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 EPHESIAirs

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EPHESIANS

tached in 181S from the Diocese of Munkdcs, this dio- cese has had the following bishops: Gregory Tarkovics (1818-41); Joseph Garganecs (1843-75); Nicholas Toth (1876-81); John Valyi (1882). The city of Eperies, called by the Slovaks Pressova, was founded by a German colony in the twelfth century on the Tarcza, a tributary of the Danube, and is now the capital of the county of Saros, Hungarj', with a popu- lation of 11,000. It is famous for its sugar factories, its mineral waters, and the rock salt mine situated at Sovar, several miles distant. The diocese contains 160,000 Ruthenian Catholics; 212 priests (nearly all married) ; 190 parishes scattered over the territory of six counties; 190 churches, 25 chapels, 24 parochial schools, with 28,000 pupils, a college for boys, 2 con- vents of Basilians, and a theological seminary with 40 students. The episcopal residence, the seminary, and most of the diocesan institutions are situated at Eperies.

NiLLEs, SymholfB ad illuMrawiam historiam ecdesi^ orientalis in terris cototub -S'. Stephani (Innsbruck), II, 909—12; Missiones calh. (Rome, 1907), 795.

S. Vailhe.

Ephesians, Epistle to the. — This article will be treated under the following heads: I. Analysis of the Epistle; II. Special Characteristics: (1) Form: (a) Vocabularj-; (b) Style; (2) Doctrines; III. Object; IV. To Whom .\ddressed; V. Date and Place of Composi- tion; Occasion; VI. Authenticity: (1) Relation to other books of the New Testament; (2) Difficulties arising from the form and doctrines; (3) Tradition.

I. .\xALYSis OF the Epistle. — The letter which, in the MSS. containing tlie Epistles of St. Paul, bears the title "To the Ephesians" comprises two parts dis- tinctly separated by a doxology (Eph., iii, 20 sq.). The address, in which the Apostle mentions himself only, is not followed by a prologue; in fact, the entire dogmatic part develops the idea which is usually the subject of the prologue in the letters of St. Paul. In a long sentence that reads hke a hjTnn (Eph., i, 3-14), Paul praises God for the blessings which He has be- stowed upon all the faithful in accordance with the eternal plan of His will, the sublime plan by which all are to be united under one head, Christ, a plan which, although heretofore secret and mysterious, is now made manifest to believers. Those to whom the Epistle is addressed, having received the Gospel, have, in their turn, been made participants of these bless- ings, and the Apostle, having recently learned of their conversion and their faith, assures them that he ceases not to give thanks to Heaven for the same (Eph., i, 15, 16) and that, above all, he prays for them. The ex- planation of this prayer, of its object and motives, constitutes the remainder of the dogmatic part (cf. Eph., iii, 1, 14). Paul asks God that his readers may have a complete knowledge of the hope of their call- ing, that they may be fully aware both of the riches of their inheritance and the greatness of the Divine power which guarantees the inheritance. This Divine power manifests itself first in Christ, \Maom it raised from the dead and Whom it exalted in glory above all creatures and established head of the Chvirch, which is His body. Next, this power and goodness of God was evidenced in the readers, whom it rescued from their sins and raised and exalted with Christ. But it shone forth, above all, in the establishment of a com- munity of salvation welcoming within its fold both Jews and Gentiles without distinction, the Death of Christ having broken down the middle wall of parti- tion, i. e. the Law, and both sections of the human race having thus been reconciled to God so as thence- forth to form but one body, one house, one temple, of which the apostles and Christian prophets are the foundation and Christ Himself is the chief corner- stone. (Eph., i, 16-ii, 20.) Paul, as his readers must have heard, was the minister chosen to preach to the Gentiles of this sublime mystery of God, hidden from

all eternity and not revealed even to the angels, ac- cording to which the Gentiles are made coheirs with the Jews, constitute a part of the same body, and are joint partakers in the same promises (Eph., iii, 1-13). Deeply imbued with this mystery, the Apostle im- plores the Father to lead his readers to the perfection of the Christian state and the complete knowledge of Divine charity (Eph., iii, 14-19), continuing the same prayer with which he had begun (Eph., i, 16 sq.).

Having praised God anew in the solemn doxology (Eph., iii, 20 sq.), Paul passes on to the moral part of his letter. His exhortations, which he bases more than is his wont on dogmatic considerations, all revert to that of chapter iv, verse 1, wherein he entreats his readers to show themselves in all things worthy of their vocation. First of all, they must labour to preserve the unity described by the author in the first three chapters and here again brought into prominence: One Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God. There is, of course, a diversity of ministries, but the respective offices of apostles, prophets, etc. have all been instituted by the same Christ exalted in glory and all tend to the perfection of the society of saints in Christ (Eph., iv, 2-16). From these great social duties, Paul proceeds to the consideration of individ- ual ones. He contrasts the Christian life that his readers are to lead, with their pagan life, insisting above all on the avoidance of two vices, immodesty and covetousness (Eph., iv, 17-v, 3). Then, in treating of family Ufe, he dwells on the duties of hus- bands and wives, whose union he likens to that of Christ with His Church, and the duties of children and servants (v, 21-vi, 9). In order to fulfil these duties and to combat adverse powers, the readers must put on the armour of God (vi, 10-20).

The Epistle closes with a short epilogue (vi, 21-24), wherein the Apostle tells his correspondents that he has sent Tychicus to give them news of him and that he wishes them peace, charity, and grace.

II. Speci.vl Characteristics. — (1) Form — (a) Vocabulary. — This letter, like all of those written by St. Paul, contains hapax legomena (aTraJ Xe-id/Mva), about seventy-five words which are not found in the Apostle's other writings; however, it were a mistake to make this fact the basis of an argument against Pauline authenticity. Of these words nine occur in quotations from the Old Testament and others belong to current language or else designate things which Paul elsewhere had had no occasion to mention. Others, again, are derived from roots used by the .\postle and besides, in comparing these hapax lego- mena (fiira? \eybijxva) one with another, it is impossi- ble to recognize in them a characteristic vocabulary that would reveal a distinct personality. (Cf . Brunet, " De I'authenticite de I'epitre aux Ephesiens; preuves philologiques", Lyons, 1897; Nageh, "Der Wort- schatz des Apostels Paulus", Gottingen, 1905.)

(b) Style. — This Epistle, even more than that to the Colossians, is remarkable for the length of its periods. The first three chapters contain hardly more than three .sentences and these are overladen with relative or participial clauses that are simply strung together, frequently without being connected by the logical particles that occur so frequently in St. Paul. Each particular clause is itself encumbered with numer- ous prepositional modifiers (especially with cv and crvv) of which it is difficult to state the exact meaning. Often, too, several synonyms are in juxtaposition and in very many cases a noun has an explanatory geni- tive, the sense of which differs but very slightly from that of the noun itself. For all of the.se reasons the language of the Epistle, heavy, diffuse, and languid, seems very different from the di.alcctical, animated, anil vigorous style of the .\postle's vmcontested letters. It is important to note that in the moral part of the Epistle these peculiarities of style do not appear and hence they would seem to depend more on the matter