the triumph of god in christ: divine warfare in the argument of ephesians

215 Pages·2005·2.05 MB·English

by  Timothy Gombis

THE TRIUMPH OF GOD IN CHRIST : DIVINE WARFARE IN THE
ARGUMENT OF EPHESIANS
Timothy G. Gombis
A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD
at the
University of St. Andrews
2005
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THE TRIUMPH OF GOD IN CHRIST: DIVINE
WARFARE IN THE ARGUMENT OF EPHESIANS

By

Timothy G. Gombis, B.S., M.Div., Th.M.

A thesis submitted in completion of requirements for the degree
Doctor of Philosophy

University of St. Andrews

8 June, 2005
THE TRIUMPH OF GOD IN CHRIST : DIVINE WARFARE IN THE
ARGUMENT OF EPHESIANS
Timothy G. Gombis
A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD
at the
University of St. Andrews
2005
Full metadata for this item is available in
Research@StAndrews:FullText
at:
http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/2321
This item is protected by original copyright
This item is licensed under a
Creative Commons License
Abstract of Thesis

In this thesis I argue that the letter of Ephesians contains a coherent
argument and that this argument is animated by the ideology of divine warfare.
This ideological tool was utilized throughout the ancient world to assert and
defend the cosmic supremacy of national deities, and appears throughout the Old
Testament in texts that declare the exalted status of Yahweh over all other gods
and over the forces of chaos that threaten creation. This ideology is applied to
Ephesians with the result that what many regard as the central portion of the
letter—Ephesians 2—contains a complete cycle of this mythological pattern.
Here, within a context of praise and worship (1:1-19), the cosmic Lordship of
Christ is asserted (1:20-23) and the triumphs of God in Christ over the powers that
rule the present evil age are elaborated (2:1-22). God in Christ has triumphed over
the powers that hold humanity captive to death by raising believers to life and
seating them in the heavenlies with Christ. Further, Christ triumphs over the
powers and their divisive effects within humanity by creating a new unified
humanity that shares in the life of God in Christ by the Spirit. I then attempt to
demonstrate that reading Ephesians through this lens provides satisfying solutions
to a number of problems in subsequent sections of the letter. The
‘autobiographical’ remarks in Eph 3:2-13 are not intended as an apostolic defense,
but rather are an explanation of how Paul’s imprisonment, which would appear to
be a devastating argument against the cosmic Lordship of Christ, actually serves
to epitomize and reinforce that exalted status. I also argue that the difficult
quotation of Psalm 68 in Eph 4:8 finds a satisfying solution through the
application of divine warfare ideology. Finally, I argue that this reading
demonstrates that the two halves of Ephesians are integrally related—that the
exhortatory portion is a call to the New Humanity to engage in divine warfare
against the evil powers, embodying the triumph of God in Christ in their corporate
life.
Acknowledgments

I am blessed to have been able to complete this thesis in the collegial
environment of St. Mary’s College, University of St. Andrews. The postgraduate
community in St. Andrews proved an ideal setting for study of the Scriptures and I
have benefited immensely from relationships with fellow postgraduates. My
experience, and that of my family, would have been far poorer were it not for the
rich friendships we enjoyed here.
I am also profoundly grateful for the supervision of my work by Dr. Bruce
Longenecker, whose careful reading and critical interaction have made this thesis
a much better work than it would have been otherwise. The gruelling process of
writing a Ph.D. thesis brings countless opportunities for despair and frustration,
but Bruce’s oversight and well-timed encouragements made this a rewarding
experience. I am blessed to have had him as my Doktorvater. Thanks are also
due to Professor Richard Bauckham, who supervised my work for a year while
Bruce was on sabbatical. His criticisms provoked further thought on several
points, saving me from error. It is a privilege to have had my work supervised by
two distinguished scholars, and it should go without saying that the fault for any
remaining shortcomings is mine.
I am indebted also to the examiners of this thesis, Professor Larry Hurtado
of New College, University of Edinburgh, and Professor Philip Esler of St. Mary’s
College, University of St. Andrews, whose thorough analysis and searching
criticisms have improved its quality.
Portions of my work on Ephesians have been published elsewhere: ‘Being
the Fullness of God in Christ by the Spirit: Ephesians 5:18 in its Epistolary
Setting’, Tyndale Bulletin 53 (2002), 259-71; ‘Ephesians 2 as a Narrative of
Divine Warfare’, Journal for the Study of the New Testament 26 (2004), 403-18;
‘Ephesians 3:2-13: Pointless Digression, or Epitome of the Triumph of God in
Christ?’ Westminster Theological Journal 66 (2004), 313-23; ‘Cosmic Lordship
and Divine Gift-Giving: Psalm 68 in Ephesians 4:8’, Novum Testamentum
(forthcoming, 2005); ‘A Radically New Humanity: The Function of the Haustafel
in Ephesians’, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society (forthcoming,
2005).

