Doctrine Analysis
Doctrine Analysis: Ephesians (English → Korean)
This document provides the full doctrine matrix for Ephesians 1–6, chapter by chapter, cross-referenced to assets/doctrine_risk_registry.json. Every doctrine listed here uses the same doctrine set and the same risk tiers recorded in the registry; this document adds per-chapter organization, supporting-passage detail, and expanded translation-risk reasoning for Phase 1 sign-off. Ephesians 2:1–10 (the curriculum’s core passage) is the theological anchor of the book, not the scope of this analysis — all six chapters are covered below in full.
Risk tier definitions (unchanged from the Romans baseline and the Ephesians registry):
- Critical — Mistranslation alters or destroys essential doctrine. Human theologian review required for every occurrence.
- High — Mistranslation creates significant theological confusion or syncretism risk. Human theologian review required.
- Medium — Mistranslation reduces clarity but preserves essential meaning. Native speaker review recommended.
- Low — Mistranslation causes minor misunderstanding or imprecision. Automated review sufficient.
Master Summary (reconciled against doctrine_risk_registry.json entries)
| Risk Tier | Count of Doctrines | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 9 | Human theologian (mandatory, every occurrence) |
| High | 16 | Human theologian (mandatory) |
| Medium | 2 | Native speaker review |
| Low | 0 | — |
| Total | 27 | 25 require theologian review; 2 require native speaker review; 0 automated-only |
Note: this summary is computed directly from the 27 individual doctrine entries in doctrine_risk_registry.json (9 Critical + 16 High + 2 Medium + 0 Low). It supersedes the registry file’s own internal summary block, which undercounts by two entries; no doctrine or tier assignment has been altered — only the arithmetic aggregate has been corrected for this analysis document.
Chapter 1 — Election, Redemption, the Mystery, and the Church’s Fullness in Christ
Ephesians 1 introduces the book’s doxological frame (1:3–14), Paul’s prayer for spiritual insight (1:15–19), and the exaltation of Christ as head over the church (1:20–23).
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages (Ephesians) | Risk Level | Translation Risk (Korean context) | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Election and Predestination in Christ | 1:4–5, 1:11–12 | Critical | 예정/택하사 sit at the same collision point as the Romans-baseline calling/providence terms: risk of assimilation to 팔자/사주팔자 (birth-chart-determined fate) or 운명 (impersonal destiny). Must be taught as personal, gracious, Christ-centered choice (“to the praise of his glorious grace,” 1:6), never arbitrary determinism. | Human theologian |
| Redemption and Forgiveness in Christ | 1:7–8 | High | 속량 must retain the sense of a price paid (Christ’s blood), not a costless release resembling 해탈; 죄 사함 must be full legal cancellation of guilt before God, not social face-restoration (체면 회복) or shamanistic misfortune-removal (부정풀이). | Human theologian |
| The Mystery of Christ Revealed | 1:9–10 | High | 비밀 must not be read through an esoteric/initiate-only lens (shamanistic secret rites, a mudang’s privileged spirit-knowledge). Ephesians’ point is the opposite: what was hidden is now openly proclaimed to all. | Human theologian |
| Sealing and Guarantee of the Holy Spirit | 1:13–14 | High | 인치심 must retain the legal-ownership/security sense of a definitive divine mark by the Spirit himself, not a shamanistic protective talisman (부적). 보증 is God’s gracious pledge, not a debt owed by the believer. | Human theologian |
| Fullness of Christ and the Church | 1:22–23 (cf. 3:19, 4:13) | High | 충만 requires careful framing as a structural, corporate-ecclesiological category, avoiding drift toward a vague spiritual feeling or a pantheistic-merger reading of Christ’s substance into the church. | Human theologian |
| Headship of Christ over the Church | 1:22 (cf. 4:15–16) | High | 머리 must be rendered identically at every book occurrence to preserve the deliberate Christ-head/husband-head parallel completed in chapter 5; here the emphasis is Christ’s nourishing, life-giving authority, not mere administrative headship. | Human theologian |
| Sanctification and the Believer’s Holiness | 1:4 (cf. 5:26–27) | High | 거룩한 must be distinguished from shamanistic ritual purification (부정을 씻다) and ascetic self-cultivation (수행, 도 닦기); holiness here is God’s prior choice “before the foundation of the world,” corporate to all 성도. | Human theologian |
| The Church as the Body of Christ | 1:22–23 (cf. 4:4–16, 5:23, 5:30) | High | 몸 introduced here as Christ’s body of which he is 머리; must be read as organic, Spirit-animated union, not institutional association — the seed of the doctrine developed fully in chapter 4. | Human theologian |
Chapter 1 coverage note: all load-bearing doctrinal content in 1:1–23 is captured above; the epistolary greeting (1:1–2) contributes only baseline terms (그리스도 안에서, 은혜, 하나님 아버지) already governed by prior baseline entries and is reviewed but adds no new doctrine.
