Ephesians
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Divine Election A New Humanity Right Doctrine and Praxis The Household Code
General information
Ephesians is a profound piece of writing that stands at the forefront of the development of the church’s canonical heritage. It was probably written sometime after 65 CE, and it seems to have been written almost exclusively to gentiles. In 4.17 the intended hearers of this document are told to “no longer live as Gentiles live.” We can see from the text that distance has been created between the gentile church and its Jewish roots, and this process of distancing takes time. Furthermore, the “household code” indicates a certain degree of cultural assimilation.
Unlike many of the letters in the NT, it is very difficult to discern a single event or circumstance that prompted the writing of Ephesians. It is thought to have originated as a general letter which would have circulated to a number of churches. In the best manuscripts, there is no designation of a church to which this letter would have been written (1.1). Put differently, the best Greek texts that we have do not include the words "in Ephesus" in 1.1.
Ephesians is meant to guide Christians in their collective and individual self-understandings. The author urges the readers toward a radical transformation of their personal and social lives. It is about how people should live after their baptisms, but it is also about the nature of the church and the church’s heavenly origin. It strongly emphasizes the role of the church universal (Brown, 620).
Scholars dispute whether or not this letter is likely to have been written by Paul. The writing style differs from the letters of undisputed Pauline authorship (e.g. Romans, 1 Cor., Galatians), it has distinctive terminology, and there are also differences with regard to the theology of this letter and the theology of the letters which everyone believes that Paul wrote. It has no personal greetings, as Paul’s letters normally do, and it mentions no associates of Paul or co-senders. Of course, these factors do not demonstrate with certainty that Paul did not write this letter. Rather, the weight of the evidence has lead many scholars to the tentative conclusion that someone other than Paul wrote it. According to Raymond Brown, right now about “80 percent of critical scholarship holds that Paul did not write Eph.” (620, italics his).
It has been argued that this letter, like some of the other letters attributed to Paul, was written by one of Paul’s disciples. The practice of a disciple writing in the name of his or her teacher was not uncommon in the ancient world. If Ephesians wasn’t written by Paul, it was written by one of his most profound interpreters. Ephesians has been called the “crown of Paulinism,” and its author has been called “Paul’s best disciple” (Brown 620).
In 1.3-14, the author offers a thanksgiving for God’s having destined those who worship Christ to be God’s children through Christ. 1.3-5 reads, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will...." God has called out a holy people to be his adopted children. This is part of God’s divine plan, and that divine plan is enacted through Christ.
To our modern ears, this sounds like the doctrine of predestination, and it's hard to hear these verses apart from Calvin, who has been so influential in the shaping of the Christian notion of predestination. Two of the main Protestant views of predestination are the Calvinist view and the Wesleyan/Arminian view:
According to the Calvinist view, individuals are double-predestined; in other words, each individual is predestined for heaven or predestined for hell.
According to the Wesleyan/Arminian view, God’s plan of salvation is pre-destined, and the fate of individuals is still open. Those who accept Christ by their own free choice will be saved.
Neither of these views is a "pure" reading of Ephesians. Rather, they are both second-order reflections on Ephesians, as well as on other biblical texts. The author of Ephesians did not have a clearly defined doctrine of predestination, which is a later doctrine. In many places in the NT, we see a tension between predestination and free will.
Christ, the Church, and a new humanity
In 1.20-22, we are told that God "raised [Christ] from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all."
Here we see Ephesians' cosmic Christology that first emerged in 1.3-4. Jesus is a divine being who resides in the heavenly realm. We see cosmic Christologies in all of the Johannine literature: the Gospel of John, 1, 2, and 3 John, and Revelation. We also see it in Colossians and Hebrews.
The discussion of Christ leads to a description of the relationship between Christ and the church. Christ is the head over the church, and the church is Christ’s body, “the fullness of him who fills all in all.” The word that is used for “head” here is kephalē which literally means, “head,” as in the top part of the body.
English translations can be ambiguous, because we might think that the translators mean that Jesus is the ruler or boss over the church, but that isn’t what the writer is trying to convey. Jesus is the head of the church, and the church is the body of Christ.
Ephesians also has a "cosmic ecclesiology," or a cosmic view of the church. The writer posits the idea of a cosmic Christ who is the head of the church, and the church has a cosmic, heavenly aspect as well. The Greek word that we translate as "church" is ekklēsia. This word is used four times in Colossians, and half of these are in reference to the local church. There are no such local church references in Eph. All ref. to ekklēsia are in the singular and all refer to the church universal.
