Ephesians and Empire: An Evaluation of the Epistle's Subversion of Roman Imperial Ideology (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen Zum Neuen Testament 2.reihe, 573)

"While recent publications have explored the relationship between New Testament texts and early Roman imperial ideology, Ephesians has been underanalyzed in these conversations. In this study, Justin Winzenburg provides an original contribution to the field by assessing how matters of the disputed authorship, audience, and date of Ephesians have varied consequences for the imperial-critical status of the epistle. Previously underexplored elements of the Roman context of Ephesians, with a focus on maiestas [treason] charges, imperial cults, and Roman imperial eschatology are examined in light of the two major theories of the date of the epistle. The author concludes that, while there are limitations to an imperial-critical reading of the epistle, some of the epistle's speech acts can be understood as subversive of Roman imperial ideology."--Publisher's website Cover Title Acknowledgements Table of Contents List of Abbreviations Part 1: Prolegomena Chapter 1: A Survey of Ephesians and Empire 1.1 Paul and Empire Studies: Surveying the Approach 1.2 Ephesians and Empire Studies: Surveying the Approach 1.2.1 Dismissal of/Ignoring Imperial-Critical Elements of Ephesians 1.2.2 Affirmation of Imperial-Critical Elements in Ephesians 1.3 Moving Forward: The Necessity of an Eclectic Hermeneutic Chapter 2: An Eclectic Hermeneutic: A Hermeneutical Grid for Assessing an Imperial-Critical Reading of Ephesians 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Implied/Empirical: A Challenge for Biblical Studies 2.3 Speech-Act Theory: A Multi-Dimensional View of Langauge 2.3.1 Performative Nature of Language 2.3.2 Adopting a Nomenclature: Locution, Illocution, and Perlocution 2.3.3 Conventionality and the Construction of Social Reality 2.3.4 Subversion, Perlocutions, and Indirect Speech Acts 2.4 A Narrative Hermeneutic: Retracing the Hermeneutical Horizons 2.5 Conclusion Part 2: From Method to Life Setting Chapter 3: Empirical Life-Setting of Ephesians 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Empirical Life-Setting of Ephesians: Two Possibilities 3.2.1 Early Date 3.2.2 Later Date 3.3 Roman Imperial Context 3.3.1 Maiestas 3.3.2 Imperial Cults 3.3.3 Roman Imperial Eschatology 3.4 Conclusion Chapter 4: Implied Life-Setting of Ephesians 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Survey of The Implied Author 4.3 Implied Author: An Appraisal 4.3.1 Jewish Christian 4.3.2 Historical Circumstances: Imprisoned 4.3.3 Implied Author: Imperial Criticism 4.4 Survey of The Implied Audience 4.5 Implied Audience: An Appraisal 4.5.1 Gentile Godfearers 4.5.2 Historical Circumstances: Asia Minor 4.5.3 Implied Audience: Imperial Criticism 4.6 From Method to Life-Setting Part 3: Ephesians and Empire Chapter 5: An Imperial-Critical Reading of Ephesians 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Imperial-Critical Reading of Ephesians 1–3 5.2.1 Eph 1:1: New Prospects? 5.2.2 Eph 1:3–14: Berekah, New Exodus, and Roman Imperial Rule 5.2.3 Eph 2:1–10: Co-Enthronement with the Messiah in the Heavenlies 5.2.4 Eph 2:11–22: The ɛìρήυη of the Messiah Jesus and the Pax Romana 5.2.5 Eph 3:1, 13: The Imprisonment of Paul, and Maiestas 5.3 Imperial-Critical Reading of Ephesians 4–6 5.3.1 Eph 4:4–6: One Lord, One Hope, One God and Father over All: A Challenge to the Emperor? 5.3.2 Eph 4:8–10: The Ascent/Descent of Christ and Apotheosis 5.3.3 Eph 5:21–32: Marriage, Haustafel, and Empire 5.3.4 Eph 6:12: Rulers, Authorities, Powers, Dominions, and the Roman Empire 5.4 Conclusion Chapter 6: Subversive Speech Acts: Ephesians and the Subversion of Imperial Ideology 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Ephesians 1–3: An Evaluation 6.2.1 Eph 1:1: Damnatio Memoriae? 6.2.2 Eph 1:3–14: The New Exodus: A Challenge to Claims of the Arrival of the Golden Age in Rome 6.2.3 Eph 2:1–10: Roman Institutional Facts: Undermined by Counter- Images of Enthronement 6.2.4 Eph 2:11–22: Jesus as the Alternative Agent of Peace 6.2.5 Eph 3:1, 13: Perlocutionary Acts and Imperial Authorities 6.3 Ephesians 4–6: An Evaluation 6.3.1 Eph 4:4–6: Jesus as an Alternative Agent of Unification 6.3.2 Eph 4:8–10: Imperial Ascent and Captivity: Undermined by Means of Locutionary Modification of Ps 68 6.3.3 Eph 5:21–32: A Toppling of Roman Ideals of кεφαλή 6.3.4 Eph 6:12: Perlocutionary Transformation in the Context of Imperial Cults 6.4 Ephesians and the Subversion of Roman Imperial Ideology 6.4.1 Subversive Eschatology in Ephesians 6.4.2 Subversive Christology in Ephesians 6.5 Conclusion Chapter 7: Summary and Conclusion 7.1 Part 1: Prolegomena 7.2 Part 2: From Method to Life-Setting 7.3 Part 3: Ephesians and Empire 7.4 Subversive Speech Acts in Ephesians: Conclusion Bibliography Index of References Index of Modern Authors and Persons Index of Subjects and Places