Ephesians, Epistle to the

The Epistle to the Ephesians is one of Paul's Prison Epistles, traditionally dated to his Roman imprisonment of approximately AD 60–62. The letter is structured in two halves: three chapters of dense theological exposition on the mystery of the church, the body of Christ, and God's eternal plan of redemption for both Jews and Gentiles; and three chapters of ethical application flowing from those doctrines into household codes and spiritual warfare. Its elevated style and cosmic scope have led some scholars to question direct Pauline authorship, while others maintain it as authentically Pauline, possibly a circular letter intended for multiple congregations.

The phrase in Ephesus (Ephesians 1:1) is absent from some early manuscripts, strengthening the circular letter hypothesis. The letter's theology of the church as Christ's body and the fullness of him who fills all in all, its teaching on election before the foundation of the world, and its vision of the cosmos being summed up in Christ have made Ephesians one of the most theologically rich and influential documents in the New Testament. Its concluding passage on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10–20) has become foundational for Christian teaching on spiritual warfare.