It is an anonymous book and the earliest suggested author paul is rarely defended today. In spite of the weight of scholarly inference, the book of hebrews does not in fact name its author. Mar 09, 2008 he claims, with authority, that paul wrote 14 epistles including the book of hebrews. Origen, clement, pantaenus, ambrose, rufinus and eusebius all ascribe the epistle to paul. In chapter one, allen discusses how the church viewed the authorship of hebrews from the.
It revealed that judaism based upon the mosaic law, levitical sacrifices, etc. Because of this, a possible author is apollos, a native of alexandria, according to acts 18. In spite of the fact that the message of hebrews is similar to that of pauls message in that he believes the law has been done away with, i agree with the scholars for a number of reasons. This seems to be a description of the book of hebrews. There was dispute as to the authorship of the book of hebrews among the early christians. Jan 24, 2018 although apollos was nowhere near the only one who could have wrote the book of hebrews, he is a very likely candidate. This is why the author reminds them several times of their faith and devotion to god which they had shown in the beginning hebrews 6. Besides the hebrews had become dull of hearing and slothful hebrews 5.
With its myriad references to hebrew customs and the old testament, the book was likely sent to a jewish christian community, possibly in rome. Was the author of the book of hebrews paul, or barnabas, or james, or apollos, or luke. Paul among the views suggested, the oldest view, aside from anonymity, has to be paul. Traditionally, paul the apostle was thought to be the author. Introduction the epistle of hebrews was written to demonstrate to jews that as great as the mosaic law was, as great as the temple was, as great as the levitical sacrifices were, christ was superior hebrews 1. In my opinion and many scholars would say this hebrews is clearly not pauls writing, but scholars have questioned whether the writer was in the pauline school of thought. That stated, the most commonly suggested authors of the book of hebrews in our day, arranged in order of age of the view, are. However, though a vast majority of christiansboth and scholars and the laitystill believe paul wrote the book, there are some tempting reasons to think otherwise. The book of hebrews ties together the old and new testaments better than any other in the new testament. This dispute continued till the 4th century when most christians accepted it as the work of paul. Jan 17, 2016 many of the great bible expositors have held the view that paul was the author of hebrews. This is one of the strangest facts in all literature, that the author of so important a document as this should have left no trace of his name. Jan 23, 2018 the best answer to this question is we do not know who wrote the book of hebrews. While many attributed the book to paul, others thought barnabas, apollos, clement, or luke to be the author.
May 30, 2014 the book of hebrews is thought of as more elaborate and refined than all of the books in the new testament. Thats why the author of hebrews placed their emphasis on standing strong in the faith. Many early church leaders believed paul to have been the author. This also means we know very little about when the book was written, the original audience, or where the author was when he. Sep 10, 2017 the term kreitton literally, more excellent or better permeates the book. Many of the great bible expositors have held the view that paul was the author of hebrews. In fact, until the sixteenth century, the church widely accepted pauline authorship. Jun 28, 2019 my opinion is that the author of the epistle to the hebrews was paul.
The book of hebrews march 16 looking unto yehoshua the author and finisher of our faith. Paul wrote hebrews, but also suggested that apollos could have been the author. This was followed by a certain spiritual decline hebrews 5. However, since the third century this has been questioned, and the consensus among most modern scholars is that the author is unknown. This examination of the subject presents the case from a. Clement of alexandria suggests that paul wrote the book originally in hebrew and that luke translated it into greek, though the greek of hebrews bears no resemblance to translation greek e. T he epistle of hebrews was written to demonstrate to jews that as great as the mosaic law was, as great as the temple was, as great as the levitical sacrifices were, christ was superior hebrews 1. In 1st and 2nd corinthians, paul uses a total of 278 personal pronouns. The names of barnabas an intellectual well versed in the old testament or the other leading candidate for authoriship apollos could have wrote it.
