David B Pettett writes at the intersection of pastoral care, Christian history, and biblical studies — drawing on decades of ministry, scholarship, and life in the field.
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"Pastoral care is not a specialist department of the Church — it is the very heartbeat of Christian ministry."
Published Works
Pastoral Care: The Core of Christian Ministry
A challenging re-examination of what pastoral care truly means — grounded in Ephesians 4 and decades of ministry experience.
Ark House · 2024
Samuel Marsden: Preacher, Pastor, Magistrate and Missionary
A fresh look at a controversial figure — illuminated through his sermons and the turbulent world of colonial New South Wales.
Bolt Publishing · 2016
2
Books Published
40+
Years in Ministry
3
Fields of Scholarship
About the Author
Scholar, Chaplain, Missionary — and Storyteller
David B Pettett holds a PhD from Macquarie University and brings to his writing an extraordinary breadth of experience: missionary in Japan, Royal Australian Navy chaplain, Head Chaplain for the Anglican Diocese of Sydney, and Head of Biblical Studies at Bishop Patteson Theological College in the Solomon Islands. His books are not written from an armchair — they are forged in real ministry.
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PhD, Macquarie University
Head of Biblical Studies, Bishop Patteson Theological College, Solomon Islands
Former Head Chaplain, Anglican Diocese of Sydney
Former Royal Australian Navy Chaplain
Former Missionary, Church Missionary Society Japan
Author of two published works (2016, 2024)
David B Pettett
Scholar, Chaplain, Missionary & Author
David B Pettett's life has been shaped by an unusual combination of scholarly rigour and frontline ministry. Born and raised in Australia, his vocation has taken him from the halls of Macquarie University to the mountains of Japan, from the decks of naval vessels to the lecture rooms of a theological college in the Solomon Islands.
He holds a PhD from Macquarie University and has spent more than four decades in ministry — in pastoral ministry in four parishes in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney, as a missionary with Overseas Missionary Fellowship in Japan, as a chaplain in hospitals, prisons, the Royal Australian Navy, and as Head Chaplain for the Anglican Diocese of Sydney. From 2016 to 2025 David was the Moderator of Pastoral and Church Focused Ministries for the Australian University of Theology. He retired from full-time Christian ministry at the end of 2025 after serving for six years as Head of Biblical Studies at Bishop Patteson Theological College in the Solomon Islands.
His books represent the fruit of a lifetime of reading, preaching, pastoring, and reflection. They are not academic exercises for their own sake — they are written to equip and encourage the Church in its calling.
Areas of Scholarship
David writes across three interconnected fields: Pastoral Care, which he understands as the fundamental work of Christian ministry; Christian History, particularly the history of the Church in colonial Australia; and Biblical Studies, with a special interest in contemporary preaching and biblical application to ministry practice.
Speaking & Teaching
David is available to speak at churches, conferences, theological colleges, and seminaries. His topics include pastoral care and ministry, Samuel Marsden and the early Church in Australia and New Zealand, and biblical exegesis and hermeneutics for preaching and ministry practice.
Published Works
Books by David B Pettett
Two books, each representing years of research, ministry, and reflection. Available at all major book retailers worldwide.
Pastoral Care · Ministry · Practical Theology
Pastoral Care: The Core of Christian Ministry
By David B Pettett · Ark House · 2024
A challenging and convincing re-examination of what pastoral care truly means. Drawing on a careful exegesis of Ephesians 4:11–12, Pettett argues that pastoral care is not merely crisis ministry but the very foundation of Christian life together.
Christian History · Biography · Colonial Australia
Samuel Marsden: Preacher, Pastor, Magistrate and Missionary
By David B Pettett · Bolt Publishing · 2016
A fresh and rigorous look at one of the most controversial figures in Australian Christian history. Pettett draws on Marsden's own sermons and letters to present a more complete portrait of the man — flawed, driven, and deeply committed to the Gospel.
Available from Amazon, Koorong, Book Depository & all major retailers
In his landmark work on Christian Ministry, David B Pettett challenges the prevailing assumption that pastoral care is primarily about crisis response. Drawing on a close reading of Ephesians 4:11–12, he argues that the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry — not mere crisis intervention — is the central task of the pastor.
