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general. Most scholars would agree that the question of why the epistle
was written is at the root of the continuing problem of how to under
stand the message of Ephesians. Our method of research will be
historical, exegetical, and theo logical. We will begin with a detailed
historical study of the religious milieu of the readers, highlighting those
aspects particularly germane to an understanding of the first-century
A.D. Jewish and Hellenistic notions of divine power and spirit powers.
Additional historical research will be carried out at various other points
to determine possible sources for certain terms or concepts. Particular
attention will be given to developing a more accurate picture of the
mind-set, fears, and religious understanding of the readers. A variety of
sources will be employed which may provide insight into the religious
climate of the time the epistle was written. In particular, I will explore
the relevance of the Hellenistic magical tradition to understanding the
spiritual setting. Our primary source for this is the collection of papyri
published by Karl Preisendanz in the two-volume set, Papyri graecae
magicae: Die griechischen Zauberpapyri (PGM), which is contained in a
second revised edition by A. Heinrichs. An English translation of these
papyri, plus many discovered since Preisendanzs edition, has been
published in a volume edited by Hans Dieter Betz entitled, The Greek
Magical Papyri in Translation Including the Demotic Spells (Chicago,
1986). In addition to this, we will make use of some of the valuable
studies conducted and published under the auspices of the Austrian
Archaeological Institute in Vienna, namely the older multi-volume work
Forschungen in Ephesos (FiF), the journal Jahreshefte des
Osterreichischen Archologischen Instituts in Wien (JhhdArchInst), and
the inscrip tional material gathered in the multi-volume Inschriften von
Ephesos (IvE), a part of a larger series known as Inschriften Griechischer
Stdte aus Kleinasien (IGSK). These sources will be employed together
with the relevant OT and Jewish material to discern the background to
the variety of terms for the principalities, powers, and authorities in
Ephesians. We will also conduct a careful analysis of the passages which
refer to these powers in order more accurately to discern the essence
of the authors message to the readers about these powers. Three
passages where the language of power is particularly pro minent will be
discussed exegetically. Stress will be placed on providing a precise
analysis of these passages, determining the function of the power-motif
in these respective contexts, and finally explaining how
One needs to be cautious not to assume that there was only one
local congregation in Ephesus. By the time Ephesians was written there
may have been a network of new churches established within the city.
This consideration is made all the more plausible by recog nizing that
the lower estimates for the population of Ephesus in the first century
begin at a quarter of a million. It is also possible that churches existed
in villages in the immediate vicinity of Ephesus, e.g. throughout the
Cayster valley (viz. Metropolis, Hypaipa, Diashieron, Neikaia, Koloe, and
Palaiapolis). These considerations greatly expand the potential
Ephesian readership. There has been a stronger consensus, however,
that Ephesians circulated to a number of the western Asia Minor cities
where churches were known to exist (e.g. in addition to Ephesus:
Laodicea, Pergamum, and Sardis).
Since F.C. Baur promulgated the view that the epistle to the
Ephesians belonged to the latter half of the second century A.D.
because of its dependence on Gnostic thought, the question of Gnostic
influence upon Ephesians has occupied the forefront of the literature
dealing with the epistle. Scholars such as R. Bultmann, P. Pokorny, H.
Schlier, E. Ksemann, W. Schmithals, E. Norden, and a host of others are
well known for their handling of this question with regard to Ephesians.
Such terminology and concepts in the epistle as the headbody
imagery, mystery, fullness, Gidov, ipx0v, the oncenow schema, and
the so-called spatial eschatology are the main candidates for a Gnostic
interpretation. Our purpose here is to take into account in a general way
the course of recent scholarship on the hotly disputed question of
whether some beginning form of Gnosticism actually existed in the first
century A.D., and consequently, whether it could have been an
influential factor on the author of Ephesians or on the communities to
which the epistle was addressed. There is more thorough discussion of
the Gnostic concept of the cosmic powers in chapter 3. The question
of Gnostic influence on other specific terms and concepts will be
discussed under the relevant exegetical sections.
Definitions
Any concise discussion of Gnosticism is difficult since scholars
have still not reached a consensus on a definition of Gnosticism. The
Messina conference in 1966 urged a distinction between proto
Gnosticism and Gnosticism. R. McL. Wilson would like to gain greater
precision by using the term Gnosis for the inchoate phenomena in the
first century and reserve Gnosticism for the fully articulated systems
in the second century." Still others would like a much broader definition
of Gnosticism which emphasizes its continuity over stages of
development. Rudolph in particular adopts what he sees as a common
practice in Germany of understanding Gnosis and Gnosticism as the
same thing, while still using the first as the self-designation of a
religion of redemption in late antiquity, [and] the latter as a newer form
of it. To avoid confusion I will follow Rudolphs distinctions in the
ensuing discussion of Gnosis. Even since the publication of the Nag
Hammadi documents and the continuing discussion about Gnosis, there
is still widespread debate on what particular elements combine to
comprise the Gnostic
Dualism in Gnosis
Jewish Gnosis?
The notion of Ephesus as the chief city of Asia Minor in the first
century A.D. receives widespread support." Evidence suggests that
Ephesus had become the titular capital of Asia after Attalus III
bequeathed the Pergamene kingdom to Rome in 133 B.C.
