[B-Greek] Eph. 1:12 EIS TO EINAI hHMAS ...TOUS PROHLPIKOTAS EN TWiCRISTWi
Webb
webb at selftest.net
Wed May 17 19:33:14 EDT 2006
> ..."we" in verse 11 is still general spiritual truth for all believers.
[Webb] Theologically that may be true, but I'm not sure that that is the
posture out of which Paul (i.e. the author) is speaking. Verses 9 and 10
talk about God having made known the secret of his will to Paul and his
colleagues, with a view to the fulfillment of a plan that wraps up all
history and all creation in Christ. Verse 11 talks about "we" having been
called out, set apart according to the will of God. Called out by God's will
for what? Maybe I'm being oversensitive to intertextual coherences here, but
Paul often talks in the openings of his letters either about having been
called out as an apostle (i.e. a preacher of the good news), or about being
an apostle according to the will of God. So when I hear about "we" having
been brought into the know on the mystery/secret of God and "we" having been
called out according to the will of God in this opening to Ephesians (vv. 9,
11), I am somehow finding myself expectant that he's going to talk about the
preaching of the good news--and sure enough, v. 13 talks about "you" having
heard and having believed the good news.
Looking at the contemporaneous Colossians 1:25-28, we get hits on OIKONOMIA,
MUSTERION, GNWRIZW, ELPIS, DOXA, QELHMA, and the idea that God has revealed
the secret to the saints according to the administration of a plan--the plan
to give Christ to the Gentiles at the end of history (i.e. now, in the
author's time frame), through "us" (Col. 1:28).
Although I don't see anything particularly impossible or jarring about the
reading you favor, I think I'm ready to stick by mine. Mine feels more
coherent in the context.
Webb Mealy
>It may be better to see the
> general words of truth, inclusive of all believers, as continuing
> through verse 12, so that PROHLPIKOTAS designates a time prior to one's
> being to God's glory. We were made heirs (or whatever you do with 1:11a)
> so that we might be to God's glory who at an earlier time put our hope
> in God. Then verse 13, by moving to "you," would simply stress that the
> Ephesians participated in these spiritual realities that apply to all
> mankind by themselves believing in Christ at a point in time, with the
> consequence that they would be to God's glory with all the rest.
>
> Yours,
> Harold Holmyard
>
>
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