Ephesians Series: Introduction-Authorship

The traditional view of the church from its inception is that the apostle Paul wrote Ephesians.

However, in modern times, this view has been challenged.

Some of the modern critics contend that the vocabulary, style and teaching differ from the writings which are universally accepted as Pauline.

They also argue that the letter is “pseudonymous.”

The term “pseudonymity” refers to the practice of publishing one’s writings under a revered person’s name.

Ephesians was extensively, indisputably and universally accepted throughout the Roman Empire in the early church as a letter written by the apostle Paul.

Church fathers such as Ignatius, Polycarp, Clement of Rome, and Origen all regarded the epistle as written by Paul.

Both Marcion and the Muratorian canon list it as Pauline.

Furthermore, Ephesians 1:1 identifies Paulos, “Paul” as the author of the epistle to the Ephesians.

The letter itself contains Pauline language including words that appear not only in this letter but also in the undisputed letters of Paul and yet these words do not appear anywhere else in the Greek New Testament.

In typical Pauline fashion, Paul ascribes his apostolic authority to the will of God (cf. Eph. 1:1; cf. 2 Cor. 1:1; Gal. 1:1; Col. 1:1).

Paul’s name is even found in Ephesians 3:1 just as it does in his so-called undisputed letters (cf. 2 Cor. 10:1; Gal. 5:2; Col. 1:23; 1 Thess. 2:18).

The structure of the Ephesian epistle is in accordance with the rest of the Pauline corpus.

It follows the usual structure of a Pauline letter in that it begins with a salutation followed by a thanksgiving section, then the body of the letter and ending with final remarks and a benediction.

The entire letter is in line with Pauline theology found in his other letters.

As Wood points out, Dodd regarded it as representing the crown of Paulinism![1]

The Ephesian epistle is not a “pseudonymous” letter since this practice was frowned upon by the early church.

This is supported by the fact that Paul would guarantee the authenticity of his letters to protect against forgeries or someone posing as him in a letter by putting his own distinguishing mark at the end of the letter. (cf. 2 Thess. 3:17-18; Gal. ; Col. 4:18).

Furthermore, as we noted, Paul identifies himself as the author of this letter, which bears his name and there is no evidence whatsoever that this epistle is written by someone else.

The existence of the practice of pseudonymity in the ancient world is not disputed since it is well documented.

It was used in Greco-Roman cultures as a literary means of drawing on ancient authorities to address contemporary situations.

This process was accepted and understood and was not consider something that was deceptive.

However, this cannot be applied to Christianity.

Tertullian describes an elder who has falsely written under the name of Paul in an attempt to increase Paul’s fame because he loved him.

However, he was removed from his office (On Baptism).

The early church was very much concerned about receiving authentic Pauline epistles and would totally reject the practice of pseudonymity.

The early church was very concerned with problems of literary fraud and Paul was too as we can see in 2 Thessalonians 2:2 and Galatians 6:11.

Some critics contend that Ephesians is pseudonymous because the contents are impersonal in nature.

They argue that we would expect that Paul’s lengthy stay in Ephesus would prompt him to send personal greetings in this epistle.

However, the absence of personal greetings and specific issues and conditions supports the idea that the Ephesian epistle is a circulatory letter intended for all the various house churches in the Roman province of Asia.

H. J. Cadbury posed the question, “Which is more likely-that an imitator of Paul in the first century composed a writing ninety or ninety-five percent in accordance with Paul’s style or that Paul himself wrote a letter diverging five or ten percent from his usual style?”[2]

Lastly, the scholars who reject Pauline authorship of Ephesians because of the close relationship between this letter and Colossians.

They argue that it could not be possible for one person to write two letters which resemble each other so strikingly (cf. Eph. 6:21-22; Col. 4:7-8) and yet have significant differences (cf. Col. 2:2; Eph. 3:3-6).

Guthrie answers by asserting “that two minds could not have produced two such works with so much subtle interdependence blended with independence.”[3]

Furthermore, as Skevington Wood writes “Would an imitator have dealt so freely with the text of Colossians? Is it not probable that he would have adhered more slavishly to the script? It is when an author borrows from himself that he can take liberties with what is after all his own material.”[4]

In the final analysis, the epistle of Ephesians should be regarded as written by the apostle Paul because the authenticity of this letter cannot be disproven.

[1] Wood, Skevington, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1, 2 Thessalonians, 1, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon); page 4; Zondervan Corporation; Grand Rapids, MI 1978. [2] . J. Cadbury, “The Dilemma of Ephesians,” NTS 5 (1958-59): 101 [3] Guthrie, 511 [4] Wood, Skevington, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1, 2 Thessalonians, 1, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon); page 8; Zondervan Corporation; Grand Rapids, MI 1978.