of the 2nd century, are here used in an earlier and
less technical meaning.

It has been argued that Ephesians is a forged imitation of Colossians,
because about half of its verses have parallels in Colossians. This
argument has broken down, since it has been shown that it is equally
easy to prove that Colossians is based upon Ephesians. And there is
nothing strange in the idea that St. Paul wrote two similar letters at
the same time to Churches in similar difficulties. The two Epistles
resemble one another just as two letters written by one man to two
different friends during the same week. The phrase "holy apostles"
(iii. 5) is also said to be a formula which St. Paul would not have
employed. But the word "holy" is used in his writings almost in the
sense of "Christian;" it signifies consecration rather than personal
perfection. There would, therefore, be no vanity in the apostle
applying such a title to himself. The attempt to make the style
furnish an argument against the genuineness of the Epistle has also
failed. There are thirty-two words used only in this Epistle, but
there are also eighteen which are found in Pauline Epistles and not
elsewhere in the New Testament. The assumption of some sceptical
writers that an apostle must have been too unintelligent to enrich his
vocabulary, scarcely deserves serious examination. No one would think
of applying the same rule to a Greek classical writer, and if he
attempted to do so, he would find that Xenophon varies his language as
much as St. Paul.

{182}

The real reason why the authenticity of this Epistle has been attacked
is this. Ephesians teaches that the Church is a universal society,
visibly united by baptism and the ministry, embracing Jew and Gentile
on equal terms. But, according to Baur, this conception of the Church
is a product of the 2nd century. He assumed that St. Paul could not
include the twelve under the name of the "holy apostles," or teach a
Catholic doctrine of the Church.[1] The present school of rationalists
is inclining to admit that Ephesians is genuine. But it is hard to see
how they will be able to do this without also admitting that the
Epistle implies that the other "holy apostles" held, like St. Paul,
that Christ is divine.

[Sidenote: To whom written.]

It is almost certainly not primarily a letter to Ephesus, but a
circular letter to several Churches in Asia Minor.

In i. 1 we read the words "to the saints which are