and Ephesians have 29 words that are almost exactly the same in Greek (there are two additional words in Colossians.).
B. Another Author
1. Erasmus was the first to doubt Paul's authorship based on
a. Style - long sentences that are very uncharacteristic of Paul's other letters
b. No personal greetings
c. Unique vocabulary
2. 18th-Century critical scholarship began to deny Paul's authorship
a. Several verses seem to be from a second generation believer, Eph. 2:20; 3:5
b. Theological words were used with differing definitions (example: "mystery")
c. Uniqueness of the genre of a cyclical or circular letter
C. Answers to Erasmus' points
1. The style is different because Paul had time to think when writing Ephesians while in prison.
2. The absence of a personal greeting is explained by the fact that Ephesians was a cyclical letter that was to be sent to many churches in the area. A Roman postal route which included Ephesus and the Lycus River Valley can be seen in Revelation 2-3. Paul wrote a twin letter, Colossians, to a specific group of three churches which included several personal greetings.
3. The number of unique words in the book of Ephesians is exactly the same as the number of unique words (hapax legomena) in the book of Romans. The purpose, subject matter, recipients and occasion explain the use of new words.
4. Paul speaks of "apostles and prophets" in 1 Corinthians 12:28, which is similar to Eph. 2:20 and 3:5. No one denies Paul's authorship of 1 Corinthians.
THE LITERARY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COLOSSIANS AND EPHESIANS
A. The historical relationship between Colossians and Ephesians
1. Epaphras (Col. 1:7; 4:12; Philemon 23) was converted during Paul's Ephesian campaign (Acts 19)
a. He took his newly found faith back to his home area, the Lycus River Valley.
b. He started three churches-in Hierapolis, Laodicea and Colossae.
c. Epaphras sought Paul for advice on how to combat the merging of world-views by the heretics. Paul was in prison at Rome (early 60's).
2. False teachers came and began to merge the gospel with Greek ontology
a. spirit and matter were co-eternal
b. spirit (God) was good
c. matter (creation) was evil
d. a series of aeons (angelic levels) existed between the good high God and a lesser god who formed matter
e. salvation was based on knowledge of secret passwords which helped people progress through the aeons (angelic levels)
B. The literary relationship between Paul's two letters
1. Paul heard of the heresy in these churches which he had never visited personally from Epaphras.
2. Paul wrote a hard-hitting letter in short, emotional sentences, directed at the false teachers. The central theme was the cosmic lordship of Jesus. This is known as Paul's letter to the Colossians.
3. Apparently, soon after writing Colossians, with time on his hands in prison, he developed these same themes. Ephesians is characterized by long sentences and developed theological concepts (Eph. 1:3-14, 15-23; 2:1-10, 14-18, 19-22; 3:1-12, 14-19; 4:11-16; 6:13-20). It takes Colossians as a starting point and draws out its theological implications. Ephesians' central theme is the unity of all things in Christ, which was a contrast to the incipient Gnostic concept.
C. Related literary and theological structure
1. Similarity of the basic structure
a. they have very similar openings
b. they have doctrinal sections dealing primarily with Christ
c. they have practical sections admonishing Christian lifestyle using the same categories, terms and phrases
d. they have closing verses exactly alike in 29 consecutive words in Greek, with only two different words added in Colossians.
2. Similarity of words or short phrases
Eph. 1:1c and Col. 1:2a
Eph.1:4 and Col. 1:22
Eph. 1:7 and Col. 1:14
Eph. 1:10 and Col. 1:20
Eph. 1:15 and Col. 1:3-4
Eph. 1:18 and Col. 1:27
Eph. 1:27 and Col. 1:18
Eph. 2:1 and Col. 1:13
Eph. 2:16 and Col. 1:20
Eph. 3:2 and Col. 1:25
Eph. 3:3 and Col. 1:26,27
Eph. 4:3 and Col. 3:14
Eph. 4:15 and Col. 2:19
Eph. 4:24 and Col. 3:10, 12, 14
Eph. 4:31 and Col. 3:8
Eph. 5:3 and Col. 3:5
Eph. 5:5 and Col.3:5
Eph. 5:6 and Col. 3:6
Eph. 5:16 and Col. 4:5 "faithful"
"holy and blameless"
"redemption. . .forgiveness"
"all things. . .heaven. . .earth"
"heard. . .love for all the saints"
"the riches of the glory"
"head. . .church"
"you were dead"
"reconcile. . .cross"
"stewardship"
"mystery"
"unity"
"head" and "grow"
"put on . . ."
