Micah D. Carpenter
Wipf and Stock, 184 pages
Reviewed by Jamieson Prevoznak
Ephesians has given generations of Christians deeply inspiring passages, but as Micah Carpenter accurately states, the specific intent of it is not so clear. Even though Ephesians doesn’t provide a systematic theology to draw from, like some of Paul’s other letters, Carpenter insists that it is more than just a collection quotable verse. The author argues Ephesians is a “penetrating message for Christian belief and human life.”
Carpenter is very humble, going out of his way to deny expertise in a wide variety of subjects specifically pertaining to the very book he is writing, but his knowledge, research and passion for Ephesians shines through with every word. It is clear he is deeply inspired by the power of the message in Ephesians and hopes to show readers that Ephesians is just as relevant as any book in the Bible, and just as needed today.
“A Scandalous People” isn’t a commentary in the traditional sense, but a philosophical-theological treatise, history, devotional and a call to action for Christians to focus their life on Christ. Scandal is an organizing theme for each chapter, presenting a contradiction between the way the world is and the way Christ wants the world to be. He speaks boldly about Christ’s glory and just as critically about Christians not living into Christ’s kingdom. Carpenter writes, “Christians like to talk about ideas such as servant-leadership, but one can get the sense that this is often mere lip-service.”
If you are vehement that Paul did not write Ephesians, you will have to suspend your disbelief for the duration of your reading. Carpenter agrees with the traditional argument that Paul wrote Ephesians as an open-ended circular for the general community. However, the debate on authorship is not the task and purpose of this book: it is to lift up Ephesians as a primer on Christian life. Carpenter holds a high Christology as he looks through the Pauline lens and asks the ultimate philosophical and theological questions: “What is the unity of all things?” and “How do we live within this unity?” The author would have been a favored disciple of Paul as he forcefully supports his interpretation of the gospel that Christ is the answer to every question posed by any type of philosopher.
Carpenter is undeterred by the epistle being relatively short and perhaps with fewer details than Paul’s other letters. He seamlessly moves from Ephesians and splashes throughout Genesis, Greek philosophy and theologians from Martin Luther to Karl Barth, combining all of these sources into one cogent argument: Christians are called to be a scandalous people at odds with the world but centered in Christ. For Carpenter, Ephesians is not a self-help manual and Christianity is not a path towards cosmic knowledge, but a declaration of grace by God for all creation.
2020 is proving scandalous in its own right, where any message of hope is consumed with ferocity, but Carpenter insists there is nothing more scandalous than the gospel itself, and that is why it is so needed right now. Paul realized that scandalous times calls for an equally scandalous message: the Ephesians were called to be a holy people in Christ. Carpenter knows this message is just as relevant to us today, no matter how scandalous it may sound.
Jamieson Prevoznak is a U.S. Navy chaplain for the First and Finest Seabees in Gulfport, Mississippi.