During the four years it took to complete this thesis, my family was
supported financially by my parents, Dr. Leon and Kathryn Gombis. This is no
insignificant gift, and I’m thankful for their profound expression of kindness and
love.
An academic thesis is produced amid the rough and tumble of everyday
life, and my children, Madeline, Jacob and Riley, have done well to bring
Ephesians out of the study and into the practice of being a family. Their joy and
love of life bring great delight to their parents, and together we thank God in
Christ that these four years have been the best of our lives.
Finally, I could not adequately express what my wife, Sarah, means to me,
nor how grateful I am for her. She provided constant encouragement to me
throughout this work and was eager to share in my joy over the Divine Warrior
and of the riches contained in Ephesians. Together we have learned how God in
Christ triumphs in real life as we endured a series of painful tragedies, and I have
come to see more clearly how wonderfully blessed I am to be married to Sarah. I
dedicate this work to her, my friend and lover.
Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1: THE TRIUMPH OF GOD IN CHRIST: DIVINE
WARFARE IN THE ARGUMENT OF EPHESIANS 1

Introduction 1
The Triumph of God in Christ 3
Authorship 7

CHAPTER 2: THE PATTERN OF DIVINE WARFARE 8

Introduction 8
Examples from the Ancient Near East 9
The Pattern in the Ugaritic Baal Cycles 9
The Pattern in Enuma Elish 11
Examples from the Old Testament 13
The Song of the Sea: Exodus 15:1-18 14
Psalm 29 18
Psalm 68:12-24 21
Psalm 110 25
Examples from Texts Related to Asia Minor 28
Revelation 6:9-7:17 29
Revelation 12:1-12 31
Revelation 16:12-19 32
The Frieze of the Great Altar of Pergamon 34
Conclusion 35

CHAPTER 3: ENSLAVEMENT TO COSMIC POWERS
IN THE ANCIENT WORLD 36

Introduction 36
Magical Papyri 37
Greco-Roman Intellectual Thought 42
Early Judaism 44
Conclusion 50

CHAPTER 4: THE TRIUMPHS OF THE EXALTED CHRIST 51

Introduction 51
The Pattern of Divine Warfare in Ephesians 1:1-2:22 52
The Liturgical Context of the Pattern
of Divine Warfare (1:1-19) 52
Lordship (1:20-23) 56
Conflict-Victory (2:1-16) 61
Threat (2:1-3) 62
Triumph over the Powers (2:4-6) 67
The Purpose of God in His Triumph (2:7-10) 70
Threat (2:11-12) 74
Triumph over the Law (2:13-16) 77
Victory Shout (2:17) 79
Celebration (2:18) 81
Temple-building (2:20-22) 82
Conclusion 84

CHAPTER 5: THE TRIUMPH OF GOD IN THE IMPRISONMENT
OF PAUL 86

Introduction 86
An Epitome of the Triumph of God in Christ 89
Paul is the Recipient of Divine Revelation (3:3-7) 93
Paul is the Agent of Divine Triumph 95
Paul’s Preaching is the Means of the Creation
of the Church 95
Paul’s Preaching is the Means of God’s
Vindication before the Powers 97
Concluding Exhortation (3:13) 99
The Triumph of God in Paul’s Prayer for the Church 100
The Triumph of God in Paul’s Doxology 104
Conclusion 105

CHAPTER 6: THE TRIUMPH OF CHRIST AND THE EMPOWERING
OF THE CHURCH 106

Introduction 106
The Commission of the Church to be the Arena of the
Triumph of God over the Powers 110
The Provision of Christ, the Triumphant Divine Warrior 113
The Gift of the Exalted Christ 129
Conclusion 130

CHAPTER 7: EMBODYING THE TRIUMPH OF GOD IN CHRIST:
THE CHURCH WAGING DIVINE WARFARE AGAINST
THE POWERS 132

Introduction 132
Two Realms in Conflict (4:17-24) 136
The Combatants in the Conflict 139
The Nature of the Conflict 141
Illustrations of the Conflict (4:25-32) 142
Exhortation (5:1-7) 145
The Advance of the New Humanity (5:8-14) 146
Exhortation (5:15-21) 149
Reconstituting the Cosmos: A Manifesto for the New
Humanity (5:22-6:9) 152
Wives and Husbands 161
Parents and Children 164
Slaves and Masters 165
Conclusion 167
CONCLUSION 168

