Contextualising the potentates, principalities and powers in the Epistle to the Ephesians
Date
2000
Authors
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Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
New Testament Society of Southern Africa
Abstract
The concept of 'power' is vitally important in all human societies. The nature of this 'power' varies according to sociocultural setting. One's perspective is also Influenced by one's worldview and value system. These general principles are relevant to the study of potency in religion on account of the supernatural dimension involved. To communicate any religious message effectively it must be adequately 'contextuallsed' within the conceptual frameworrk of its intended receptor group. The fact that this process was also carried out to a greater or lesser degree with reaped to the literature of the Bible Is frequently taken for granted, but not always fully investigated. This study represents an effort towards this end with regard to the general semantic field of 'power' in the book of Ephesians. The aim is twofold: a) to call attention to the notion of spiritual power(s) in the text of Ephesians, and (b) to suggest some of the ways in which the writer appears to have contextualised his message in order to give his instruction and encouragement a greater measure of literary and rhetorical impact and situational relevance.
Description
CITATION: Wendland, E. R. 1999. Contextualising the potentates, principalities and powers in the Epistle to the Ephesians. Neotestamentica, 33(1):199-223.
The original publication is available at https://journals.co.za
The original publication is available at https://journals.co.za
Keywords
Citation
Neotestamentica: Journal of the New Testament Society of South Africa (NTSSA)