In the Library.—Purves, "Christianity in the Apostolic Age," pp. 241-246. Davis, "Dictionary of the Bible," articles on "Colossæ," "Hierapolis" and "Laodicea": Purves, articles on "Colossians, Epistle to the" and "Philemon" (supplemented). Hastings, "Dictionary of the Bible": Ramsay, articles on "Colossæ," "Hierapolis," and "Laodicea"; Murray, article on "Colossians, Epistle to the"; Bernard, articles on "Philemon," and "Philemon, Epistle to." M'Clymont, "The New Testament and Its Writers," pp. 91-98. Ellicott, "A New Testament Commentary for English Readers," vol. iii: Barry, "The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians," pp. 1-8, 96-124; "The Epistle of Paul to Philemon," pp. 265-274. "The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges": Moule, "The Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon." Zahn, "Introduction to the New Testament," vol. i, pp. 439-479. Lightfoot, "Saint Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon." The two last-named works are intended primarily for those who have some knowledge of Greek, but can also be used by others.
LESSON XXIV
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST
The special effort in the lessons of the second quarter has been to produce some lively impression of the wonderful variety among the letters of Paul. That variety is due largely to the variety in the occasions of the letters. Just because Paul entered with such sympathy into the varying circumstances of his many churches, the letters of Paul reflect the wonderful manifoldness of life.
Nevertheless, it is also an advantage that at least one letter is largely independent of any special circumstances whatever. This is the case with the epistle which is to be studied to-day. The Epistle to the Ephesians is addressed to a definite group of churches, but that group is addressed not with regard to its own special problems, but simply as representative of Gentile Christianity in general. For once Paul allows his thoughts to flow unchecked by the particular needs of his readers.
1. STYLE OF EPHESIANS
The purpose of Ephesians, therefore, is quite different from the purpose of any other of the Pauline Epistles. To the difference in purpose corresponds a difference in style. The style of Ephesians is characterized especially by long sentences, heaped full of an almost bewildering wealth of thought. This characteristic had appeared to some extent even in the earliest epistles—compare II Thess. 1:3-10—but in Ephesians it becomes more pronounced. Ephesians 1:3-14, for example, is only one sentence, but it is a world in itself. Apparently in this epistle Paul has allowed his mind and heart to roam unchecked over the whole realm of the divine economy. This freedom might conceivably be thought to involve a sacrifice of logical symmetry and of euphonic grace, but at any rate it possesses a certain beauty and value of its own. Ephesians may lack the splendid rhythm of the first chapter of First Corinthians or the eighth chapter of Romans, but on the other hand these tremendous periods, with their heaping-up of majestic phrases, serve admirably to express the bewilderment of the soul in the presence of divine wonders. Human language is inadequate to do full justice to the grace of God. In Ephesians, we see an inspired apostle striving to give utterance in human language to things which in their full reality are unspeakable.