BIBLIOGRAPHY 172
CHAPTER 1
THE TRIUMPH OF GOD IN CHRIST: DIVINE WARFARE IN
THE ARGUMENT OF EPHESIANS

Introduction
The Letter of Ephesians finds itself in an odd situation. While it has held
an esteemed position in the history of the Christian church and has been a rich
resource for Christian theology through the centuries, it has been a puzzle for NT
scholars and has endured some rather unflattering descriptions. According to John
Muddiman, ‘No letter of Paul is so confused and confusing in its form and
structure’.1 For J. H. Roberts, ‘In view of the many questions that still await an
acceptable solution the enigma of Ephesians remains’.2 Nils Dahl calls Ephesians
‘sublime yet elusive’,3 and Edgar Goodspeed refers to it as the ‘waterloo of
commentators’, since it invariably ‘baffles them’.4
This state of affairs in Ephesians scholarship has come about because of
the difficulty involved in discerning the internal coherence of the letter. While
scholars agree on the presence of major themes within the letter, such as corporate
unity, the people of God and cosmic Christology, the manner in which they are
integrated into an argument remains a mystery. If there is anything approaching a
consensus on this matter, it is that the letter is largely a reinterpretation of the
essence of Pauline theology for a new generation of Christians. For example,
Michel Bouttier claims that Ephesians has a two-fold purpose:
réinterpréter globalement le message paulinien, à partir d’une conviction
reçue, face à une situation neeuve; et incorporer dans le paulinisme des
traditions qui avaient mûri dans d’autres milieux que ceux qui étaient sous
l’influence directe de l’apôtre.5

As such, Ephesians does not contain an argument, but is rather a pastiche of
Pauline traditions woven together by a Pauline disciple.6 According to Michael
Gese,

1 Muddiman 2001, 7.
2 Roberts 1993, 104.
3 Dahl 1986, 38.
4 Goodspeed 1933, 15.
5 Bouttier 1991, 24. Muddiman’s proposal is a variation of this viewpoint. He argues that
Ephesians is a composite document, a re-working of an authentic Pauline letter, which was the
epistle to the Laodiceans noted by Marcion, by a disciple of Paul (2001, 2-39).
6 Käsemann 1966, 297; Bouttier 1991, 24-28; Schwindt 2002, 46-47; Gnilka 1971, 13-21.
Aus seiner Kenntnis der paulinischen Briefe heraus gelingt dem Verfasser
eine umfassende Gesamtschau der paulinischen Theologie. Wie wir
beobachten konnten, greift er die bei Paulus angelegten unterschiedlichen
Tendenzen auf, führt sie zusammen und formt aus ihnen einen in sich
geschlossenen Entwurf.7

Complicating matters further for those attempting to find a coherent
argument is the appearance of works claiming that there is no integral relationship
between the two halves of the letter—chapters 1-3 and 4-6. In a recent
monograph, Roy Jeal argues that the unity of Ephesians is not found in a thematic
or theological coherence, but rather in a rhetorical scheme.8 He notes the
difficulty in discerning the connection between the usual narratio and
argumentatio portions of the letter and proposes that the coherence of Ephesians
consists in its rhetorical classification as a ‘sermon’. In this scenario, the writer is
not arguing critically with his readers in a polemical fashion, establishing the
theological ground for his paraenesis, but rather attempts to stimulate the
sentiments of his readers with appeals to sublime truths held in common (chapters
1-3) in order to persuade them to adopt his recommended course of action
(chapters 4-6).9
This letter, then, which has been so influential and which has enjoyed a
place of such prominence in the Christian tradition has come to be regarded as
only barely coherent, and, as a result, has suffered relative neglect in NT
scholarship. Recent attempts to situate the letter in a first-century context have
proved no help in discerning the argument of its author. A fresh reading,
therefore, is needed, one that seeks to determine whether there is a coherent
argument within Ephesians, and how this argument unfolds.
In this thesis, I will argue that Ephesians does indeed contain an argument
and that it has a tight coherence that binds together the letter’s two halves. When
read through the ideology of divine warfare from the ancient world, the argument,
in which the writer asserts and elaborates upon the triumph of God in Christ over
all competing cosmic forces, emerges into view.

7 Gese 1997, 271-72.
8 Jeal 2000; cf. also Lincoln 1990, lxxxi.
9 Jeal 2000, 48.
2