Pettett surveys the history of pastoral care from the New Testament through to the present day, tracing how the Church has both affirmed and distorted its calling. He draws on his own extensive experience as a missionary, naval chaplain, and diocesan leader to ground his argument in the realities of contemporary ministry.
"Many people see the pastor's role as either pastoral care or the teaching of theology. Pettett's passion is to show how theology, Bible teaching and pastoral care are, and must always be, united… I am very appreciative of the Christian wisdom in this book. It will most certainly make its way onto the required reading list for our pastoral care units."
— The Rev Archie Poulos, Head of the Ministry Department & Director of the Centre for Ministry Development, Moore Theological College, Sydney
The book is structured in three parts. The first establishes the biblical foundations of pastoral care. The second examines the historical record — how the Church has understood and practised care of souls across the centuries. The third offers a constructive proposal for pastoral care in the contemporary Church, drawing together the exegetical and historical strands into a coherent vision for ministry.
Pastoral Care: The Core of Christian Ministry is essential reading for pastors, theological students, and anyone who wishes to think seriously about the nature and calling of the Church.
Available from Amazon, Koorong, Book Depository & all major retailers
Samuel Marsden remains one of the most controversial figures in Australian Christian history — celebrated as the "Apostle of New Zealand," condemned as the "flogging parson" of New South Wales. In this careful and sympathetic study, David B Pettett draws on Marsden's own sermons, letters, and journals to present a more complete portrait of the man.
Pettett traces Marsden's career from his origins in Yorkshire through his ministry in Parramatta, his remarkable relationship with the Maori people of New Zealand, and his controversial role as a magistrate in the brutal penal colony of early New South Wales. He argues that Marsden cannot be understood apart from the theological convictions that animated him — and that those convictions, read sympathetically, reveal a man of genuine pastoral concern.
"Until now biographers of Samuel Marsden have ignored the main source of evidence about him – his sermons. David Pettett has made a close study of all his sermons and transcribed them for the benefit of us all. In this valuable and concise account surprising new light is thrown on the most controversial of Christ's ambassadors in Australian history… How David Pettett uses the sermons will also be admired, especially his reconstruction of his most famous sermon, that which he preached at the Bay of Islands on Christmas Day 1814."
— Associate Professor Stuart Piggin, Macquarie University
The book pays particular attention to Marsden's Christmas Day sermon at the Bay of Islands in 1814 — the first Christian sermon preached on New Zealand soil — and to the subsequent missionary enterprise that Marsden launched among the Maori. Pettett argues that this dimension of Marsden's life, often overshadowed by the controversy surrounding his role as a magistrate, is the key to understanding the man as a whole.
Samuel Marsden: Preacher, Pastor, Magistrate and Missionary is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of the Church in Australia and New Zealand, or in the broader story of Christian mission in the Pacific.
Essays, reflections, and shorter pieces on pastoral care, Christian history, and biblical studies. New articles appear regularly — subscribe below to be notified.
Pastoral Care
What Is Pastoral Care? A Return to First Principles
The word "pastoral" has become so stretched in contemporary usage that it risks losing all meaning. It is time to return to the New Testament and ask afresh: what did Paul mean when he wrote of "pastors and teachers" in Ephesians 4?
Christian History
The Flogging Parson: Reassessing Samuel Marsden
The nickname has stuck for two centuries. But is it fair? A close reading of the historical record reveals a man far more complex — and more sympathetic — than the caricature allows.
Biblical Studies
Ephesians 4 and the Shape of Ministry
Paul's vision of the Church in Ephesians 4 is one of the most consequential passages in the New Testament for thinking about ministry. What does it actually say — and what does it demand of us today?
Christian History
Marsden in the Bay of Islands: Christmas Day, 1814
On a summer morning in 1814, Samuel Marsden stood before Maori chiefs in the Bay of Islands and preached the first Christian sermon in New Zealand. What was he thinking?
Biblical Studies
Ephesians 4 and the Equipping Church
What does Paul actually mean in Ephesians 4:11–12? A close reading reveals a vision of ministry that challenges almost everything the modern church has assumed about pastoral care.
Pastoral Care
On Pastoral Discipline: The Forgotten Duty
The New Testament is clear that pastors must sometimes rebuke, correct, and exercise discipline. Why have we become so reluctant to do so — and what does this cost the Church?
Ministry
Christians in the Public Square: A Pastoral Responsibility
Pastors are responsible not only for what happens inside the church walls. They must form Christians who can speak, clearly and confidently, in the public life of their society.
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Biblical Studies
A New Reading of Ephesians 4:11
David B Pettett · March 2024
Introduction
When considering the nature of Christian ministry, the words of the apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:11 loom large for most commentators. There continues to be debate as to whether the apostle is referring to a four- or five-fold ministry.1 It is argued below for an understanding that Paul has in mind a four-fold ministry, where that of pastors and teachers is the description of the one ministry.2 While this issue is discussed below, it is not the focus of this article. This article focuses on the nature of what Christ has given. In the context it is clear that when Paul speaks in Ephesians 4:11 about what Christ has given, he is speaking about ministry. Each named person exercises a particular ministry. There are apostles who exercise the ministry of apostleship, prophets who exercise a ministry of prophecy etc.
This paper takes a close look at Ephesians 4:11 in an attempt to discern exactly what the apostle has in mind when he lists in this verse the four-fold ministry which Christ has given. After an attempt to clarify Paul’s meaning in v.11, a very brief look at vv.12–16 follows to understand how he sees this teaching working out in practice for the building of Christ’s church, and at vv.17–end to see Paul’s teaching on how a Christian will live in the world.
Context
Putting Ephesians 4:11 in its context, chapter 4 is an appeal to unity. As a prisoner for the Lord, Paul appeals to the Ephesians to “walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called” (v.1, ESV). The apostle says they are to walk in a manner worthy of their calling, “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (4:2–3, ESV). A life lived in a way worthy of their calling is marked by humility, gentleness, patience, love and an eagerness to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
These marks of a worthy life come from a greater source than a basic human desire to get along with other people. They reflect the character of God Himself in the Christian life. In verse 4, Paul says, “there is one body and one Spirit.” In verse 5, “one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” In verse 6, “one God and Father of all.” Paul’s appeal to maintain the unity of the Spirit is an appeal based on the nature of God. God is one in the three Persons of Spirit, Son and Father. As God self-identifies as three Persons in one God — diversity in unity — so Paul calls the Ephesians to reflect this nature of God in their fellowship. As Paul has already stated in Ephesians 3:6, they are a community of Israelite and Gentile, fellow heirs, members of the same body.
It is a little strange therefore that some English versions translate the δέ of v.7 as “but”, as though Paul were introducing a contra thought. He has been speaking about unity in diversity and in v.7 points out that each one of us has received grace. His thought is that “each of us” — everyone in this diverse group — has received the one thing, which is grace. It seems best to translate the δέ as “and” or “now”, making the thought of unity in diversity flow from v.6 to v.7.3
This grace, given “according to the measure of the gift of Christ” (v.7), allows Christ to be both the giver and the gift — a plenary genitive supported by the verses that follow.4 Quoting Psalm 68:18 in Ephesians 4:8, Paul begins to explain the gift of Christ — the gift which is both from Christ and who is Christ.5 In verses 9–10 Paul extends this ascension to a place “far above all the heavens,”6 declaring that Christ descended into the lower regions7 and ascended far above all things, “that he might fill all things” (v.10, ESV).8
Gombis convincingly suggests that Christ having descended to the lower regions is a reference to Christ having gone into Hades at His death9 rather than a reference to the incarnation as others have suggested. His argument is that the exalted Christ is the triumphant Christ who, having won the victory over His enemies, is now the supreme ruler of the universe. As Merkle says, this interpretation means “The descent and ascent of Christ is a way of emphasizing his sovereign rule over the universe as he defeats and captures every malevolent power.”10
Verse 7 said that the grace which all have received is the full measure of Christ himself. Now v.11 records that Christ has given this four-fold ministry. This four-fold ministry is therefore a giving by Christ of himself. Christ is bound up in these ministries in such a way that when they are exercised properly, Christ is being given to His people. When these ministries are exercised properly the body of Christ is built (v.12), to maturity (v.13).
