Ephesians

Grand Rapids: Baker, 2009. Pp. 217. Paper. $19.99. ISBN 0801035848. Markus Lang University of Vienna Vienna, Austria The Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture is both an interesting and a problematic project. Trying to combine historical criticism with pastoral insights and issues, this commentary series tries to address especially those engaged in the Christian, rather specifically Catholic, ministry, as well as interested lay persons and Christians of other denominations. The current volume is the commentary on Ephesians presented by Peter S. Williamson. Introductory matters are handled rather briefly (13–22). The author sees Ephesians as an orthonymous Pauline letter that was probably written by a secretary and offers a more extensive reasoning about it online (http://www.catholicscripturecommentary.com/ images/pdf-downloads/ephesians-authorship-online-postscript.pdf). In the introductory section he already shows his conservative background: “From the perspective of Christian faith, whether or not Paul wrote Ephesians does not change its status as inspired Scripture or make a great difference in how it is interpreted, provided one accepts the underlying unity of Sacred Scripture” (14). In his description of Paul’s situation in Ephesians, he draws heavily on Luke’s Acts and the other “Pauline” writings and seems sometimes to know more of the early Christian life than seems historically plausible. [Full Review]