{"collection":"Hypertext Bible","full_text_available":false,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/sacred_texts_v1_bib_wbs_eph_htm/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/sacred_texts_v1_bib_wbs_eph_htm","id":"sacred_texts_v1_bib_wbs_eph_htm","license":"unknown_pending_legal_review","rights_basis":"sacred_texts_v1_preview_gate_primary_text_only; acquisition-method/ToS and compilation-copyright questions still open, not resolved by this gate","source":"sacred_texts_v1","source_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/bib/wbs/eph.htm","summary":"This is the Epistle to the Ephesians, a first-century Christian letter attributed to the Apostle Paul, belonging to the New Testament epistolary tradition. The letter opens with an extended theological meditation on divine election and salvation \u2014 arguing that believers were chosen by God before creation, redeemed through Christ's blood, and sealed by the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of their inheritance. A central claim is that Christ has broken down the barrier between Jews and Gentiles, uniting them into one body and granting Gentiles \u2014 formerly excluded from Israel's covenants \u2014 full membership in God's household. The letter then shifts from doctrine to ethics, urging readers to live in a manner worthy of their calling: maintaining unity in the church, abandoning immoral conduct, renewing their minds, and embodying virtues such as humility, forgiveness, and truthful speech. Distinctive to this letter is its cosmic scope \u2014 Christ is portrayed as supreme over all heavenly powers and authorities, and the church itself is described as the means by which God's \"manifold wisdom\" is made known to principalities in heavenly realms. Someone deciding whether to read it will find it simultaneously a dense statement of Pauline theology (predestination, grace, reconciliation) and a practical community handbook.","tags":["English Bible Translations","New Testament","Noah Webster"],"text":null,"title":"Webster's Bible: Ephesians","tradition":"Hypertext Bible","translated_text":null,"word_count":3183}