Christ the Ideal King
Cultural Context, Rhetorical Strategy, and the Power of Divine Monarchy in Ephesians
by Julien Smith
A central rhetorical strategy of Ephesians involves the portrayal of Christ as an ideal king who reunites a fractured cosmos and humanity through his reign. In this comprehensive study, Julien Smith shows how this literary characterization unifies the letter’s major themes: reconciling humanity with God, uniting Jew and gentile, establishing ecclesiastical harmony, and defeating hostile powers arrayed against the church. The author grounds his analysis in a thorough account of the kingly ideal’s powerful contemporary cultural resonance, which was rooted in the widespread yearning within both Greco-Roman and Jewish thought for a golden age inaugurated by a divinely ordained monarch. For Ephesians’ author and audience, only Christ the ideal king has power to form identity and transform behavior.
- By (author) Julien Smith
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An Inquiry into the Background and Significance of the New Testament Terminology of Crucifixion
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The Mysticism of Hebrews
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The Tongues of Angels
The Concept of Angelic Languages in Classical Jewish and Christian Texts
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The Gospel According to the Epistle of Barnabas
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Martyred for the Church
Memorializations of the Effective Deaths of Bishop Martyrs in the Second Century CE
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