Tag: Ephesians 5
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Household: Household Code in Ephesians (Part 4)
Greco-Roman household codes were instructions to the paterfamilias on ruling over his household for the sake of the social order. They typically included instruction about wives, slaves, and sometimes children. The biblical writers tended to follow this pattern, as we have seen in 1 Peter and Titus. Ephesians does the same. We have just examined…
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Household: Household Code in Ephesians (Part 3)
I have made the case that the controlling metaphor for the husband and wife relationship in the Ephesians' household code is the metaphor of head and body as visually identifiable parts of an organically indivisible unit. It is a masterful play on the idea that "the two become one flesh." Examining these passages, we see…
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Household: Household Code in Ephesians (Part 2)
Ephesians' opening portion of the household code deals with husbands and wives (5:21-33). It contains rich and compelling imagery that teaches unity between husband and wife, keeping with the theme of the rest of Ephesians. Remember that in Greco-Roman households, the paterfamilias ruled over his wife. The marriage arrangement was primarily a contractual agreement to…
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Household: New Testament Household Codes
The use of fictive family in the New Testament relates to five themes: identity, unity, mission, inheritance, and affection. If fully embraced by the community, these themes would have grounded the community identity in God and unified them in mission as they demonstrated new creation values toward each other, anticipating the consummation of the new…
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Household: Jesus’ Household Code (Part 2)
(Continuation from the previous post) Status – Matthew 20:1-16 Adherence to, and enforcement of, status differences was another frequent concern of the household codes. It was argued that failure to respect status differences properly would cause the social order to dissolve into chaos. Jesus tells a parable at the beginning of Chapter 20: "For the…
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The Other Six Days: C7 – Prophet
The Other Six Days Part Three – For the Life of the World: Chapter 7 - Prophet The Church is prophet, priest, and king to the world. Today we look at being prophetic. Prophet I wrote in the last post that: Prophets told forth the future and told forth God’s purposes in specific contexts so…
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Loving Your Wife
From the Philosophical Pastor (Susan Arnold): Loving Your Wife This week I had an experience during which I was directly (and unpleasantly) reminded of the cultural shift that occurs when Ephesians 5:25-27 is interpreted like this: … Great reflections.