He labored in the lords work, aiding the ministry of the apostles and faithfully building up the church. Sundry holy and learned men from this expression, confirmed unto us, wherein they say the writer of this epistle placeth himself among the number of those who heard not the word from the lord himself, but only from the apostles, conclude that paul cannot be the penman thereof, who in sundry places. Jan 02, 2020 church tradition teaches that paul wrote the book of hebrews, and until the 1800s, that issue was closed. There is some speculation that the apostle paul, along with apollos, wrote the book of hebrews, although we cant say with100% certainty, as many scholars believe it was paul, but apollos may have had some input in this book, but we do know for certain that apollos was a preacher of the word, and was competent in scriptures, so he knew. Out of the 27 books in the new testament, the book of hebrews is the only one. In the chapter paul the false apostle i mentioned that many scholars believe the book of hebrews was not written by paul. We need to understand that god alone has the knowledge of who wrote hebrews and that is where the information must lie. There are several reasons why apollos could have written hebrews and none to argue against it, except that early tradition does not support it. Regardless of the human hand that held the pen, the holy spirit of god is the. May 18, 2008 the writer of the book of hebrews, likewise, did not identify himself. Some have proposed paul, but most reject this hypothesis because it does not appear to be written in his style. Hebrews is one of the most challenging books in the new testament. Proof that the apostle paul wrote hebrews purely presbyterian. Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power.
Others have proposed barnabas because he was jewish and a respected leader. Apr 23, 2019 most authorities of the greek language consider the epistle to the hebrews as the most polished and eloquent of any book in the new testament. Church tradition teaches that paul wrote the book of hebrews, and until the 1800s, that issue was closed. Reality, in the person and work of christ, replaced the. Luther himself believed that paul wrote hebrews, but also suggested that apollos could have been the author. Beyond what i think, here are some of the things many scholars agree on regarding the author of hebrews. This section of the bible has been titled as a masterpiece and immensely complex. Author of the epistle to the hebrews how is it possible that an epistle such as hebrews should lack a prescript indicating both the author and the city or persons to whom the letter was addressed. Mar 29, 20 both luke and the writer of hebrews reveal a masterful use of the septuagint.
Significantly, the book makes no reference to the destruction of the temple at jerusalem in ad 70, and the author wrote as if the sacrificial system were still in existence hebrews 10. Book of hebrews overview insight for living ministries. The purpose of the author of hebrews is to establish christs. Plumptre suggested that apollos may be the author of both the old testament book of wisdom and the letter to the. Apollos was mighty in the scriptures and he refuted the jews in public. This examination of the subject presents the case from a different point of view. Although we may not know who wrote the book of hebrews, we do know that it belongs in the scriptural canon. The following is a response given on a recent episode of the wwutt podcast, answering a question on who wrote the book of hebrews. Though we cannot be absolutely sure who the writer was, the letter does give a few hints that help us identify certain characteristics about him. Who wrote the acts of the apostles and the book of hebrews.
Paul the apostle, apollos, philo, bible, alexandria egypt. Apollos was mighty in the scriptures and he refuted the jews in public, demonstrating by the scriptures that jesus was the christ acts 18. From the first records of the christian church, its origins and who wrote it have been contemplated. As a result, although a few people today believe paul wrote hebrews, such as theologian r. There are several reasons why apollos could have written hebrews and. Among the reformers, luther ascribed authorship to apollos, an alexandrian jew. A contemporary and colleague of paul the apostle, he played an important role in the early development of the churches of ephesus and corinth. In spite of the weight of scholarly inference, the. The epistle to the hebrews of the christian bible is one of the new testament books whose canonicity was disputed. No matter who wrote the letter to the hebrews, we can rest assured of its divine. Allens lukan authorship of hebrews is selfexplanatory. Along with some other scholars, i think apollos is a good guess for who wrote the letter, better described as a long exhortation even a sermon.
It was at the time of the reformation when churchmen, such as martin luther, began to investigate further the authorship of the letter. Bruce suggested that apollos may have written hebrews,6 but the obvious question remains. The epistle to the hebrews of the christian bible is one of the new testament books whose. He was a contemporary of eusebius and the theologian who defended the orthodox doctrine of christs deity against 4th century arianism. Its audience members would have known the original author, a companion of paul or paul, and they would have found hope in its truthful words, numerous examples from the old testament, and list of heroes of the faith. And although the genres are different, luke seems to have a sermon peppered through his narrative. While there are some pauline motifs in hebrews, there are also some interesting differences. The writer of hebrews teaches us that jesus christ is supreme over all things. The gospel was confirmed unto us by them that heard him hebrews 2.
He was from alexandria and traveled in the apostle pauls orbit acts 18. In this book we discover that the original audience was facing persecution and that they were tempted to turn away from christ. A while back ago, i wrote an article about my top three questions i have when i get to heaven. In summary, apollos was a man of letters with a zeal for the lord and a talent for preaching. While the book includes a paradigm composed of several hypotheses, the crux of the argument is that luke, the physician and companion of the apostle paul, wrote both lukeacts and the epistle to the hebrews p.
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