In 2.11-12 we read,
So then, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called "the uncircumcision" by those who are called "the circumcision," - a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands - remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
The writer refers to those who were far off (or the Gentiles) and those who were near (the Jews). However, there is no reason for anyone to be far off because “he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father” (2.17).
Through his death, Christ has abolished the law and created one new humanity. The writers is undercutting the distinctiveness of both Jew and gentile, and urging them to conformity with specific doctrinal standards and ways of living.
In 2.22, we read that believers are “built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.” This is similar to the idea in 1 Cor. 3.16-17: “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.” God, then, dwells within the church.
Ephesians goes on to say that, "through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord" (3.10-11). In the creation of the church, then, God’s wisdom is made known to “rulers and authorities in heavenly places.” In other words, the church has the cosmic function of revealing God’s wisdom even to angelic powers. This is a remarkable claim, especially given the time in which it was made. In post-biblical Jewish tradition, it was sometimes held that angels were the mediators of the Torah to Moses on Mt. Sinai; God's wisdom came through angels to human beings. In the Synoptic tradition, demons have knowledge of Jesus that human beings lack. Ephesians offers a reversal of both of these concepts: it's through the church that God's wisdom will be made known to heavenly powers, and not the other way around.
There is an inseparable relationship between Christ and the church. Christ loved the church and gave himself over for her (5.25). This is different from the idea that Christ died for sinners (Rom. 5.6-8), or for all (2 Cor 5.14-15). Christ's goal was to sanctify the church, cleansing her by the washing of water with the word, rendering her without spot or blemish. He continues to nourish and cherish her (Eph. 5.23-32). In other words, the church is the goal of Christ’s ministry and death.
Right doctrine and right praxis
In 4.1-6, we read about some of the virtues to which Christians are called: humility, gentleness, patience, love, and “making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Then in 4.4-6, the writer says that Christians are one body, there is one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God. It probably isn’t coincidental that the writers lists seven items here. Unity is the essential issue, and the writer continues to press this point in the following verses.
In 4.11-13, the writer lists several spiritual gifts: "some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers" (4.11) The purpose of these gifts is to “equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God" (4.13).
This unity includes not only the worship of God who was revealed in Christ, but it involves adherences to specific doctrines and living in a particular way.
We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body's growth in building itself up in love (4.14-16).
It looks like the writer is urging Christians not just toward unity, but to unity of belief in the right doctrines, and unity of rejection of false ones. In 4.15, Christians are said to be the ones who “speak the truth in love.” Believing the right things and existing in loving relationship within the body of Christ are closely connected. This is the mark of spiritual maturity. In 4.17-24, the author marks out the difference between the old life, in which people live, “in the futility of their minds” and are “darkened in their understanding,” and the new life, in which people are “renewed in the spirit of [their] minds,” and are “created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” In 4.24-5.1, we read the rules for this new life.
It looks like the writer, at least in part, is trying to get these gentile readers to leave behind the lives they once knew, probably as participants in various pagan cults. These cults would have involved both beliefs and practices unacceptable to Christians.
In 5.3-20, the writer tells us that the new human being is not one who can live according to the old pattern of life. "For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Love as children of light - for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true" (5.8-9). Because gentiles and Jews have been made one in Christ, gentiles can no longer live according to their old ways (2.15).
There writer , then, conceives of two contrasting ways of living. There is a way of darkness, which corresponds to the old gentile way of living, which is the way of falsehood, foolishness, and deceit; and there is the way of light, which corresponds to the new life in Christ, and is the way of truth and wisdom.
The conflict between good and evil is cast in cosmic terms (6.12). The believer is exhorted to engage in this spiritual conflict through living the Christian life, which involves righteousness, the proclamation of the gospel, faith, salvation, and the word of God. These are the tools that Christians are to utilize in this spiritual warfare, and they are described in terms that make use of military terminology:
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
5.21-6.9 comprises what is called a "household code." It consists of general rules for practical living within the Greco-Roman household. Some of these rules can cause problems for modern readers. For example, in 5.22 we read, "Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord." Husbands are also instructed to "love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her." While the advice for husbands is good advice, the result of these two admonitions appears to be mandatory subjection of the wife to the husband.
