a deutero-pauline mystery? 195
comes to expression in 1 Cor 12:1–31. since all believers share the one and
the same spirit, all the ministers in the church must be understood to be
on the same level. the primacy of the apostles is of a temporal nature;
the mystery was first revealed to them. now, however, it belongs in equal
measure to all the believers, as it does in 1 Cor 2:6–8, 10–16.55
there is a considerable degree of continuity, therefore, between ephe-
sians and the undisputed Pauline letters. even though ephesians repre-
sents a later stage in the development of the use of terms such as “church”
(ἐκκλησία), “head” (κεφαλή), and “mystery” (μυστήριον), these innovative
elements are harmoniously combined with many well-attested and char-
acteristic Pauline themes. these themes include the historical primacy
of israel, that the progress of salvation history involves the abolishment
of the law, the conflation of the before and now of salvation history and
that of individuals coming to faith, that Jews and gentiles are united in
the same body, the identification of the church with re-created israel, the
church as the temple, and the reversal of values and status claims. these
themes are reformulated and applied to the particular purpose of this let-
ter: “identity formation” with a focus on ecclesiology. Pauline themes and
terminology are combined and reapplied in creative new ways.
Conclusion
the ecclesiology and the view of the apostles in Colossians and ephesians
represent a later development than the undisputed letters. this develop-
ment may be explained as a logical next step when well-attested Pauline
themes are reapplied in new situations. reapplications of characteristic
Pauline themes are seamlessly interwoven with Pauline ideas that are
familiar from his earlier letters. such an innovative integration of old and
new Pauline motifs is less likely to be the work of an imitator than the
continued work of the apostle’s fertile and creative mind. i conclude that
the ecclesiology and the view of the apostles in Colossians and ephesians
cannot serve as evidence that the author of these letters was someone
other than the apostle Paul.
55 see further grindheim, “wisdom,” 702–709.