Functional teleology and the coherence of Ephesians
Subtitle: a comparative and reception-historical approach
By: Eric Covington
Series: Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament. 2. Reihe -- 470; Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament -- 470.
Publisher: Mohr Siebeck
Published: 2018
Place of publication: Tübingen
Language: eng
Number of pages: 268
ISBN-13: 9783161560750; 9783161560767
Subjects: Criticism, interpretation; Teleology; Bible
Description: Eric Covington examines the way in which Ephesians coherently holds together cosmological, Christological, ecclesiological, and ethical elements within its vision of the early Christian way of life. He begins by investigating the extent to which the categories of functional teleology featured within ethical reflection in both Greco-Roman and early Jewish traditions. Next, he analyzes the letter's Auslegungsgeschichte, focusing on Thomas Aquinas' medieval commentary, to demonstrate how Ephesians has previously been interpreted through the lens of teleology. Finally, he turns to an historical-exegetical examination of Ephesians to demonstrate the way in which the letter uses the categories and concepts of functional teleology. He concludes that Ephesians identifies the appropriate way of life in light of an individual and ecclesial telos within God's ultimus finis for all of creation. --
Notes: Revised thesis (Ph.D.) - University of St. Andrews, 2016.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [231]-249) and indexes.
Table of contents: title: The Question of Coherence in Ephesians; title: Part One : Functional Teleology in the Ancient Thought World; title: Teleology in Ancient Ethical Thought; title: Functional Teleology in Ancient Ethical Thought Traditions; title: Part Two : Functional Teleology in Thomas Aquinas' ad Ephesios; title: Aquinas' ad Ephesios in Context; title: Functional Teleology in Aquinas' ad Ephesios; title: Part Three : Functional Teleology in Ephesians; title: The Teleological Cosmology of Ephesians; title: Functional Teleology in Ephesians; title: Teleological Ethics in Ephesians; title: Part Four : Eis to Telos; title: Significance and Implications.