Today we come to the end of the text of Ephesians, which concludes with a famous exhortation for the faithful to arm themselves for battle against their spiritual foes. At first glance this may seem jarring; we’ve spent the past couple of weeks (and chapter and a half) deep in codes of conduct and now, … Continue reading God’s Armour for God’s People: Ephesians 6.10-24
The past two posts in this series on Ephesians have explored the controversial household codes from Ephesians 5.21-6.9. I’ve made the argument that, while Paul — in his relatable struggle to manage the tension between the ‘now’ and the ‘not yet’ of Christian life — left the structures of ancient Mediterranean society intact, he sought … Continue reading A Case for Christian Egalitarianism
The last post in this series on Ephesians looked at the controversial Household Code in 5.21-6.9. We saw there that, while Paul was unquestionably a spiritual revolutionary, he was very cautious — we might say conservative — in how he applied that spirit to the social structures of the first century Mediterranean world. He attempted … Continue reading The Household Codes of Ephesians 5.21-6.9 under the Microscope
Over the past two months, we've been working our way through the letter to the Ephesians. Today we come to the one of the most difficult, misinterpreted, and abused passages in all of the New Testament: the Household Code of Ephesians 5.21-6.9, which includes the infamous instructions for wives to submit to their husbands and … Continue reading Smash the Kyriarchy?: Ephesians 5.21-6.9
As we’ve worked through the difficult section of moral instruction in Ephesians, which stretches from the middle of chapter 4 through all of chapter 5 and into chapter 6, we’ve attempted to keep the big picture in mind. Rules and regulation are not what Paul is all about (and far less so, Jesus), but rather … Continue reading Toward a Wise Life: Ephesians 5.15-21
