The ascension, pleroma and ecclesia concepts in Ephesians
Abstract
The basic aim of the study is to investigate
the relationship between a number of christological
and ecclesiological themes. The first section of the
essay is concerned with the identification of the
traditions employed by the author in his presentation
of an ascension theology in 1:20-23 and 4:8-10.
Having once established these traditions, an attempt
is made to trace a Traditiongeschichte for them.
The second part of the essay is concerned with the
relationship between the ascension theology and the
kephale and pleroma motifs which are present in both
pericopes. This investigation necessitates an
examination of the Pauline theology. At the same
time within this section an attempt is made to trace
the source of the pleroma terminology as used by the
author of the epistle. In the third section of the
essay the interest is more general; an attempt is
made to discover how the "component parts" of the
author's ascension theology are used elsewhere in the
epistle. In the fourth and last section of the essay
the interest is again with traditions, specifically
the use made of the traditions inherent in the
ascension pericopes in the epistle in the writings
of both the Church Fathers and of authors outside
the main stream of Christian thought.
Type
Thesis, PhD Doctor of Philosophy
Collections
Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.