A Study of Ephesians

Ephesians, containing six chapters filled with uplifting verses about God’s people and His Church, has always been one of my favorite books of the New Testament. Ephesians provides Christians with a blueprint for living a Christ-like life and a guide for relationships with our church family. This tenth book of the New Testament expounds on the origin, purpose and mission of the Church as well as the unity within the Church, the diversity of gifts among believers, the moral standards that we are expected to strive to uphold, the relationships with fellow believers and the spiritual warfare that brings us to battle daily.

As I was searching for more information about the book of Ephesians, it was clear that there is a debate about whether or not Paul was the author of this letter. According to Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, there are four reasons why the authorship of Ephesians is debated: Language, style, theology, and Colossians . Many theologians see the language in Ephesians as being too different from the other Pauline letters to actually be a letter from Paul. The style, too, shows the author expressing himself in a way that was different than typical Paul. The theology is more highly developed and the understanding of Christ seems to be deeper than Paul’s theology and understanding presented in other letters. Also, some scholars get the feeling that Ephesians is an imitation of the letter to the Colossians. For each of those reasons that Paul’s authorship of Ephesians is questioned, there are reasons to believe that he was, in fact, the person responsible for writing the letter. Who is to say that Paul did not have several styles of writing? He was an intelligent man and could find more than one way to express his words and ideas. As he grew as a Christian, he would, obviously, gain understanding about God and be able to share that knowledge more effectively. Ephesians could be a reflection of the realization of a deeper relationship with and awareness of God. If the previous assumptions are true, then it would be ridiculous to say that Ephesians is merely an imitation of the letter to the Colossians.