Because of its active port on the mouth of the Cayster river and also
owing to its strategic geographical position, Ephesus served the Roman
senatorial province of Asia as the center for commerce and
communication.* Not only was Ephesus readily accessible from the
Aegean, it was situated at the junction of two major highways leading
to the interior the Royal Road, which led across Mt. Tnmolus from
Sardis, and a second route with an easy pass leading through the
Maeander valley and to the Southern Highway. Even the Phrygian
cities of Colossae, Laodicea, and Hierapolis were bound to this Aegean
port for communication and commerce.* Almost a century ago Sir
William Ramsay suggested that Ephesus was the communi cation and
transportation hub of Asia Minor in the Imperial period all roads led
from Ephesus. This conclusion has recently been upheld by D. H.
French in his study of the Roman road-system of Asia Minor. French
concludes,
Thus, the influence of Ephesus on the rest of Asia Minor should not
be underestimated. Of much more consequence for our study,
however, is the significance of Ephesus as a religious center in the first
century. The prominence of Ephesus was heightened by the city serving
as the home for the leading divinity of Asia Minor Artemis of
Ephesus. No less important was the function of Ephesus as the leading
magical center for Asia Minor. These two aspects of the religious life of
the city will receive much more detailed treatment below.
Summary
(1) Ephesus had a reputation for a prolificity of magical practices.
Since Ephesus was the leading city of Asia Minor, its influence in the
sphere of magic very likely extended throughout the province.
(2) Magic was primarily concerned with the acquisition of super
natural powers and the manipulation of the spirit world in the interest
of the magician. The magical papyri give us a rare insight into the
beliefs and fears of the common people in the Hellenistic world.
(3) Hellenistic magic is therefore quite relevant to our study in
Ephesians. It was widely practiced in the area to which the epistle was
written and it was chiefly concerned with power and supernatural
powers.
The veneration of the Ephesian goddess did not come solely from her
ability to be sympathetic and involved in the human problems and
predicaments of her worshippers. This aspect of her character was
equally matched in the eyes of her suppliants by her transcendent
power ... her ability to help her worshippers stemmed, in fact, from her
awesome power. It was because of her supra-natural powers that she
could intercede between her followers and the cruel fate which plagued
them. To those who called upon Artemis she was Savior (X-doteupo),
Lord (Kupid), and Queen of the Cosmos (BootX.nig kouou). She was a
heavenly goddess (opvlog 0809 "Aptepig EQEoid), whose being and
character could only be described in Superlatives: ugyiotm, ylottn,
and tiqoveottn.
Her power was symbolically represented to her worshipers by
certain ornamentation on her dress and by her necklaces. The rows of
lions, steers, and other animals depicted by relief on her skirt
demonstrate the compelling authority she was believed to have
possessed over all powers since mythical antiquity. Likewise, the fact
that the signs of the zodiac were so prominently displayed around her
neck would assure the devotee that Artemis possessed an authority and
power superior to that of astrological fate. This promise of power over
fate was extended by many of the mystery religions, but the Ephesian
Artemis is the only divinity to depict visually her divine superiority with
the signs of the zodiac.
Although the date of this work is well into the Christian era, the
attribution of resurrection power to the Ephesian Artemis may very well
reflect the beliefs of the Artemis devotees in the first century. One of
the reasons for the belief in the transcendent and superior power of the
Ephesian Artemis may stem from the legend that she came directly
from heaven Atotetiiq (Acts 19:35). The Suda describes her place of
origin as obpavo.
Although it has been claimed that the Ephesian Artemis was not by
nature a goddess of magic, she does seem to have had a direct link
with the magical practices of the time. She was considered a supremely
powerful deity and could therefore exercise her power for the benefit of
the devotee in the face of other opposing powers and spirits. Her
power in this respect is well illustrated in a papyrus containing a
magical formula apparently for the purpose of com pelling the passion
of a woman toward a man. Directly under the text is a crude drawing of
the Ephesian Artemis, indicating that she is the power called upon to
fulfill the wish (line 4: take a leaf of lead and with a nail write the figure
...).
The next most striking part of the decoration on the cultic image of
the Ephesian Artemis is the rows of animals sculpted on her skirt. The
frightful-looking creatures should probably be understood as
representations of the harmful spirits of nature over which Artemis
wields authority. In PGM IV.2288, Artemis-Hekate bears the title,
Deliverer from fear, which Hopfner explains thus: As the most
powerful ghost-goddess, she can naturally deliver people from any peril
involving spirits. Hopfner continues by explaining how the names of
various animals (dog, wolf, horse, bull, lion, etc.) occur throughout the
spells to demonstrate that Artemis-Hekate is on the one hand herself a
ghost-goddess (Gespenstergttin), but on the other she is also the most
powerful of these dangerous spirits. In attemp ting to find some line of
distinction between Artemis, Hekate, and Selene in the magical papyri,
Hopfner sees them as possessing three contiguous kingdoms with
Hekate ruling under the earth, Artemis on the earth and Selene over the
earth. It must be remembered that this is a very thin line of distinction,
but it does substantiate the background of Artemis as a goddess over
the spirits of nature.
Summary
6. Astrology
Acts 19
Jewish magic
Testament of Solomon
Summary
One aspect of Asia Minor Judaism that stands out in the first
century is a lively demonology. It appears that these Jews of the
diaspora utilized a number of magical practices, including a Solomonic
magical tradition, to cope with the powers in their daily existence.
the center for the worship of Artemis and the widespread practice
of magic. An understanding of the worship and cult of Artemis and the
practice of Hellenistic magic may therefore be quite important to an
understanding of the background of the converts to whom Ephesians
was written.