Abstract

VAN AARDE, Timothy. The use of οικονομία for the missional plan and purpose of God in Ephesians 1:3-14. Missionalia (Online) [online]. 2015, vol.43, n.1, pp.45-62. ISSN 2312-878X.  http://dx.doi.org/10.7832/43-1-43.

The term οικονομία is used in the Pauline epistles with a specific nuance. It is Paul who uses it specifically as a missional term. He uses οικονομία in Ephesians for the missions activity of God, the missio Dei (Eph 1:10), his own mission activity and the proclamation of the gospel (Eph 3:2) and for the missions activity of the church. The mission of the church is discernible through a missional hermeneutic and reading of Ephesians and the identification of the missional calling of the church. In this paper it is my contention that οικονομία is an important term in a missional reading of the epistle to the Ephesians. This paper will focus on the importance of the word οικονομία for missions in Ephesians. The use of οικονομία as a missional term in the epistle to the Ephesians will support the proposal that οικονομία is to be read as a missional term in all of its occurrences in the Pauline Epistles. The contention of this article is that a missional hermeneutic should be employed when we read the Pauline epistles² because Paul's mission undergirds and shaped the text. This article will serve as an introduction to a series of articles in which the purpose of the letter to the Ephesians will be revisited.

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