New Testament Sunday School Lesson 39 (JF): Ephesians Posted by
Jim F. on October 8, 2011 For a variety of reasons most New
Testament scholars do not believe that this book was ever an
actual letter written to a specific Christian congregation in
Ephesus. For one thing, the words “to the Ephesians” in verse 1
is not part of the best manuscripts. Instead of a letter, it
appears to be a treatise written as if it were a letter. A
significant number of scholars, though perhaps not a majority,
also question whether the book was written by Paul. As with
Hebrews, for me the best response is that answering those
questions doesn’t matter, though I assume that Ephesians was
written by Paul. The book is from early Christianity
(approximately 62 AD at the latest, if written by Paul). It was
either written by Paul or someone reasonably familiar with his
teaching. We might think of Ephesians 4:1-3 as the thesis of
this book: “1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you
that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith