Further, it must be remembered that Colossians supplements Ephesians, as Ephesians

does Colossians. No one has been so absurd as to say that silence in one epistle is a basis

of argument. This was our brother's man of straw, which alas seemed conclusive to

many. We have contended that the epistles of Paul are divided into two sets, those written

after Acts 28: having a distinct message, differing not only in degree but also in kind

from those written before Acts 28:

The speaker further asked a question, "Is it not a very significant fact that the Jews

have a greater prominence in the epistle than in any other of Paul's writings, save the

epistle to the Romans?" Here is another "very significant fact." The first is that several

years before the end of the Acts, and consequently before the writing of Ephesians, Israel

was set aside, the second is that though set aside they are more prominent in Ephesians

than in any other epistle excepting Romans. Strange "facts" these. Our position is that

in Romans the Jew is everywhere prominent because Israel had NOT been set aside, but

that they are not taken into account in Ephesians because they had then been set aisde.

We do not know how our brother makes these two contradictory yet "significant facts"

harmonize, and we do not believe there is any more truth in his second statement than in

his first.

The following "facts" are supplied by a concordance. "Jew," in Romans, eleven

occurrences, in I Cor., eight, in II Cor., once, in Gal., five, in I Thess., once, and

in Col., once. Evidently we have not struck the right word here, for Ephesians does not

even contain the word. Let us try the word "Israel," in Romans, eleven occurrences, in

I Cor., once, in II Cor., once, in Gal., once, and in Eph., once. Ephesians does certainly

appear under this heading, but it certainly does not rise above the other epistles.

Israelite, in Romans, twice, and in II Cor., once. Let us search further, perhaps we

have not lighted upon the word, which when discovered will show how exceedingly

Jewish the epistle to the Ephesians really is.

Circumcision, in Romans, fifteen occurrences, in I Cor., once, in Gal., seven,

in Eph., once, in Phil., once, in Col., four times, and in Titus, once. To circumcise,

in I Cor., twice, in Gal., six times, and in Col., once. Still we seem to have failed to

establish the "very significant fact." Let us try the usage of the "Fathers." Abraham,

in Romans, nine times, in II Cor., once, and in Gal., nine. Isaac, in Romans, twice, and

in Gal., once. Jacob, in Romans, twice. Moses, in Romans, four times, in I Cor., twice,

in II Cor., three times, and in II Tim., once.

Our search seems to lead us further away from the conclusions of our brother--the

references will have to be overwhelming great soon, or we shall be obliged to "dismiss"

the idea in the same way that we do the theory of the evolutionist regarding the missing

link--often spoken of and taken for granted, but never produced in evidence. Let us try

the city which figures so largely in Israel's history and which was destroyed when Israel

was set aside. Jerusalem, in Romans, four times, in I Cor., once, and in Gal., four times.

We can spare no more space. We fail to establish by this method the idea tha Ephesians