"anger" "wrath" "malice" "slander"
"immorality" "impurity" "greed"
"idolatry" (coveting)
"the wrath of God"
"making the most of the time"
3. Exact phrases or sentences
Eph. 1:1a and Col 1:1a
Eph. 1:1b and Col. 1:2a
Eph. 1:2a and Col. 1:2b
Eph. 1:13 and Col. 1:5
Eph. 2:1 and Col. 2:13
Eph. 2:5b and Col. 2:13c
Eph. 4:1b and Col. 1:10a
Eph. 6:21,22 and Col. 4:7-9 (29 consecutive words except for "kai syndoulos" in Colossians)
4. Similar phrases or sentences
Eph. 1:21 and Col. 1:16
Eph. 2:1 and Col. 1:13
Eph. 2:16 and Col. 1:20
Eph. 3:7a and Col. 1:23d, 25a
Eph. 3:8 and Col. 1:27
Eph. 4:2 and Col. 3:12
Eph. 4:29 and Col. 3:8; 4:6
Eph. 5:15 and Col. 4:5
Eph. 5:19,20 and Col. 3:16
5. Theologically synonymous concepts
Eph. 1:3 and Col. 1:3
Eph. 2:1,12 and Col. 1:21
Eph. 2:15 and Col. 2:14
Eph. 4:1 and Col 1:10
Eph. 4:15 and Col. 2:19
Eph. 4:19 and Col. 3:5
Eph.4:22,31 and Col. 3:8
Eph.4:32 and Col. 3:12-13
Eph. 5:4 and Col. 3:8
Eph. 5:18 and Col. 3:16
Eph. 5:20 and Col. 3:17
Eph. 5:22 and Col. 3:18
Eph. 5:25 and Col. 3:19
Eph. 6:1 and Col. 3:20
Eph. 6:4 and Col. 3:21
Eph. 6:5 and Col. 3:22
Eph. 6:9 and Col. 4:1
Eph. 6:18 and Col. 4:2-4 a prayer of thanks
alienation from God
hostility of Law
worthy walk
Christ's body growing to maturity from its Head
sexual impurity
"lay aside" sins
Christians kind to one another
Christian speech
filling of Spirit = word of Christ
thanksgiving to God for all things
wives be subject to husbands
husbands love your wives
children obey your parents
fathers do not provoke children
slaves obey masters
masters and slaves
Paul's request for prayer
6. Terms and phrases used in both Colossians and Ephesians which are not found in other Pauline literature
a. "fullness" (which was the Gnostic term for the angelic levels)
Eph. 1:23
Eph. 3:19
Eph. 4:13
Col. 1:19
Col. 2:9 "the fullness of Him who fills all in all"
"be filled up to all the fullness of God"
"to the fullness of Christ"
"for all the fullness to dwell in Him"
"for in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells"
b. Christ as "Head" of the church
Eph. 4:15; 5:23 and Col. 1:18; 2:19
c. "alienated"
Eph. 2:12; 4:18 and Col. 1:21
d. "redeeming the time"
Eph. 5:16 and Col. 4:5
e. "rooted"
Eph. 3:17 and Col. 1:5
f. "the word of truth, the gospel"
Eph. 1:13 and Col. 1:5
g. "forbearing"
Eph. 4:2 and Col. 3:13
h. unusual phrasing and terms ("held together," "supply")
Eph. 4:16 and Col. 2:19
D. Summary
1. Over one third of the words in Colossians are in Ephesians. It has been estimated that 75 of the 155 verses in Ephesians have a parallel in Colossians. Both claim Paul's authorship while in prison.
2. Both were delivered by Paul's friend Tychicus.
3. Both were sent to the same area (Asia Minor).
4. Both deal with the same Christological topic.
5. Both emphasize Christ as head of the church.
6. Both encourage appropriate Christian living.
J.