00:00:00:55 – 00:00:31:31
Clint Loveall
Hi, friends. Welcome back. Good to be back with you. And good to have you back with us after a break for the summer. Coming back, kicking off in the fall and looking at, certainly a, oh, I think a well known and and probably at least sections of this book. Michael, I think you could easily call beloved, there are people who would list Ephesians as among their favorite books.

00:00:31:31 – 00:01:09:02
Clint Loveall
Certainly there are verses and sections that people would know and would have memorized or or at least be familiar with. An interesting book, for some reasons that we’ll touch on and we’ll continue to uncover. We, got to Ephesians by thinking that we’d like to do something relatively short. Just six chapters, though. Those chapters are pretty packed and that would give us an opportunity to maybe do a little bit of a bigger project as we move into the the new year or toward the new year.

00:01:09:07 – 00:01:32:31
Clint Loveall
And we’ll make those announcements down the road. But for right or wrong or other, we get to, the book of Ephesians. And that’s where we’ll be for the next few weeks together. Today I think we’ll just do some introduction rather than just dive into the text. I do think it’s helpful. I hope that it’s helpful for people to have some background.

00:01:32:31 – 00:02:04:21
Clint Loveall
There are some things that are interesting about this letter. And when we do this, Michael, I think we always I feel like we always run the risk of a boring people with details that aren’t Bible details, and b maybe if some of the concepts are new to people, perhaps them being troubled by the idea that there are people who try to figure out the actual things of the scripture.

00:02:04:26 – 00:02:25:55
Clint Loveall
But I want to say, as we start this, that if if you hear something that doesn’t make sense, feel free to reach out to us and let us know we’ll do our best to find those questions and answer them. And to, realize that what we present is a wide range of scholarship and opinions among people.

00:02:26:00 – 00:02:54:29
Clint Loveall
And most assuredly, if you come down on one side or another of those questions, you have people on your team. Our point is more to show you that there are some of those conversations not to push you toward a conclusion. You can you can read the material, you can listen to the cases, and you’re certainly capable of making decisions about the things that are speculated.

00:02:54:34 – 00:03:16:18
Clint Loveall
The reality, if you’ve been with us at all in the past, you know that the reality of the Bible is we, several thousand years later, come and try to make sense of something that a wasn’t written in our language and B wasn’t written to us. And so we listen in to a very different time and place and try to make the most sense of it.

00:03:16:19 – 00:03:33:18
Clint Loveall
We can try to translate it, both linguistically, by actual literal language and experientially saying, what? What does it say to us and how does it help us? And in that regard? Michael, I think Ephesians does have a lot to offer us.

00:03:33:23 – 00:03:59:25
Michael Gewecke
Yeah, it really does. I think it’s important to start these conversations with some introduction and some background. One of the reasons for that is it helps us orient ourselves and put ourselves in the right place to hear some of the major themes throughout the book. And I think when these introductory sections to a book go well, we are able to set up some, hey, look for this in the coming pages that we’re going to study together.

00:03:59:25 – 00:04:27:37
Michael Gewecke
And, you know, I think obviously the danger of doing something like that is you set up a kind of confirmation bias or to say, well, look for that’s going to be there. On the flip side of that, though, scholars have done a lot of work for hundreds and thousands of years exploring these texts. And Ephesians, I think, is a really interesting text because though it is short in terms of the number of pages, it is actually got a lot of depth to it.

00:04:27:37 – 00:04:55:48
Michael Gewecke
And in fact, as we go through it, there’s going to be some passages that without a question, you’ve heard, many of them, you’ve heard many times. And I think it is fascinating because and let’s just start right into it here. It’s fascinating because this book is attributed to Pauline authorship. That is, Paul did write this book. Lots of scholars would make that argument, and lots of them would say it was likely written while he was in prison.

00:04:55:53 – 00:05:21:38
Michael Gewecke
And it’s fascinating because if you compare this book to some of Paul’s other letters, you’re going to see some differences that you’re going to see some differences in the style of writing. You’re going to see some differences in even vocabulary. People who are counting literally the number of words that Paul using in this letter. They tell us that if you look at this book, there’s some different vocabulary used and there’s some different ways of framing sentences used.