The focus of the verse is on the collective. The different ministries listed are part of the one act of grace of Christ to each of us. Paul is saying that each of us — every single Christian person — has been given apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. It is like receiving a present that when opened contains several items: a salad bowl, a coffee pot, a dinner set, a pair of candlesticks. One gift with several items in it.11 This is the one gift that the exalted, victorious Christ, having won the victory over His enemies, now gives to His people.12 The fact that Christ has given each of His people apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers does not mean all God’s people are apostles. It simply means that apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers have been given to His people.
Where a person may be concerned about what gift they might possess, they should not be. Their gift has already been given. Their gift is Christ who has in turn, according to his immeasurable measure, given apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. The reason Jesus has been so gracious is to equip us for works of ministry. So, Christian people should not worry about what gift they might have. They already have it. Christ is their gift, and He has given apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers to equip the saints for ministry which is the building of the body of Christ13 to maturity.14 Each one of the people of God is being equipped for ministry by the gift of Christ to each one of them.
Apostles, Prophets and Evangelists
The New Apostolic Movement,15 with its roots in the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements, teaches that the ministry of apostles continues today in real live people.16 When the apostle Peter addressed the brothers after Jesus had ascended, he declared that another person should replace Judas. In Acts 1:21–22 Peter says the person must have been with the group from the beginning — from the baptism of John until the ascension — and become “with us a witness to his resurrection” (ESV). It is not possible for a person born later than the first century to fulfil these qualifications.
The apostle Paul received his apostleship in exceptional circumstances. The risen Jesus appeared to him and commissioned him to be His witness to the Gentiles (Acts 9:15).17 It is these thirteen who have the ministry of apostle referred to by Paul in Ephesians 4:11. No one else possesses these unique qualifications.18 God’s people continue to benefit from the ministry of the apostles today because their ministry is written down. The words of the apostles in the gospels and letters of the New Testament are part of the gift of God to His people to equip them for the work of ministry. It is in this sense that the gift of apostle continues today.
This same argument applies to the ministry of prophets. The essence of biblical prophecy is that the prophet says to God’s people, “Thus says the Lord.” Prophecy is a reminder to God’s people of who God is — a call to God’s disobedient people to remember God’s love, to remember the covenant relationship God established with His Son. In 1 Corinthians 14:1 Paul encourages God’s people to earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that they may prophesy. This gift of prophecy speaks to people for their upbuilding, encouragement and consolation, and builds up the church — which is the very purpose Paul says in Ephesians 4:11 the gift of Christ serves.19 Our churches today continue to benefit from the ministry of the prophets because, like the apostles, their words have been written down.
In Ephesians Paul uses the word “prophet” three times (2:20, 3:5 and 4:11), each occurrence paired with “apostle.” There has been some debate about how Paul uses this word in Ephesians. Campbell has argued that Paul means lowercase-p prophets, or “prophets of the new covenant,” as distinct from the capital-P Prophets of the Old Covenant.20 This argument can be challenged. If Paul means the writings of the apostles and prophets, some have wondered why he puts apostles before prophets, prophets being chronologically prior to the apostles.21 The answer is simple. Paul is speaking of the mystery of the gospel which God “promised beforehand through his prophets” (Rom. 1:2 ESV) but has now been revealed through the apostles. The Prophets looked forward to it. The Apostles have made it known. This is why Paul three times prioritises Apostles over Prophets in Ephesians. This must be a reference to the apostolic and prophetic ministries written in our Christian Scriptures. In Ephesians 3:4–5, “the mystery of Christ… has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit” — referring to what the prophets had longed to understand but which is now fully revealed.
However, I want to suggest that by mentioning evangelists Paul is referring to the writers of the first four books of the New Testament. Throughout Christian history, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John have been known as the evangelists. The earliest evidence for this nomenclature dates from the late first century or early second century. Papias of Hierapolis (c. AD 60–130) called the apostle John “the evangelist.” Tertullian (c. AD 155–220) in his Answer to the Jews uses the title “evangelist” when quoting from Luke. Hippolytus of Rome (c. AD 170–235) refers to the Gospel writers as evangelists in multiple works.
