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  • From: "David C. Hindley" <dhindley AT compuserve.com>
  • To: <sdblack AT telus.net>, "Corpus-Paul" <corpus-paul AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Cc:
  • Subject: RE: [Corpus-Paul] Why was Hebrews ever thought to be by Paul?
  • Date: Fri, 16 May 2003 00:05:16 -0400

Steve Black says:

>>I have accounted for (what I think to be superficial) similarities between
Hebrews and Paul as (perhaps) being due to a wide range of popular jargon
within the early Xn movements. This might (but not necessarily) betray some
awareness of Paul on an oral level. I would be interested in evidence that
would suggest some literary connection.<<

What I intended to compare are the inconsistently expressed Christology of
the 13 other letters with the carefully expressed Christology of Hebrews. If
one looks at the following list of Christological statements in the 13
epistles claiming to be Paul's, one can easily find these all addressed
matters neatly sewed up in Hebrews:

ROM 1:1b the good news of God 2 which he promised beforehand through his
prophets in the holy scriptures, 3 the good news concerning his Son, who
was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and designated Son of
God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from
the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,

ROM 8:33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who
justifies; 34 who is to condemn? Is it Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who
was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed
intercedes for us?

ROM 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law, that every one who has faith may
be justified

1 COR 5:5b For Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed.

2 COR 5:16b even though we once regarded Christ from a human point of view,
we regard him thus no longer

GAL 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a
curse for us--for it is written, "Cursed be every one who hangs on a tree."
(Deut 21:23) 14d that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through
faith 19 Why then the law? It was added to bring about transgressions,
till the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made; and it was
directed through angels by (the) hand of a mediator (i.e. Moses). 20a But
an intermediary implies more than one (party); 26 for in Christ Jesus you
are all sons of God, through faith

EPH 1:20 which he accomplished in Christ when he raised him from the dead
and made him sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above
all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is
named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come; 22 “and he
has put all things under his feet” (Ps 8:6) and has made him the head over
all things for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who
fills all in all.

PHIL 2:5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a
thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant,
being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form he
humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. 9
Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is
above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus “every knee should bow,” in
heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 “and every tongue confess” (Is
45:23) that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father

COL 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all
creation; 16 for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth,
visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or
authorities (2 Enoch 20:1), all things were created through him and for him.
17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 He is
the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the first-born from
the dead, that in everything he might be pre-eminent.

COL 2:9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you
have come to fullness of life in him, who is the head of all rule and
authority. 15 He [God] disarmed the principalities and powers and made a
public example of them, triumphing over them in him.

1 TH 4:2 For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
14b that Jesus died and rose again, even so 15b who are left until the
coming of the Lord 16d with the archangel's call, and with the sound of
the trumpet of God 17b shall be caught up together with them in the clouds
to meet the Lord in the air

2 TH 1:4b in all your persecutions and in the afflictions which you are
enduring 6 since indeed God deems it just to repay with affliction those
who afflict you, 7 and to grant rest with us to you who are afflicted,
when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in
flaming fire,

1 TI 2:5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and
men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, the
testimony to which was borne at the proper time

1 TI 3:16 Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of our religion: “He was
manifested in the flesh, vindicated in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached
among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory”

2 TI 1:8d in (the) power of God 9 who saved us and called us with a holy
calling, not in virtue of our works but in virtue of his own purpose and the
grace which he gave us in Christ Jesus ages ago, 10 and now has manifested
through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and
brought life and immortality to light through the good news.

To me, this suggests that Hebrews was supposed to smooth out the rough spots
in the Christology expressed in the other 13 epistles, thus making the
Christ doctrine "crystal clear" to readers, like the author of 2 peter, came
away from a reading of Paul scratching their head in bewilderment. I think
it is significant that Hebrews ultimately came to be added to the collection
of 13 "Pauline" epistles as a sort of appendix.

>>Perhaps I misunderstand what you are saying - but are you suggesting that
the writer of Hebrews intended the work to be understood as being written by
Paul. If so, this would have been better achieved had the name "Paul"
actually been used within the text (like the writers of Eph, Col, etc). I
have thought that this writer in no ways intended to have this work
understood as Pauline - a feat which later tradition accomplished
anyways...<<

In a way I think s/he did want to leave that impression. Sure the epistle
lacks the usual greeting of an occasional letter, rather assuming the form
of a literary epistle (yes, I am making a Diessmann-like distinction), but
"personal" comments and greetings in 13:19-25, and the casual reference to
Timothy being freed and how he longs to be restored to the readers soon with
Timothy in tow, would suggest the work is being represented as an occasional
letter like the other 13. It is not something lopped off a genuine letter as
vs. 20 by referring to the theme of an eternal covenant in chapter 9.

Respectfully,

Dave Hindley
Cleveland, Ohio, USA






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