Chapter 2 — Salvation by Grace, Spiritual Death, and the One New Humanity (Core Passage 2:1–10)
Ephesians 2 contains the curriculum’s core passage (2:1–10) and pivots to the corporate doctrine of Jew-Gentile unity (2:11–22).
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages (Ephesians) | Risk Level | Translation Risk (Korean context) | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Universal Spiritual Deadness Apart from Christ | 2:1–3 | High | 죽은 (spiritually dead) must be forensic-relational deadness, not physical death or a stage within 윤회 (the folk-Buddhist rebirth cycle); 진노 (wrath) is the settled righteous judgment of a personal God, not impersonal misfortune (액운) or a spirit’s anger requiring 굿 (ritual appeasement). | Human theologian |
| Cosmic Spiritual Opposition to God’s People | 2:2 (cf. 6:12) | Critical | 공중의 권세 잡은 자 sits extremely close to Korean shamanism’s populated spirit-world (귀신/악귀) addressed through a mudang’s ritual. Must be taught as a singular, defeated-but-active adversary confronted only through Christ’s finished work, never folk-ritual counter-measures. | Human theologian |
| Salvation by Grace through Faith | 2:1–10 (whole core passage) | Critical | The single greatest concentration of Korean risk vocabulary in the book: 은혜 and 선물 must both be severed from the 기복신앙 transactional pattern and from the Korean gift-custom of 답례 (obligatory reciprocal return-gift); this is the theological anchor doctrine of the entire curriculum. | Human theologian |
| Grace Excludes Works and Boasting | 2:8–9 | Critical | 선물 and 행위 together form the clearest single rebuttal of transactional grace in the curriculum; 자랑하다 (boast) connects to Korea’s achievement/status-conscious culture already flagged under baseline 영광 vs. 출세/명예. | Human theologian |
| Good Works as the Fruit, Not the Ground, of Salvation | 2:10 | High | 선한 일 must always be taught in strict sequence after grace and faith, never as precondition — the sharpest single distinction in the core passage, given the risk of reading v.10 as a “do good, receive blessing” 기복신앙 exchange. | Human theologian |
| Walking in Newness of Life | 2:2 (old walk), 2:10 (new walk) | High | 행하다 is Ephesians’ central recurring ethical metaphor, introduced here in deliberate before/after contrast; must be rendered identically at every later occurrence (4:1, 4:17, 5:2, 5:8, 5:15). | Human theologian |
| Unity of Jews and Gentiles in One New Humanity | 2:11–18 | High | 막힌 담 and 한 새 사람 must avoid assimilation to Korea’s ethnic-nationalist self-conception (단일민족); Christ has abolished every such dividing barrier, with direct application to divisions within the Korean church itself. | Human theologian |
| The Church as God’s Household and Holy Temple | 2:19–22 | Medium | 성전 must be distinguished from a Buddhist temple building (already forbidden as 절 in baseline “church” entry); this is a metaphor for the corporate people of God. 권속 conveys full family belonging, not guest-status. | Native speaker review |
| Gentile Fellow-Heirship and Direct Access to God | 2:18 (developed further in 3:6, 3:8, 3:12) | High | 나아감 (access) must be taught as direct, unmediated access for all believers, not shaman-mediated spirit-access reserved for a ritual specialist. | Human theologian |
Chapter 2 coverage note: every verse of 2:1–22 is represented above; this chapter carries the highest doctrinal density in the book by design, consistent with its role as the curriculum’s core passage.
Chapter 3 — The Mystery Extended to the Gentiles and Paul’s Prayer
Ephesians 3 develops the mystery doctrine introduced in chapter 1 and Paul’s apostolic stewardship of it, closing with a prayer for the church’s strengthening (3:14–21).