Paul certainly knew Mark (Acts 12:12) and Luke (Acts 16:10) personally. He had met John in Jerusalem (Gal. 2:9) and is most likely to have known Matthew as well. Matthew, Mark and Luke probably wrote their Gospels between AD 45 and AD 60 — about the same time Paul wrote to the Ephesians.22 Most commentators automatically assume that “evangelists” in Ephesians 4:11 must refer to a person who goes out to proclaim the good news of Christ to an unbelieving world.23 This understanding is natural but does not pay careful enough attention to the context of Ephesians 4, nor to the historical Christian usage of the word “evangelist” which refers to the writers of the four Gospels. This means that in this list of ministries in Ephesians 4:11 the first three ministries are a reference by the apostle Paul to the Scriptures.
Pastor-Teachers
At the end of the list, Paul mentions pastors and teachers. This phrase describes one ministry in the gift of Christ. The construction in the Greek text is instructive: Καὶ αὐτὸς ἔδωκεν τοὺς μὲν ἀποστόλους, τοὺς δὲ προφήτας, τοὺς δὲ εὐαγγελιστάς, τοὺς δὲ ποιμένας καὶ διδασκάλους. Notice that the final δέ covers both ποιμένας καὶ διδασκάλους (shepherds and teachers) under one article, whereas each of the other ministries is covered by its own definite article. While Granville Sharp’s first rule does not apply here because the nouns are plural,24 the use of one article to cover both nouns gives weight to the argument that shepherds and teachers refers to the one ministry of pastor-teachers.25
This means that a pastor is a person who teaches. This is consistent with Paul’s teaching in 1 Timothy about the qualifications of an overseer: among other things, an overseer is expected to be “able to teach” (1 Timothy 3:2). The teaching a pastor does will be pastoral in its focus. The pastor will so teach that God’s people are cared for and equipped for living — for the building of the body. This means that the essence of pastoral ministry is pastoral care. Pastoral care is not something to add on to ministry; it is the core of Christian ministry.26 The modern context, more influenced by the social sciences than the Bible, focuses pastoral care on people who find themselves in crisis. By clearly linking pastors and teachers as one ministry, the apostle declares that pastoral care is about equipping the saints for the work of ministry — a whole-of-life ministry, not merely crisis intervention.
Because pastor-teacher is one ministry in this list, the list contains four distinct ministries — apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor-teachers — which work together to equip the saints for the ministry of building the body of Christ. The pastor-teacher works closely with the Scriptures and their proclamation. As Eugene Peterson has said, “I was not primarily dealing with people as problems. I was… calling them to worship God.”27 This worship is not restricted to what is done in a church building on a Sunday morning. It is a whole-of-life activity — equipping God’s people to live in a secular world and to have a respected Christian voice in the public square.
A Reformed theological position holds that preaching is proclaiming, on the one hand, and listening to, on the other, the word of God. Reformed theology holds a very high view of the sermon.28 The sermon is an opportunity for the pastor-teacher to help the saints have a deeper understanding of the Scriptures. Preaching is a solemn task and must not be taken lightly. A sermon needs to be prepared well, drawing on the preacher’s theological training. The preacher must rightly handle the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). The hard work of hermeneutics and application must also be done well so that what is proclaimed from the pulpit is an exhortation to godly living which shows how the Scriptures apply to life today.
The focus of the work of ministry in Ephesians 4:12 is building the body of Christ. This word building (οὐκοδομή) has the sense of building, strengthening, encouraging. It is the saints — as Paul calls Christian people in Ephesians — who do this work. The word of God (apostles, prophets and evangelists) and pastor-teachers, expounding the word of God, equip the saints for this ministry.
