Analysis Of The Book ' Ephesians '

The book of Ephesians is one of Paul’s many New Testament letters, or epistles, to the Christian church still in its infancy. At the time of its writing, Paul is in Rome, imprisoned for championing the purposes of Christ and growing the church. We see numerous occurrences where Paul, being a man of little concern for the status quo, is either imprisoned or fleeing capture by Jewish or Roman officials for usurping the latter (Acts 19: 23-41). The date of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is dated 60-61A.D., depending on differing research. While this is certainly one of his epistles known as the “prison letters”, Ephesians was penned prior to Paul’s first roman

It is for this reason that Timothy was in Ephesus with the purpose of restoring the Ephesian church to a faithful and healthy. It is with this motive that Paul instructs Timothy.

Paul visited Ephesus on his first missionary journey, on the way from Greece to Syria. After his third missionary journey, he stayed there and pastored the Ephesian church for 3 years (Easton, np). “Though Paul was not the first to bring Christianity to Ephesus, for Jews had long lived there, he was the first to make progress against the worship of Diana” (Orr, np). Because of his strong ties to the church, Paul cared deeply about the faith of the believers there (Macarthur, np).

During mass, Christian Priest’s wear a number of different items of clothing. The amice is a rectangular piece of white material. It is worn around the neck and on top of the clerical collar. The spiritual symbolism of this adornment lies within the bible; more specifically in Ephesians. Chapter six verse 17 says, “Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, the word of God.” This quote is St. Paul’s’ admonition, and the amice is a representation of this quote, used to remind Priests of this. A prayer is often said when putting on the garment; “Place, O Lord, the helmet of salvation on my head to resist the attacks of the devil." This prayer is used as the amice was, in previous years, worn on the head of the priest as a symbol

In Ephesians 2:14-22, Paul writes a letter to the people of Ephesus both Jews and Gentiles of the time, telling them that Christ had broken down the wall of hostility so that they can live in peace and unity. Within this paper, there will be an extensive exegetical look at the history of the passage; what the significance of this passage is to the biblical audience, and the differences between the biblical audience and today’s audience. By studying this passage, people today can grasp the meaning and apply it to their lives.

The genre of Ephesians 2:1-10 is an Epistle. The Epistles were letters teaching specific churches or groups of people; often inspired by God. They are split into two categories: Pauline Epistles, written by Paul and traditionally Paul was the first word of the book in Greek, and General Epistles, often referred to as the Catholic epistles and were written to the universal Church. The Pauline Epistles consist of: Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. The General Epistles consist of: Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2 and 3 John, and Jude. The interpretive principles of this genre are that it is meant to be read as a whole and in one sitting in order to get the main idea of the passage, one must view the paragraphs as the main unit of thought in the passage, one must know the structure to understand the letter, and one must do background reading to fully comprehend the main concept and the history and culture of the setting.

Paul claims to be the author of Ephesians. In fact, the letter was spread around the world recognizing Paul as the author, early in the church history. However “Since the nineteenth century Pauline authorship of Ephesians has been doubted”(The Baker Bible Handbook, 835).This is because notable differences in language and style have been found between Ephesians and other letters claimed to be written by Paul such us Colossians. Anyways, those who believe it was written while Paul , have concluded that he wrote

As aforementioned, the writing of Hosea, begins as a well formed and tightly structured arrangement but most of the discourse are repetitive and

Despite such a traditional acceptance of Paul’s authorship of Ephesians there is a small minority of those who are not convinced. Many who are not convinced of Paul’s authorship argue that the teachings he presents in Ephesians are unusually different from the teachings in his other works. The style of Greek used in the Epistle is also quite different from that of the Prison Epistles.

People were so much pain but God refuses to hear their cry. Romans took over the Greeks. In the time of Augustus Caesar, God chooses Mary to give birth to Jesus. Jesus died for our sins and resurrected to save the world. The epistles are letter how church was built and founded by the peter and Paul.

In the beginning of the book of Ephesians, Paul specifically states that he is the author of the letter to Ephesians, though the authenticity of Paul’s authorship has been questioned. Signing the name of an influential person of the period was common practice from “the third century BC to the first century AD.” Though it would not be the first time that Paul’s name was forged, Ephesians is not a controversial letter, so if the author did not want to include his own name, he could have written the letter anonymously; also, given moral influence of the text, the author would not have lied for no cause. Ephesians is a bit different from the other letters of Paul in that it does not follow the normal structure he has previously used: “salutation, thanksgiving, prayer, body, ethical exhortations, greetings.” Paul also makes many personal references throughout the book of Ephesians including sharing that he is in prison.

The book of Ephesians is full of celebration and unity. It is a unity between the Jews and the Gentiles. We all have a close relationship with God because God elects us, we all are God’s children, God redeems us through the blood of Jesus, and we share in God’s inheritance. This union of all creation with Christ is the main theme in Ephesians, and as the head of the church, God has placed Christ. The unity in Christ is we spirit is here, we spirit is now, and we experience our changed condition, now we are saved by grace, and we are prepared to do good works for those who trust him. We become one in Christ, we were once far off, but now we are nearer to Christ.

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the

A literary analysis is the practice of looking closely at small parts to see how they affect the whole. Literary analysis focuses on how word techniques are used by the author to create meaning. One of the reasons that Paul penned his letters in Ephesians was to bolster areas that were weak in the church. In addition to that, Paul wanted to clarify central beliefs that may not have been well-defined. Probing Paul’s letter with such a supposition, reveals several frailties among the Ephesian that Paul needed to encourage and reinforce. One of these weaknesses are amalgamated with the word riches, which is present throughout the letter in Ephesians. In this portion of the essay I will break a portion of the text down into parts, in order to examine the different elements of this piece of literature, by analyzing a portion of the text.

Our source of knowledge of the apostolic work of Paul comes first from the Book of Acts. The epistles written by Paul serve to further our knowledge of his mission. These letters were written to churches that he had founded or churches that were known to him. Luke’s account of Paul introduces us to the basic facts about this important biblical figure. A more complete understanding of Paul’s journeys can be gleaned from his letters. These epistles were written almost at the time they occurred and they comprise some of the earliest works contained in the New Testament.