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages (Ephesians) | Risk Level | Translation Risk (Korean context) | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Mystery of Christ Revealed | 3:3–10 (reinforcing 1:9–10; anticipating 5:32, 6:19) | High | 비밀 must be rendered identically across all four occurrences in the book (1:9, 3:3–9, 5:32, 6:19) to preserve the deliberate mystery-revealed structuring theme; here Paul stresses this mystery is “now revealed” openly to Gentiles, the opposite of an esoteric/initiate-only framing. | Human theologian |
| Gentile Fellow-Heirship and Direct Access to God | 3:6, 3:8, 3:12 | High | 함께 상속자/함께 지체/함께 참여하는 자 uses 상속자 for “heir,” distinct from chapter 1’s 기업 for “inheritance” — flag for a harmonizing teaching note so learners connect the two related-but-distinct Korean terms. 담대함 (3:12, boldness) is grounded in Christ’s finished work, not merit or ritual correctness. | Human theologian |
Chapter 3 coverage note: Paul’s autobiographical stewardship language (3:1–2, 3:13) and the closing doxology (3:20–21) are reviewed but introduce no new doctrine beyond baseline terms (은혜, 영광, 능력) already governed by prior entries.
Chapter 4 — Unity of the Spirit, Gifts for the Church, and the New Self
Ephesians 4 transitions from doctrine to exhortation (“walk worthy,” 4:1), addressing church unity (4:1–6), gifts (4:7–16), and the put-off/put-on pattern (4:17–32).
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages (Ephesians) | Risk Level | Translation Risk (Korean context) | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unity of the Spirit in the Church | 4:1–6 | High | 성령이 하나 되게 하신 것 must convey a given fact to be preserved, not manufactured — pastorally significant given Korea’s denominationally fragmented Protestant landscape; 세례 must be taught as a unifying rite, not a source of division given varying Korean-church baptismal practice. | Human theologian |
| Gifts for Building Up the Church | 4:7–16 | High | 은사 must never be framed as 영력 (a shaman’s spirit-power) or sought for personal display, a risk Korean charismatic church leaders have themselves flagged; 목사 (pastor) risk requires care since it is now primarily an institutional clergy title in Korean church culture, potentially narrowing the NT’s broader shepherding gift-function. | Human theologian |
| The Church as the Body of Christ | 4:4–16 (cf. 1:22–23, 5:23, 5:30) | High | 몸/머리/충만 must be used with consistent vocabulary at every occurrence across the book; this section is the doctrine’s fullest development, describing organic growth “into him who is the head.” | Human theologian |
| Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New Self | 4:17–24 | High | 옛 사람/새 사람 must not be assimilated to Confucian or Buddhist self-cultivation renewal (수행, 도 닦기); this is a decisive, Spirit-enabled reality flowing from union with Christ. Must be distinguished by teaching context from 2:15’s corporate “one new humanity,” which shares the identical Korean phrase 새 사람. | Human theologian |
| Grieving the Spirit and Holiness of Speech and Conduct | 4:25–32 | Critical | 성령을 근심하게 하지 말라 is a strong positive resource for teaching the Holy Spirit’s full relational personhood against shamanistic impersonal-force or channelable-power framing (the same concern flagged for 신령/영력 in the baseline); the Spirit is a Person who can be grieved by sin, not an impersonal force among many spirits. | Human theologian |
| Walking in Newness of Life | 4:1, 4:17 | High | 행하다 continues the book’s central ethical metaphor introduced at 2:2/2:10; render identically here and at all remaining occurrences (5:2, 5:8, 5:15). | Human theologian |
Chapter 4 coverage note: all sections of chapter 4 are represented above; no subsection lacks doctrinal coverage.
Chapter 5 — Walking as Children of Light, Spirit-Filled Worship, and Christ-Centered Marriage
Ephesians 5 extends the “walk” ethic to purity and light/darkness imagery (5:1–14), commands Spirit-filling (5:18–20), and applies the mystery of Christ and the church to marriage (5:21–33).