00:05:21:43 – 00:05:53:30
Michael Gewecke
But all that being said, the core themes and the theology and the ways that’s addressed to the community. I read some commentators coming into our conversation here today, making the point that that that some have argued that Paul wrote this and it’s a different style of Paul’s writing. It has a different flavor. He’s doing a different kind of thing with this book, which you might not know if you’ve just opened up your Bible and you stuck your finger in the Ephesians and you, oh, look, Paul, an apostle of Christ, you might you might think that this is like all of the other Pauline books.

00:05:53:34 – 00:06:01:23
Michael Gewecke
What? We might find some unique things here. And that is an interesting spur in the conversations that we have.

00:06:01:28 – 00:06:31:54
Clint Loveall
Yeah. So let’s let’s talk about those issues or those, specifics that stand out as different in Ephesians. One of the more interesting ones is Michael, as mentioned, is the style, this book is the you would never. So when you go through the process of becoming a Presbyterian pastor, other other denominations do this as well, but not all of them.

00:06:31:58 – 00:06:53:53
Clint Loveall
In our tradition, you have to take a class in Greek, and you have to try and learn. I won’t say that you you learn how to speak Greek, but you have to become familiar with the language. You will not find an introductory Greek class using the book of Ephesians. This is a messy book, long run on complicated sentences.

00:06:53:58 – 00:07:19:58
Clint Loveall
Most of the first chapter of this book is one sentence. And in the other letters that Paul writes, you don’t see that kind of style. You don’t see these just 200, 300 word sentences. He typically doesn’t do that. Not only that, there are about 90, nearly a hundred letter, words in this letter that he doesn’t use anywhere else.

00:07:19:58 – 00:07:47:19
Clint Loveall
So, Paul, who writes these letters and tends to use the same kind of words, has 90 different words in this letter that don’t appear in his other letters, which is interesting. Again, not a deal breaker, but certainly interesting. Also, this is the only one of the letters attributed to Paul that doesn’t do a greeting. Almost all of Paul’s, not almost all of Paul’s other letters start with some greeting to certain people.

00:07:47:24 – 00:08:11:51
Clint Loveall
And the when you add up all those little things together, there are enough. There are enough of them that some scholars have said, hey, this looks like maybe it was written in Paul’s name or by somebody associated with Paul, or certainly conveying Paul’s ideas, but it we don’t know if Paul if we could say confidently that Paul actually wrote that.

00:08:11:52 – 00:08:33:01
Clint Loveall
Now, if that’s troubling to you again, lots of scholars say, yeah, we think Paul did write it. You can go back and forth on that. I’ve just scratched the surface on the evidence. You can go dig into that stuff if it’s of interest to you. But some people say we’re not sure. Some people say we don’t think so.

00:08:33:16 – 00:09:02:55
Clint Loveall
Lots of people say, yeah, we think so. Some people say we don’t care. It’s in there. We deal with it. But we want you to know some of the background. One other interesting thing. And this doesn’t have to do with authorship, this actually has to do with context. The first part of verse one or I’m sorry, really be kind of the second part of verse one to the saints who are in Ephesus.

00:09:03:00 – 00:09:32:04
Clint Loveall
That phrase, that word, Ephesus, does not appear in some of the earliest pieces. We have of this letter. Now it appears very early, and it appears in most of the texts that we have found. But in some of the texts that are dated the earliest, the word Ephesus isn’t there. And that has led some to suggest that this letter was more of a cyclical letter.

00:09:32:04 – 00:10:02:46
Clint Loveall
That’s just the word that Bible scholars use for a letter that was intended for a wide variety of of an area, a wide geographic area, but that somehow very quickly it became associated specifically with Ephesus. Now, again, it doesn’t really change anything in the book. When you study, New Testament, New Testament scholars love to wrangle over these little kind of details and the intentions.

