Full Description
Human beings are embedded in a set of social relations. A social network is one way of conceiving that set of relations in terms of a number of persons connected to one another by varying degrees of relatedness. In the early Jesus group documents featuring Paul and coworkers, it takes little effort to envision the apostle's collection of friends and friends of friends that is the Pauline network. The persons who constituted that network are the focus of this set of brief books. For Christians of the Western tradition, these persons are significant ancestors in faith. While each of them is worth knowing by themselves, it is largely because of their standing within that web of social relations woven about and around Paul that they are of lasting interest. Through this series we hope to come to know those persons in ways befitting their first-century Mediterranean culture.
Epaphras belonged to Paul's network of friends. Because Epaphras is mentioned only three times in the Second Testament, in the letters to Philemon and the Colossians, it is unsurprising that he is passed over by biblical scholars more interested in Paul's better-known companions. Michael Trainor points out, however, that even though Epaphras is mentioned infrequently, Colossians portrays him as an authentic interpreter of Paul and an important teacher. After all, by the time the letter to the Colossians was written, Paul was dead. Epaphras ensures for that community and the next generation of Christians the continuity, as well as the freshness and vitality, of Paul's teaching. Thus Epaphras has great relevance for Christians today who seek ways to engage the contemporary world in light of their discipleship.
Contents
Contents
Preface vii
Introduction ix
Chapter 1
Introducing Epaphras 1
Chapter 2
Epaphras' Social Network 11
Chapter 3
The Domestic Network in the Letter to Philemon 25
Chapter 4
Epaphras' Distinctiveness in Philemon 41
Chapter 5
Epaphras in the Letter to the Colossians 55
Chapter 6
Epaphras' Colleagues at Colossae 79
Chapter 7
Summarizing Epaphras of Colossae 93
Notes 97
Bibliography 109
Index of Person and Subjects 116
Index of Biblical Sources 121