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages (Ephesians) | Risk Level | Translation Risk (Korean context) | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walking as Children of Light | 5:3–14 | Medium | 빛의 자녀/빛의 열매 is standard, well-established biblical-Korean light/darkness imagery; primary risk is ensuring the ethical catalogue (5:3–5) is taught as flowing from transformed identity, not a new law-code replacing grace. | Native speaker review |
| Filling with the Spirit and Spirit-Enabled Worship | 5:18–20 | Critical | 성령으로 충만함을 받으라 must be taught as ongoing sanctifying, worship-producing, relationally-fruitful work of the Spirit — never assimilated to ecstatic shamanistic spirit-possession phenomena, a concern Korean charismatic church leaders have themselves flagged, nor sought as an experience disconnected from the specific named fruit (song, thanksgiving, mutual submission). | Human theologian |
| Household Codes: Christ-Centered Marriage | 5:21–33 | Critical | 복종하다 and 머리 are the highest-risk household-code terms given Korea’s historically influential Confucian patriarchal family structure. 5:21’s mutual submission and 5:25’s self-sacrificial husband-love must always be taught together with 5:22–24’s wife-specific application, so headship is understood as self-giving and nourishing, never a bare, unilateral authority-claim. | Human theologian |
| The Mystery of Christ Revealed | 5:32 (mystery of marriage) | High | 비밀 recurs here as a deliberate callback to 1:9 and 3:3–9: marriage pictures the Christ-church mystery. Must be rendered identically to the earlier occurrences. | Human theologian |
| The Church as the Body of Christ | 5:23, 5:30 | High | 머리/몸 vocabulary here directly parallels 1:22–23 and 4:15–16; the husband-wife application depends on this consistency being preserved so the reader recognizes the deliberate Pauline analogy. | Human theologian |
| Sanctification and the Believer’s Holiness | 5:26–27 | High | 거룩하고 흠이 없는 (holy and without blemish) echoes 1:4 exactly; Christ’s sanctifying work “by the washing of water with the word” must not be read through a shamanistic ritual-cleansing lens (부정을 씻다). | Human theologian |
| Walking in Newness of Life | 5:2, 5:8, 5:15 | High | Continues the book’s central 행하다 metaphor; consistency with 2:2/2:10/4:1/4:17 occurrences is required. | Human theologian |
Chapter 5 coverage note: the offering/sacrifice language of 5:2 (already flagged in the glossary for its jesa-adjacent vocabulary) and the wine/drunkenness contrast of 5:18 are captured within the Filling with the Spirit and Walking in Newness of Life entries above; no subsection of chapter 5 is left unreviewed.
Chapter 6 — Household Codes Concluded, and Spiritual Warfare
Ephesians 6 completes the household codes (parents/children, masters/servants) and closes the letter with the armor of God (6:10–20) and personal greetings (6:21–24).
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages (Ephesians) | Risk Level | Translation Risk (Korean context) | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Household Codes: Parents and Children | 6:1–4 | High | 공경하라 (honor) overlaps substantially with Korean Confucian filial piety (효), historically extending to ancestor-memorial obligation (제사); teaching must clarify this command is grounded in God’s moral law “in the Lord,” not a re-endorsement of the full traditional 효 framework including ancestor-rite veneration. | Human theologian |
| Household Codes: Masters and Servants | 6:5–9 | Critical | 상전 (human master) must never be conflated with 주님 (the honorific reserved exclusively for divine Lordship); preserving this KRV-established distinction is essential to keeping the Critical Lordship-of-Christ doctrine intact when the same Greek root (κύριος) appears in a non-divine sense. Contemporary application to employer/employee relationships must be flagged as interpretive, not literal. | Human theologian |
| Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of God | 6:10–20 | Critical | The single greatest concentrated spiritual-warfare collision point in the curriculum, given Korean shamanism’s deep organization around hostile spirits (귀신/악귀) addressed through a mudang’s ritual exorcism (굿), protective talismans (부적), and divination. Must be taught with maximum clarity that biblical spiritual warfare is already won through Christ’s finished victory (echoing 1:20–22, 2:6) and is engaged only through prayer, truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith, salvation, and Scripture — never through ritual objects, exorcistic performance, divination, or a specialist ritual-mediator. | Human theologian |
| Cosmic Spiritual Opposition to God’s People | 6:12 (reinforcing 2:2) | Critical | 악의 영 (spiritual forces of evil) sits directly adjacent to 귀신/악귀 shamanistic vocabulary; must be taught as already-defeated-by-Christ powers engaged only via armor and prayer, never folk-ritual counter-measures. Must also be kept orthographically and conceptually distinct from 성령 (Holy Spirit) in every teaching context. | Human theologian |
Chapter 6 coverage note: Paul’s personal commendation of Tychicus and the closing benediction (6:21–24) are reviewed but introduce no new doctrine beyond baseline terms (은혜, 화평, 사랑) already governed by prior entries.
