EXEGESIS OF EPHESIANS

In Ephesians, Paul celebrates God's activity (past, ongoing, and future) on behalf of all who had responded in trust and faithfulness toward Jesus throughout the eastern Roman empire, then instructs early Christians regarding their individual and collective identity in Christ. This course leads students in an exploration of how first-century audiences in Roman Asia would have understood and embraced those attitudes, pursuits, and practices that constitute an appropriate response of gratitude for so costly a deliverance and so magnificent a destiny. The course also facilitates exploration of the ways in which the letter engages the modern contexts of contemporary Christians who continue to wrestle with Paul's vision for Christian discipleship and human community. These goals are pursued on the basis of the close study of the Greek text of the epistle.