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Historical context of the book of ephesians
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Recommended: Historical context of the book of ephesians
The purpose of this paper is to give a brief overview the New Testament book, Ephesians. The book of Ephesians is a letter written to the Christians at Ephesus. Most books attribute the authorship to that of the Apostle Paul. The intention of the letter to Ephesus is to help them understand God’s purpose for their lives, unity of the church, and the spiritual realm of the Christian life.
Most writers seem to agree that Ephesians was a letter written by the Apostle Paul to the Ephesians. In Acts 1:1, It begins “I Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus” (NASB, 1995, p. 1631). “Ephesus was the capital of proconsular Asia and as such was the political and commercial center of a large and prosperous region”(Boice, 1988, p. 12). “To this city the apostle Paul came to preach briefly on his second missionary journey and extensively on his third. In this city God was pleased to establish a faithful church. To the Christians of this city, attempting to live for God in the midst of utter paganism, the apostle directs this letter” (Boice, 1988, p. 13). “The Ephesians had been instructed by Paul in the pure doctrine of the gospel. At a later period, while he was a prisoner at Rome, and perceiving that they needed confirmation, he wrote to them, on that account” (Calvin, 1979, p. 191).
Some books reference someone other than the Apostle Paul as being the author of Ephesians. “Increasingly interpreters propose that “Ephesians” was written by an admiring disciple of Paul, late in the first century one who wrote in a different style from the apostle” (Vanhoozer, 2008, p. 125). “Other interpreters, however, consider Ephesians authentic and see most o...
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... Ephesians. “If we will open ourselves to the spiritual blessings our Heavenly Father has made available to us, then we can begin Living Abundantly” (Harbour, 1992, p. 126).
Works Cited
Boice, J. M. (1988). Ephesians: An Expositional Commentary. (J. Comanda, Ed.) Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House.
Calvin, J. (1979). Commentaries on the Epistes of Paul to the Galations and Ephesians. (W. Pringle, Trans.) Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House Company.
Halley, H. H. (1964). Halley's Bible Handbook: An Abbreviated Bible Commentary. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Zondervan Publishing House.
Harbour, B. L. (1992). Living abundantly. Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.
NASB. (1995). Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House.
Vanhoozer, K. J. (Ed.). (2008). Theological Interpretation of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, Michagan: Baker Academic.
Wallace, Daniel B. "Ephesians: Introduction, Argument, and Outline." Bible.org. N.p., 28 June 2004. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
Paul wrote Ephesians when he was in prison in Rome. He was there because Jews attacked him after his third missionary journey, but he was the one that got arrested. The epistle was written to the church in Ephesus, to help them with their unity. Thychicus deliver...
As one begins to read the letter to the Ephesians, he is intrigued not only by the many topics that the letter mentions, but also the fact that there are some major differences between this book and Paul’s other writings. The purpose of this essay is to explore the book of Ephesians by commenting on critical issues, such as date, authorship, and setting, major theological themes, the purpose of the letter, and to offer an outline of the book itself.
The historical cultural situation of the writer and his audience is that in this time Paul is preaching to Ephesus, and that the audience are mostly gentiles. Pauls original name was Saul, and he was an apostle who spoke the Gospel of God, to the 1st century audience/world. The author is much undeinfed, but most have found that it can be paul, and little say it was a follower of paul. His background was personally chosen by God. Gods best messeng...
Walvoord, John F., Roy B. Zuck, and Harnold W. Hoehner. "Colossians." The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL: Victor, 1983. 613-45. Print.
Silva, Moisés. Philippians. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005.
New Testament. Vol. 2. Edited by Gerhard Kittel. Translated by Geoffrey W. Bromiley. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1964.
New Revised Standard Version. New York: American Bible Society, 1989. Print. The. Russell, Eddie.
The Interpreter's One Volume Commentary on the Bible. (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1971). Lenski, R. C. H. Interpretation of St. Luke's Gospel (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing). House, 1961.
Analysis of biblical writings has helped us to better understand the challenges and mysteries of scripture. In studying Ephesians 1: 15-23, research will help us draw out the bigger picture of what the writer intends to convey in his message. This passage is a prayer of thanksgiving and intercession in which Paul expresses gratitude to God upon hearing of the Ephesians “faith in the Lord Jesus and love toward all the saints” (1: 15 NRSV). This leads Paul to pray intensively that the Ephesians will gain an expanded awareness of the extraordinary and unsurpassed power of God manifested on their behalf. Paul writes this as encouragement and support to the readers.
...pse." In Current Issues in New Testament Interpretation, edited by W. Klaasen and G.F. Snyder, 23-37. New York, NY: Harper and Row, 1962.
In approximately 50 A.D. Paul had traveled to Philippi and then to Greece for the first time. During this time, he and two traveling companions, Timothy and Silas, they spread the word about Jesus to the Thessalonians. They formed a community of believers there and Paul was the founder of this new Christian community. He, Timothy, and Silas exercised authority over the Thessalonians according to 1 Thessalonians 4:7. “we were able to impose our weight as apostles of Christ”. The three stayed with the newly founded community for quite a while and it was not specifically stated as to how long they stayed all the book said was that “they stayed for a time to be”.
Bromiley, Geoffrey William, Fredrich, Gerhard, Kittel, Gerhard. “Theological Dictionary of the New Testament.” Struttgart, Germany. W. Kohlhammer Verlag. 1995. Print.
Wenham, G.J., Moyter, J.A., Carson, D.A. and France, R.T., eds. New Bible Commentary. Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 1998.
Carson, D, & Moo, D. (2005) An introduction to the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.