The Epistle to Hebrews
The
Epistle to the Hebrews. Though traditionally credited to
the Apostle Paul, the letter is anonymous. Most modern
scholars, both conservative and critical, believe its
author was not Paul himself but some other member of his
Pauline community. Most scholars today do not believe
Paul was the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, which
was written anonymously.
The author of Hebrews is not known. The text as it has
been passed down to the present time is internally
anonymous, though ancient title headings often attribute
it to the Apostle Paul. Tradition attributes the letter
to Paul, but the style is notably different from the
rest of Paul's epistles. Eusebius reports that the
original letter had a Jewish audience and was written in
Hebrew, and then later translated into Greek by Luke.
Paul's speech in Antioch Acts 13:13-52 recorded by Luke
has a strikingly similar style to Hebrews, and notably
different than Paul's letters to gentile audiences.
However, even in antiquity doubts were raised about
Paul's alleged authorship. The reasons for this
controversy are fairly plain. For example, his letters
always contain an introduction stating authorship, yet
Hebrews does not. Also, while much of its theology and
teachings may be considered Pauline, it contains many
other ideas which seem to have no such root or
influence. Moreover, the writing style is substantially
different from that of Paul's authentic epistles, a
characteristic first noticed by Clement (c. 210). In
Paul's letter to the Galatians, he forcefully defends
his claim that he received his gospel directly from the
resurrected Jesus himself.
The Bible's Epistle to the Hebrews affirms special
creation. It affirms that God by His Son, Jesus Christ,
made the worlds. " God...hath in these last days spoken
unto us by his Son...by whom also he made the worlds"
(1:1-2). The epistle also states that the worlds
themselves do not provide the evidence of how God formed
them. "Through faith we understand that the worlds were
framed by the Word of God, so that things which are seen
were not made of things which do appear" ((Hebrews
11:3).
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia: Epistle to the
Hebrews: "... the Epistle opens with the solemn
announcement of the superiority of the New Testament
Revelation by the Son over Old Testament Revelation by
the prophets (Hebrews 1:1-4). It then proves and
explains from the Scriptures the superiority of this New
Covenant over the Old by the comparison of the Son with
the angels as mediators of the Old Covenant (1:5-2:18),
with Moses and Josue as the founders of the Old Covenant
(3:1-4:16), and, finally, by opposing the
high-priesthood of Christ after the order of
Melchisedech to the Levitical priesthood after the order
of Aaron (5:1-10:18)."
Home |
Inspiration |
Know Your Bible |
Music
Videos | Humor |
Prayer Request | Bible Help Verses