Cross-Book Consistency Requirements (carried forward from analysis/08_core_glossary.md)
The following rendering-consistency rules apply across every doctrine table above and must be enforced identically in Phase 2:
- 그리스도 안에서 (in Christ) — identical rendering at every occurrence, all six chapters.
- 행하다 (walk) — identical rendering at 2:2, 2:10, 4:1, 4:17, 5:2, 5:8, 5:15.
- 머리 (head) — identical rendering at 1:22, 4:15, and 5:23; the 5:23 occurrence carries elevated (Critical) risk and must always be taught paired with 5:25–29.
- 비밀 (mystery) — identical rendering at 1:9, 3:3–9, 5:32, 6:19.
- 기업 (inheritance, ch.1) vs. 상속자 (heir, ch.3) — two distinct KRV-established terms; retain both per KRV precedent but flag for a harmonizing teaching note.
- 선한 일 (good works, 2:10) vs. 행위 (works, 2:9) — must never be conflated; the sharpest single distinction in the core passage.
- 새 사람 (new man/self) — used for both the corporate “one new humanity” (2:15) and the individual “new self” (4:24); same phrase, two connected but distinct referents requiring a teaching note.
- 복 (blessing, 1:3) and 은혜 (grace, throughout) — both inherit the baseline’s Critical 기복신앙 collision warning; every occurrence requires mandatory qualifying teaching, not lexical avoidance.
- 주님 (Lord, divine) vs. 상전 (master, human, ch.6) — must never be interchanged; foundational to preserving the Critical Lordship-of-Christ doctrine when the same Greek root (κύριος) appears in a non-divine sense.
- 악의 영 (evil spirits, 6:12) vs. 성령 (Holy Spirit, throughout) — orthographically and conceptually distinct; every occurrence of either term benefits from explicit contextual disambiguation in teaching materials.
Full-Book Coverage Confirmation
| Chapter | Reviewed | New Doctrines Contributed | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ephesians 1 | Yes | 8 | Election, redemption, mystery, sealing, fullness, headship, sanctification (seed), body of Christ (seed) |
| Ephesians 2 | Yes | 9 (core passage chapter) | Core passage 2:1–10; highest doctrinal density in the book by design |
| Ephesians 3 | Yes | 2 (1 reinforced, 1 developed) | Mystery extended to Gentiles; fellow-heirship developed |
| Ephesians 4 | Yes | 6 | Unity of the Spirit, gifts, body of Christ (developed), old/new self, grieving the Spirit, walking |
| Ephesians 5 | Yes | 7 | Children of light, filling with the Spirit, marriage household code, mystery (callback), body of Christ (callback), sanctification (callback), walking |
| Ephesians 6 | Yes | 4 | Parents/children, masters/servants, armor of God, cosmic spiritual opposition (reinforced) |
Every chapter of Ephesians has been reviewed in full; no chapter or subsection is silently omitted. Total distinct doctrines catalogued: 27, matching assets/doctrine_risk_registry.json exactly in doctrine set and risk tier per entry.
Critical Risk Doctrines
Election and Predestination in Christ
Korean name: 그리스도 안에서의 선택과 예정
Key terms: election, predestined, in_christ, called
Review routing: Human theologian
예정 (predestined) and 택하사 (chose) sit at the same collision point as baseline’s calling/providence entries: Korean readers may assimilate this to 팔자/사주팔자 (birth-chart-determined fate, still commonly consulted) or 운명 (impersonal destiny). Must be taught as personal, gracious (‘to the praise of his glorious grace,’ 1:6), and Christ-centered (‘predestined… through Jesus Christ,’ 1:5), never arbitrary determinism resembling Korean folk astrology.
Salvation by Grace through Faith
Korean name: 은혜로 말미암아 믿음을 통해 받는 구원
Key terms: grace, faith, salvation, gift, works, good_works, boast
Review routing: Human theologian
This is the curriculum’s core passage and the single greatest concentration of Korean risk vocabulary in the book: 은혜 (grace) and 선물 (gift) must both be taught as severed from the 기복신앙 transactional pattern (offering made, blessing granted) and from the Korean gift-custom of 답례 (obligatory reciprocal return-gift); 행위 (works, v.9) must never be conflated with 선한 일 (good works, v.10) — the sharpest single doctrinal distinction in the passage.
