There is a continuing and long-standing debate about the relationship between the gifts/persons of pastors and teachers in Eph. 4:11. In particular, grammatical arguments are sometimes put forward to the effect that they should be combined in the single gift/person of pastor-teacher, or sometimes that pastors must be teachers but not necessarily vice-versa. In this very brief and inadequate note, I tentatively suggest that a structural analysis of this verse can helpfully contribute to the debate on the side of seeing pastors and teachers as seperate, (but nevertheless related), gifts which need to work together in building up the local church corporately and individually. That the two gifts might sometimes belong in a single individual is very likely, and certainly not excluded,in this analysis! This structural analysis approach is a proposal only – all comments, criticisms and corrections are most welcome!!

The article is in pdf format and can be downloaded from:

Categories: Chiastic and Other Structures, Ephesians, Ephesians, Language and Logic, New Testament Exegesis

Tags: Apostles, Chiasm, church, Eph. 4:11, Ephesians, Evangelism, evangelist, gift, Interpretation, Jesus, Jesus Christ, New Testament, office, pastor, pastoral, pastors, prophecy, prophet, shepherd, Structure, teacher, teachers, word count