00:10:02:51 – 00:10:25:13
Clint Loveall
Practically speaking, that would make no difference to you or to us who are just trying to read the letter and hear something about how to live out the faith. But it’s interesting that the from what we can tell, the earliest copies of this letter do not say they were intended specifically for Ephesus, which may mean the letter had a broader context originally.

00:10:25:22 – 00:10:28:25
Clint Loveall
We again, we don’t know that, but it’s of interest.

00:10:28:30 – 00:11:01:42
Michael Gewecke
So it’s fascinating, Clint, to your previous point, that the the Bible commentary that I have in front of me here on the iPad says explicitly this could not have been written by Paul. The commentary that I read coming in said it most likely is. Yes. And ultimately, fascinatingly, I think this idea that, well, it’s different. Yes. Because this is a particular letter written for a particular purpose to a particular piece.

00:11:01:42 – 00:11:29:07
Michael Gewecke
But I think this gets lost on us because it’s in our book. Right? It’s it’s in our book and has been in our book for hundreds of years. And so for us that it’s taken for granted that this is going to be the Word of God, but I think it’s helpful to step back in to say that the fact whether or not this was written with Paul’s hand or was transcribed from Paul’s words may not be the point.

00:11:29:07 – 00:12:01:10
Michael Gewecke
The point is that this letter is serving an interesting purpose. And that idea of the encyclical is fascinating because it suggests that whether or not written by Paul this is intended to speak, or could be intended to speak to a wider variety of the churches. And once we start looking at the themes of this letter, you’re going to see some themes of the larger church, not just churches in a single church, but you’re going to see themes, theologically, of the larger church that Jesus is the head of that church.

00:12:01:10 – 00:12:24:40
Michael Gewecke
You’re going to see some very specific language about what one should do to be a member or to be a participant, to live your life in such a way that it reflects being a part of that larger church. So it’s interesting because whereas you see a book like First and Second Corinthians, where Paul is very clearly dealing with very specific issues, it gets very micro, very fast there.

00:12:24:41 – 00:12:55:44
Michael Gewecke
Bible scholars like to get into all of the details of what exactly happened. And why is Paul arguing this? What if you could get behind the scenes? Was all of the gory details? Well, here we we don’t really have that. It’s lacking some of that specificity. But what it gains for that is a kind of broader theological view that connects us to a larger understanding of who Jesus is and what that means for the church capital C, which is going to come up a lot in our conversations.

00:12:55:44 – 00:13:22:53
Michael Gewecke
It’s the church, not just whatever church you go to, whatever address that is, but the church that is underneath Jesus Christ, the church of all place and times, all of the people who have followed Jesus. That’s the church here that I think gets lifted out of the pages of this book. And whether or not you find the authorship stuff interesting or the location stuff, and yet that becomes, I think, Clint kind of the background, it becomes the stage upon which this is played out.

00:13:22:53 – 00:13:31:28
Michael Gewecke
And so you don’t have to be interested in those things. But if you are, it may add some nuance and color to the conversations to come.

00:13:31:33 – 00:14:06:30
Clint Loveall
Yeah. One other distinctive that I do think is is helpful and and I actually think this is one of the attributes of Ephesians that people kind of resonate, resonate with Michael. This letter is interesting. Paul does this thing and whether or not Paul wrote this book, this book also does this thing where sometimes in the middle of writing, as Paul comes to a point, he will break out almost in liturgy or song or poetry.

00:14:06:30 – 00:14:41:30
Clint Loveall
There would just be these it kind of doxology moments. And some have suggested that maybe as, as this book does, that it uses some ancient liturgy or some pieces of early hymns. We will see those. But one of the things I think that does practically for a reader is as you’re diving in and as you’re wrestling with some of the text, it gives you this moment of praise to kind of help reset and get you ready for the next thing.

00:14:41:34 – 00:15:12:12
Clint Loveall
They serve as nice breaks, if nothing else, and we will try to point out as they as those as they happen and as we encounter them in the text. But there is a lot of, almost worship material in the book of Ephesians. And, it’s it’s it’s not unique for that, but it is known for that for these kind of moments of praise and doxology.

