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.
Critical issues include those things such as the date the letter was
written, who the letter was written by, and where the letter was
written. This section of the essay will identify these elements and
mention the problems that come about when one thinks logically about
the information presented in the letter to the Ephesians.
The letter to the church at Ephesus was written about the same time as
the letters to the churches at Colosse and Phillipi. A combination of
all of my sources suggests this was somewhere between the years of A.D.
A major problem that needs to be addressed is the question of setting.
Was the letter to the Ephesians only written to the church at Ephesus?
Most sources suggest that it was not. The oldest manuscripts, such as
codex Vaticanus and codex Sinaiticus, do not have the church at Ephesus
as the recipient of the letter; this was added into later manuscripts
(Donzé et al, 534). Many state that Ephesians was a circular letter, a
letter that was meant to circulate among all of the churches in the
area and not meant to be specifically addressed to one church. This
theory is supported by the fact that there are very few proper names in
the letter, unlike the other letters Paul wrote, and the fact that it
does not address specific problems of the church, only general
statements are mentioned. Also, if the letter were, in fact written
solely to the Ephesians, Paul would probably hav...