If Ephesians 4:11 is laid out thus:29
1. He gave
2a. apostles, prophets, evangelists
2b. pastors and teachers,
3. to equip the saints
4a. with a view to the work of ministry
4b. with a view to building the body of Christ
It can be seen that the reason Christ has given apostles etc. is to equip the saints. The saints are equipped by the ministry of the Scriptures and the pastor-teachers for the work — the building of the body of Christ. This also explains why this gift of these ministries is the gift from Christ of himself: the Scriptures reveal Christ, and when pastor-teachers teach the Scriptures they too reveal Christ.30
The reason Christ has given his gift “to equip the saints” (πρὸς τὸν καταρτισμὸν τῶν ἁγίων) is seemingly two-fold: firstly “for the work of ministry” (εἰς ἔργον διακονίας) and secondly “for building the body of Christ” (εἰς οἰκοδομὴν τοῦ σώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ) (v.12). It seems best to understand Paul to mean that the work of ministry which the saints are equipped for is the ministry of building the body of Christ. Verse 12 might legitimately be translated as “to equip the saints for the work of ministry which is the building of the body of Christ.”31 Building the body has a two-fold nature: its first focus is where God’s people encourage and influence each other to live for God, and the second is to have a positive Christian influence in the world — missio Dei (the mission of God).32
with which he began the chapter. As God is unity in diversity, so God’s people strive for unity in diversity as they are pastorally cared for and equipped for ministry to build the church. Their unity demonstrates to the world what God is like — the love of God to a broken and divided world.
Paul says that when God’s people attain that maturity in Christ they “will no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (Ephesians 4:14–15, ESV). The simple remedy against deceitful schemes and human cunning is to speak the truth in love — and by so doing, to grow up into Christ.
This Christian maturity both in the church and in the world is made possible by the gift of Christ of apostles, prophets, evangelists (the Scriptures) and of pastor-teachers who, by faithfully teaching Christ as He is revealed in the Scriptures, equip the saints for the ministry of building the body of Christ.33
Notes
While most Pentecostal writers do not seem to be greatly concerned whether there is a four- or five-fold ministry in Eph. 4:11 they tend to opt for a five-fold ministry. The typical argument among Pentecostal writers focuses attention on people who exercise ministry rather than occupy office. Their greater concern is defining ministry rather than an office. One writer puts it clearly when he says, “Whether Ephesians 4:11 is speaking of a ‘fivefold’ or a ‘fourfold’ ministry is not important when we understand that this scripture is not defining offices but speaking of types of ministry.” Hartwell T. Paul Davis, Restoring the Fivefold Ministry — Pastors or Elders for the Church Today (Coral Springs: Lumina Press, 2004), 18. In the end, Davis argues for a five-fold ministry as the title of his book suggests.
While this argument is not proved by Granville Sharp’s First Rule because the nouns pastors and teachers are plural, Merkle argues, “‘pastors’ is a subset of ‘teachers’ because all pastors teach, but not all teachers are also pastors.” Benjamin L. Merkle, Ephesians (Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament) (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2016), 128.
Merkle, Ephesians, 122, suggests that Paul here “transitions from the theme of unity to diversity within unity” but surely Paul has been speaking about diversity within unity as he has been speaking about the Godhead. There is no transition of thought at v.7 but rather a continuation of thought and therefore δέ should be translated in English to reflect this. Larkin translates δέ as “Now” and says, “δέ. Transitional. This connective links an expository motivational grounds section with the exhortation section (4:1–6) that it supports.” William J. Larkin, Ephesians: A Handbook on the Greek Text (Baylor Handbook on the Greek New Testament) (Waco: Baylor University Press, 2009), 74.
Merkle, 122, suggests the genitive could be either subjective or a genitive of source: “τοῦ Χριστοῦ is a subj. gen. (‘Christ gifts [each one]’; Larkin 74) or, perhaps, a gen. of source (‘the gift from Christ’; Arnold 246; Hoehner 523).” It could equally be objective, meaning that Christ is not only the giver but also the gift itself. This is the plenary genitive.
The Psalm says, “receiving gifts.” Paul says, “gave gifts.”
Contra Campbell, Constantine R. Campbell, The Letter to the Ephesians (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2023), 276, “The psalm depicts the Lord ascending to the heights of Mount Bashan,” whereas the Psalm actually presents Bashan as looking in hatred at the “mount that God desired for his abode, yes, where the LORD will dwell forever” (ESV).
