Journey Through Ephesians and Colossians预览

Pauline Authorship Over Centuries

Ephesians is one of the Pauline letters, along with Colossians, 2 Thessalonians and the Pastoral letters, that some scholars believe to be written by someone other than Paul. Scholarly positions on this kind of thing can vary over time, according to the values of different eras. The question of Ephesians’ authorship is a prime example of the fluctuation and changing values of scholarship.

Dr. Harold W. Hoehner has compiled a helpful chart listing all prominent scholarly views of this question from 1519 to 2001. The chart includes a total of 279 views on the subject, dividing them by the eras in which they were first published.

It’s important to follow these kinds of careful examinations by professional scholars, but it’s also important not to give them more authority than the text itself. Note that in the 19th century there were decades where Pauline authorship was “universally” accepted and “universally” rejected, when nothing in the book of Ephesians itself had changed. And after the last 200 hundred years of scholarship, the scholarly view is exactly where it was from 1800–1825: 50%.

However we come down on the issue of authorship, the authority of the letter doesn’t change. And if we want to take the letter’s word for it, we don’t have to read past the first verse:

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 1:1 (NIV)