Cosmic Spiritual Opposition to God’s People
Korean name: 하나님의 백성을 대적하는 영적 세력
Key terms: prince_of_the_air, rulers_and_authorities, spiritual_forces_of_evil
Review routing: Human theologian
This doctrine’s vocabulary (공중의 권세 잡은 자, 악의 영) sits extremely close to Korean shamanism’s populated spirit-world (귀신/악귀) addressed through a mudang’s gut ritual, exorcism, or talismans (부적). Must be taught as a singular, defeated-but-still-active adversary confronted through Christ’s finished work, prayer, and Scripture, never through folk-ritual counter-measures or exorcistic performance.
Grace Excludes Works and Boasting
Korean name: 은혜는 행위와 자랑을 배제함
Key terms: grace, faith, gift, works, boast
Review routing: Human theologian
선물 (gift) and 행위 (works) together form the clearest single rebuttal in the curriculum of a transactional grace-reading; 자랑하다 (boast) must be taught as excluded self-merit pride, connecting to Korea’s intensely achievement/status-conscious culture already flagged under baseline glory vs. 출세/명예.
Grieving the Spirit and Holiness of Speech and Conduct
Korean name: 성령을 근심하게 하지 않는 거룩한 언행
Key terms: grieve_the_spirit, holy_spirit, sanctification
Review routing: Human theologian
성령을 근심하게 하지 말라 is a strong positive resource for teaching the Holy Spirit’s full relational personhood against any shamanistic impersonal-force or channelable-power framing (the same concern baseline flags for 신령/영력); must be taught as a Person who can be grieved by a believer’s sin, not an impersonal force or generic spirit among many.
Filling with the Spirit and Spirit-Enabled Worship
Korean name: 성령의 충만함과 그로 인한 예배
Key terms: filled_with_the_spirit, holy_spirit, power_of_god
Review routing: Human theologian
성령으로 충만함을 받으라 must be taught as ongoing sanctifying, worship-producing, relationally-fruitful work of the Spirit — never assimilated to ecstatic shamanistic spirit-possession phenomena, a concern Korean charismatic church leaders have themselves flagged, nor sought as an experience-for-its-own-sake disconnected from the specific named fruit (song, thanksgiving, mutual submission).
Household Codes: Christ-Centered Marriage
Korean name: 그리스도 중심의 결혼 관계
Key terms: submit, head_headship, mystery, offering_and_sacrifice
Review routing: Human theologian
복종하다 (submit) and 머리 (head) are the highest-risk household-code terms given Korea’s historically influential Confucian patriarchal family structure. 5:21’s mutual submission and 5:25’s self-sacrificial husband-love must always be taught together with 5:22-24’s wife-specific application, so that headship is understood as self-giving and nourishing (5:25-29), never a bare, unilateral authority-claim consistent with existing patriarchal patterns.
Household Codes: Masters and Servants
Korean name: 상전과 종의 관계
Key terms: bondservants, masters_human, lord
Review routing: Human theologian
상전 (human master) must never be conflated with 주님 (the honorific reserved exclusively for divine Lordship); preserving this KRV-established distinction is essential to keeping the Critical Lordship-of-Christ doctrine intact when the same Greek root (κύριος) appears in a non-divine sense. Contemporary application to employer/employee relationships must be flagged as interpretive, not literal.
Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of God
Korean name: 영적 전쟁과 하나님의 전신 갑주
Key terms: armor_of_god, struggle_wrestling, rulers_and_authorities, spiritual_forces_of_evil, prayer_in_the_spirit, righteousness, faith, salvation, peace
Review routing: Human theologian
This is the single greatest concentrated spiritual-warfare collision point in the curriculum for Korean readers, given Korean shamanism’s deep organization around hostile spirits (귀신/악귀) addressed through a mudang’s ritual exorcism (굿), protective talismans (부적), and divination. Must be taught with maximum clarity that biblical spiritual warfare is already won through Christ’s finished victory (echoing 1:20-22, 2:6) and is engaged only through prayer, truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith, salvation, and Scripture — never through ritual objects, exorcistic performance, divination, or a specialist ritual-mediator.
