Reading Ephesians and Colossians after Supersessionism

Christ's Mission through Israel to the Nations

Windsor

• Publisher: Cascade Books
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781498219075
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Studies

The apostolic mission from Israel to "the nations" forms the explicit framework for Ephesians and Colossians. Yet the concrete dynamics of this mission seldom play any significant role in modern interpretation. Scholars frequently approach these letters as if the Jew-gentile dynamics inherent in the early Christ-preaching mission are either irrelevant, or are negated by the letters themselves. This book seeks to redress this deficiency. Windsor approaches Ephesians and Colossians with an evangelical post-supersessionist perspective. By highlighting, rather than downplaying, Israel's special place in salvation history, Windsor demonstrates that Jew-gentile dynamics and missionary concerns are highly significant for understanding the overall argument of these two letters. The resulting readings offer a deeper appreciation of the biblical, Israel-centered contours in which the theological and ethical concerns of the letters are expressed. Along the way, Windsor demonstrates how certain texts in Ephesians and Colossians, which are often read as evidence of a supersessionist perspective, are capable of more fruitful and satisfactory post-supersessionist interpretations. He demonstrates that in these letters, Christ does not negate Jewish distinctiveness. Rather, Christ's mission proceeds through Israel to the nations, creating mutual blessing in the Messiah.

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Introduction

Ephesians, Colossians, and the Apostolic Mission

To all appearances, Ephesians and Colossians are situated within the apostle Paul’s ongoing mission. Both letters begin: “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God” (Eph 1:1; Col 1:1). According to the viewpoint expressed in these letters, Paul’s world has been turned upside down by his encounter with the risen Christ Jesus. He has received a divine mandate to proclaim the “gospel” concerning Christ to “the gentiles” (Eph 3:1–13; 6:19; Col 1:24–29). This Pauline mission is, we read, a work still in progress. The apostle is striving and suffering in prison (Eph 3:1; 4:1; 6:20; Col 1:29; 2:1; 4:3, 18). The gospel of Christ, and the “church” or “body” of Christ to which it gives rise, is expanding, with the prospect of continued future growth and increasing unity (Eph 2:21–22; 4:14–16; Col 1:6, 10; 2:19). Furthermore, the apostle wishes to catch his readers up in this gospel momentum (Eph 6:10–20; Col 4:2–6). Ephesians and Colossians, in other words, explicitly locate themselves and their readers within the ongoing dynamic of Paul’s divinely appointed apostolic mission to preach Christ to “the gentiles.”

Yet modern readers of Ephesians and Colossians often approach the letters as documents situated outside, not within, Paul’s historical mission. On the one hand, many of those who reject the historical Pauline authorship of Ephesians do so in part because they regard the viewpoint of its author as somewhat detached from the realities of this mission. Ephesians, it is argued, seems to be written later, at a time when the “apostles” were no longer active figures in the early Christ-believing community, but rather were revered heroes of a former generation (Eph 2:20; 3:5; 4:11). The initial ferment and conflict associated with Paul’s mission, with its explosive expansion from a Jewish sect to a worldwide movement, has cooled off. In Ephesians, so it is argued, the mission is portrayed as a fait accompli to be theologized about, rather than a task to be striven for.1 Even some who argue that the historical Paul is the author of both letters still have a tendency to approach them as if they are primarily theological tracts. The struggles of Paul’s gentile mission as he preached Christ from Israel to the nations (cf. Rom 1:1–5; 9–11; 15:14–33),2 and the concomitant dynamics of interaction between Jews and gentiles, while acknowledged as a historical reality, too infrequently play a significant role in the interpretation of the letters.3