As modern readers, we should account for the historical situation in which the household codes emerged. Consider the following points:
1) The ancient household was considerably more complex than households today. According to Roman law, all persons, both male and female, were subject to the oldest male in the household. The oldest male was, by law, the head of the family. Resident slaves and other dependent persons were also part of the household. Even fathers and husbands were subject to the oldest male in the household (Perkins, Reading, 129).
2) Women in the ancient world were usually considerably younger than their husbands, and they were usually poorly educated (Perkins, Reading, 130).
3) In the ancient world, ethical writers often promoted the necessity of obedience in the hierarchy of the household. Much ancient ethical writing was heavily influenced by the ideas of Aristotle, who argued for an “essentialist” view of gender. Basically, this means that he thought that women were naturally inclined to be subordinate and men were naturally inclined to be dominant. He also thought that the family was the basic paradigm for politics and the state. As a result the family must be hierarchical, and there were natural subjects and natural rulers within the family. (See Sawyer on this point). The “household codes” that emerged in Greek literature were incorporated into Christian preaching, as we see in Ephesians, Colossians, 1 Timothy, and 1 Peter.
4) Part of what these household codes showed was that the obligation was not simply that those with less authority be obedient to those with more. Those with more authority also had an obligation, the obligation to treat those under one’s care in a loving manner. This extended to husbands and wives, parents and children, and masters and slaves.
This brings us back to v. 25 ff., in which the obligations of husbands are laid out. Compare 5.25 ff. with Col. 3.18. In Eph., the obligation of the husband to love and care for the wife is developed much more fully than in Colossians. Moreover, in Eph., the exhortation that the husband should love his wife is about twice as long as the obligation of the wife to be subject to her husband.
It’s important to realize that, as Christianity grew and as it became an older religion, it became more institutionalized. Remember, it started out as a small group of Palestinian Jews following another Palestinian Jew who worked miracles and preached a very radical message. There was no need for institutionalization. But through the centuries, it was inevitable that Christianity would absorb elements of the culture around it.
Consider these numbers on the number of Christians in the Roman Empire (from Hopkins, A World Full of Gods):
AD 50 – 1,400 Christians
100 – 7,400
150 – 40,000
200 – 210,000
300 – 6,000,000 (about 10% of the population of the Roman Empire)
When we read verses of scripture such as these, it is helpful to realize that all writings are situated in a specific time and a specific place, and so, to a certain extent, they are products of that time and that place. As Christians, the writers of the scriptures applied the Christian message of love to the specific circumstances in which they lived. We, as modern readers, have a different set of life circumstances, and so our application of the Christian message to the specific goings-on in our lives won’t be the same as it was for people who lived in the first and second centuries.
We might think of the household code in Ephesians as a way in which Christian love was applied within the household hierarchies of the day. If the first Christians did promote an ethic of equality among all believers, by the time of Ephesians this ethic has been lost, and the Christian love command had to be realized among the common hierarchical relationships of the Greco-Roman world. The church had, to a certain extent, assimilated to the surrounding culture, as was probably necessary for its survival. So, when we read scriptures such as “slaves obey your earthly masters” (6.5), we need to recognize that the writer of Ephesians, like all writers, is a product of a specific time, place, and culture. The ancient writers couldn't change their socio-cultural context. Just like everyone else, they had to live by certain rules and cultural conventions. What Christians today can take from this household code is not that wives must submit to their husbands, or that slavery should be sanctioned, but that love and kindness should govern the various relationships between human beings.
To sum up, in Ephesians, we see the beginnings of early Christian orthodoxy. Specific rules are being established. Various churches are now thought to make up "the Church." Believers are exhorted to avoid false teachings and to adhere to the truth that they have been taught. They are to live neither as Jews nor as pagans, but as a new humanity established in Christ and called out before the beginning of creation.
Sources:
Brown, Raymond. An Introduction to the New Testament. New York: Doubleday, 1997.
Hopkins, Keith. A World Full of Gods: Pagans, Jews, and Christians in the Roman Empire. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1999.
Perkins, Pheme. Ephesians. Abingdon New Testament Commentaries, gen. ed. Victor Paul Furnish. Nashville: Abingdon, 1997.
Perkins, Pheme. Reading the New Testament, 2nd ed. New York: Paulist, 1988.
Sawyer, Deborah F. Women and Religion in the First Christian Centuries. London and New York: Routledge, 1996.