00:15:12:12 – 00:15:34:03
Clint Loveall
And I think that does give the book of Ephesians a nice feel. And, it has a it colors it very nicely for people who are reading it because it so quickly turns to adoration and praise and devotion and, and I think that makes it, both accessible and helpful.

00:15:34:08 – 00:16:17:52
Michael Gewecke
There’s an aspect of that, Clint, that you could argue that Ephesians contains some of the worship that is, you know, being referenced as this idea of Christ as being the head. Christ is the unifier. Christ is the one who sits Supreme over the community of faith. And I think ultimately, what is fascinating is that when you encounter a book like this, you’re going to inevitably see the ground under you shift pretty rapidly what you might see that breaking out in Psalm, but then you’re going to have just straight theological pronouncements, very deep and very intentional and very specific ideas being lifted out.

00:16:17:52 – 00:16:49:17
Michael Gewecke
And taught. But then very quickly, the ground will shift under you again, and then suddenly there will be very simple moralism or teachings of of ways to live. And in fact, there’s a few times in this book, I think, Clint, that we’re all going to feel uncomfortable a couple times that things are going to be said plainly and clearly as this is what it is, and then we’re going to have to wrestle with what is the intention of of how this is laid out and what’s the expectation of this writer as it relates to?

00:16:49:17 – 00:17:22:49
Michael Gewecke
Is this the specific mandate for the church of all times, or is this speaking about the way that we are ordered and that we seek to live out the faith? And maybe there is a lot of thought provoking shifts that happen within the book, and they happen really quickly. And I would just argue, I think that that’s a point in favor of the idea that this had a larger audience in mind, because you have to remember that books like this were read in public places, that most people in the ancient world, the earliest Christians, it would have been very rare for you to have the ability to read.

00:17:22:49 – 00:17:44:36
Michael Gewecke
So the fact that this letter would come to wherever you’re worshiping, wherever your church is, and that a pastor or an elder would stand before the body and then would read this, this letter that was maybe even just got passed from the the closest church, maybe even a city or two away. And now it’s your turn to have the letter and read it.

00:17:44:50 – 00:18:08:22
Michael Gewecke
That that’s a a very helpful I think mind place an imagination that we could have reading this book. If you were sitting in the room and you were hearing these words for the first time, what would it mean to you? What what would it be like to be included in this kind of cosmic gospel that expands way beyond just your church and your city and your faith there?

00:18:08:33 – 00:18:19:46
Michael Gewecke
There’s a lot of invitation in this letter in that way, and I think the way that it shifts may give us opportunities as we go to always get back in sync with the next thing that’s going on.

00:18:19:51 – 00:18:57:20
Clint Loveall
In Ephesus, in the ancient world, is well known. It’s a massive city, one of the largest cities in the region that we’d be talking about. A lot of trade or commerce. There’s a temple there for, a goddess. That is significant. It it is one of the crown jewels of the Empire. And yet even being such a big place, it it is fascinating that in some ways, though, this letter again bears the title in Ephesians.

00:18:57:25 – 00:19:26:56
Clint Loveall
In some ways, Michael, this is the most universal of Paul’s letters because he doesn’t deal with this person is doing this thing at that church. So many other letters are so specific. They give us a very clear snapshot of, oh, here’s what was happening there. Ephesus is much more. Ephesians is much more general. And, what I think that does for us is it makes it more applicable.

00:19:26:56 – 00:20:09:48
Clint Loveall
We can we don’t have to read. Oh, yeah. Well, these two these two women are fighting and they need to make up as we might in another plate. But we, we get to we get to kind of dial out a little bit and see the big picture. And I think that that is, It’s really interesting. I think that gives this book, a certain level of application as we get to apply the themes and probably the, the largest theme in this book, I think maybe will be better served to give it its entire, treatment tomorrow.

