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Principalities and Powers in Ephesians

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2024

Roy Yates
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The plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things; that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places. (Eph. 3: 10)

One of St. Paul’s contributions to our understanding of the powers of evil is to sum them up in the phrase ‘principalities and powers’. For him they represent the sum-total of evil powers that threaten men both heavenly and earthly. The author of Ephesians takes over the concept in his emphasis of Christ’s exaltation and victory over evil. For him Christ’s victory and redemption is cosmic in scope, yet peculiarly practical in that its effects are to be worked out in the Church and in the lives of believers.

In 1:21 the ascended Christ is described as sitting at the right hand of the Father above, ‘all rule and authority and power and dominion’. This list represents the cosmic totality; everything that in any way is in a position of power and influence in the universe. The all-inclusive nature of the phrase is underlined by the addition of, ‘and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come’. There is no attempt made to set the powers in any order of preference, or to define any of their individual characteristics. ‘The Writer is concerned not to give us information about the denizens of the unseen world but to help our imagination to picture the exalted glory of Christ.’ Are the powers referred to good or bad? The need for them to be put in subjection under his feet points at least to the inclusion of subversive heavenly powers. By his exaltation Christ is not only supreme over the whole universe, but also head of the Church.

Type
Research Article
Information
New Blackfriars , Volume 58 , Issue 690 , November 1977 , pp. 516 - 521
Copyright
Copyright © 1977 Provincial Council of the English Province of the Order of Preachers

References

1 J. A. Allan The Epistle to the Ephesians (London, S.C.M. 1959) p. 67.

2 Cf. I Pet. 3:19f.

3 Rom. 8:38f; I Cor. 15:24; Col. 1:16.

4 Col. 2:14f.

5 ‘The Descent of Christ m Eph. 4:7-11.’ Studia Evangelica II (1964) pp. 535-45.

6 Op. Cit. pp. 537ff. Propounded by H. Von Soden.

7 Cf. Acts 2:33; Jn. 14:15-18; Rom. 8:9-10; II Cor. 3:17; Eph. 2:17.

8 ‘Thou ascendest up to the firmament, 0 Prophet Moses, thou tookest captives captive, thou didst teach the words of the law, thou gavest them as gifts to the children of men.’ S. R. Driver’s translation of the Targum quoted by B. Lindars New Testament Apologetic. (London, S.C.M., 1961) p. 52. In the M.T. and LXX it is God who receives gifts from men, whereas in the Targum Moses gives the gift of the Law.

9 F. Blass and A. Debrunner A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and other early Christian Literature. (Cambridge, C.U.P., 1961)

10 T. K. Abbott Epistles to the Ephesians and to the Colossians. (Edinburgh, T. and T. Clark, 1897) p. 115.

11 Eph. 1:20, 3:10, 6:12.

12 Cf. Col. 1 : 15-20.

13 Evil talk (4:29), anger (4:26f), stealing (4:28), immorality and covetousness (5:2), filthiness, silly talk and levity (5:4), drunkenness and debauchery (5:18).