This is in some ways understandable, given our own position as twenty-first-century readers. Since we ourselves are located outside, rather than within, the Jew-gentile dynamics of the first-century apostolic mission, our default assumption is that the author(s) and original readers of Ephesians and Colossians are in the same position. Yet something important is lost when we make this assumption. Granted, our overall understanding of these letters’ statements about the crucified and risen Christ, along with the resulting soteriological benefits and ethical imperatives, are not shattered by re-imagining their location with respect to the Pauline mission. Nevertheless, Paul’s mission forms the explicit context and provides the contours in which the letters’ Christology, soteriology, and ethics are expressed. If we ignore the significance of Paul’s mission for the interpretation of the letters, we risk missing the details, and so misunderstanding the nuances, of these key themes. Furthermore, to understand the missiological and ecclesiological themes of the letters, we do need to come to grips with how the letters describe the dynamics of the mission and the consequent gathering of believers. There is great value, therefore, in reading Ephesians and Colossians in a way that is sensitive to the specific dynamics that arise from the apostolic mission in which they are framed.

A key dynamic of the apostolic mission involves the relationship between Israel and the nations. Paul’s mission is, as noted above, a mission to proclaim Christ to “the gentiles.” This expression “the gentiles” (or “the nations,” τὰ ἔθνη: Eph 2:11; 3:1, 6, 8; 4:17; Col 1:27) arises from an Israel-centered worldview—a view that assumes a bipartite distinction within humanity between Israel and all the other nations.4 By using this term “gentiles”/“nations,” Ephesians and Colossians assume this traditional distinction, even as they seek to reinterpret the nature of the distinction in light of the gospel of Christ. Hence, to take the dynamics of Paul’s mission seriously in these letters, one must take into account the distinction between Jew and gentile which the letters presuppose.

This book aims to present an evangelical post-supersessionist reading of Ephesians and Colossians.

By using the term evangelical, I am not simply stating my confessional convictions and my position as an author who believes in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am indicating that the dynamic of gospel proclamation (i.e., “evangelism”) will inform my reading of these New Testament letters. I will read Ephesians and Colossians as gospel-driven documents—that is, as documents at least ostensibly situated within and arising from the early apostolic mission to proclaim the gospel of Christ to the nations. This is a mission in which the apostle Paul plays a key role (Eph 1:1; Col 1:1), yet it is also part of a broader missionary endeavor founded on a wider group of “apostles” and those associated with them (Eph 2:20; 3:5; 4:11; cf. Col 1:6). Thus, I will pay special attention to themes within the letters such as mission, commission, proclamation, evangelism, ministry, and vocation.

By using the term post-supersessionist, I am referring to a hermeneutical stance capable of yielding much exegetical fruit in this endeavor. Post-supersessionism refers to a constellation of differing—and often mutually contradictory—perspectives, with a common thread. This common thread is that “supersessionism” (i.e., the idea that the Christian church has superseded Israel without remainder) should be regarded as a flawed and even harmful viewpoint that has had its day.5 Advocates for post-supersessionist interpretation tend to argue for the significance of a special place or calling for Israel, even in relation to Christ and his people, within the texts they are reading. They refuse to concede that unity in Christ necessarily destroys the positive value of all distinctions between Jews and gentiles. My own post-supersessionist stance is, as I have indicated, an evangelical one. I am seeking to read Ephesians and Colossians in a way that is sensitive to the position and role of Israel in relation to the proclamation of the gospel of Christ to the nations, in this case within the horizon of the apostolic mission.

I am not in this book advoc...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Acknowledgements
• List of Abbreviations
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Prior Readings of Ephesians and Colossians
• Chapter 3: Christ’s Blessings through Israel to the Nations (Ephesians 1)
• Chapter 4: Christ’s Reconciliation of Israel and the Nations (Ephesians 2)
• Chapter 5: Christ’s Riches through Paul’s Ministry to the Nations (Ephesians 3)
• Chapter 6: Walking in Light of Christ’s Mission through Israel to the Nations (Ephesians 4–6)
• Chapter 7: Jews, Gentiles, and the Apostolic Mission in Colossians
• Chapter 8: Conclusions and Implications
• Bibliography