High Risk Doctrines
Redemption and Forgiveness in Christ
Korean name: 그리스도 안에서의 속량과 죄 사함
Key terms: redemption, forgiveness, riches_of_grace
Review routing: Human theologian
속량 (redemption) must retain the sense of a price paid (Christ’s blood), not a costless release resembling 해탈; 죄 사함 (forgiveness) must be a full legal cancellation of guilt before God, not a social face-restoration (체면 회복) or shamanistic ritual removal of misfortune (부정풀이).
The Mystery of Christ Revealed
Korean name: 그리스도의 비밀의 계시
Key terms: mystery, wisdom, revelation
Review routing: Human theologian
비밀 (mystery) must not be read through a folk-religious or esoteric lens (secret shamanistic rites, a mudang’s privileged spirit-knowledge, hidden fortune-telling knowledge available only to initiates). Ephesians’ point is the opposite dynamic: what was hidden is now openly and publicly proclaimed to all through the gospel, with nothing reserved for a spiritual elite.
Sealing and Guarantee of the Holy Spirit
Korean name: 성령의 인치심과 보증
Key terms: sealed, guarantee, holy_spirit, inheritance
Review routing: Human theologian
인치심 (sealed) must retain the legal-ownership/security sense of a definitive, once-for-all divine mark by the Spirit himself, not a shamanistic protective marking or talisman (부적) placed on a person or object to ward off evil spirits.
Fullness of Christ and the Church
Korean name: 그리스도의 충만이 되는 교회
Key terms: fullness, body_of_christ, church
Review routing: Human theologian
충만 (fullness) requires careful framing to avoid reducing ‘fullness’ to a vague spiritual feeling rather than a structural, corporate-ecclesiological category, and to avoid any drift toward a Gnostic-adjacent or pantheistic reading of Christ’s substance merging into the church.
Headship of Christ over the Church
Korean name: 교회의 머리 되신 그리스도
Key terms: head_headship, body_of_christ
Review routing: Human theologian
머리 (head) must be rendered identically wherever it occurs across the book so the deliberate Pauline parallel between Christ’s headship over the church and the husband’s headship in marriage (ch.5) is preserved; here in ch.1/4 the emphasis is Christ’s nourishing, life-giving authority over his organic body, not a merely administrative headship.
Universal Spiritual Deadness Apart from Christ
Korean name: 그리스도 밖에서의 전적 영적 죽음
Key terms: dead_spiritually, trespasses, sin, flesh, children_of_wrath, sons_of_disobedience
Review routing: Human theologian
죽은 (spiritually dead) must be read as forensic-relational deadness, not physical death or a stage within the folk-Buddhist rebirth cycle (윤회); 진노 (wrath) must be the settled righteous judgment of a personal God, not impersonal misfortune (액운) or a capricious shamanistic spirit’s anger requiring ritual appeasement (굿).
Good Works as the Fruit, Not the Ground, of Salvation
Korean name: 구원의 결과로서의 선한 일
Key terms: good_works, workmanship, created, prepared_beforehand, walk_conduct
Review routing: Human theologian
선한 일 (good works) must always be taught in strict sequence after grace and faith, never as a precondition, given the risk of Korean readers assimilating this verse to a ‘do good, receive blessing’ 기복신앙 exchange pattern that verses 8-9 have just excluded.
Unity of Jews and Gentiles in One New Humanity
Korean name: 유대인과 이방인이 한 새 사람이 됨
Key terms: dividing_wall, one_new_humanity, gentiles, covenant, israel
Review routing: Human theologian
막힌 담 (dividing wall) and 한 새 사람 (one new humanity) must avoid any assimilation to Korea’s ethnic-nationalist self-conception (단일민족, ‘single ethnic nation,’ already flagged under baseline gentiles); Christ has abolished every such dividing barrier, a point with direct application to divisions within the Korean church itself.
Gentile Fellow-Heirship and Direct Access to God
Korean name: 이방인이 함께 상속자가 되고 하나님께 나아감
Key terms: fellow_heirs, access, boldness, riches_of_christ
Review routing: Human theologian
함께 상속자/함께 지체/함께 참여하는 자 uses 상속자 for ‘heir,’ distinct from ch.1’s 기업 for ‘inheritance’ — flag for consistency so learners connect the related concepts. 나아감 (access) must be taught as direct, unmediated access for all believers, not shaman-mediated spirit-access reserved for a ritual specialist.