Timothy G. Gombis, “Cosmic Lordship and Divine Gift-Giving: Psalm 68 in Ephesians 4:8,” NovT 47 (2005): 367–380.
Campbell, 280; Peter O’Brien, The Letter to the Ephesians, Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans; Leicester: Apollos, 1999), 296.
See Mouton, E., 2014, ‘“Ascended far above all the heavens”: Rhetorical functioning of Psalm 68:18 in Ephesians 4:8–10?’, HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 70(1), Art. #2058. Mouton quotes Gombis extensively. Gombis, T.G., 2005, ‘Cosmic lordship and divine gift-giving: Psalm 68 in Ephesians 4:8’, Novum Testamentum XLVII(4), 367–380.
Merkle, 125.
Contra Campbell, 62; Merkle, 115, 127; and Mouton, 2, all of whom speak of these ministries as plural “gifts.”
This gift of these ministries is the gift of Christ of Himself because, as Calvin wrote, “Yet this, as I have said, is the difference between the apostles and their successors: the former were sure and genuine scribes of the Holy Spirit, and their writings are therefore to be considered oracles of God; but the sole office of others is to teach what is provided and sealed in the Holy Scriptures. We therefore teach that faithful ministers are now not permitted to coin any new doctrine, but that they simply cleave to that doctrine to which God has subjected all men without exception.” As quoted in Sam Chan, Preaching as the Word of God: Answering an Old Question with Speech-Act Theory (Eugene: Pickwick Publications, 2016, Kindle Edition), 67–68.
The idea of D.W.B. Robinson is followed here, that εκκλησία (church) in Ephesians always refers to the local congregation. “Although we often speak of these congregations collectively as the NT church or the early church, no NT writer uses ekklesia in this collective way. An ekklesia was a meeting or assembly.” Donald Robinson, “Church,” in New Bible Dictionary, ed. J.D. Douglas et al. (London: IVP, 1962), 229. Contra Campbell, 62.
Merkle suggests, 3, “The ecclesiology [of Ephesians] is more developed since the church is not simply a local congregation but is the universal church (1:22; 3:10, 21; 5:23–25, 27, 29, 32).” Yet all of these references can equally be understood as referring to the local congregation.
Church networks that have been identified as belonging to the New Apostolic Movement include Harvest International Ministry, Bethel Leadership Network, Gateway Church Network, Hillsong Leadership Network, International Coalition of Apostolic Leaders, C3 Church Global, and Christian International Apostolic Network. Mark Allen Adams and Godfrey Harold, “Polity of the New Apostolic Movement considering Biblical and Historical Precedents in the Christian Church,” Pharos Journal of Theology ISSN 2414-3324 online Volume 104, Issue 2 (2023).
“The modern New Apostolic Movement is distinguished mainly by its insistence that Jesus continues to give apostles to the church and those apostles are meant to lead and govern the church.” Adams and Harold, “New Apostolic Movement,” 1.
Those “who are of note among the apostles” (Romans 16:7) means “those who are well known by the apostles” not “noteworthy apostles.” In other words, Andronicus and Junia were not apostles, but were simply well known by the apostles. Larkin, Ephesians, 45, suggests, “While, for Paul, ἀπόστολος can refer to a church envoy (2 Cor 8:23; Phil 2:25) or missionary (Rom 16:7; 1 Cor 9:5; cf. Acts 14:4), given the foundational role here [Eph. 2:20], the term probably refers to the Twelve (1 Cor 15:5).”
It is also noted that in Galatians 1:19 Paul refers to James, the Lord’s brother, as an apostle. James’ unique status as the Lord’s brother would qualify him to be called an apostle but, like Justus in Acts 1, he was not chosen to be a witness. In Acts 14:14 Luke identifies Barnabas, on his mission trip with Paul, as an apostle. It seems here that Luke is using the word ‘apostle’ in the sense of ‘sent one’ as does Paul in Philippians 2:25 referring to Epaphroditus and in 2 Corinthians 8:3 referring to a group of people. It would be a long stretch of exegetical contortion to include any of these people with that group who were “witness[es] to the resurrection” (Acts 1:22).
