Ephesians

(These are just some of my thoughts on the book of Ephesians.)
The epistle, or letter to the Ephesians was written by Paul at Rome, A.D. 60-64. Or was it? That is a very good, but one difficult and diverse question. The Bible states that Paul is the author, but there are several reasons why someone could have been mistaken when they wrote the author's name. The date is also very controversial in light of certain facts.
First, let us look at who the author is. There are two reasons I have found why Paul could not have been the author. The first reason is that Paul spent most of his life striving for equality for Jews and Gentiles in the church. So, if he was striving for equality, then why is this letter filled with so much about unity? Second, the letter appears to have been written by a very strict Jew, who looked at Gentiles across a huge dividing wall of hostility (2:14) and who had then been converted to Christ and become the apostle to the Gentiles. There are several different agruments people and philosophers can make on this issue, but even if it wasn't Paul, I believe he could have told someone about what he wanted to write and before he was able to, he died and the person wrote the letter for him. As to the date, who knows really, it could be as I was saying before, only God has the answer.
Another big controversy in Ephesians is to whom the letter was written. In the first chapter it says that it was to the saints who are in Ephesus and faithful in Christ Jesus. One view is since it says "faithful in Christ Jesus" that means not to a specific church but to anyone who might read it who was faithful in Christ. There could have been specific readers, even if they were readers in a number of different churches, thus posing a question as to the meaning of "Ephesus." Some believe that the letter was sent to a particular church and the address and personal greetings just happened to be omitted. This could also be said to be done on purpose so that it might have a wider audience and a more general use. So, the letter might have just ended up at Ephesus, since no one knew where to send it. The big difficulty about this agrument is that Paul's letters always have in them marks all the way through of the people of whom he addressed a situation. So, you couldn't just remove the marks of this letter's destination by just removing its greeting and address.
Another idea concerning intended recipients of this letter is that it could have possibly been sent to a number of churches in a particular area, most likely the Roman providence of Asia. There is in fact internal and external evidence which supports this view. One suggestion is that one copy of the letter was taken around to the different churches and a gap was always left in the name as it went. Another suggestion is that there were a number of copies of the letter, of which each bore a different place-name. These arguments bring everyone back to the idea that Paul did not in fact write the letter.
The main teaching in this book is on unity. Usually in Paul's letters only the unity of the local church is considered. But, in this book unity between Jews and Gentiles is approached. So, there is a wider unity than just local. Now, the main emphasis was on spiritual unity without reference to organization, while before the emphasis was on unity under a single leader, a bishop. There are other differences about unity and the difference between the ideas of unity in different books. But, I hope you have seen the idea, so I will not mention any more.
There are several special things about Ephesians. It stands out as different, since the writer does not use any other personal references, greetings, reminiscences, or messages to or from individuals such as have so large a place in the other letters which we know as Paul's, besides (3:2-13; 3:1; 4:1; 6:20). There are also no specific problems, either doctrinal or practical, that have given rise to this letter. Ephesians, in many respects, is like a sermon and in some parts, a prayer. After the initial greeting and address there is praise of God. This begins with God's eternal purpose for his people and continues in reference of adoption, revelation, and reconciliation. The work of the Father and Son is added to that of the Spirit now and as assurance of the future.
I honestly don't have a favorite part in this book, since I like what it is all saying. Since I have grown up learning and hearing about the armor of God, that would probably be the most interesting part to me. I really like the different symbols each piece stands for and it makes me think about how we, as Christians, really are like soldiers, in a spiritual sense, fighting off the attacks of the enemy, Satan, and not giving up and retreating when life gets tough. I think it is very important that we all remember what the armor stands for when those tough times come in life.
You know, it really doesn't matter in the long run who in fact wrote Ephesians. It also doesn't matter to whom it was written, since it is for everyone to read. This book has a lot of good things about it and even if it were written just to the people of Ephesus, everyone would be able to read it now. Unity is a big issue today, and if we could only learn something from this, there wouldn't be so much hate, war, and violence. Especially after 9-11, we need to seriously start trying to gain unity, especially within the church. The Word of God says that there will be a peace treaty between the nations and when that treaty is signed He will be taking us to heaven. So, I don't know if we, as Christians, shall ever see unity on earth as we know it, but peace will reside in Heaven.