00:20:09:48 – 00:20:27:00
Clint Loveall
But. The context translates. Not easily, but. Well,

00:20:27:05 – 00:20:51:48
Clint Loveall
The danger is that it’s tempting to to try and plug modern equivalents in and say, oh, Paul’s talking to this group in this group. So for us, that would be this group in this group. But I think we have to be cautious with that approach. But I do think, as Paul says, things to these groups that are trying to figure out how to do faith together, it becomes very instructive for the rest of us.

00:20:51:48 – 00:20:57:31
Clint Loveall
And it gives it a timelessness, which I think is important about this book.

00:20:57:36 – 00:21:46:26
Michael Gewecke
So I won’t belabor this, but I think your point about the the city of Ephesus is relevant because regardless of whether this letter was delivered and stayed within Ephesus or whether it was intended to be spread, that the Temple of Diana is a wonder of the world, that it is a sought after place. And so you’re going to see throughout this book so many times in which Gentile futility and in which the the way of the world is put in contrast with the way of Christ, and we are so tempted to take for granted the beautiful churches that especially in America, we’re free to go to and free to build and free to live in

00:21:46:26 – 00:22:10:42
Michael Gewecke
as Christians. And and the privileges of scholarship and Bibles and education that gives us the opportunity to read the scriptures for free, for our for ourselves. Like these are things we should not take for granted that the original Christians who received this had. They were small and and quite frankly, in the wake of people who would take pilgrimage pilgrimages across hundreds of miles to come to this city.

00:22:10:42 – 00:22:37:58
Michael Gewecke
Not for anything to do with Christ, but everything to do with, a temple dedicated to love and to lust and to all of these, very worldly things from a Christian concept. Here you have a letter calling for Christians to live beyond themselves that that I think Clint gives us a different way of seeing how a letter like this is intended to be a seed.

00:22:37:58 – 00:23:03:00
Michael Gewecke
It’s not intended to be received as a weapon. It’s it’s a seed that grows. And the church takes it and believes it, and then it grows out until it becomes a witness to other people. Other people see the truth of these words alive in the Christians who live in Ephesus. And ultimately massive changes came to that city. But at this time and yet this place, this is a minority voice.

00:23:03:00 – 00:23:08:15
Michael Gewecke
And I think that’s a fascinating way to read the book, because that’s true to its context.

00:23:08:20 – 00:23:39:20
Clint Loveall
One of the authors that I checked, this won’t be an exact quote, but he said something like, Ephesians may be the most important book in the New Testament for the modern church, and we will unpack some of those ideas later. I’m not sure that I agree with him, though. He’s smarter than I am. So, I don’t probably have a right to disagree.

00:23:39:25 – 00:24:25:27
Clint Loveall
But I understand what he’s saying. The ideas of Ephesians, of unity, of faithfulness, of praise, of reconciliation that we have received through Christ. So we extend to others, these are powerful themes. And I do think they become incumbent upon the church to seek to practice. And to the extent the church is able to practice them, I do think Ephesians has a beautiful message for a time of division and divisiveness and fracture and some of what I think we’ve seen in the church in our, sort of semi recent past.

00:24:25:31 – 00:24:44:17
Clint Loveall
So I, while I’m not sure I would say it is the most important word to the modern church, I certainly take his point as well made. And it is it is a very challenging and helpful book to the church of of, I would say, all generations.

00:24:44:22 – 00:25:07:21
Michael Gewecke
I think there’s going to be a lot of words to come. And if you’ve made it this far at the start of this study, we’re really grateful that you’ve given your time to be part of this conversation. If you think that this would be helpful for someone that you know a friend or family member, please share with them all the different ways that they can join us for this study on YouTube, on the audio podcast, on our new website, further faith.org.

00:25:07:33 – 00:25:18:59
Michael Gewecke
More info about all of that will be available in the description of this video or the podcast where you’re listening. All of that we can get to later. For now, be blessed and we will see you tomorrow as we continue our study.

00:25:19:03 – 00:25:19:51
Clint Loveall
Thanks, everybody.