Corpus-Paul

["David Hindley" <dhindley AT compuserve.com>]

Kym,

Sorry I got the original referent wrong. 

Perhaps it is me, but I do not put a lot of faith in the explanations that 
the heresiologists give for the origins of their opponents or perceived 
opponents. Look how Irenaeus and others turn Simon the magician in Acts, who 
even repents and asks for forgiveness, into the arch heretic that fathered 
all later heresies. 

Dr. David Trobisch thinks that the NT books as preserved for us today are 
descendants of one unified edition published under four groupings (gospels, 
Pauline corpus, acts + general epistles, revelation). The groupings all have 
their own unique origins, but for whatever reason all earlier publications of 
these four units were superseded by the unified edition. Irenaeus was the 
first church writer that we know of to start quoting from all books of the NT 
we have today, and he does it a LOT, so I think the mid 2nd century would be 
the most likely time for this edition to be released. 

Trobisch also has a volume out on the publication of the Pauline corpus. In 
his opinion, based on an extensive study of the earlier manuscripts, the 
Pauline corpus grew from an original core of Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, 
Galatians, to which was appended the book of Ephesians. To that resulting 
group was appended a smaller collection which consisted of Philippians, 
Colossians, and 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Finally, to that resulting group was 
appended another collection, the pastorals. Hebrews was the last book to be 
appended to the Pauline grouping, and even then rather late.

I mention this because you were interested in the dating of Hebrews. Trobisch 
thinks it is possible for Paul to have published the core collection 
(R,1+2C,G), although I personally do not think that part of the collection 
goes that far back. Even so, the collection of the subgroups of the Pauline 
letters and their three or four step consolidation into the finished corpus 
must have taken a while to happen, say 30 years. If a unified edition of the 
four subgroupings of texts was say circa 150 CE, and Hebrews was a late 
addition to the unified edition's Pauline corpus, that would suggest 
somewhere after 90 CE to 150 CE.

Dave.

-----Original Message-----
From: corpus-paul-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org 
[mailto:corpus-paul-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of 
khs AT picknowl.com.au
Sent: Sunday, April 02, 2006 12:28 PM
To: corpus-paul AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [Corpus-Paul] Hebrews

Dear Dave (Hindley), 

You addressed your message to Bob but you were responding to my e-mail. Sorry 
to have dropped a bomb and then not respond. My access and time to write are 
limited but I’ll do the best I can. 

You say:
<<<...there is little evidence for organized Gnostic movements before the 2nd 
century CE.>>> <<<). The developed gnostic texts, such as those in the Nag 
Hammadi library, were copied around the 3rd or 4th century and thus probably 
took their literary form shortly before then, so it is hard to judge exactly 
when they or their prototypes were first authored.>>> <<< but I am not aware 
of much evidence for Gnostic movements in Asia 
Minor>>> 

I do not have my resources with me at the moment but I did give the Irenaeus 
reference (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, III.11.1). If my memory serves me 
rightly then it is in a section where Irenaeus is dealing with the Gnostic 
problem. Whether yes or no, The Apostle John’s contemporary, Cerinthus, was a 
known Gnostic whose ideas, Irenaeus tells us,  were disseminated a long time 
previously by the Nicolaitans. That is substantial evidence of an early 
Gnostic influence in Asia Minor, even if it was only a rudimentary form of 
Gnosticism or one which had not yet developed texts as those did who came 
later. 

My point is not necessarily that Hebrews is addressing Gnostic ideas – though 
I would not be the first to suggest it if I did – but (regardless of who its 
author is) it is addressing false teaching about the Old Testament 
shadows/types/etc which the Nicolaitans were spreading. The Nicolaitans 
being, I suspect, a predominantly Jewish group in Asia who had converted to 
Christianity – perhaps quite early – but who had synchretized their Christian 
beliefs with speculative and fanciful interpretations of the OT and 
Hellenistic/Gnostic ideas (Heb 6:4-8; Acts 20:29-30). Hebrews was not 
addressed to the Nicolaitans, as such, but to the Church (Heb 6:9-12) which 
needed to have corrected what the Nicolaitans were distorting. 

Best wishes, 

Kym Smith
Anglican Parish of the Barossa
South Australia 


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