Why Ephesians 1 Doesn't Support Calvinism

This is an in-depth discussion of Ephesians 1 which shows how the Old Testament and Greco-Roman contexts inform the chapter and do not support a typical Calvinistic reading. I discuss and define terms like "grace," "election," or "predestination" in their ancient and Pauline contexts.

[Soteriology]

This is the type of material that needs to be taught in our seminaries and churches. Well done Joel!

[FoxRunImages]

Media quote: “Take away the theological baggage and move toward a biblical, first century understanding of what this text was trying to communicate to its audience in the circles in which it was transmitted.” – Joel Korytko

[timothyharris]

I am a pastor who has been on a two-year journey of de-Calvinizing my theology. I greatly appreciate resources like you and Mike Winger, who lay out scholarly objections based on the biblical texts. Thank you. Looking forward to future videos 🙂

[jamesbarksdale]

We don't realize how influenced we are by Lutheran/Calvinist/Reformed theology until we try to grasp a different biblical view.

[peterfox]

43:52 "God chooses all sorts of stuff in the old testament"

Kind of Paul's point in Romans 9

[JamesS]

No doubt if James White saw this he’d accuse you of running off to other texts. But this context is key to understanding the text. Thanks for this, Joel!

[rosapederson]

Paul's emphasis, "in Christ". Your views are basically how I interpret Ephesians, but you added some extra details I didn't know about. Thanks!!

[biblicaldefense]

Commenting to boost the algorithm so more people watch this.

[monopisteuw]

Thank you for your unemotional, careful analysis of the text. Clearly we run a severe risk of missing the truth if we ignore the influence of the language and themes of the Old Testament.


I would love to hear more on the logic of OT sacrifice. 


Thank you for the serious level of effort that goes into producing one these podcasts.

[stevenhight]

Really enjoyed this talk. I think Paul often gets misunderstood when he brings in Old Testament/Jewish concepts to his letters, which in turn, makes theologians come up with their own “concepts” around what Paul means when he speaks to specific topics.

[sharonlouise]

Another masterpiece! Thank you for showing me all the Old Testament that can be found in these verses. This isn't something that I had considered before. And thanks for giving us lots of examples.

[andrewtsousis]

Thanks mate, great presentation.

I love how even at the the end of vs 12 Paul also summarizes again the whole concept of being “in Christ” by saying, “in order for that we who were the first to put out Hope in Christ”.

Ie they put their Hope/belief in Christ and are therefore “in-Christ”.

[Nooby-uq]

I love how some who are in opposition flood the comments out of consternation, thus boosting the algorithm and making it certain it will be recommended to many others. Thank you for the assist!

[narellesimmons]

Thanks for your hard work! Any chance doing something on Hebrews and if salvation can be given back by not believing anymore?

[KeriCanfield]

I absolutely love the way you break down each of the versus. Understanding the original text before all the translations helped me to understand Paul's intentions and what he was really trying to convey. Reading the bible, for someone like me, left me with so many questions and a real lack of understanding of just how powerful it is and it's true meaning. I came across your podcast as a suggestion based on something else I was watching and I was intrigued from the very beginning. I just subscribed and can't wait to watch more. I appreciate you taking the time to share your knowledge, thank you!

[laurabaileyferguson]

Thank you so much for sharing your insights! This was helpful. I hope you will continue to do more.

[Mr_skibdi_]

Thank you for posting this, and I sincerely hope to see more like this. I recently discovered my church held calvinistic beliefs and it really through me for a spiritual loop and your videos have helped to ground me back into scripture and really understand these topics.

[carolwilliams]

Even in the Old Testament, the Lord always has a remnant, those who have CHOSEN to be faithful. To the faithful, He will show himself faithful

[happygolucky]

There should be a rule for everyone to read Deuteronomy, judges, hosea, romans In that order.
I did and it changed my life when i was considering calvanism to be true. and now i can confidently say calvanist is not true.

[primeobjective]

Listened to the entire thing while painting my kitchen island.

Good work, & thank you.