The place prophecy primarily operates is in the Scriptures. Those who speak today claiming they have a prophecy clearly do not speak the same way the canonical prophets speak. These modern speakers may well be speaking words of encouragement, and they may well fall into the category of prophecy Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 14. They do not, however, seem to have the same inspired force of the Old Testament prophet who declared, “Thus says the Lord.” Nevertheless, those who have this gift of encouragement described in 1 Corinthians 14 should keep it up, and those who do not have this gift should earnestly desire it.
Campbell, Ephesians, 284.
Gary Gromacki, “The Foundational Gifts of Apostle and Prophet in Ephesians,” The Journal of Ministry and Theology 5–32, 10.
Bernier, building on the work of J.A.T. Robinson in Redating the New Testament, suggests that Ephesians was written as early as AD 58, Matthew AD 50, Mark AD 45, Luke AD 60 and John AD 65. Jonathan Bernier, Rethinking the Dates of the New Testament: The Evidence for Early Composition (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2022), 3.
For example, Campbell, 284: “Evangelists are those who proclaim the evangel, the gospel.” Merkle, 127: “Εὐαγγελιστής, -οῦ, ὁ, ‘proclaimer of the gospel,’ ‘evangelist’ (BDAG 403b) is used only two other times, with Philip in Acts 21:8 and Timothy in 2 Tim 4:5. Thielman maintains that ‘evangelists’ ‘are probably those whom God has especially equipped to travel from place to place with the good news of peace through Christ’ (274).”
In 1798 Granville Sharp published Remarks on the Uses of the Definitive Article in the Greek Text of the New Testament, in which he set out six rules on the use of the definite article in the Greek New Testament. His first rule stated that when the copulative καὶ connects two nouns of the same case, if the article ὁ precedes the first noun and is not repeated before the second, the latter always relates to the same person expressed by the first noun. As clarified by Wallace, the rule applies absolutely only with personal, singular, and non-proper nouns. This means the rule does not apply in Eph. 4:11 because both “shepherds” and “teachers” are plural.
For these reasons the arguments of those who insist that the μὲν … δέ construction allows ‘pastors’ and ‘teachers’ to be two separate ministries are not convincing. See for example Clinton E. Arnold, Ephesians (Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament) (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, 2010).
David B. Pettett, Pastoral Care — the Core of Christian Ministry (Sydney: Ark House, 2023).
Winn Collier, A Burning in My Bones — The Authorized Biography of Eugene H. Peterson (London: Authentic, 2022), 132.
“Both Luther and Calvin held very high views of preaching. They readily identified the preached word as the word of God.” Sam Chan, Preaching as the Word of God: Answering an Old Question with Speech-Act Theory (Eugene: Pickwick Publications, 2016, Kindle Edition), 78.
This layout, which has been modified slightly here, is that of the Rev. Dr Raymond Heslehurst in private correspondence.
This Reformed understanding of the role of preaching is clearly articulated by John Haddon Leith, Creeds of the Churches, Third Edition: A Reader in Christian Doctrine from the Bible to the Present (Westminster: John Knox Press, 1982), 133: “Wherefore when this word of God is now preached in the church by preachers lawfully called, we believe that the very word of God is preached, and received by the faithful.”
Paul’s use of εἰς, meaning “purpose,” for both the “work” and the “building” might seem to mean the saints are equipped for a dual purpose, but the context indicates that both the “work” and the “building” are the same thing.
“Ephesians is a manifesto of the love and mission of God to the world.” Karl M. Barth, Ephesians 1–3 (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1974), 56.
Campbell, 307–308, helpfully shows how the first section of Eph. 4 relates to the second: “If the main theme of 4:1–16 is that the body of Christ must grow into maturity through the proper working of all its parts, 4:17–32 spells out some of the ways that the parts of the body ought to treat each other.” It can be added that vv.17–32 not only show how the parts of the body ought to treat each other, but also show how the saints should live in the world, bringing a positive Christian influence.
About the Author
David B Pettett is a retired Anglican minister, academic and author based in Sydney, Australia. He holds a PhD from Macquarie University. His book Pastoral Care: The Core of Christian Ministry (Ark House, 2024) develops many of the themes explored in this article.
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