Unity of the Spirit in the Church
Korean name: 교회 안에서 성령이 이루신 하나 됨
Key terms: unity_of_the_spirit, body_of_christ, baptism, hope, holy_spirit
Review routing: Human theologian
성령이 하나 되게 하신 것 must convey that this unity is a given fact to be preserved, not manufactured — a point with practical pastoral weight given Korea’s denominationally fragmented Protestant landscape; 세례 (baptism) must be taught as a unifying rite, not a source of division given differing Korean-church baptismal practices.
Gifts for Building Up the Church
Korean name: 교회를 세우기 위한 은사
Key terms: spiritual_gifts, apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor_shepherd, teacher, equipping, body_of_christ
Review routing: Human theologian
은사 must never be framed as 영력 (a shaman’s spirit-power) or sought for personal display, a risk Korean charismatic church leaders have themselves flagged; 목사 (pastor) risk requires care since it is now primarily an institutional clergy title in Korean church culture, potentially narrowing the NT’s broader shepherding gift-function to ordained clergy only.
Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New Self
Korean name: 옛 사람을 벗고 새 사람을 입음
Key terms: old_self, new_self, sanctification, walk_conduct
Review routing: Human theologian
옛 사람/새 사람 must not be assimilated to Confucian or Buddhist self-cultivation renewal (수행, 도 닦기); this is a decisive, Spirit-enabled reality flowing from union with Christ, not a gradual self-achieved attainment. Must also be distinguished by teaching context from 2:15’s corporate ‘one new humanity,’ which shares the identical Korean phrase 새 사람.
Walking in Newness of Life
Korean name: 새로운 생명 가운데 행함
Key terms: walk_conduct, imitators_of_god, children_of_light, good_works
Review routing: Human theologian
행하다 (walk) is Ephesians’ central recurring ethical metaphor and must be rendered identically at every occurrence across the whole book; inconsistent rendering would fragment this deliberate structuring device for a Korean reader and obscure the before/after contrast between the old walk (2:2) and the new (2:10, 5:8).
Household Codes: Parents and Children
Korean name: 부모와 자녀의 관계
Key terms: obey_parents, honor_parents
Review routing: Human theologian
공경하라 (honor) overlaps substantially with Korean Confucian filial piety (효), historically extending to ancestor-memorial obligation (제사); teaching must clarify this command is grounded in God’s moral law ‘in the Lord,’ not a re-endorsement of the full traditional 효 framework including ancestor-rite veneration.
The Church as the Body of Christ
Korean name: 그리스도의 몸인 교회
Key terms: body_of_christ, head_headship, fullness, unity_of_the_spirit, gifts_for_building_up_the_church
Review routing: Human theologian
몸 (body) must be understood as an organic, Spirit-animated union under Christ’s headship, not merely an institutional association; this doctrine spans the whole book and must be taught with consistent vocabulary (몸, 머리, 충만) at every occurrence.
Sanctification and the Believer’s Holiness
Korean name: 성도의 거룩함과 성화
Key terms: holy, sanctification, saints
Review routing: Human theologian
거룩한/성화 must be distinguished from shamanistic ritual purification (부정을 씻다) and from ascetic self-cultivation (수행, 도 닦기); this is Spirit-wrought moral and relational holiness for all believers corporately (성도), not an elevated spiritual-achiever class resembling 신선 or 도인.
Medium Risk Doctrines
The Church as God’s Household and Holy Temple
Korean name: 하나님의 권속이며 성전인 교회
Key terms: household_of_god, cornerstone_temple, church
Review routing: Native speaker review
성전 (holy temple) must be distinguished from a Buddhist temple building (already forbidden as 절 under baseline church); this is a metaphor for the corporate people of God, not endorsement of a physical sacred-building theology. 권속 (household members) conveys full family belonging, not guest-status.
Walking as Children of Light
Korean name: 빛의 자녀로 행함
Key terms: children_of_light, walk_conduct, sanctification
Review routing: Native speaker review
빛의 자녀/빛의 열매 is standard, well-established biblical-Korean light/darkness imagery; primary risk is ensuring the ethical catalogue (5:3-5) is taught as flowing from transformed identity, not a new law-code replacing grace.
Referenced passages